Sumac Seed

           Last Wednesday, as I sat at my "sit spot" to listen to sounds and observe sights around the area, sunshine suddenly broke through the clouds and a ray of sunshine reflected off a small object right in front of me on the ground. 
It appeared, at first sight, to be a brightly coloured jewel. When I looked more closely, it turned out to be a single seed of a Staghorn Sumac. 

            So I am wondering, how could I have been out and about for over 70 years without ever seeing a unique single sumac seed on the ground before? I have often seen clumps of seeds but never a single seed on its own. 

            Now that I have taken a close-up photo and projected it on the  computer, I think I also see the beginnings of a root or maybe a stem at the side of the seed.

            I continue to be amazed at what I have missed over the years when looking around.

Adventures with an Injured Red-Tailed Hawk

            Yesterday afternoon the dog and I started on our usual walk but went around the east meadow first instead of doing the usual west meadow walk. As we were walking, suddenly the dog made a lunge off trail toward the road. She, as always, was on a lead so she did not go far. I looked to see what she was going after and initially could not see anything. Then I thought I saw a racoon but on second look, I saw it was a bird. At first I thought it was an owl but it did not look quite right for an owl either. Closer inspection  indicated a hawk. It was a Red-tailed Hawk and it was standing upon the ground just outside the fence on our property quite near the road. 

            I took the dog as far as the driveway and then returned to the hawk on the side of the road. It had not moved and it looked a bit roughed up and was holding its wings in a strange position. As I was not prepared to  try to pick it up, I went back to the house and tried to find out who to phone via the internet. I made a couple of calls but since it was after 5:00 p.m. I did not get any answers. I did leave a message at one place but then thought of trying the Hamilton Bird Hotline to get help or information. 

            Through some answers from the bird people, I got in contact with the Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge in Jarvis, Ontario. 

            When I went back to check on the bird, I could not find it and thought perhaps it was not as injured as I thought and had flown away. I said as much on the internet but then thought I should take the dog out and look one more time. The dog found the bird on our side of the fence. It had gotten caught in another fence trying to get to the next property. I returned to the internet to ask again for help.

            Dave Lowe, from the Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge, was already  looking for me and the bird. We found each other and he collected the bird. He was not sure how badly the bird was injured but suspected a broken bone in one wing. He took it with him back to the refuge.

            Later that evening I got a text saying they were fairly sure the hawk had a broken wing but they were going to have x-rays done the next day.

            Here is the message I got from them today:

            “He has bilateral wing fractures. Ulna on the left and radius in the right. We did xrays today. After a consult with an avian specialist we wrapped both his wings and will give it 2 weeks to heal. Because the ulna and radius are intact on each wing acting as a splint and because the fractures are lineup well in both wings the vet advised to immobilize and let both heal...so now we wait. He will continue to receive pain meds and such of course."

            So, we wait . . .

            If you ever need help and live in our area, here is their business card:

Observation Notes from Sunday March 24

           From 9:26 to 9:36 I was at my west brush pile sit spot in the southwestern corner of the property. During those 10 minutes I heard Robins, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, Crows and dogs barking in the distance. In addition I heard the usual traffic noise from the nearby roads as well as jet traffic noises from the sky. As an aside, I cannot remember ever being outside during any day for any 10 minute period of time without hearing jet noises. It really is disturbing.

            As the dog and I walked about the property in the morning and again in the evening I also heard the calls of Bluejays, Goldfinches, Juncos, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Robins, White-breasted Nuthatches, Mourning Doves, Wild Turkeys, Canada Geese flying overhead and Mallard Ducks flying overhead. There was also a very silent Turkey Vulture that glided over our heads. I saw a rabbit and red, grey, and black squirrels all near our bird feeder.

            The Willow catkins and the Aspen catkins have been opening for a few days and the European Larch needle buds are showing signs of opening also.

            Both the east and west ponds remain frozen in the mornings but the west pond is beginning to show open water in the late afternoons near its edges.

            Below is a photo of the east pond which is both quite shallow and very frozen yet.

Friday Flowers ( March 22, 2019 )

            I found 23 plants in bloom on Friday but only 4 were new for the season. Of those 4 only one was "native" to our area and the other three were planted cultivars in the Royal Botanical Garden grounds. 

            I took photos of 3 or the 4 new blooms. The first, and most showy, was Winter Aconite. It was blooming in the Spicer Courtyard of the RBG. I have seen this plant in the "wild" as it has been naturalized in various places but this one was planted just a couple of years ago.

            The other two flowers that I photographed were both very small. One was on a shrub called American Hazel. This plant too has become naturalized in the wilder parts of the Royal Botanical Gardens and we even have one that showed up unplanted on our property in Brant County. One has to look very closely to find the small female flowers on this shrub.

            Yes, that is my finger behind the flower.

            The last flower that I photographed is from a tall, well formed tree in the RBG Arboretum. The tree is called a Turkish Hazelnut. One can easily see that it is related to the American Hazel shrub.

            This time it is my thumb that is backing the flower. Behind my hand and the flower, one can see the bottom part of the Turkish Hazelnut tree.

            Both the shrub and the tree have male dangling catkins that will develop later with pollen. They too look much alike in spite of being on a smaller shrub and larger tree.

Aspen Twig & Killdeer

           On the dog walk this morning I found an Aspen twig on the ground that a squirrel had nipped off the tree. It seemed like a good opportunity to photograph the catkin that was opening as all of the ones in the trees were way too high to get a good photo.

            I used the flash on the iPhone  camera to make up for the bright sky in the background. When I put the photo on Instagram I added other names:


Trembling Aspen
Quaking Aspen
(Populus tremuloides)
Peuplier Faux-tremble
ᐋᐧᐱᒥᑐᐢ = Cree symbols
Wâpimitos = Cree in English letters
Tsoskwe’ió:wane = Mohawk in English letters

            On the Beckett Walk today we walked on the rail trail near Paris. The highlight of the birds that I heard was the first Killdeer of the season. (I have yet to hear one on our property, but others in the Hamilton area have been reporting them.)