Robins, eagles keep surprising local bird watcher
Posted Feb 16, 2012 By EMC NewsEMC Lifestyle - Despite seeing American robins in January and February, we do have a northern visitor in Carleton Place.
John Graydon took an excellent photo of a Snowy Owl camouflaged in the snow on Arklan Road in Carleton Place. The bird sits quietly, watching/listening for prey, yet remaining well-camouflaged by the shrub.
In another report from Carleton Place, Jennifer and Bob Demerath were amazed to see a robin in January. They had never seen one in January, as reported by several other readers and birders, myself included. They have three wild turkeys that come to their feeder almost daily. On Feb. 2, they threw out some apples which the turkeys quickly devoured.
One visiting American crow has white feathers on the right wing.
Elizabeth Norris, a resident of Carleton Place who has birded many years, saw a white-throated sparrow feeding on the ground under her feeders with a pair of northern cardinals. She has also seen a bald eagle perched in a dead tree near the river.
A call from Betty Findlay Feb. 8 talked of seeing an eagle by the river when she walks her dog. In the previous week, two red-bellied woodpeckers have been coming to her feeders.
Every once in a while, about 12 wild turkeys walk through her property. To see them flying is a sight and a surprise.
Talking of turkeys, Claudia Smith, Lanark-Highlands, had six red Christmas balls hanging in a shrub near the house. One afternoon, four were gone. Searching, she found two in a field in a line of turkey tracks, and another dropped near a fence.
Did the turkeys think they were apples? As Claudia asks, do turkeys think? One ornament is still missing.
In Almonte, Neil Carleton had to rise early in the morning to let the dog out. Neil could hear a great horned owl hooting, but as soon as the dog barked, the hooting stopped.
Outside Carleton Place, on Scotch Corners Road, Joyce and Mike Jaques saw a bald eagle, as well as a flock of Bohemian waxwings.
Please call Lynda at 613-256-5013 or email bennett@magma.ca with bird reports.
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