Farewell 2009 and hello 2010!

Today is the last day of 2009 and what a year it has been. I have spent a lot of time this year researching and finding/photographing all sorts of wildlife. Our trips this year included Yellowstone, Vancouver Island, Algonquin, Killarney, French River, Amherst Island, Point Pelee, Minesing Swamp, Luther Marsh and many more. It has been just amazing to discover things like red-spotted newts, yellow and blue spotted salamanders, pine martens, coyotes, pikas and so much more. There have been many upsetting times as I would find an animal, visit them frequently (you feel like you start to get to know them almost like your pet greets you at the door) and then you find out the next day that they met their demise upon the front bumper of someone's car. As frustrating as this was to learn, it was always mildly comforting to know that another animal was quick to take advantage of these situations. Some of my favourite moments were winning the photo contest, seeing geysers and just learning how close nature really is to my front door. As enjoyable as 2009 was, I am eager for what 2010 has to offer (Florida, Tommy Thompson Park and Montreal to start). There are many animals out there that I still have yet to find, so stay tuned because there will be more!!

Rough-legged Hawk

It just stopped raining and the sun was starting to make an appearance so we decided to make a break for the door. We eagerly jumped into the car and started to drive with hopes of see something full of nature. We drove for quite a while before seeing anything other than landscapes and then finally we turned a corner and saw two red-tailed hawks in a tree and then a little further down the road we saw one more. All three were a little too far away for a decent picture so we just stopped to admire them for a moment and then resumed driving. About five minutes down the road we found a hawk in a field on the ground. This guy looked much bigger than most red-tails I see but it was still difficult to tell what kind of hawk it was until it took to the air. As soon as he banked to the one side you saw the pattern underneath which made me positive it was a rough-legged. It is so neat to see things that are different. Rough-legged hawks and snowy owls are very similar in their breeding locations, as they both breed in only the most northern parts of Ontario and they only grace us with their presence in the winter months. I think this makes them a little less comfortable with a human presence. Just stopping the car sometimes seems to put them into flight much quicker than some of the other hawks I have seen. Rough-legged hawks can be a light morph colouring and a dark morph colouring but either way they are amazing to see. I have enjoyed both times I have seen them and I can't wait for a third.

The Pine Marten

Wow, what a weekend. We decided to drive up on Friday Dec.11/09 despite the storm and we got to Bracebridge and couldn't get any further due to a crazy amount of snow that fell. Hwy 11 was closed between Bracebridge and Huntsville. We stayed in a hotel there until morning. We waited around on Saturday in hopes that the road would open in time for us to get up there and it did. We got to Algonquin later than we wanted but once we got there I made my way towards the area where I heard had two pine martens. I couldn't see or hear a marten so I set up the tripod and waited. There were tonnes of chickadees, goldfinches, two nuthatches, a pine siskin, about six hairy woodpeckers, couple of red squirrels, two blue jays would pop by for some seed every now and then and some crows would fly by making there usual ruckus. After two hours of waiting I bird landed in the top of a tree near by. I couldn't tell what it was at first due to it being silhouetted by the sun but it kind of looked like a shrike. I stood perfectly still and waited for it to come closer. Finally it dropped down to the feeders and it was a female pine grosbeak. That was a new one for me. All of a sudden I noticed a large bird in the tree next to me so I turn to see a whiskey jack (gray jay) starring right at me. I managed to take a couple of pictures and then I heard a large rustle behind me so I turned and there was the marten moving towards the feeders. It saw me and was very curious. The lighting wasn't the greatest but I managed to get a couple shots and I am pretty happy with them. After it felt comfortable with my presence it ate at the feeders for a while and then made its way back into the forest. They are such an interesting animal and I feel privileged that I had the chance to see them.