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What was happening at the FWG in December 2007
31 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan Both feeders were hotspots today at the FWG, and there were many birds around this morning. 
The greatest activity was around the Ash Woods feeder where the juncos were clustered, along with 4 of the 5 male cardinals, and 3 of the 4 female cardinals. At one point all four male cardinals were sitting in a spruce with about 14 House Finches. The bright red of both cardinals and male house finches was striking against the snow covered spruce.  This is where I saw the brown 'Oregon' junco today, along with 7 other dark-eyed juncos including a couple of the brown females. However, a photographer I spoke with earlier said he'd seen the 'Oregon' junco in the BYG. I know that sometimes people do get confused between the brown 'Oregon' junco and the brown female of the dark-eyed junco, as I have overheard people calling the females the 'oregon' junco. Easy enough mistake to make. Later, a mixed flock of redpolls, goldfinches and a few house finches landed in the ravine and began attacking the black locust seed pods with vigour.  The BYG feeder was being sat on by a mourning dove awaiting the right moment to snatch some seed. Meantime, the suet was a big attraction for a beautiful male downy woodpecker. Another male downy was over in the Ash Woods along with a female, and a male Hairy Woodpecker.  In the pond the mallards, or two of them at least, had hit paydirt as far as food was concerned. A female was struggling to get a grip on a large green frog while being pursued by half a dozen other mallards, intent on getting their share. Meanwhile, a short distance away, a male mallard was having his own struggles with a second green frog. He kept thrashing it against the water and then tipping his head back in an attempt to swallow it. It took awhile, but finally, with a massive effort, he succeeded. The female, on the other hand, lost her grip on the frog while dipping it in the water and it was promptly snatched by another female who eventually succeeded in eating it.
By the pond, the resident red squirrel was vigorously defending its private stash of walnuts and butternuts. Anyone walking above the north side of the pond has probably heard a loud gnawing sound as this red squirrel works away on one of its nuts. This is usually followed by a very harsh scolding when the squirrel discovers someone else is around (and presumably after his food!). |
Back in the Ash Woods, the squirrels were busy trying to find food. One
grey squirrel (melanistic form) found the apple I'd photographed the
other day, scooped it up and proceeded to tuck in! Another grey squirrel
satisfied its hunger by gnawing away on Manitoba maple bark.30 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan The deep snow has brought tough times for some animals and safety for others. It has also buried some of the vegetation that birds feed on, such as seeds of many grasses and weeds. The cone crop was not great this year, at least around the FWG, so red squirrels, who usually stockpile cones for winter consumption, are having to turn to other food sources.
The fruits of hawthorn, buckthorn, roses, black locust and alders are other food sources currently available around the FWG and Arboretum. Malus still offers the most attractive food to birds and squirrels, but not all malus trees are created equal; many trees are laden with fruit that has not been touched, while the most palatable fruit has now been mostly eaten. Although life may be harsh for some creatures, it is safer for others - meadow voles, for example travel beneath the snow where they can find weed and grass seeds. To some extent, they can also avoid predation, although some of their chief predators are superbly equipped for sensing their movement beneath the snow (in what is called the subnivian zone). Once spring comes and the snow melts, you will find an abundance of vole tunnels throughout the open areas of FWG.
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You can judge for yourself the activity around the garden by looking
for tracks in fresh snow. You'll see few vole tracks, mouse tracks (photo at right), lots of red squirrel and grey squirrel tracks, fewer
rabbit tracks this winter, more fox tracks, and the very occasional
weasel track. Oh yes, and crow, rock pigeon and starling tracks
too. 30 December — photos and notes from Sandy Garland There seemed to be Red Squirrels everywhere at the FWG today - chasing each other through the trees in the ravine, gathering around our bird feeders, but often traveling some distance on the ground, looking for something to eat. I watched one squirrel gnaw the pith out of the centre of a sumac stem that had been cut off or broken earlier. It then picked up a cluster of sumac berries and worked busily away at it for a few minutes before racing off to find something else to eat. I gathered up the remains of the sumac seeds for a closer look.
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28 December Bryan Shane sent us this spectacular photo of a Red-tailed Hawk in flight, taken at the FWG on 15 December.  |
21 December — photos and notes from Sandy Garland
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18 December — photos and notes from Sandy Garland
Despite all the snow and blustery weather, our Amphibian Pond still has quite a large area of open water. And the water level is higher than usual. Water is running over the dam at the east end and trickling through the ravine. Robins seem to be attracted to the water and stay around when they can get a drink. On Tuesday, I watched 2 of them just below the bridge.
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15 December — photos and notes from Diane Lepage
When he finally left, birds started returning to the feeder. Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, including the Oregon Junco, were the first to arrive. Cardinals (male pictured above right), House Finches, a Downy Woodpecker, and a few American Goldfinches showed up for a short period and a Red-breasted Nuthatch came to the feeder a few times. While I was watching the feeder, I heard crows calling very loudly. I looked up to see them chasing a Red-tailed Hawk. Going back toward the centre I also saw Robins. The pond still has open water and there is flow over the dam into the ravine. |
15 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan It has been relatively good for birds around the FWG this last week. Highlight was the male Pileated Woodpecker (below left) that put on a performance in the Ash Woods and the thickets around the Old Field a few days ago. Sadly, it was hard to capture a good image due to poor light conditions and the speed at which his head was moving as he hammered away at the trees. A better photographer than I would have been able to take some good shots.
A few American Robins (above right) are still around, along with about 6 Dark-eyed Juncos, including the "Oregon" junco. Other birds sighted over the last week include approximately 12-14 chickadees,15-20 House Finches, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, a much reduced flock of Bohemian Waxwings - 60-70 rather than the 200+ of earlier (photo below), two White-throated Sparrows, both at the BYG feeder on Friday, a lone Common Redpoll still hanging around the BYG as well, small flocks of starlings, a couple of American Goldfinches, 20-30 House Sparrows, one Red-tailed Hawk, 10-15 Mourning Doves, and two White-breasted Nuthatches.
Crows and Rock Pigeons fly over and by the garden constantly, and on Friday a flock of about 20 Great Black-backed Gulls circled the garden and the canal below for about 2 minutes before moving north toward the Ottawa River. I can remember a time when the sight of these birds in Ottawa was cause for excitement. Now, they move in as the Ring-billed Gulls move out and can often be seen in pretty good numbers. |
8 December — photos from Bryan Shane
Bryan Shane, a member of the OFNC, photographed these finches at our Backyard Garden feeder on Saturday. Diane Lepage reported also seeing Chickadees, Crows, Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos and hearing American Goldfinches. |
6 December — photos and notes from Diane Lepage
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6 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan The snow and colder weather has certainly driven the birds to the feeders and to other available food supplies. Fruit and seed bearing trees including hawthorn, crabapple, buckthorn, birch and Manitoba maple are also attracting many birds. Yesterday morning, the sun warmed up the south side roof of the Interpretive Centre, leaving a slim bare patch, and causing snow to melt in a slow trickle. This attracted a number of Mourning Doves and House Finches seeking moisture, as you can see in the photo of a dove sipping droplets of water (below left).
Today there were 6 robins in the Ravine (which one birder I met called a "ditch" - Harumph!!), drinking water from the seepage under the bridge, and eating crabapples (above middle). The Ash Woods feeder, on the south side of the woodlot, which I call "Tony's feeder" because he made it, continues to attract birds, birders and photographers. The "Oregon" junco makes brief appearances there, never staying for as long as the other birds. A White-throated Sparrow (above right) is also regularly found there (and in the BYG), along with Mourning Doves, House Finches, Cardinals, one or two American Goldfinches, chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches. The Red-tailed Hawk seems to like the south side of the Ash Woods too.
In the Arboretum I saw only 60 Bohemian Waxwings today and three female Pine Grosbeaks, but the waxwings are skittish, flying out of sight at the slightest movement, returning later to other perches. |
5 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan Fresh snow is great for looking for and photographing, animal tracks. After that, of course, comes the task of figuring out what animal made them. Fortunately, at FWG we don't have a lot of animals to choose from and the tracks "our" animals make are pretty distinctive. Wednesday, was perfect for shots of tracks and I attach a few. Also, a photo of some drifting snow in the New Woods area (below left), which I thought was rather intriguing (the snow, not the photo!).
The photo above shows a meadow vole clearly running around trying to escape whatever aerial predator (notice wing mark) was after it. Could be a crow since I've seen them recently taking voles. It looks like the bird dipped down to catch the vole and in so doing, brushed one wing against the snow.
Above are two photos of Peromyscus mice tracks, one showing the tracks parallel to a grey squirrel track (middle), and the other showing where a mouse was bounding through the snow (right). See also Tracks in the snow on our web site. |
4 December — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan There were many birds and birders today at FWG. The latter all looking for the 'Oregon' Junco. It was seen, not by me, at the Ash Woods feeder about an hour after I left the woods. The feeders are certainly the busiest places these days, but the Manitoba Maple trees are certainly attracting a lot of attention from squirrels seeking the seeds, and of course the chickadees are always probing twigs and branches for insects.
Earlier, about noon, I was able to get a good look at a gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk sitting high in a tree in the Ash Woods (photos above). Although they will feed on squirrels (and rabbits and other large prey), there were 3 grey squirrels (melanistic phase) scampering all around the hawk, both above and below it. I'm guessing the hawk had recently eaten because no interest was shown in this abundant food source just a few metres away (below).
Around the Ash Woods feeder, there were 17 House Finches, at least 8 chickadees, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Dark-eyed Junco (but later, apparently, there were up to five, including the "oregon" form), 1 White-throated Sparrow (another, or the same, was seen in the BYG), and about 5 Mourning Doves.
Elsewhere, including the BYG feeder, were 14 House Sparrows, 200 Bohemian Waxwings, more chickadees and juncos, 3 Cardinals, small flocks of starlings, about 6 or 7 Crows, 1 robin, and a flock of what were probably redpolls, flew quickly across the FWG towards the canal. No luck in re-locating them. As I was leaving, someone stopped me to say they'd just seen a hawk fly down the ravine towards the BYG. She thought maybe Cooper's or Sharp-shinned but admitted that she has trouble with these two (who doesn't, I might add!!). I didn't go back to take a look, having been at the FWG for some hours and wanting to go home and get warm. The fresh snow is a boon for those who like to look for tracks, and every track tells a story. There were some faint fox tracks at FWG, but they had been partially filled with drifting snow, not great for photos. However, fresh red squirrel tracks were nice and clear (below left).
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And the fresh snow makes the remaining red fruit (crabapples,
bittersweet, etc) look even more beautiful!4 December — photos and notes from Sandy Garland
With all the snow we've had over the few days, it's pretty quiet at the FWG. A solitary female duck (Mallard or Black, I'm not sure which) was on our Amphibian Pond this afternoon. Two sets of footprints led to the open water, but only one duck was still around for me to photograph.
Although the animals are hidden away, there are lots of signs of their presence. Red squirrels have been busy lately, storing walnuts, apples, and piles of pine and spruce cones for winter dining. The debris under this pine tree (above right) is the remains of today's lunch. Visitors to the garden should be very careful these days NOT to disturb our wildlife. Ottawa winters can be severe, and the smallest interference with an animal's or bird's food supply can mean the difference between life and death. |
2 December — photos from Diane Lepage, notes from Christine Hanrahan
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A large flock of Bohemian Waxwings has been around for about 5 days
now. I saw at least 200, maybe more, in the Arboretum every day last
week, and again yesterday after the FWG Christmas party. On Friday, they were feeding
on a variety of fruit and seed trees in the Arboretum, several times
with Pine Grosbeaks. There is also a flock of common redpolls around the FWG and the
Arboretum. 
1 December — photos from Diane Lepage, notes from Sandy Garland
At right, Frank, Charlie, Tony, and David in intense discussion of club business.
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The FWG held its annual Christmas Party for volunteers and friends at the Interpretive Centre this Saturday. The event was well attended and a good time was had by all. The food was especially delicious thanks to Betty, Gretchen, Erma, Carolyn, Allison, Marilyn, Diane, Annette, and the elves who made other dishes and beverages miraculously appear.
1 December — notes and photos from Sandy Garland Exciting drama at the FWG, yesterday! A couple of BYG volunteers, meeting on Friday to plan for next season, were making coffee when they noticed a man staring fixedly at one of the stone walls outside. While we watched, a small pure white creature darted out from the wall and picked up a vole it had captured earlier. We invited the man, who was a visitor from Toronto, into the building to use our resource library and helped identify the ermine as a Short-tailed Weasel (Mustela erminea). We all huddled at the window and watched as the tiny creature kept running out with the vole in its mouth, then stopping and racing back to the wall. Suddenly, during one of these forays, a Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped down about 6 feet off the ground. The weasel dropped the vole and ran, but a few minutes later recovered its prey and finally made the dash across the garden and disappeared toward the ravine. Later in the morning we saw it again in the middle of the garden. Unfortunately no one had a camera in hand.
More notes from Christine Hanrahan: The weasel that we've been seeing is a Short-tailed Weasel, (Mustela erminea), the most common and abundant weasel we have in this part of Ontario. I have seen many over the years, in both their summer and winter pelage, but never as many as I think I should see given how common they are. They can be extremely secretive, and they they move like greased lightning, so it is tough to get more than a fleeting glimpse. This is the same species that we first saw at FWG about 10 years ago when a female had young in the ravine and moved them, one by one, up the outside door frame of the Interpretive Centre. She seemed completely unconcerned by the fact that there were several of us standing around watching. She was focused entirely on getting her babies somewhere safe. Once she had them installed, she went and found supper, which turned out to be a young red squirrel - bigger than the weasel. The weasels hung around the FWG for the next few years, but we rarely saw them in the centre again. Every year we either see, or get reports of, a weasel in the garden. Obviously, there is lots of food, and lots of cover for them. In fact, an ideal place to live. Mustela erminea is often called Ermine, no matter the season. Sometimes people here call it Stoat, but that is not typical. I believe it began to be called Short-tailed Weasel to differentiate it from the Long-tailed Weasel, although the difference is minute as size overlaps greatly. All three of the weasel species in Ontario change to a white coat in winter! All have black tips to their tails. | ||||||
