Often called the “undertaker” bird, the Marabou Stork is one of the ugliest birds you’ll come across in Africa.
A Marabou Stork in a Tree in Nairobi, Kenya
Strangely, this was my first wildlife encounter when I landed in Kenya for a month long safari in eastern Africa. These birds were found in parks and trees around the capital, usually just standing there, as if waiting for something to die so they could swoop down.
Kind of intimidating at first, after a few days and seeing them fly and hop around on the ground, I started to like them a bit more. They’re no beauties but just like vultures, they play an important role in the cycle of life in Africa. For the most part they are harmless birds, attracted to leftovers at animal kills. But if you do run across a bunch of them in a city, be a little wary, as they have been known to get aggressive if they’ve become habituated and accustomed to feeding off of human garbage and scraps.
One of the great urban wilderness surprises of Toronto is located out on Lake Ontario. It’s a 5km stretch of land known as Tommy Thompson Park, or the “Spit”.
The park is only accessible on weekends and holidays. With a strict no dogs policy it has turned into a urban haven for wildlife and birdlife. You can easily spot herons, egrets, cormorants, geese, swans, ducks, falcons and other birds here. You can spot beaver huts and if lucky – maybe coyotes or other more elusive creatures. Definitely one of the best places in Toronto for wildlife viewing.
American Mink in Toronto
I was lucky to stumble across a hungry American Mink (Neovison vison), also called an Eastern Mink or Little Black Mink, as it is the smallest subspecies of mink. He was darting along the shoreline in search of food. He scampered across the rocks, stopped for a nice big yawn, then dove into the water. The mink is the largest member of the weasel family in this part of the world.
He swam out about 30m before diving down and disappearing for a couple of minutes. When he finally emerged, swimming back to shore, I saw he had caught some dinner. It was some strange looking blobby fish that had a white fin. As ugly as that meal looked, the mink sure liked it and hid behind some rocks to devour his tasty meal back on the beach.
Mink stopping for a yawn before diving into Lake Ontario for a meal
If you’ve ever wondered “what do minks eat?”, well apparently ugly fish is on their menu! Judging by the shell piles on the beach, this mink had a steady diet of mussels as well, which I had expected him to find on this swim.
It’s the first time I’ve come across a mink in Toronto, but hopefully not the last. Great to see such a cool creature only a short hike away from the Toronto skyline!
Mink swimming back to shore at Tommy Thompson Park with an ugly fish for a meal
Visiting the Galapagos Islands was a dream destination for me, and I’m lucky to have visited more than once.
When it comes to wildlife, this is paradise. Not only are there a wide range of animals to be seen, they’re virtually all friendly and not camera shy. This makes for great photos and fun experiences, as sometimes you’re trying to get “away” from the wildlife instead of getting “closer”.
This curious Galapagos sea lion pup was walking around in the sand on North Seymour Island, chasing the few of us who were there to get some photos. He was probably the cutest little guy we saw there, but there were hundreds of sea lions everywhere, it was quite fascinating to see!
Some of them were even sleeping across pathways that we were supposed to walk on, so we’d have to gingerly walk around them, not to disturb their sleep. Of course the little baby Galapagos sea lions like this guy were more active either chasing other sea lions, or looking for some milk from their sea lion mothers.
The only downside of these funny and cute sea lions? They stink! Especially when there is a large group of them hanging out on the beach.
The Great Blue Heron is one of my favourite birds found in North America.
To be a fish, crab, turtle or other small creature near where these guys hunt must be terrifying. I’ve seen these birds hunt in parks near home in Ontario, Canada and as far away as the Galapagos Islands, but this one in the Florida Everglades put on the best show. I’ve heard they also hunt reptiles, mammals and rodents so even chipmunks and gophers and voles aren’t safe from these guys!
The heron must’ve been very hungry as it easily speared a few victims during the time I watched it, just before sunset. Impressive bird, that must’ve been more than 1m tall.
Great Blue Heron, Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park
An interesting occurrence when I visited Bundala National Park in Sri Lanka was the presence of farming and fishing activities.
After visiting a number of other National Parks, which seemed strictly patrolled and protected, Bundala was more open and accessible.
Nearby villagers have easy access to the park, which is not fenced in, so they are able to bring their livestock into the park for grazing. It’s a bit controversial as on one side conservationists want to stop the cattle from entering the park as they can bring in invasive species and graze on land that the wild animals will no longer use. On the other side, there is no space or public land for many of the farmers to bring their cattle outside of the park, so they need either a new source of income or more public land.
I didn’t notice any ill-effects from the cattle grazing, but I only visited for one day.
