October 10: I had my first two Dark-eyed Juncos today. Sue Paradisis, Peterborough
Dark-eyed Junco by Marcel Boulay
October 9: Today there was a Peregrine at the Buckhorn Lock. I was travelling south when it flew over the bridge at handrail height and landed in a tree about ten feet away from the east (lower Buckhorn) side of the bridge. Have other people seen that one or do you think it was passing through? David Beaucage Johnson, Curve Lake
Peregrine – Karl Egressy
October 6: I have been hearing this annoying screeching coming from my maple tree out front in the evening for the past few weeks. It started during a hot weather spell in mid-September, and hasn’t stopped since. It starts soon after the sun sets and lasts all night, until the break of dawn. I thought at first it was some kind of bird, but after doing some research, I found that it is, in fact, an insect: a Common True Katydid. Hard to believe a bug can make such a loud, annoying noise, but apparently katydids do. The odd thing is that we live much farther north than what I thought was the katydid’s usual range…we live on the outskirts of Ottawa, about 40km to the East. In any event, I have attached a sound clip I took this evening (be sure to turn up the volume, I didn’t have the record volume at maximum when I recorded the clip). Although it’s annoying, I feel a little sad for the poor thing. I do believe he may be calling for a mate, but I doubt he’ll find one this far from home. Lynne Laviolette-Snyder, Embrun, ON (near Ottawa)
Common True Katydid (Wikimedia)
October 8: I spotted a Blue-spotted Salamander on a piece of armour stone at the waters edge on the upper portion of Buckhorn Lake last night. The worm on the hook was not me trying to catch the salamander; it was for reference. We were catching crayfish. I saw the salamander at 10 pm last night. It was approximately 9″ in length with blue spots all over its body but mainly on the tail, feet and lower portion of body. Shawn Filteau
Blue-spotted Salamander – Shawn Filteau
