The Hornblower can be seen taking visitors to the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Hornblower Boat Tours won a 30-year contract to be the sole tour operator on the Canadian side of the Falls after a bidding process conducted by the Niagara Parks Commission in 2012. The Maid of the Mist, which had been operating boat tours at The Falls since 1846, has re-located to the U.S. side of the Falls.


I visit Niagara Falls each summer (a side trip as part of a family visit to Toronto) to see peregrine falcons but this year I was apparently early. The young peregrines were still in the nest, so no activity. I was relegated to getting my fix this year in Ottawa instead. Normally the young peregrines are flying around the Niagara Gorge by end of June providing spectacular close-up looks and photo ops. The falcons often fly at eye-level performing spectacular aerial displays swooping through the thick mist and sometimes buzzing the tour boats below.