Generally speaking, Alberta’s 24 duck species make great targets for the wildfowl and bird photographer. Chances are if you are near water, be it Lake...
Author - Elaine and Don Cassidy
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Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
““All I know of birds to this date is that sparrows are the ones that are not pigeons.”
With most of us living in urbanized environments, a few bird species seem to like being in the presence of we carbon based units. In the eyes of many, there...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
“You Otter Go To Saskatchewan”
With our third consecutive annual birding pilgrimage to Nipawin, Saskatchewan completed, Elaine and I took time to reflect on the beauty of this part of our...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
“Butterbutt”? You’ve Got To Be Kidding!
Moving to southern Alberta about a half dozen years ago, with birding a part of the motivation, we did not anticipate the surprising number of species that...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
“Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, only in dying life, bright the hawk’s flight on the empty sky” ~Ursula K. Le Guin
During the last half of August, Elaine and I scour each power pole, each light pole, every fence post and the naked branches of dying aspen trees, looking for...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
The Gulls Are Back in Town
Often ignored due in part to its abundance at certain times of the year, the Ring-billed Gull is one of sixteen species of gulls that visit Alberta. With their...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
The Inspiration
Early in our lives there are inspiring individuals, events and at times nature’s creatures that motivate us to pursue a career or a hobby. Although I’ve really...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
Will-It, Won’t It Or Is It A Willet?
An unassuming and at times overlooked group of birds in the birding realm are shorebirds including the largest sandpiper. With most shorebirds sporting various...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
Wonderful Waxwings of Summer
Alberta landscapes and habitat provide great places for perhaps one of our most beautiful of birds, the Cedar Waxwing. Named after the notable red tips...
Columnists - Elaine and Don Cassidy
The King of Birds Comes From the East?
Not all kings are tyrants, with perhaps the exception of the Eastern Kingbird, a member of the Tyrannus Tyrannus genus. Arriving in Calgary and area about mid...


