Mid March Nature Sightings

Do you see an Owl's Nest ? I've been looking at it all Winter!

For the last couple of months, I noticed a large "nest" about 80 meters directly behind my house. I had some free time last Saturday, I put the scope on the nest to find... a nesting pair of Great Horned Owls! Another great observation I've made is that there are tonnes of American Woodcock "peenting" and timberdoodling directly behind my house. Woodcocks are going crazy, and its gotten to the point that when I go outside after sunset, I will hear peenting and twittering flight displays.  I've had Song Sparrows and Killdear in my backyard for over a week now.






Today, I had the day off and I went to Point Pelee with my two boys. Upon arrival at the gate, I ended up buying a two year "Blue Pass" for $75 - letting me skip the line to get into the park for the next two years --- sweet!  Anyway, the woman at the gate informed me that there were "scavenger hunts", camp fires, marshmallows and crafts for the kids. I met up with my friend Rick from Leamington who  joined us on our scavenger hunt journey. At one point, Rick and I noticed a butterfly patrolling the path we were on and it soon landed about 20 feet away from us. Rick snapped this diagnostic photo - which is a record early sighting* for Point Pelee - and perhaps the province of Ontario (Thanks to Alan Wormington's meticulous record keeping). Thanks to Rick for sharing this photo! One usually sees a Red Admiral in May ---- Not mid March! Rick and I must have seen about 5-6 snakes sunning along the path as well.

Good Birding!
Dwayne


PS:
Cornell University's Ornithology Lab has some "Nest-Cam" video of a great horned owl nest.... much better than what I can obtain...