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Nature Diary

Selections From June

By Andrew TurnbullPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Great Horned Owl and Coopers Hawk

It was daybreak. I couldn’t see where I was going through the tall rushes, just a wall of green in a big room of green that was the closed-in feeling of the marsh. The deer path led to a clearing where there was a stand of old willows. I climbed up into one of the trees to get a better view of the marsh. As I climbed, I heard a bird calling “cack, cack, cack, cack,” insistently in one of the trees nearby. I thought it was cack-ing a warning to all other animals of my presence in the marsh, as if my floundering through the high rushes wasn’t enough. Looking up to find my tattle-tale, I saw it was a Coopers Hawk.

Coopers Hawk

I was surprised too, to find that the object of his objection was not me but a Great Horned Owl. The Coopers Hawk had worked himself up (photos 5 &7) and was hopping mad, jumping from one limb to another. The big owl calmly ignored him.

Great Horned Owl

After a while the hawk quieted down and then flew off over the marsh, trailed by a flock of screeching blackbirds in immediate pursuit. I took some more photos of the owl and was in the process of leaning carefully back against the tree trunk when the owl flew silently away. When I looked up again it was already over the far trees at the edge of the forest.

~ ~ ~

Mink

Another furtive mink emerging from the water one afternoon to hide in a flotsam log pile at the far end of the Outer Harbour Marina. In this out of-the-way corner, past the fuelling docks and adjacent to a nature preserve, the mink seemed surprised to find anyone interested in its comings and goings. It would hear the camera click and slink down between the logs, wait for a moment before poking its head back up, and then look over as if to say, “You’re still here? Well this is awkward...I was expecting to be alone!”

The floating log pile is next to a mast-less, abandoned Buccaneer sailboat (photo 5) that was found awash in the lake and is slated for demolition and recycling. The boat has a broken hatchway and the floor is flooded half a foot deep with rainwater; but it’s available for free, I guess, if anyone wants it. With summer coming and Lake Ontario looking so inviting this spring, it’s tempting to take it on as a restoration project. May or may not come with a stow-away mink as hesitant crew.

Abandoned Ship!

~ ~ ~

Largemouth Bass and Sunfish

Largemouth Guarding It’s Spawning Territory

With the warmer weather of late spring, Sunfish and Largemouth Bass leave the deeper part of the pond and move into the shallows where they stake out a circle of underwater shoreline to make a nest.

The fish make their nesting circles by finning debris along the bottom out to a perimeter, of several inches to a couple of feet in diameter, that marks their breeding territory. The male sunfish then guards the female and the nest and will chase away any intruder that crosses the perimeter.

Sunfish pair building nest in shallows

As you walk the path that leads around Grenadier Pond, you can see the nesting circles in the shallows, see the shadows of fish inside the circle and sometimes you can see a scaly flash visible through the surface glare of the pond as the male rolls over onto its side during courtship.

~ ~ ~

Eastern Kingbird

An elegant bird in classic attire

We’ve been seeing many of these Eastern Kingbirds lately in the open fields and marshes by the lake. Often they’re seen in arial combat with blackbirds and robins in disputes over territory.

There is plenty for them to eat here, with clouds of non-biting midges still swarming over the meadowlands and with mosquito season just beginning. One hopes that they dine well and long.

They are handsome birds, almost formal-looking, as though dressed in a grey jacket over black tails with white tip, white shirt, black shoes and black cap.

wild animals
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About the Creator

Andrew Turnbull

I take out my camera, screw on the telephoto lens, and start walking.

Letting go of thoughts or worries, I silently ask, “What is beautiful and interesting today?”

The answer to that question is what I photograph and write about here.

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