Saturday, April 30, 2011

Wet Eagle - 04/11/11 - Written by Mike LaDue



I sat on my front deck last evening listening and watching a light thunderstorm rolling past. The air from the River was delicious with the heavy fragrance of newly falling rain. A grey sky cast above the River in rapid movement, the thunder remained near the shores of Canada, with no visible lightening. The temperature is reaching into the fifties and it is becoming very pleasant to sit outdoors once again.
Grackles and robins are all about the yard collecting nest fodder to begin a family. I watched on grackle with a long stem of grass enter a likely tree. The grass was three times the length of the bird and negotiating between branches was a challenge. Suddenly another grackle appeared from under the cedar boughs, standing erect. The hidden bird had already laid claim to the proper nesting location and was unwilling to give it up. All the fellow with the stem could do was back down and search out another location. He lit onto a short cedar and vanished in its crown, successful.
There’s a pair of crows who have made a nest next door in a tall cedar. Their nest is already built, with one tending a batch of eggs. Crows have a remarkable array of vocalizations with which to communicate. I watched one returning last evening with some nourishment for its mate. The jet black silhouette came swooping through, making a series of clicking sounds. The bird seemed very proud of what it was carrying and proceeded to inform its better half that dinner was on the way.
Robins are becoming very territorial and fights erupt through out the day. It is strange to watch such a docile creature get its back up to another. If one happens to land on the ground too close to another’s nest site, then the “Robin rumble” begins. A face off to warn the intruder to leave or pay the consequences takes place. When that has no effect they each rise to dual in the air with flapping wings. Once may be sufficient but often as not it takes a few rounds to settle the issue.
The rain has also lured some hibernators to venture forth into spring. Night crawlers and peppers have emerged to cross the road as the rain saturates the ground. While out driving at night, they cover the roadway. The worms are hardly visible, but the peepers make short leaps, like popcorn in a black pan. All of this activity provides a wealth of food for birds and small mammals after a good rain.
I took a ride over to Wellesley Island with my niece, to take some photos last week. We saw a young bald eagle in a barren tree. This was the first eagle that I have seen developing from immature to mature. White was beginning to emerge from its head while some brown still remained. The eagle was sprawled out in the tree attempting to dry off. I made the assumption that it had tried to do a little fishing and got more than it bargained for! The usual stately raptor looked more like a wet dishrag in its current condition. Surprisingly none of the small birds bothered to harass the soaked creature. After a good air drying it once again took flight… a bit clumsily I must say.
On a calm sunny morning I took to my dock to enjoy the blue River and watch the wildlife. A pair of muskrats were swimming and diving on the calm surface. I ventured over to my neighbors dock for a better view. They seem to have claimed the underbelly of the dock for a home. Being leery of me, they would dive some twenty yards out and swim beneath me, up under dock. One did become somewhat accustomed to my presence and gave me a good photo opt. Carrying a camera is a good way to learn patience, especially when wildlife is the subject. What better surrounding could you ask for such a hobby as the St. Lawrence River?

More Travelers Come Home - 04/03/11 - Written by Mike LaDue


The eruption of spring continues with the flow of returning (long missed) migrants.  It seemed like each day this week brought forth a new sighting. Even the humans are becoming more active, tending to the fallen leaves of autumn, picking up debris and some even venturing further. There have been an increased number of mariners seizing the open River to proclaim another season.
The bird feeder outside my kitchen window has drawn some weary travelers to it. Redpolls, cardinals, house finches, mourning doves, grackles and red wing black birds all vie for a spot. Two grackles this morning stood across from one another in objective defiance… facing off. With outstretched necks they stood toe to toe like sumo wrestlers in a ring.  A chipmunk soon upset the food tray casting its weight into the matter. I have dubbed this chippy “cheeks” as it fills its face to the max before retreating to its den. It has a ravenous appetite after its long sleep, buried in a den.
Under the (pole) bird feeder the little rascal runs circles around the birds to claim the bounty on the ground. The small stripped streak leaps from all “fours” becoming air bourn, further asserting it’s dominate place. The birds are somewhat annoyed by the antics and lift from the ground only to return in a different location. I am sure that the confrontations will decrease as more forage becomes available from Mother Nature. In the mean time I am enjoying all the commotion.
Sandy noticed a pair of Canada geese next to a small farm pond, with a family of goslings, already in tow. I usually begin to see goslings much later in the spring and we were shocked by their appearance. There are still a good many cold nights ahead, so I hope that the parent geese are well endowed with down! A dragonfly came whizzing past the front porch yesterday. At first I thought it may be a humming bird as the flight is very similar. My winter warn  eyes are still suffering from snow blindness and have trouble focusing on fast objects.  
Traveling to Clayton my eyes had a clear view of a raptor atop a telephone pole. On April 1st an osprey was over looking the road, across from a nest of many seasons. It must have been a male leading the way for the upcoming rituals of mating. With the number of successful hatches over the last few years I expect to see more nests being built. That nest alone produced three fledged osprey last year.
Friday afternoon I opened the doors of the boathouse to listen and watch a soft rain shower. The River was calm, aside from the tiny ripple rings left by diving rain drops. Geese and diving ducks clamored in the air and on the open water. Soft sounds of honking and low pitched squawks carried through the still air. My thoughts turned to getting the Lyman ready for another season. The River is still plenty low for putting in the railway, but the water does not look too welcoming, as it hovers in the upper thirty degree range. I will wait for a few warm days to raise the temperature a bit more. I know that I will be getting wet and I will drop a bolt or two into the drink, causing me to send bare arms to the bottom. A sunny day with a warm sun makes that project tolerable and lessens the purple color that cold water brings. Purple is not my favorite color… or feeling.
I did see two separate mariners in pleasure craft, poking around on the River this week. One came from Carleton Island in an open hulled outboard, he seemed to be enjoying a ride that had been dreamt about for months. He had a wonderful day as the River lay calmly at his command. I’m sure that he had work that he was tending to, what a great way to go about it! The second craft came from Millen’s Bay in an aluminum hull that I recognized. I know that some Ice was still sealing the bay from the River, and that he had to have done some icebreaking to get free. Indeed he had, I could see the snake like broken path left by an anxious sailor longing to feel the rivers flow. It’s never too soon to be on the River and as we all know it never lasts long enough.
  

Monday, April 25, 2011

First Ship of the Season - 03/24/11 - Written by Mike LaDue



Monday afternoon I spotted a Canadian Coast guard cutter returning from the lake. Its progress down River was impressive as it seemed to be cutting the water at a good clip. I knew that the commotion would produce the first real waves of any dramatic size. The ice still held tight to the shore, though it was dark and looked to be saturated with water. Here, we still had a good ice pad extending out a hundred yards.
When I returned from work that evening I could hear the soothing sound of waves picking at the shore line. I asked Sandy if she had seen the ice leave: “No I never saw it leave, I looked and it was there and the next time it was all gone!” I have to assume that the cutter provided the needed agitation. I could picture the rising River with corrugated ripples, creating a washboard effect, disintegrating the solid mass.
Tuesday morning a stout north-west wind blew residual ice chunks and ice bergs along the shoreline. A solid flow of fragmented irregular shapes passed by the dock just a cooking! At times when the ice disappeared (for a while) the gap soon filled with bluebill diving ducks (lesser scup). Bluebills provide a perfect profile for a duck, a well rounded black head that at times looks iridescent blue in the sunlight. The male sports a bill that is almost powder blue, hence their regional name. Their body form is perfectly circular with black and white highlights. They are perfectly designed for both flight and diving activity.
I had a visit with my friend “Ed” and we both watched a raft of bluebills diving in front of his home. He said: “They are doing that for courtship. I think that they are pairing up under the water.” Now if you have ever seen bluebills dive it is a constant motion of diving and rising, to dive once again. If they were doing as “Ed” suggested they would be some very tuckered out ducks. I dare say the most prolific breeders in the entire world!
“Ed, they do some underwater acrobatics to impress prospective mates, but are mostly eating.” Ed seemed a bit bewildered; “How can they be eating, there is nothing there, what could they be after?” “They are looking for crustaceans like zebra mussels, also small insects and any vegetation that is palatable. They are opportunistic feeders and can find food on most any bottom up to sixty feet down.” With that resolved we watched the small ducks actively disappear and reappear as if they had never been in the water. Not a drop of water coated a feather, almost as if they had just been under a hair dryer.
Wednesday morning the nose of the freighter “Algoeast” of Canadian registry, poked out from the east end of Carleton Island. I enjoyed watching my first ship of the season amble down River, another sign of spring! It did not take long for the seaway to come alive with ship activity. I checked the boatnerd.com website and three more freighters were already in the system ready to come up River.
I have seen a few blue herons wandering back to our shores, not a steady stream, but a welcome sight. To date none have been willing to set down any where near enough for a photo. Now turkeys on the other hand, seem to be taking over the country side! I have been seeing more mature Toms than ever before.
On a recent ride I watched a large flock of turkeys browsing in a pasture with an ample number of toms strutting in full bloom. Two of them had separated from the flock and were showing off in a more apparent location along a dirt road. I stopped to photograph them as a tractor came up from behind. The scene looked like a “roundup” as the turkeys scrambled just ahead of the manure spreader, like a herd of cattle. Eventually they veered off of the road and up to high ground. All the while the big old toms paused to strut for the ladies who were more concerned with finding a quieter location. It would seem that “males” of all varieties spend too much time with only one thought…

  

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Birds Returning - 03/12/11 - Written by Mike LaDue


Friday morning greeted us with some very refreshing sounds. A southern wind blew all evening and a sprinkling rain pattered on the tin roof all night. Much to our delight that wind also coerced some birds to migrate, during the evening hours. The tree tops that surround our log home were alive with the renewal of joyous signing. Jet black starlings sat in large numbers on tilted cedar bows. An ever active flock of devoted minstrels, raising head and throat skyward as the sun rose. I lay in bed savoring the delightful squeals, shrills and melodies of these European imports.
Starlings have an amazing range of pitch and seem to mimic many other species of song birds. When they are present in large numbers it is difficult to decipher exactly the source of a familiar sound. Eventually I shook off my cob-webs and ventured out into the warming air, to watch and listen as the day progressed. My advancement outdoors made the heavy flock of starlings nervous and they abruptly scattered into smaller groups. Soon the sounds of individual birds became apparent.
A lone robin swooped into a barren apple tree to plea to heaven for a mate. It reminded me of the coloring outlines that I did as a boy in grade school. Teacher provided a white piece of paper with the black outlines of a robin pulling a worm from the ground, to each student. It’s distinguishing breast ready to be colorfully animated by a seven year old who was anxious to see the real thing! With nearly thirty proudly colored renditions displayed on the class room wall, it was as if spring had already arrived!  I couldn’t wait to take my prize home to tape it to the fridge. I hope that children still get to be involved with the seasons so interactively.
Several small flocks of geese broke my train of thought on that matter, as they scanned the River for some open water. I watched them lower their elevation and listened to their long deep honking. Canada geese are very vocal and gregarious. They are attracted to their own and search them out in every situation. You know, “Safety in numbers”. There is a limited amount of open water on the River. All I could picture in my mind was a thousand geese obliterating each open spot by nightfall.
During a drive to Clayton I spotted some Turkey vultures also returning. Riding high on the air currents, there were one, two and then a half dozen of them. Beyond them on the horizon more geese filtered through the air, in search of cut corn lots for “refueling.” Migrating birds expend a great deal of energy during their respective journeys. The shores of our great River along with our thriving agriculture, supply them with a much needed place to rest. It would seem that the River welcomes all to recuperate and relax near her shores.

On my return from town there were more arrivals to enjoy. A flock of red wing black birds flew past the newly created ponds, across from Zenda farms. Now I knew that this day was not a fluke or another tease. Red wings are my final indicator that winter is letting loose her grip, they don’t show up until it is certain! My face broadened with a satisfied smile as each new winged species filled my eyes and ears.
I entered Cedar Point State Park to poke around and see some open water. I pulled the car off in an open spot to take some photographs. To my surprise, right next to the car a chipmunk was clinging to a tree stump. It posed for a few photos, very cooperatively I must say. The little fur wrapped rodent looked confused and bewildered by the snow banks covering the frosted ground. It turned to look me right in the eye: “Nuts I say… where are the nuts? Come on camper give them up! I know that you have some and I have been patient with your pestering!” I do believe that the “chippies” final look was that of disgruntled discontent, it threw its tail into the air as it departed, showing me it’s behind.
Once home again I opted to cook some chicken on the grill. It seemed the only proper way to welcome the magnificent change of events, which had taken place this day. Smoke billowed from the grill as the thighs and legs browned and snapped atop a steady flame. The aroma, ahh… the aroma… I can smell it still. The sky became alive near nightfall as I finished my “chore”. Canada geese trickled in from the south to settle on the River overnight. Seagulls too, in V shaped flocks followed one another for as long as I stood there to watch. They were riding the southern wind, returning to the River and beyond for another season… I also hope to see you soon, as you migrate back to the Islands.