"Butcher" Time

The “Butcher” Shrike Earl Plato We much older wild bird observers called them the
“Butcher” shrike. Today its appellation is simply Northern shrike. Have you ever seen one?
The late great nature writer Ed Teale gives us a vivid account as follows: “… the robin-sized black. white and gray stranger alights in our apple tree. At first glance it resembles a chunky mocking bird. For a time all is still.
.Below the tree juncos and tree sparrows continue their feeding. Then a bluejay shrieks. The small birds scatter.
… without warning the stranger has plummeted downward from the tree limb. As though wielding an axe it has delivered a deadly blow with its bill to the back of the skull of one of the feeding juncos. The swift and silent killer is that predatory “Butcher” bird, the Northern shrike. When there is a winter scarcity of food it can be driven southwards. Then its diet consists mainly of mice and small birds. The sketch above shows grasshoppers and would show other insects and mice impaled on its thorn tree summer larder. This scene I saw was on the bank of the o ld C.N.R. tracks in Fort Erie. The late Fort Erie naturalist, Bert Miller, verified my find. Keep observing in nature.
In the recent Bird Count this December Northern (Butcher) shrieks were seen in Niagara. The “Butcher” is back.

Why Believe

Believe in what. Why? Earl Plato
This is not my usual environmentally centred weekly nature article. It’s about human or inhuman nature. Yes, I am a ‘news junkie.’ CNN and Cable 14 repeatedly told me and showed me about the horrific spectacles of beheadings and car bombings in Iraq. Carl Wieland in an editorial entitled, The Power of Ideas, hit home with me. He said what you believe does matter. Those who perpetuated the atrocities were driven by certain ideas and beliefs. The Bible commands Christians to ‘do good to all’-Galatians 6:10. What do you believe? One acquaintance told me it doesn’t matter what you believe. He contended that belief in a supreme power is “just in your head.” Does it matter? Josef Stalin , dictator of Russia, was an avowed theist. No living God in his mind. History records that he killed millions of his people. What caused him to ruthlessly wipe out human life? Adolph Hitler murdered millions of Jews in ethnic cleansing as remembered at Auschwitz and other inhuman concentration camps. Down through the ages there have been unimaginable examples of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Many others too have carried out powerful ideas in recent years that resulted in the terrible losses of innocent lives. In their quest for power “The world belongs to the strongest” appears to be one of their beliefs. What they believed in made a tremendous difference. Again the question - What do you believe and in whom do you believe? It does make a difference. Do good and love your neighbours. Those are beliefs to live by in 2005. May those Iraqi people who believe in loving their fellow men and women be triumphant. We need more people in the world who know in what and whom they believe in 2005. Hopefully they will be constructive beliefs that build up human dignity. Beliefs that reveal a desire for a world of peace and concern for others is essential. Our Canadian responses to the “Tsunami” catastrophe shows mankind at its finest. That’s “man’s humanity to man. Believe in compassion and caring for our fellowman and yes, for our natural world too. This article was written last year and is a repeat.

Anomaly anyone?

nn1103 Earl Plato
An anomaly in the movies? I heard the word how many times while watching Matrix Reloaded recently. “Anomaly?” Anomalies in nature? I guess so. We have seen the “Witch’s Brooms” at Marcy Woods and in the Thunder Bay community outside Ridgeway. A virus had attacked coniferous trees such as hemlock and pine. The trees’ attempts to fight this virus incursion results in dense growths at the end of branches, hence the name, “Witch’s Broom.” The name fits the shape. There are other anomalies in nature.
C’mon Plato, what’s an anomaly in nature? It’s a deviation from the ordinary, from what’s the rule that you observe in the great outdoors. You can call it an abnormality and I apply it also to strange behaviour in animals.
The following anomaly in nature comes from Teale’s writings while he rambled in his woods one day.
“However, if the woodchucks fail to contribute to the interest of my walk, the house sparrows do provide a time of diversion at its end. When I started out nearly half a hundred were feeding with other small birds on seed scattered on the snow. When I come back I see them again. Now they are collected in the far corner of the yard close to a bluebird box that has been left on the fence post throughout the winter. Like tree swallows on telephone wires during the autumn migration, they are ranged side by side In dense rows along the barbed wires of the nearby fence. All are chirping in great excitement.” Here’s the anomaly.
“One after the other, little groups of four or five flutter up to the box. They hover at the round entrance hole or alight on the box. Then another band rises and takes their place, repeating the puzzling performance. None of the house sparrows, so far as I can see, enter the hole. After all the birds have flown away, I examine the box carefully. There is nothing inside that has caused the excitement!” I’d say this is an anomaly, a deviation from normal house sparrow behaviour.
Teale thought about it. Perhaps the sparrows had engaged in some mass response to an early mating and nesting urge. Training? As one who has had to lower his two Purple martin houses on the farm each spring and dig out the House sparrows’ nests before the Martins’ return, I know the tenacity of those (English) House sparrows.
What Teale saw was etched in his mind. It was not normal sparrow activities as far as he knew.
Know any more anomalies in nature?

The Cave Man

Bert, The Cave Man by Earl Plato

I came across an article about the late Fort Erie naturalist Bert Miller and cave exploring. Bert was a fearless explorer and loved caves. He would take a friend along on a Saturday ramble. That day it was to Cave Springs on the Niagara Escarpment. “See that small opening there,” he would say. Tying the end of a hug ball of twine securely to his belt he told his friend the following. “This is a new opening for me. Every so often I’ll give tug on the twine just to let you know I’m alright.” Now Bert was over six feet but physically fit. He squeezed into the opening with a sturdy flashlight. Minutes passed and then the friend felt a tug. Five minutes more and another tug. Fine, the friend thought. Time passed. The friend looked at his watch. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty.
The friend pulled on the twine. No resistance. A minute later he had retrieved Bert’s lifeline. What to do he thought, Bert’s car was down the way at the base of the escarpment. Panic stricken he went to the cave opening and yelled, “BERT!” e. A reply came. “Hey, you almost broke my eardrums!” A smiling Bert Miller emerged from the cave opening. “Sorry about untying the twine. I had come to the end of the line but there ahead the cave opened up and I could stand up. Amazing place! Cool like a refrigerator. I’ll return with my camera.”
You had to know Bert who lived into his nineties. Always curious always exploring. A real cave man, eh.
***
Wookey Hole is found in eastern England on the edge of the Mendip Hills near Bristol. Wife, Elaine. and her cousins drove us to Wookey Hole caves. I was a little sceptical. I didn’t think that England had many caves as North America. I had been to Howe Caverns N.Y., famed Luray Caverns of Virginia and many more even Bonnchere Caverns in Ontario. So what would we see here? Elaine’s English cousins seemed proud of this unusual cave. This cave was hunted! A witch inhabited Wookey’s Hole. That’s what our guide said. In 1694 the witch of Wookey Hole was well established. Records of the day stated, “ the old Witch herself and even her dog was mentioned.” It became a legend. This day was rainy and cool day in August. Not a very nice day. There were nine chambers in all. The ninth was opened in 1975.
A strange place as noises were heard and reverberated.
In 1914 archaeologist Balch uncovered human remains in the cave. Stone altars some feel were sacrificial had been found at Wookey. Here may be the origin of the legend of the Witch of Wookey Hole. The Hole is located in wildly beautiful surroundings along with an ever gushing giant spring. A memorable day.

Pill Bug

Pill Bug Earl Plato
Six year old grand daughter Ashlyn Kells is fascinated with bugs. I found her this past Saturday digging bare handed in her back yard. She was looking for bugs in the dark, rich earth and she found one. It was a dark little pill bug. I like bugs too. The pile of old and decaying cut wood just east of the Marcy cabin is gone. It was on the surface of one log that a bug was moving. It was a pill bug. It is a small and primitive creature. Ed Teale, naturalist called it , “ a terrestrial isopod crustracean..” Looking at it it suggests a prehistoric trilobite in miniature. On this May day at Marcy Woods Ashlyn and I are looking for a pill bug in a mouldering pile of logs on the Lower Trail. No luck today. The name pill bug comes from its ability to roll its brownish-gray body into a round pill-like ball. The internet tells us that it resembles an armadillo in its curling up in a ball. I learned that its scientific name of the pill bug’s family is Armadillidae! I remember seeing a white spot on that old log near the cabin. Fellow naturalist, Ernie Giles, said that it was chitin from the pill bug that had just emerged. It was the almost translucent shell of the insect. This outer coating is the exoskeleton that takes the place of the internal framework in mammals. The sequence on that May day long ago was that the pill bug free of its old covering saw its new chitin rapidly hardening. It moved slowly across the log. Look for bugs on your walks. Ashlyn and I will too.
***
I read it again. It made sense. Here it is. “Perspective colours our lives as much, if not more than other fundamentals. Keep the same old perspective and our lives devolve to a gray routine. Change our perspective and our lives take on new colour and excitement.” Do you know what I mean? Especially us seniors! Almost all of my life I have done bird watching from the ground. I gained a new perspective. High up in the canopy of white pines on Our Walk in the Clouds in Haliburton we looked down into a Red-eyed vireo nest. Down from 50 feet in the air! A new and thrilling perspective? I guess so. Don’t get me wrong I will not be climbing too many trees for these unique views of bird nests. However, I can suggest a new setting just for sighting birds that I experienced years ago. In he east side of Wainfleet Marsh at the north end of Biederman Road is a deer run. Every so often there are hunter platforms used during deer hunting season. This was spring and I climbed up to one platform and there nestled among the row of alders came the songs of birds. There just a short distance away, 20 feet above the ground, was a RED EYED VIREO looking me in the eye. Try something different in nature this year. Have a different perspective. Who knows what new outlooks you will experience. Try a new perspective in your nature endeavours.

Newfoundland Last Year

Newfoundland Earl Plato
Fraser Churchill born and aised in Newfondland was glad that my wife, Elaine, made it to the “Rock.” “When are you going back? He asked recently this may. Here’s an article I wrote for he Niagara Falls Rev1ew last year.
We were told that there were no snakes or skunks in Newfoundland. During our ten days in Newfoundland we saw no road kill. Yes, they have raccoons and squirrels. We saw twelve moose mainly on the west side of the province. Most of these giant animals were in the wetlands. We saw a few near the only highway in the area. There were signs to warn us of moose crossing areas. Our big Denure tour bus meeting a bull moose circa 2,000 lb. would be quite a collision. At Twillingate in the north at the local lighthouse point we saw several Humpback whales as they jetted their sprays into the air. These are huge mammals as I found out later. At Grand Falls we visited the giant salmon ladder. The Atlantic salmon are raised there and when large enough climb the man-made ladder to reach the upper reaches of the Exploits River where they spawn. You can see these fish up close through a glassed in area. Salmon and cod were on the menu all over the island. Excellent eating. On to St. John’s where I went on a whale watching hunt on a catamaran. All ready cancelled the day before because of stormy weather we braved the elements the next day. After all we had come this far to see whales up close. I normally can take care of boat motion, however, I took a Gravol and it worked. Several people were seasick as the boat plunged into the rolling waves. Then a mother Humpback and her young came into sight. A marvellous view as they dove and emerged. The mother whale blowing her jet of water. Four dolphins passed by us as we headed for Puffin island. Hundreds of Kittiwakes and thousands of Puffins were seen and smelled. The ammonia from their droppings assailed our nostrils as we neared the cliffs. Countless nesting holes on the cliff side held these colourful Puffins called “Sea parrots.” A rare sighting of a Northern Phalarope was shown to me by one of the boatmen. As I viewed it with my binoculars he said, “That’s a female phalarope. They’re the colourful one. Brighter than the male. He’s the one who incubates the eggs,” as he chuckled. Was he kidding me? Not so. Check it out. The “Rock” is a great place to visit. However, we saw only one lonely iceberg. Plenty of flora and fauna though.

Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead Earl Plato

I have had e-mails and telephone calls about wild turkey sightings. Niagara Falls resident, Dianne Morris, e-mailed me a good one. She saw 15 in a field at the corner of McLeod and Kalar. They headed for the playground off Kalar Road. Dianne was pleasantly surprised. The last part of her message invoked memories in me. She wrote, “... I was on the Millenium Trail and on the other side of the fence between the Trail and the canal, I saw two adult wild turkeys with five babies trailing behind.” That’s my experience too but down in ski country just past Ellicottville in Cattaraugus County. We were headed back Hungry Hollow Road toward my cousin’s rustic place. In an open field just beside us near the road was a duplicate of Dianne’s sighting. Five chicks too. I was as close as I have ever been to wild turkeys. How close have you ever been to wild turkeys in Niagara? Yes, I know there’s a wild turkey hunt coming up shortly April 24-25. Tou need the St.Catharines course to get a hunting licence. Me? I still hunt but with a camera ***
Raincoat and knee boots I walk the Bert Miller Nature Trail at Point Abino. What should I write about this April shower day? I don’t have to for my nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, said it best. “Yesterday the thermometer was up; today it is down. Yesterday the sky was far away, shining, burnished blue. Today it sags low, dragging sluggish clouds, heavy and opaque just above the tree tops. Before dawn the April rain began. Hour after hour it has been soaking the meadows, dimpling the pond and drenching the woods. ... I find myself repeating the words: “Rain, rain, April rain! Rain and green grow the grasses-o!”
Soon these sandy woodland vales of Point Abino will be covered with trilliums. What a joyful sight it will be!
***
Hey, I have become well equipped again nature-wise. My fold up tripod seat has been replaced. I’ve lost weight so I hope this one holds me up! I recently bought a collapsible walking stick. I intend to travel overseas with it but these old knees need some extra support. Right now it helps me over the many fallen limbs on the trail. I have my light-weight bird glasses. I often take my little camera and my field sketch pad. You never know what you’ll see. On this warm spring day I need no jacket. I talked with Rick at the gate. He said, “I saw a large group of Northern flickers near the Point Abino lighthouse.” soon these Abino woods will be full of spring birds. I’m equipped. How about you nature-wise?

Bear Time!

Bear Time Earl Plato

I have seen the devastation that fallen tree limbs can do yet I still have good memories of certain trees. “Tree hugger’? Yes. The late peninsula naturalist Bert Miller had tears in his eyes when in the 1950’s his giant Tulip tree of Rose Hill was cut down without warning. On my many trips with Bert Miller as a youth trees were high on his list to view and appreciate. I am still a tree lover all of these years. What trees do you appreciate?
***
On one of our picture walls we have a photo of wife, Elaine, brandishing a club-like tree branch. Why? We are deep in Spruce Bog Trail, Algonquin Park, just the two of us alone. She was prepared io meet a black bear! The waiter back at our resort had told us not to worry only if “you meet a mother and her cubs.” Nice guy. It was early June of this year. Of course nothing happened. Then I read this little article from the Buffalo News. I quote: “Studies in animals have shown that new mothers have low levels of CRF, a brain chemical linked to fear and anxiety.” Makes sense, eh, when you hear of a mother bear driving off a huge male in order to protect its young. Memory flash back: Son Paul and daughter Elizabeth and myself started on a hemlock lined trail in the Bay of Fundy National Park circa thirty years ago. Our plan was to walk to the edge of a little peninsula. Suddenly a young man came running down the trail toward us. : “There’s a mother bear and cubs back there!” He rushed past us. Case in point - respect a female bear with young - we asked no questions and headed for the station wagon pronto.
***

Raccoons

Raccoons Earl Plato

Want to get a good nature reference book? I invested again in a Bennet&Tiner book, The Wild Woods Guide . I still have the old 1985 edition. This newer edition is extremely well illustrated and the two men’s writings are both informative and interesting. Love the book? Yes. On a recent drive the back way to Dunnville along the Grand River Road we counted at least fourteen road kills. Skunks, squirrels, rabbits, opossum and six raccoons. Why so many raccoons? I thought that they were intelligent animals. I read from my new book the following: “Raccoons are extremely bright.” So tell me why they become roadkill apparently so easily. Tiner goes on to say, They repeatedly beat dogs, cats and foxes in animal IQ tests.” How many foxes do you see as roadkill? Raccoons are every where. They are one of our more numerous wild animals in North America. Shreer numbers may be one reason for their deaths on the roads. Locally our new raccoon-proof green boxes have deterred visits to our road side garbage pick- up. It was at Longmeadow farm west of Ridgeway that I and my dogs had two encounters with these black-masked animals. First was Sheba, our Border collie, a bright animal, who met a young raccoon on the long drive way near the pony barn. I watched in amazement as the little dog surrounded the small raccoon and systematically wore it down. Darting in and out Sheba did the poor raccoon in. Three years later after Sheba had died of cancer I had an aggressive Black Labrador named Benji. Walking in the lower fields of Longmeadow a large buck raccoon had descended a tree and approached Benji. Wrong move. I had read where big male raccoons can take on a dog and win. Ferocious sounding he lunged at Benji. In ten minutes the raccoon was dead. Like a counter boxer Benjii would strike the big raccoon each time he lunged. Not pretty but effective. A male ‘coon’ can weigh up to twenty pounds or so. This was a large male. Benji didn’t like some of my daughters’ boyfriends. She didn’t even want them to get out of their cars! Hey, that’s an intelligent dog. Not even a pet raccoon could do that!
My fear of raccoons stems from the rabies that attacks them. A rabid raccoon will act disoriented so avoid them and report the incident to the S.P.C.A. Keep your garbage in raccoon-proof containers.

Eagle Owl

Eagle Owl Earl Plato

I have been to Hell and back literally. My grandmother, Petra Andersen, and her two sisters were born in the little Norwegian village of Hell near the ancient capital of Trondheim. It was here on a mid-May day 2004 that two of my daughters, Elizabeth and Diane, and I found the Eagle owl.
Four days in Trondheim, a beautifully clean city, gave us time to explore. In the Natural History Museum at the University of Trondheim in walking distance we found Bubo bubo, the Eagle owl. English is Norway’s second language and the university student at the desk was most helpful. “On this floor to your left is a display of native birds, and downstairs is a special room.” The museum’s brochure had the Eagle owl as its logo! I was in Bubo country! We found three Eagle owls mounted and they were of impressive size. We recognized other raptors found back home. Then down the stairs to a special room. There greeting us was the face of the giant owl. It was an entire room devoted to the Eagle owl of Norway! In a diorama was a spectacular sight. An enormous Eagle owl with an eagle-like wing spread was suspended from the ceiling. In its powerful talons was a full grown red fox. Realistically frightening. Unfortunately all the writeups were in Norwegian. Shots of nests and young were portrayed in the displays including the prey of this largest of owls - lambs, fox, and small animals and old tales of human babies being carried away.
On our way back south to Oslo and my relatives’ homes we saw two nests. One was close to the N6 highway and I snapped it. It was a large nest but I think too small. Then daughter Elizabeth spied off in the distance an extremely huge nest. A home of Bubo bubo the great Norwegian Eagle owl? I think so. Thank you Pelham library for you started it all. My quest has ended. Enjoy nature while you can.

Let Nature take its course

Feathers by Earl Plato

The souvenir pewter drinking mug on my duck decoys shelf holds a variety of bird feathers. They are large specimens such as the tail feather of a Cooper’s hawk. I have no small songbird feathers though I have found many over the years. Nature writer Ed Teale shares this little excerpt. “The feather first catches our eye. No more than three-quarters of an inch long it is tipped with scarlet. Like a tiny perfect jewel resting on the rich green velvet of a jewellery case, it lies on a cushion of moss beside the trail - the body feather dropped by a molting Scarlet tanager.” Get a another cup only smaller and collect some small but colourful songbird feathers? Why not?
***
Hey, I am an animal lover but I agree with Gerry Riesing of the Buffalo News when he says that he disagrees with the animal rights folks who insist we simply “let nature take its course.” Few of us would want a black bear in our back yards as occurred in Hamilton recently. More of us would be willing to see the problems created by deer, Canada geese, and purple loosestrife addressed by our town and region. Bears and wild cats in urban areas should be caught and humanely removed to their more natural habitats.
***
To the bird lover, eye catching colours of certain songbirds are so appealing. I’ve said many times that I miss the family farm setting for many reasons - one main one was the colourful songbirds. Here in town I miss the myriad of coloured plumages. Wait! Last month we had a male Rose-breasted grosbeak at our feeders. A flood of colour images came to my mind’s eye after that viewing. Deep in Marcy’s Woods Ernie Giles and I took photos of a male Scarlet Tanager. Look it up in your bird guide. What a vivid recall of those deep black and powerful red colours captured in that slide. Ever think of a nature photography hobby?

Disposition of Birds

Disposition Bird-wise Earl Plato

Five years on the Sherkston family farm were well spent nature-wise.
On one mid-January day I remember watching the birds at our feeders day after day. I have written before about my perception of the disposition of certain of our feathered friends. This is another recollection that late nature writer Ed Teale inspired.
That morning a small flock of cedar waxwings alighted in the top branches of our evergreens. They are one of my favourite birds. I had seen a similar flock a month before in the Stevensville Conservation park feeding on the wild olive trees. These birds at the farm too gave the impression of being amicably inclined. They came as a group and they left as a group. Beautiful birds that they are, they seemed to enjoy each others company.
However, in contrast are those flocking birds, the bluejays and crows - cousins - that bicker and quarrel. They were prone to explode into cawing or screaming melees at any provocation.
I quote the late nature writer, Ed Teale, as he said, “ Some birds by temperament concentrate on their own business. Others like the little house wren concern themselves with everybody’s business. Some like the wood thrush and brown creeper are reclusive.” Yet others in Niagara like the catbird and robin build their nests close to human dwellings. What do the visitors at your feeder display as a usual disposition? Call me at 905-894-2417 or e-mail me at plato1@vaxxine.com and share your observations. ***
Most of you know him well. On the family farm he was a regular visitor at the suet ball. Now living in town I miss him. The Downy woodpecker
is sparrow-sized. He’s the smallest of our woodpeckers. He’s a black and white patterned bird. He has a red patch on the nape of his neck.
Listen for his ‘pik-pik-pik’ sound. Our Downy was approachable. I would consider him almost tameable. While the nuthatches and browncreepers would disperse the Downy stayed at the suet feeder as you came closer. He seemed to have no fear of big humans. It was in a small woods at Wellfleet Nature Center in central Cape Cod we experienced a Downy woodpecker fest. I stood amazed as a dozen of the downies flittered through the trees feeding on insects. Downy woodpeckers on migration? - Could be. it was late August. What a Downy fix ! To see a dozen of these neat little birds was a treat.
Bird watching has become the second most passive sport (after gardening) in North America. We understand that over 30,000 million are now bird watchers. Secure a bird guide and enjoy. Many of us have taken the next step - setting up a bird feeder. Local stores often have information about avian nutrition. It’s worth the effort. Just one caution - once you start a feeder be faithful in supplying seed and food including a watering place. Adopt a Downy if you can.

Beamers in 2009

Nature Earl Plato


I am hooked on white in nature - white crows, white robins, white squirrels and recently the famous white buck deer of Ridgeway. I have been fascinated with albinism all my life. I had seen an albino man as a youth. His white hair and pinkish pupils were an anomaly that I have never forgotten. I first wrote about an albino crow in a 1998 Review article entitled, The Infamous White Crow of Pelham. Since then I have had calls about other albino animals such as white deer in Niagara Falls, yes, albino raccoons and even a skunk. Albinism is here to stay. ***
Spring to me is seeing skunk cabbages peeking through the snow as each melts a circle around itself . Drive along Halloway Bay Road at its southern terminus. On either side of the old Bertie/Humberstone drainage ditch crossing are a multitude of these unique heat generating spring plants. As a child the late naturalist Bert Miller would take his knife and slice off a piece of a leaf. He would hold it up to your nose, “Take a sniff.” That pungent ‘skunk-like’ odour assailed your nostrils.
These unique plants grow and grow until their elephant ear-like leaves become the largest of our local spring plants.
***
Beamer’s Point this coming year? A friend called recently and asked about this great bird migrating point. “Never made it there last year,” was his comment. Beamer’s Point can make you a bird addict. Six times one year I drove to the Grimsby Lookout. What a year! A Bald eagle soared over head on my first visit. 500 or so Broad-winged hawks on my nexy visit! Don’t know your raptors? Don’t worry for there is an expert there daily, a member of the Hawk Watch team. Hamilton Nature Club members make up most of the faithful recording observers. I take my spotting scope and a fold up chair for you need to spend some time there if you really are serious. Dress warmly, eh.
A mid-March Beamer’s Point Report this year lists many raptor sightings. A total of 478 red-tailed hawks so far! Five Bald eagles and the inevitable soarer 33 Turkey vultures. Then I looked at the list more closely - a Golden eagle? Yes, one. I have seen this giant bird, one of my favourites, in captivity but never in the wild. Yes, I am heading west then south up Christie Avenue off the QEW this week. Beamer’s Point is worth the visit any time this spring.

Hawks

HAWKS EARL PLATO
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).

Albino?

Albino? Earl Plato

What a strange looking plant structure I saw last Fall. Albertine Stranges sent me a great close up photo this January of the fungus that grew at the front of her Parkway home in Chippawa. Pie-shaped it can grow up to 40 cm. across! Catathelasma imperiale, it is known as the Commander. We read that this double ringed fungus according to the Peterson guide is edible. Not for this writer.
***
Have you heard of the albino buck deer of Rosehill and west in Fort Erie.? Well ther’s more than one out there. Steve Gamble of Lyon’s Creek reported recently to me that a buck and a doe near his property were almost all white. Albinism is the lack of melanin that creates colour in the animal’s system and that includes humans. Albinos have white hair or fur and pink eyes caused by the absence of pigment. Then I researched on the internet and read that some scientists say that all albinos are not pure white. Three calls from Niagata Falls in the northwest described deer that had brown rears or partially brown heads. Albinos? I would say so.
I hopefully am about to secure a photo of the majestic albino deer of Ridgeway.
Remember the white crow of Pelham a few years ago? We had albino mice and rabbits as children. Dogs, snakes, fish and monkeys can be albino too. Unfortunately albinism means the animal or human lacks protection against powerful sun rays. The result is often skin cancer and a shorthened life. An amomoly for sure and an unique opportunity to see an albino.

Norway

Norway Earl Plato

Think perpetual darkness. No spiritual connotations intended but think of the cold north lands in deep winter time. Think Norway and the Arctic Circle. Think specifically Tromso. That’s where my cousin’s son, Irvind Benjaminsen, is attending University. I am in continued contact with Irvind via E-mail. He spent a summer week with us and knows something about our Ontario climate. I bemoaned our extremely cold January. He replied that as far as he knew the warmest temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere occur in Northern Norway. You know why. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream from North America bathes the coastline of Norway. Irvind said, “ At Tromso we are warmer today (mid-January) than in Toronto. So? This article is about the several months of winter that daily are devoid of sunlight. Irvind is enjoying his stay as he studies to become a doctor. I asked him if he could check out the giant Eagle owl. “Earl, are you kidding? From November to March almost twenty-four hours of darkness. Wait until summer.” That’s right. Winter-summer - no four seasons as we have. Summer is only about three months long in the land of the Midnight Sun. Whenever the thermometer climbs above 10 C (50 degrees F.) trees can grow on the tundra. Trees? The frozen sub-soil prevents tree roots from penetrating very deep. What Irvind sees are only dwarf willows and stunted birches. Sort of a Nordic ‘bonsai’. The main vegetation is a patchwork of grasses, mosses, lichens and shrubs - reindeer country. Photos show me a land dotted with lakes and pools. Fishing time come summer? You bet! Arctic char and salmon abound. As in northern Canada flocks of geese, swans and ducks come to the Nordic tundra in Norway and Sweden to breed. Summer time supplies these migratory birds with plentiful food for the fast growing chicks. I asked Irvind about the ‘bully’ swan the Mute swan. No reply as yet. These swans from Europe have come to North America and drive out other swans and ducks when they establish a nesting site. They have a visible black knob at the base of their orange beak. Yes, they show up on the Niagara River at times. The tundra is home to a variety of birds that many birders will recognize. gulls, skuas, terns, petrels, guillemots, auks and the delightful puffins. Again I have to be cognizant that cousin Irvind came to the University of Tromso just when summer changed to winter. Hopefully this summer I will learn more about the Nordic tundra when he can see the land and sky in broad daylight!
Two of my daughters and myself travelled to Norway in 2004. We
drove rrom Oslo to ancient Trondheim in the north to my grandmother’s birthplace, the little village of Hell. Great setting in this Viking country. We were still hundreds of miles south of the Nordic tundra. No time to see my cousin in Tromso. But he came to see us back in Asker near Oslo. Love your roots, eh.