Beacon on a Pole

Posted on by

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze

It’s been an unusual start to the Winter. With mild temps and the lack of snow but I’ve been kicking down the barn door…to get out and search for the Great White Owls from the North.
Finally a day when the weather cooperated and I refused to look at the Job Jar…this found me out roaming the Back Country Roads.

Always a great feeling when you spot that First Beacon on a Pole. Nature being Nature…nothing is a given as the Owl could very well take flight well before I even get close.

Perhaps the Owl simply felt sorry for me…staying perch for a short period before he decided enough was enough and flew off.

The encounter was short lived…but nice still nice to see.

Memories from the Summer

Posted on by

photo courtesy of Dennis Swayze

Fortunate to have Osprey that nest close to home that can be visited when my time is short. Always look forward to their return in late spring…once the rivers begin to flow and the ice is off the many ponds throughout the city. They are late to arrive…simply because their main diet consists of fish and require open water.
Osprey mate for life and all but impossible to tell if it’s always the same pair returning. Other than by size with the female being larger she will have marking on her breast…that I refer to as a necklace, which only makes sense to me. What you’re looking at would be the male…with a very white breast.

Once they return the task of collecting and adding new branches and sticks to the existing nest begins. Will say that some nests have become quite large…almost big enough for Eagles to use.
On a side-note…Eagles are one of their only predators the other would be a Great Horned Owl.
The female is usually the one that does all of the stick arranging…this continues throughout the summer and even after the chicks are born.

Well won’t be seeing Osprey anytime soon…just nice to revisit memories from the summer.