I thought I’d pass along to you a couple of sightings from our home on the Indian River in the midst of the ice and freezing rain of January 17. From one window, we saw what was either a Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk sitting patiently, watching the bird feeders and hoping something would come along for his lunch. Then from another window we looked at the river, and saw a wolf or coyote standing for awhile in the rain on slushy ice, then he loped off upstream. I understand that wolves and coyotes can interbreed – this one looked more like a wolf than a coyote. It was a very healthy looking specimen with a large, square-ish head, a dark brown, grizzled coat and a definite black tip on the tail which was held low, between the back legs. Didn’t see him get anything to eat either!
Jane Bremner
Sawmill Road, Douro-Dummer
My guess is that the hawk was a Cooper’s. They are more common than Sharp-shinned Hawks and bolder, tending to sit out in the open more. As for the coyote/wolf, you probably saw an Eastern Coyote. I’m not aware of Eastern Wolves being seen south of Algonquin Park and the northern Haliburton Highlands. Also, it’s almost impossible to distinguish a wolf from a coyote visually. The real difference is in the weight, the wolf being much heavier. D.M.
Cooper’s Hawk on bird it had captured (Karl Egressy)
Sharp-shinned Hawk – Lakefield – Gwen Forsyth
Eastern Coyote on Otonabee River – Tom Northey.
