John Geary
@birdpaddler.bsky.social
I'm a ... Paddler•birder•shutterbug• traveller•coffeeholic•parront•nature nut•sports fan•movie buff•bibliophile ...and I've written about all of these topics on the radio, in print, online.
It’s #InternationalOwlAwarenessDay. A day to learn about, and appreciate, owls, and find out how we can better protect them and their habitat. Featured here: a barred owl, a great horned owl, a snowy owl, and a barn owl. #OwlAwarenessDay #Owls #BarredOwl #GreatHornedOwl #SnowyOwl #BarnOwl
Today is #WorldNatureConservationDay & #WorldConservationDay. To help celebrate the day, here are 5 photos taken at Ontario conservation areas I’ve visited: Crawford Lake, Lake Laurentian, Heart Lake, Island Lake, and Kortright.
There’s been a lot of soccer played at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium the past few weeks. Getting the field ready for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was quite an operation; my story for Canadian Geographic delves into the science behind it. #WorldCup2026 #Soccer #FIFA canadiangeographic.ca/articles/fif...
FIFA World Cup: the science behind the turf
From an Abbotsford, BC farm to the Canadian Men’s National Team’s greatest World Cup win: how it took hundreds of thousands of dollars, dozens of workers and one whole year to grow the perfect FIFA so...
canadiangeographic.ca
Happy #CanadaDay2026! Celebrating By posting for different #paddling images from four different places in #Canada: Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and the Yukon.
It’s #InternationalFishermenDay. A day to honour the men & women who brave the waters to provide food security & support coastal economies. Featured here: pix from Maritime Museums in Steveston, BC; Campbell River, BC; and Lunenburg, NS. The 1st pic is a boat heading out to do go shrimpin’.
Who wants to do some down east fishing? My latest piece for Explore. explore-mag.com/the-ultimate...
The Ultimate Guide to Fishing in the Maritimes – Explore Magazine
“A bad day fishing beats a good day working.”
explore-mag.com
Today is Nature Photography Day. To quote Henry, David Thoreau, “We can never have enough of Nature.“ There is no beauty like natural beauty, so I’ve shared a few of my photos of various aspects of nature here. #NaturePhotographyDay #NaturePhotos #Nature
Today is #GlobalAfricaDay: A day for celebrating all things, African. Enjoy some African cuisine, (in an African restaurant or at home); listen to African music; watch films about Africa; read about Africa. Learn all there is to learn about #Africa. Some images taken there with an SLR. #AfricaDay
Happy #WorldTurtleDay! The main object to mark this day is to make more people aware of the climate & hunting obstacles faced by turtles to inspire more human action to protect turtles and tortoises and increase their survival rates in the wild. It was originally started by #AmericanTortoiseRescue.
Happy #NationalPandaDay. Habitat loss & fragmentation makes pandas a vulnerable species that requires dedicated conservation to preserve their numbers. The day is dedicated to celebrating them and spreading awareness of the threats they face to encourage efforts to protect them. #Panda #PandaDay
Happy #WorldWildlifeDay! The best way to ensure wildlife survival? Take action. Little steps can make a difference: • make a regular donation to a conservation group • volunteer in a conservation organization • write letters/sign petitions to let gov’t know how you feel. #Wildlife #Conservation
The #MugOfTheMonth: Part of a 2-part gift I received for Christmas. The macaw illustration is by #EdwardLear. A well-respected naturalist & natural history artist. He has the distinction of having a #macaw in South America named after him. The book features his illustrations. #LearsMacaw
Happy #InternationalCribbageDay! It’s a day for celebrating the card game that has you moving pegs around a board in a race to 121 (& trying to avoid being skunked! Even more fun if you have a #crib board with carving on it or shaped like a canoe… like those featured here. #Cribbage #CribbageDay
Looking for a #SummerCamp For your kids? Now is the time to register – and here are some options across Canada you might want to try. explore-mag.com/10-of-the-be...
10 of the Best Outdoor Adventure Summer Camps across Canada – Explore Magazine
Although summer is several weeks away, now is the time to be thinking about summer camps.
explore-mag.com
Today is #BirdFeedingDay! Also the start of #NationalBirdFeedingMonth. I’ve been part of #ProjectFeederwatch for 10 years. I’ve counted over 30 #bird species in our #Vancouver yard & recorded them through #BirdsCanada & #CornellLabofOrnithology. The birds featured here are just a few of them.
Today is #WorldWetlandsDay. #Wetlands are not just swamps, something yucky to be ignored or drained. Healthy wetlands actually help prevent flooding, act as filters so that we can have clean drinking water & provide habitat for a wide variety of animals. #Wetlands #WorldWetlandsDay #Ducks #Birds
Oceans provide essential ecosystem services to human society, yet the climate impacts on blue capital have long been ignored. A study in Nature Climate Change shows that accounting for the potential damage would almost double the social cost of carbon estimation. go.nature.com/4riGn6w 🌊 🧪
Is it possible to be invisible? Some animals have a clear answer. https://www.snexplores.org/article/how-person-animal-be-invisible
Is it possible to be invisible?
Fiction is full of characters with the power to vanish. But some animals have real-life ways to become nearly invisible.
snexplores.org
Because two ways are better than one? ;-) youtu.be/frdSsbxblEs?...
Two Ways to Climb a Tree—But Why?
YouTube video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
youtu.be
It’s #TreeTomeTuesday. This week’s book is about the #borealforest - its importance to our planet, how it’s disappearing, & possible solutions to the dilemma. The author is the founder/director of #BlackMountainsCollege, which teaches skills for mitigating & adapting to climate change. #TheTreeLine
Happy #SquirrelAppreciationDay! Whether you want them in your yard or not, at some point they’ll be there! 🐿🤷♂️ #Squirrels #CheekySquirrels #FriskySquirrels
It’s #TreeTomeTuesday. Just one chapter in. Written by a professional forester who has a different concept of how we should be doing #forestry. He’s against many current forestry practices, but doesn’t think we just completely leave forests alone, either. Some interesting ideas. #BooksAboutTrees
Thanks to elaborate coordination between muscle and breath, woodpeckers can hammer at a perfectly consistent rate for an extended period of time. https://www.snexplores.org/article/woodpeckers-grunt-when-peck
Woodpeckers grunt like tennis players when they peck
These birds grunt like tennis pros when making their rat-a-tat, a strategy that may help steady woodpeckers' movements.
snexplores.org
Today is #InternationalHotAndSpicyFood Day. There are many really good hot & spicy foods in various cuisines around the world: Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, East Indian, Mexican, Morrocan…the list goes on. Treat yourself a new hot and spicy dish today. #HotAndSpicy #InternationalCuisine
WestJet reversing move to install tight seating layout after backlash
WestJet reversing move to install tight seating layout after backlash
MONTREAL — In the wake of a backlash sparked by a viral video, WestJet has cancelled a new seat configuration that squeezed an extra row on board many of its planes and left passengers with less legroom.
dlvr.it
Today is #NationalBirdDay! The 4 birds featured here – Steller’s jay, downy woodpecker, Anna’s hummingbird, & red breasted nuthatch – were just 4 of the species I saw while doing my bird count for #ProjectFeederwatch today. You can learn more about this citizen science project at www.birdscanada.org
Today is #NationalWildlifeDay. A day to focus on the ongoing efforts to conserve endangered wild animals: birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, marine mammals, insects. I took the images featured here in #BC, #Alberta, & %Ontario. #GrizzlyBear #MerlinFalcon #Moose #CommonLoon #NationalWildlifeDay2025
Happy #NationalAviationDay. Celebrate being able to “make like a bird” - in #planes, #helicopters, & gliders. Do you remember your first flight? Mine was in a bush plane in Northern Ontario. #biplanes #bushplanes #propplanes #jets #helicopters #AviationDay #NationalAviationDay2025 #Aviation
