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What was happening at the FWG in November 2007
26 November — photos from Todd Weeks
See larger versions of these photos and others on Todd's web site |
24 November — photos from Diane Lepage
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19 November — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan It was a glorious, if cool day, and this morning the Arboretum hosted a flock of about 15 Pine Grosbeaks. They were back at the crabapples near building 72 and having a grand time. There is still a lot of fruit on the trees so they could continue to be around for a little while yet.
At the BYG, there were flocks of House Finches, a number of chickadees, a few House Sparrows, and a White-breasted Nuthatch. A little Chipmunk was still out and about, looking for seed beneath the feeder.
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19 November — photos and notes from Sandy Garland
Earlier this fall, I also saw tadpoles in the deep end of the pond, although not as many. Now, they seem to be only in this favoured area at the east end. Today, the water was so clear I could see at least 5 large ones (3-4 cm long bodies; tails slightly longer, 5-6 cm) sitting on rocks about a foot under the surface. After taking dozens of photos of the water surface - trying to catch a tadpole in mid-turn as it gulped for air - I finally used a net to lift one out of the water and snap a quick photo before putting it back in. Both Green Frog and Bullfrog tadpoles overwinter and mature the following year. According to Dr. Francis Cook, as they start to develop lungs, they sometimes need more air than their gills can absorb and they swim to the surface to take in a mouthful of air. We're still wondering how our tadpoles can be so active in water that is mostly covered by ice. The deep end of the pond is almost completely covered with a film of ice, which varies in thickness. Along the north edge of the pond, where the ice is very thin, I noticed tiny creatures moving around. I scooped up a water sample and looked at the creatures under a microscope. They proved to be Daphnia, but, curiously, they seemed to be wearing a layer of debris. One looked like its back end was inside an open bivalve - like a hermit crab. As I watched, another one shrugged off its debris and continued to swim around.
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While monitoring the water level in our Amphibian Pond, I've been noticing quite a few tadpoles surfacing in the area right next to the cement pad at the east end of the pond. In the past, we've noticed that the water here is last to freeze and we speculated that there must be an outlet from the holding tank below. 
14 November — photo and notes from Christine Hanrahan
[Note: It's difficult to judge size from a photo; Northern Saw-whet Owls are typically only about 20 cm long. When sitting quietly like this one, they seem very tiny. However, as their wingspan may be up to to 55 cm, they look much bigger when flying.] |
At FWG this morning I saw a Saw-whet Owl. Sandy said she'd found
a small pellet recently, and I told her I'd been looking for these little
guys, so the pellet spurred me on. And today I found one in a white
pine. Talk about cute!11 November — photo and notes from Sandy Garland
Unfortunately, my camera focused on the air bubbles in the ice rather than the turtle, but you can see the general outline of this little guy. Its head is at the top centre, and its tail reaches the bottom of the photo at the lower left. We have seen snapping turtles at the FWG before, but not often. This summer we were astonished to find a huge one (approximately 30-cm shell) basking docilely in the middle of the pond in very shallow water. In fact, we noticed it at all because we were wondering how that "rock" got into the middle of the pond. Luckily snapping turtles are seldom agressive when they are in water, and our "rock" moved off without incident. |
I was making my rounds of the Amphibian Pond as usual yesterday and found a good inch of ice on the south side where the water is mostly shaded by cattails and shrubs. As I tried to guess the thickness by tapping the ice with my trowel, I noticed something moving. At first I thought it was a tadpole, as I had just been counting tadpoles surfacing at the northeast end of the pond, and it was the right shape and size. But, on second look, I recognized a baby snapping turtle. Its shell was less that 4 cm long. It was moving very slowly, just under the ice in an area where the water is less than 10 cm deep over a mushy layer of sediment.8 November — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan
These observations are from the Arboretum. I was delighted to see 7 or 8 Pine Grosbeaks feeding on crabapples. Also seen were Snow Buntings, Hooded Mergansers (the same flock of about 20-25), Common Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Black Backed Gull, and the usual hordes of Canada Geese, RIng-billed Gulls and Mallards, as well as a flock of about 40 robins gorging on crabapples. Oh, and over on the farm fields, a Northern Harrier, possibly the same one that has been hanging around for the last 4 or 5 days (an adult male). A recent report from Ron Pittaway, who issues winter finch updates at this time of year, suggests that we might see lots of winter finches this year as there has been a "complete cone crop failure in the boreal forest". So, no food, or little food, is going to drive these birds further south. Species such as the Pine Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks, Purple FInches, Pine Siskins, etc. are being reported from Michigan and south. Not typical except in these years of cone failure. Ron advises to keep the feeders filled! At FWG, cedar waxwings, white-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, and the usual array of birds at this time of year. This photo (below) from back in September, shows some sort of fungi with springtails - snowfleas - on it. It is quite small, as you can imagine given the size of the springtails, which are tiny, and looks like some it might even be slime mold. I had no idea the insects were on it until I got home and looked at the photo on the computer. In other words, I didn't see them with my naked eye. I don't know if these are the same springtail species we see in winter, because there are several species, at least. The blob was on a birch log on the north side of the ash woods.
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5 November — photos and notes from Christine Hanrahan
Saw a Barred Owl late morning today in the ravine near the centre. I would never have known it was there had it not been for a most peculiar sound coming from behind the nursery. I couldn't figure out what it was, but thought maybe a red squirrel making a bizarre noise. Eventually, I was able to locate the sound and, lo and behold, there was a Barred Owl sitting very still, while about half a metre away was an extremely agitated Cooper's Hawk squawking its head off! It jumped closer and flapped its wings at the owl, which then took off to the big willow further down the ravine. Later, the hawk chased the owl back down the ravine toward the locust trees. After that, I lost sight of both and, not hearing any more calls, I reckoned that either the owl had flown away or the hawk had become bored. I think this is the 3rd year we've had a Barred Owl at the FWG, always late October-November. |
