Thursday, October 30, 2008

Swan Time

Well I Swan Earl Plato

A few years back on a cold blustery day in mid-November we drove to Abino Bay. There they were! Nestled in the bay and protected from the full force of lake Erie’s powerful winds we started the count. As we drove out for a closer look the number of the giant swans grew. I said to nature partner, Bob Chambers, “There must be at least a 100 Whistling swans!” We continued on to the Bertie Boat Club and turned around. Bob in the passenger seat and with much better eyesight than I began the count.
The beautiful birds were grouped in pockets. Carefully Bob counted. 50, 60,70, 80, 90 and then over a 100. His count 118 farther out in the bay and then closer into shore, very close, Bob counted 23 more. In total 141 Trumpeter swans here in Fort Erie. How long will they stay? I imagine when the winds subside they will be on their way south. We will check them out tomorrow morning.
9:32 a.m.m Nov.17. Elaine and I head for Point Abino. Not one Whistling swan in sight! The winds have subsided some so it’s off again for our swans to warmer climes.
Each Fall large numbers of Whistling swans pause briefly on the Great Lakes before moving to their winter quarters along the Atlantic coast. They are closely related to the Trumpeter swan which has been reduced to near extinction. The Whistling or Tundra swan breeds in the Arctic tundra. Not many hunters there so it continues to thrive. The Trumpeter, however, breeds in our western provinces and is more accessible to hunters. Both these birds are magnificent species.
We plan to check Abino Bay on a regular basis. “Here today and gone tomorrow.” With a Timmy’s in hand it’s a good morning’s destination.
Bob Chambers and I could hear the mellow, rich bugling calls as they rested in the Abino Bay. Will others stop over? I hope so.
Drive out to the end of Point Abino Road and look for these great birds. You never know. My E-mail is changed. It’s earplato@enoreo.on.ca. Be in touch - nature wise.
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Hockey weekend in Ontario. We headed out this Friday to see grandson, Jage Noble, play for the Niagara Falls Major PeeWee AAA in the Waterloo Tournament. That means Elaine and I will have some time to kill. Is it shopping for her and/or a nature ramble to Homer Watson Nature Park? This park is a fine example of Carolinian forest. There are fair-sized trees including one of my favourite species - an impressive “old growth” of Eastern hemlocks. High bluffs give an excellent view of the Grand River especially now this fall with most of the leaves down.
Shopping and a nature walk. Now I hope Niagara Falls wins the games.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Back Tracking

Keep tracking, eh! Earl Plato
This is a look back again. “Hurt my foot. X-rayed it. Not broken so out to Marcy Woods we go. Not alone Plato take a friend on this winter day. This is the kind of a winter that I remember as a youth. Snow and more snow.
I admire skiers. To down hill ski again is out of the question. “Bobby Orr” knees for me. Actually I liked cross-country skiing in earlier days. Had a call from an old friend. He called from Fort Plain, New York to apologize that he had missed us on our family camping trip out West. When? 30 years ago! I recalled my back field cross-country skiing to his place as a youth. His mother would make a mug of steaming hot chocolate and give me a plate of homemade cookies. I still can picture those times. Just one of the benefits of skiing.
Try cross-country skiing this winter. It’s not too hard on the knees and it’s a chance to enjoy the outdoors. I used to follow the tracks of rabbits until they disappeared into a bush or woods. It’s track time this winter. However, I would advise you not to follow the large paw tracks of a certain cat, especially in Fort Erie. Bobcat. Lynx or mountain lion?” Here in 2008 it’s been reported again in the Stevensville area.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Barn Owll

 
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Barn Owl

Barnowl.bell.11.08 Earl Plato

“Screech-hiss-s-hiss-grunts and screams!” Weird calls! Scary white faces peered down at me. In reaction my small hands loosen on the ladder rung and I fell backwards. The fall was less than ten feet but that was enough to knock the wind from me. I had landed on old hay and the stiff ends of the dried timothy jammed into my back. As I regained my breath I started to cry. No one heard me. My mother was cooking inside the house and my brothers were at school. I sat up. I stopped the crying and looked up at the top of the ladder. Three little owls were peering down at me. Just then a large bird came through an opening above the owls. It must have been the parent. It hopped to the edge of the upper hay mow and started hissing. I stood up and headed to the tall ladder that lead don to the barn floor. I told my mother of the experience. I showed the puncture wounds across my back. Time for stinging iodine to be applied. I was only a curious five year old. My father encouraged the barn owls to move on and they did. No more ghostly birds to frighten a little boy.
This article is about the barn owl that once was seen rather regularly in rural Fort Erie many years ago. This owl has a heart-shaped face. My photo doesn’t show the numerous small dark spots on the white under parts. It has dark eyes and relatively long legs. Not a large owl about crow size.
We should have encouraged these barn owls to stay for they feed almost entirely on rodents. We had resident rats in the barn at that time. Today neglected cemeteries, garbage dumps, run down farms and waste lots are still home to this owl. Old church bell towers once a favourite nesting site have been greatly diminished in 2008. See a barn owl locally?

Friday, October 17, 2008

A Look Back- Dear John

Old Friend , John and Marcy Woods by Earl Plato
“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”
John Lessle from Buffalo is an old friend. Like me he loves Marcy’s Woods. John knew the late Dr. George Marcy for many years. John came to my home Friday, July 25. He, like me, had read the Buffalo News account of Marcy Woods that same day. Like me he was saddened.
“Go to Marcy’s Woods?”, I asked him. John surprised me. “Earl, I’ve never been to Shagbark Trail in Ridgeway.” “Shagbark?” I said.
That’s where we went and walked the narrow trails of Shagbark hickory trail . All had grown in this summer. Where once there were wide trails now only narrow pathways exist. 85 year old John is a knowledgeable naturalist. He knows plants and their scientific names. Bee-Balm also called Oswego Tea greeted us at the beginning of the trail. “Monarda didyama.” “Pardon, John. Repeat that.” John crushed a leaf and a flower from the plant’s ragged scarlet pompon, “Smell this.” The pungent smell of mint was very strong. “Bee-Balm makes a good tea.” We saw many more Bee-Balm plants along the tangled way.
What surprised me in this new Fort Erie Town park was the profusity of False Solomom=Seal plants. Their easily identified leaves and their ruby red fruit were every where. I have been coming to Shagbark for years up unto 2000. A badly sprained achilles tendon kept me on the mend for almost two summers. Hey, three years have passed! Can things change that much in nature? You bet.
Shagbark Hickory Trail needs some help. What can be a beautiful town nature park needs some work just to maintain the trails. The Park is located off Burleigh Road just east of Ridgeway.
John Lessle is a ‘golden’ friend. That day before the saddening news of the Marcy’s Woods sale I drove John to the Woods. For over sixty years John had walked and photographed this unique area. “Do you want to walk in, John?” Almost as if he had known about the front page news that would follow the next day he said, “ No, Earl. Too many memories.” Memories of this special place is all we have.

Virginia Rail

 
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Virginia Rail

 
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The Rail

On the Trail -Dube16.10 Earl Plato

On the Trail I was alone as I approached Six Mile creek that crosses under our Friendship Trail. I am always listening for birds and I heard chickadees, a crow and then an unusual loud call. It was in the wooded wetlands just north of our Trail. Loud and resonating from the woods I stopped to listen and looked and looked. No bird glasses with me again! I detected no movements. Again the loud “ticket” call. I knew what it was. At Mud lake with Blayne Farnan, Port Colborne naturalist, we heard and saw a Virginia Rail. I headed home and checked my Peterson CD. There was the call of the Virginia Rail. No doubt about it. I call it the “Ticket” bird. Why? If you hear the far carrying call - “ticket-ticket-ticket-ticket” near the Trail you have the Virginia Rail in Fort Erie. This rail is common but an elusive marsh bird. Blayne Farnan used a calling tape to attract the Virginia Rail and then played his flashlight on it. The bird prefers to escape intruders by running through protective marsh vegetation. If you’re lucky to see one - it’s a small rail with a long reddish bill. Its under part are rusty-brown with gray cheeks. Think small 9-11 inches in length. See one this fall on or near the Trail. Ride or walk the Trail before winter comes, eh.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hawk Time

Do you have friends up North? That’s the domain of our largest accipter, the Goshawk. This is a most powerful hawk that will even attack humans during breeding season. From Teale’s January 12th log we read, “The gray goshawk is back in the hickory tree. ... I spend a long time watching this large and handsome bird of prey. From its coal black crown and the striking white stripe above its eye, down to its blue-gray back and laterally streaked silver-gray underparts, to its long, nearly square tail, it is a bird streamlined for velocity. We see it rocking on a topmost branch turning its head and taking stock with its brilliant orange eyes of all the scene around him.”
Writer’s note: I have been to Hawk Mountain in central Pennsylvania and saw in their museum the photos of thousands of these Goshawks and other hawk species shot annually doing spring and fall migration times. These photos were taken back in Depression time in America. Back then it seemed the only good hawk was a dead one! Goshawks typically attacked poultry farms. The state offered a bounty of $5.00 for every Goshawk destroyed. Back in the Depression Thirties this was a significant sum.
“We see it drop from its high perch in the hickory tree. In a long accelerating dive it cuts through the air like a rapier. We feel the thrill of the plunge. We follow every movement of this bird - so swift so graceful - so beautiful in flight.” Unlike its cousins the Cooper and Sharpshinned hawks it preys mainly on larger birds. Grouse and quail, and yes robins and flickers, bluejays and mourning doves are some of its usual fare. It also snatches up squirrels and rabbits. No other hawk is so audacious but today it is protected as it should be. Comments? Call me at 905-894-2417 or E-mail - plato1@vaxxine.com
Writer’s Note: Got my hawk fix on the Q.E.W. just past the Sodom Road cutoff heading west. Four Redtails, a Sharp-shinned and flying overhead a Marsh hawk (Northern harrier).

Red tail hawk

 
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Red Tail Hawk

 
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Hawks

Bellhawks10.08 Earl Plato


The violent rainstorms of past did the hawk nest in on Michener Road. No remains of the Red-tails large nest. It was gone and so were our resident hawks. However, we saw a pair of them near Longmeadow farm on Michener Road this past month. Will they return in 2009?
Writer’s note: Red-tail hawks are our largest and most common Niagara hawk. It is in the genus, Buteo along with Red-shouldered, Broad-winged and my favourite, Swainson’s hawk. Like all hawks it has excellent eyesight. The Audubon bird book p.639 tells us, “... soars over the open country in search of its prey, but just as often perches in a tree at the edge of the meadow, watching for the slightest move in the grass below.” Right on. From Sodom road cutoff west on Q.E.W. toward Niagara Falls look to the trees on the north side. There should be hawks there on a regular basis. Where do you see the Red-tails?
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I can see well again. What a difference an operation can do to improve one’s eyesight! I can see the tuft on the Tufted titmouse. Of course a good pair of bird binoculars help. Look for birds in the woods in our Friendship Trail at old Erie Beach. That’s a great walk for anyone. Again bicyclists warn walkers ahead of you that you’re coming. Close call for me last week 0n the Trail at Erie Beach. No warning as he whizzed by me!