Sightings
First report of a Great Blue Heron
Yesterday (March 19, 2014), on my way home from work, I saw a Great Blue Heron flying overhead just N of Warsaw on Cty Rd 4. Colin Jones, McCracken’s Landing
Yesterday (March 19, 2014), on my way home from work, I saw a Great Blue Heron flying overhead just N of Warsaw on Cty Rd 4. Colin Jones, McCracken’s Landing
The spectacle of bird migration that occurs twice each year in Canada has few equals anywhere on Earth. Billions of birds leave Canada every autumn for locations to the south, only to return the following spring and once again announce the change of season. Many of these migrating birds depend Read more…
At noon, on Wednesday, March 19, the following ducks were on the Otonabee River, adjacent to the Cemetery: 1 Green-winged Teal, 5 Long-tailed ducks, 10 Hooded Mergansers Ken Rumble
The Snowy Owl on Hwy 28 at Division Road was hanging out on the telephone poles by the side of the road this morning (March 18) around 7:30 a.m. Luckily I had my camera handy and got some great pics. Nima Taghaboni
I snapped a picture of this blonde squirrel today (Mar 15/14) on our property on Stony Lake. It has been hanging around since Xmas. Lucy Lowes (Note: I believe that this is a leucistic Red Squirrel, which means that it is lacking normal skin pigmentation. “Leucism is a general term Read more…
On Thursday, March 14, I saw and heard an American Robin in a tree near my house on Garbutt Terrace in Peterborough. He was singing his heart out. Click here to listen to song. J. Raymond
I had my first Red-winged Blackbird at my feeder in Lakefield early this morning. The Otonabee River is still busy with more waterfowl each day. On Monday and yesterday there were still several Red-breasted Mergansers and Red-necked Grebes between Trent and the arena in Lakefield. Ring-necked Ducks were in Lakefield Read more…
Common Grackles showed up late last week at our feeder in the west end of Peterborough. They have been hogging the feeder! We back into farm fields with lots of tree cover. Cindy Bartoli
I photographed this Ruffed Grouse off of Tara Road in Ennismore this morning. Jeff Keller
There were three Red-winged Blackbirds this morning at my feeder. I was pretty happy to see them back. Gives us hope after such a long winter! Spring is really on the way! Anne Corke, Cathcart Crescent (southwest of Peterborough)
There was a possible Cougar sighting near the Hilliard Street end of Tower Hill Road at about 5:40 p.m. on March 17. The animal was described as “a huge cat with a very long tail”. It was walking down one of the backyard hills on the south side of Tower Read more…
I was up in Algonquin Park this weekend for a tracking workshop and saw a few signs of spring. While trying to decide if there was a difference between the tracks of a Ruffed Grouse to those of a Spruce Grouse the owner of the tracks showed up. The male Read more…
Early this afternoon my dad and I drove up the river from Peterborough to Lakefield and also stopped at Young’s Point and Burleigh Falls. Along River St. in Lakefield, there were 2 male and 1 female Ring-necked Ducks on the river. On the river upstream of the lock at Young’s Read more…
The Northern Flicker was back again on Saturday, but I almost didn’t notice it because there were so many American Robins in the crabapple behind him. The robins returned to the crabapple in the middle of the snowstorm on March 12. There was a real feeding frenzy for a couple Read more…
All winter , with many sightings of Snowy Owls reported, I have been out trying to spot one. Finally, on March 13, I was picking up my wife from work and there was a Snowy Owl perched on a light post in the Northumberland Hills Hospital parking lot at Cobourg. Read more…
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) – Reported Mar 14, 2014 10:25 by Donald Sutherland – Five Corners–2.1 km SE on Hwy 28, Peterborough, Ontario – Map – Checklist – Comments: “perched on snow-covered N peak of metal-clad barn on E side Hwy 28”
I thought this was a neat photo. My sister-in-law in the Beaches in Toronto found this Eastern Screech-owl when she came home from work on March 7. It was sitting on the porch in her urns. Jamie Brockley Note from Tim Dyson: “What a nice photo of a classic “brown Read more…
Spring must surely be on its way. Yesterday, March 9th, in our flowering crabapple tree, there were about six or seven Cedar Waxwings. I ran for the camera but, alas, they flew away. Sandy Reid
While driving northbound this week on Fairbairn Street, I saw a Virginia Opossum on the road, just north of the Lily Lake intersection. The animal had unfortunately been run over. Barb Evett
On my way into work this morning, March 12 at about 8:15 a.m. on Matchett Line, Otonabee – South Monaghan, I spotted this very furry animal in the ditch. It was obviously just waking up as it was a little lethargic. It took me a minute to figure out Read more…
Click here for two recent videos of Bald Eagles – an adult and an immature – feeding. They were filmed this winter using a trail camera at my farm in the Haliburton Highlands near Canarvon. Gord Harrison
At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday March 2, I was walking up the woods trail which goes straight up Armour Hill, starting just south of the swingset. Almost at the top where it opens onto Museum property, there is a tree which has fallen across the trail. Just prior to Read more…
I hope you had a chance to watch the first episode of the wonderful new science documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey that aired Sunday night. It is presented by the famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and is a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Read more…
On March 1, 11 a.m. at the pedestrian bridge over the Otonabee by No Frills, downtown Ptbo, a male Greater Scaup was in amongst the Mallards. I actually had my binoculars with me and was no more than 10 metres away. The green head and other key field marks were Read more…
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) – Reported Mar 05, 2014 16:25 by Martyn Obbard – Tara Rd. north of Yankee Line, Peterborough, Ontario – Map: – Checklist: – Comments: “large white owl; first seen flying over hay field, then flew easterly and landed on top of hydro pole at sharp Read more…
By just about any measure, we have had a crazy winter, and not just in eastern North America. With near-record drought in California, unprecedented floods in England and unparalleled warmth in Alaska, it has been a winter of frightening extremes. Dr. Jennifer Francis, a climatologist at Rutgers University in New Read more…
Here are some pictures taken earlier this week of wildlife on the Otonabee River near Trent University. The Eastern Coyote was just upstream from Trent and the Red-breasted Merganser and Red-necked Grebe were on the first pocket of open water. Tom Northey, Little Britain Note: With the Great Lakes Read more…
A Northern Shrike was chasing chickadees at the bird feeders this afternoon, March 4, at about 12:35. It is the first I’ve seen this year in this locality. Bill Snowden, Ennismore
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) – Reported Mar 04, 2014 12:45 by Ken Burrell – Peterborough – Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario – Map – Checklist – Comments: “Seen well along the river, near Lakefield. Coming into prealternate plumage, with a bit of the neck coming into colour” Red-necked Read more…
Although it would be nice to spend the entire winter in a sleeping bag made of silk, that could be very expensive, and of course, we humans cannot enter such a prolonged period of sleep. But what about other creatures? Creatures that can simply “make their own” silk sleeping bags? Read more…