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| Fletcher Wildlife Garden | profile | all galleries >> Previous FWG blogs >> 2008 Blogs >> FWG blog: November 2008 | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
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Occasionally he'd retreat to one of several temporary snow tunnels.
Someone asked me recently whether the fruit of the amur corktree (a species appearing increasingly at FWG) was eaten by wildlife. I hadn't actually seen any evidence but speculated that it must be as the fruit vanishes from the trees, and seedlings are popping up in various locations. Today I saw a mix of robins and starlings feeding on the fruit in the Arboretum in a tree not far from FWG.
Next to the corktree was a small common hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), the seeds of which were being consumed at a great rate by at least 6 grey squirrels.
Back at the FWG, the Amphibian Pond is quickly regaining last winter's name of "the duck pond". There were at least 45 mallards and one black duck there today, up from around 15 the other day. Will we reach the peak of last winter when we counted upwards of 200 mallards in there?!
A few of the mallards that have come to the FWG pond in the last few days as water elsewhere freezes over.
Diane Lepage visited the FWG on Sunday. She said "When I arrived I went in the BYG and there were House Finches, BC Chickadees, Crows. I then walked to the other feeder and saw 1 female cardinal, BC Chickadees, more Crows, around 20 House Finches and later saw A. Goldfinches. On my way back to the centre I saw a Robin and was able to photograph it.
There have been up to 10 robins around recently. Diane was able to get a good photo of this one.
This beautiful cooper's hawk, a first-year bird, has been hanging around the FWG and Arboretum for several weeks now. In this photo, she was sitting very near the feeder in the Backyard Garden, causing a minor amount of disturbance amongst the smaller birds. Chickadees were scolding in a half-hearted way, but most birds flew to the feeder, more or less ignoring her. Eventually she flew down to the Arboretum where a big adult red-tailed hawk was being pursued by crows. The cooper's did a quick mid-flight detour and landed in the same tree as the red-tailed, calling quite piercingly. After some time the red-tailed hawk flew pursued by a posse of crows and the cooper's. This went on for the next hour, with the two hawks eventually landing up in a big red oak back at the FWG.
Meanwhile, this is one of about half-a-dozen chickadees that were flying to the feeder to grab a seed, under the eyes of the cooper's hawk.
Over on the farm, opposite FWG, a huge flock of snow buntings was busily feeding in the wheat stubble. There must have been in excess of 200 birds.
When the buntings took off and wheeled above the wheat fields, it was a spectacular sight. This poor quality photo gives only a slight indication, and is of only a tiny fraction of the entire flock.
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