Tracks Again

Track Time Again Earl Plato

Track times - behind Ross Bearss’s place one winter day - we were walking the narrow snow covered trail in the fields to the west. Besides the obvious track prints of rabbits there were other signs to search for while tracking. Here just off the trail was a small pile of feathers and drops of blood on the snow. A kestrel (Sparrow hawk) or some other accipiter had made a kill of a small bird. In nature in winter look for the signs such as urine markings and scat. Scat? My Peterson Guide shows drawings of the different droppings of mammals - that’s scat! They are tell tale signs. Here in Ross’s back fields we could see bushes with twigs chewed and in the woods trees with bark gnawed. Near the ponds we saw den holes in the banks and diggings in the ground where tracks led up to one. Skunk tracks? I think so. Remember this mammal on a warm winter day might wander outside for a little stroll.
Look for unusual signs not just tracks.
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E-mails are wonderful for the most part. They let you contact relations across the Atlantic. For example, wife, Elaine, heard from her cousin, Diane, in Bristol, England. I have heard from my cousin’s son, Irvind, from Tromso, Norway. We wished each other a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and then ... Earl couldn’t resist asking the young university cousin ... what about the Eagle owl?
It’s scientific name for its home in Scandinavia is Bubo bubo bubo. No kidding!
Want to hear about this giant raptor? I am fascinated with this giant owl, the world’s largest. Daughter Diane, and I saw a captive young one at Pelham Library. The Stoney Creek Raptor group had a display of raptors. This young owl was as large as our largest resident owl, the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus). When you think that our largest hawk in the peninsula is the Red-tailed hawk which weighs about 2-3 lbs then learn that a male Eagle Owl can weigh up to twenty pounds you begin to picture this most enormous raptor.
I wrote in the Review some years ago about this bird. My cousin Irvind is studying to become a doctor at the University of Tromso which is at the northern range of Bubo. Irvind has been with me to Marcy Woods. He has seen the Great Blue Heron and other large birds I the Niagara Peninsula. I have sailed the fjords of Norway and seen the huge Ravens but no Bubo bubo. My hope is that Irvind might see this giant bird. Today, January 3rd, 2003 I received an E-mail from cousin, Irvind. He has been in the north of Norway only a few months and has not seen Bubo bubo. Yes, he has seen the Eagle owl - several of them in a very big zoo outside of Christiansund in southern Norway. His comment - “They’re huge.” Look up the Eagle Owl on the Internet if you are interested. With Irvind in Norway willing to do a little research on Bubo bubo too, I will share what we find in a later article, eh.
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Peregrine falcon back in Fort Erie. That’s the report received from birder, Marci Jacklin. She says, “ ... a group of Buffleheads taking flight to avoid a PEREGRINE FALCON.” (We watched this happen from the parking lot at the mouth of the Niagara River.) That’s across from historic Fort Erie. Welcome back peregrines in 2003! Ten Tundra swans still floating in Abino Bay on January 4th. Ice shelves starting to build up along the shore. Two of the swans are immature - notice the grayish colouring. As the Wild celery beds have ice cover over them will the Tunrdas stay?