Birds, one in particular, beavers, muskrats, turtles, new growth....
It's spring time at Petrie
While well past sunrise, there was still nice light on the trees in the south channel
Three sandhill cranes flew overhead as we got out of the car. Within a few minutes of starting down the Basswood Trail, my Merlin Bird Phone App was hearing 11 different birds:
Warbling vireo, yellow warbler, red-winged blackbird, song sparrow, catbird, great crested flycatcher, mourning dove, spotted sandpiper, cardinal, Tennessee warbler, American redstart.
There was no way I'd see them in the leaves, but I knew they were there. As we walked the trails we came across others.
Canada geese were very scarce, we saw two in the grass along way off, and a family of 3 goslings and parents were swimming far off in the south channel
A northern flicker looking for breakfast behind some brush
A lone cormorant flew over from the Quebec side
I did manage to get photos of some small flitty birds that stayed still for a few seconds. A song sparrow, a male goldfinch and a female redstart
One of the chickadees was hoping for a handout....
There did seem to be a number of spotted sandpipers around, or maybe just one that moved along with us. But they were always a long way away. This one was on the far side of Turtle Pond.
A couple of crows were having a discussion. They didn't sound like crows at all, they sounded like woodpeckers pecking lightly on a tree.
Crows are a very intelligent bird that can mimic many sounds (including human talking)
There were a few male mallards and two female merganser ducks in the river, the sky was heavily overcast so the water was very grey. I thought the "chirping" sound the merganser was making was interesting
The one bird that did preoccupy us was a female Baltimore oriole,. My wife Gwen spotted her in a tree overhanging the trail appearing to be busily starting to build her nest. (Their nests are unusual in that they look like a sock and hang down)
We quickly realized that she had managed to tie her foot to the branch. She was trying to untie the string she had worked so hard to attach firmly to the branch for the start of the nest.
After a while we continued our walk assuming she would free herself. When we came back an hour later she was still firmly tied to the branch.
The branch was about 12-14 feet above the ground, so we knew we needed help to free her. After some phone calls to various Friends of Petrie Island executive members, Michel came down and opened the shed, from which we borrowed the step ladder and a long branch lopper. With Michael Ricco's assistance as well, the branch was cut down and she flew into the brush.
But she still had a small section of branch attached to her which was getting tangled with the other branches. We managed to get hold of her, and Gwen carefully cut the strings off her leg . After at least 3 hours of being trapped she flew away a happy bird .
We didn't expect to see any beavers or muskrats around as it was getting close to 7:30am, but there were at least two beavers busily swimming about as well as several muskrats, including one that seemed to be collecting nesting material
One of the older beaver lodges on Turtle Pond was very easy to see. While there were lots of small trees the beavers had brought down, there was a large one at the end of Bill Holland trail that they never finished with. Not sure how much use it would have been for them as it was dead.
While we didn't see a river otter, there was good evidence that they are still around with large fresh holes appearing on the shoreline.
There were a few land based furry creatures about too. None of which were keen on having their photo taken. Both the groundhog and the chipmunk scurried off as fast as they could, while the rabbit went into the brush.
At the end of Bill Holland Trail there were some deer tracks in the sand. While I have never seen any deer at Petrie, others have and I guess the deer are still around.
There was no signs of snapping turtles laying eggs yet (it is a few weeks too early perhaps) but there certainly were signs of turtles (or beaver tails?) crawling through the sand coming from the river into Turtle Pond.
The map turtles were certainly up early to grab the best seats on the logs to sun themselves. The painted turtles started appearing about 2 hours later and had to settle for second best.
It must be time for the bullfrogs to get together to lay eggs. One large one was up on a log and we counted at least another 6 in water nearby.
Being spring, there is new growth everywhere on the Island.
The new ferns are quite noticeable.
Scroll over the photos for the ID of the type of fern (although reputable internet sites didn't always agree with the ID😊)
sensitive fern
Ssnsitive fern
ostrich fern
ostrich/marsh fern
ostrich fern
chewed off ostrich fern
An ash tree had managed to sprout again after a beaver had taken it all
White violets (with blue flecks) and blue violets were in bloom
Pignut hickory and poison ivy were off to a good start
The sedge grass was getting ready to bloom
Greater celandine, false solomon seal and American yellow-rocket were in bloom
(The first and last are new to me)
New growth on plums and maples
While NOT new growth, but ready to reach out and grab your clothes, there are lots of burrs from last year.
The grapevines get very large over the years
