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Ecowrappin'
MORE OF THE THINGS YOU SEE
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Last month I related some of the rarely seen activities that I have witnessed in the wonderful world of nature---activities that may be rather commonplace in the discreet ways of the wild but that I thought somewhat extraordinary for the human eye to behold.I talked last time of things I had seen when I had a gun in my hand, otherwise, when I was hunting, hiking or scouting. I have often carried a gun with me in the fields and woods even when I was not hunting! For some reason I have had the opportunity to see things while hunting that I have never seen, or probably never would have seen, otherwise. I think it comes from being so finely attuned to nature---being so completely enwrapped as a part of the natural world when hunting.
I have spent many an early morning and a few late afternoons in the grain and corn stubble fields of the Bruce Peninsula hunting ducks and geese. Watching the flocks come and go and work the fields is an awe-inspiring spectacle that you can never tire of. Greater Sandhill Cranes have been expanding their range eastward and southward across Ontario over the past three decades. I saw my first while goose hunting in Lindsay Township, home to some of my predecessors, back in 1981. Those three birds have grown in numbers year by year from family groups to small flocks. They now nest in scattered locations on Manitoulin Island and in Bruce, Grey and Simcoe Counties. I usually see these majestic birds at the break of day when out in the stubble fields. I saw a flock of 12 this past Thanksgiving Weekend.
Deer hunting is my ultimate passion. Two of the denizens of the big woods that I'm always thrilled to see are pine martens and fishers, both members of the weasel family. Pine martens are especially amusing little characters. By moving slowly and quietly, you can sometimes spot one moving through the woods. If by fortune it comes your way it will usually get quite close before it spots you. They do not beat a hasty retreat as most other animals would. They climb the nearest tree, usually just a few feet away, and spend as much time taking an interest in you as you are in them, sizing you up at close range. Martens are inquisitive, comical and mischievous creatures---they are a pure delight to watch.
The much larger fisher on the other hand is a shy creature. Not that it has to be! The only animals in the woods that could handle a big fisher are a timber wolf, black bear or maybe a wolverine; and I doubt that any would be to enthusiastic about picking a fight with a fisher. Any time you see a fisher it will not be for long as they always seem to be on the move.
The River Otter is comparable in size, stature and ferocity to a big Fisher. Three years ago I was working through the bush near a deep beaver pond on the opening day of moose season. I could hear the thin ice of the pond breaking in a regular cadence. Thinking that a moose was walking the shallow shoreline, I approached the pond will utmost care. When I could see the ice surface it quickly became apparent that there was no moose. The ice was being broken from beneath the surface at a regular interval; something was poking small holes in the ice from beneath with the resulting fragments spraying into the air and tinkling across the ice surface. My first thought was, why would beavers be doing this? Suddenly, two very large otters came out from under the ice beside a large, partially submerged log and climbed up onto said log. Otters are the other inquisitive, mischievous, fun-loving members of the weasel family. Once again I had seen something that I expect few others have witnessed.
Not all these quirks of nature have been observed while I had a gun in my hand, though I have to admit that the most memorable have. In my last article I mentioned the Northern Goshawk, a tremendous raptor among the top branches of the evolutionary tree. Many years ago in early spring I was walking by a very small swale at the back end of our farm. This swale only held water during early spring and late fall. A large Goshawk, obviously a female, rose from the edge of the swale and perched in a small tree. The bird showed no fear and was reluctant to leave. I went over to the point from which the bird had risen and found a dead female mallard. The poor duck had sought security in the small, wet, wooded enclave only to be ambushed by a hawk far more adept at travelling through the woods at high speed than a mallard will ever be!
Most of us have all seen hawks of various sizes sitting on a fence, telephone or hydro wire with a mouse or small bird clutched in its talons. I was pursuing another of my passionate pastimes, stream fishing for brook (speckled) trout years ago when a hawk of undermined species roared in to land on a fence post a few yards from me. It was an immature bird, plain in plumage. It was larger than a Cooper's hawk and much quicker in direct flight than a Marsh hawk. It may have been an immature Goshawk. It had a sparrow in its grip. The little bird kicked wildly for a few seconds and then expired. The hawk proceeded to pluck and eat the entire kill right in front of me, oblivious to the fact that I was there in plain sight. This reinforced my assessment that this was an immature bird as a mature and wiser-in-the-ways-of-the-world hawk would have quickly left with the kill.
I have always had a fascination for hawks and owls. On two occasions I have seen the migration kettles of Broad-winged hawks. One of these was just east of the town of Aurora in September of 1976; the other was at Hillman Marsh near Point Pelee circa 1985, also in September. A steady stream of hawks coming in at low altitude to catch a strong thermal updraft as given by a specific geographic feature; then spiralling upward and all peeling off at a much higher altitude is something to behold. On both occasions the flow of birds was continuous for nearly two hours. They came in from northerly and easterly directions and departed south westerly in each case.
Also impressive are the Sharp-shinned hawk migrations. I saw one of these along the Lake Ontario shoreline at Darlington Provincial Park during one of the popular Darlington Waterfowl Tournaments of the 1970's, and another at Hillman Marsh at the same time I witnessed the Broad-winged hawk spectacle there. Many avid bird watchers take in the hawk migrations each year so my observations in this regard, though new to me, are old hat to many others. What few have seen, however, is a Peregrine Falcon in the wild. During late November of 1973 I was building a stone fireplace and chimney in a new cottage on the shore of Lake Huron. I was on the roof finishing the concrete cap on the chimney. It was a grey, blustery day. The shoreline was a mere 30 yards away. A Peregrine Falcon, following the shoreline southward, came by at eye level only a few yards away. There was no mistaking that bird, the dark cap and prominent facial bar of a mature Peregrine Falcon.
Owls I have seen only on one occasion for each are the Boreal Owl, the Hawk Owl, the Long-eared Owl and the Barred Owl. I expect that I have heard the two latter species on more than one occasion though. The Hawk Owl does not mind being about in daylight hours. I have seen pairs of Short-eared Owls circling over the open country in early mornings; again while hunting ducks or geese in the fields. When first seen they look like Great Horned Owls but they behave much differently.
I have been fortunate to have been given a lifetime of opportunities, through both work and recreation, to spend so much time in the great-out-of-doors. My life has been permanently enriched through an intermingling with and participation in the natural scene. I still spend time in rural and semi-wilderness areas and I hope to be able to continue so for a long while from today. I expect to see more of Mother Nature's entertainers and extraordinary happenings along the way.
I was born on the Bruce Peninsula on July 20, 1951 and raised on a farm just south of the village of Lionís Head, which is located about halfway up the peninsula on the Georgian Bay shoreline. I graduated from Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie in 1973 as a Resources Engineering Technologist. I was hired by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) in April of 1975 as the first DUC employee in Ontario. Throughout almost 29 years I was involved with the implementation of more than 500 wetland projects and project complexes in southwestern and south central Ontario. Some of these habitat projects included important waterfowl and migratory bird habitat along the eastern shoreline of Lake St. Clair. Just three weeks short of completing 29 years with DUC, I accepted an early retirement opportunity effective March 31, 2004.
