Birds of Prey

I think that Mother Nature has the hiccups! Our weather this year has been totally out of our normal weather patterns. This hare started turning white in October just showing white on its ears, feet and belly. Now, at the end of November the hare has completed its colour transition and is totally white. It is so cute but very vulnerable now to predators because it is no longer camouflaged due to the lack of snow. We should have snow on the ground by now but instead we have still been enjoying the above normal temperatures. A very unusual but welcome fall seeing as we didn’t have much of a summer this year. In early October we had a fair bit of snowfall but it all melted away and our temperatures went up into the double digits again. The Canada geese are still here and should have been gone a few weeks ago while the Snowy Owls have returned. The small ponds and marshes are just beginning to get a layer of ice while the waters on the lakes and rivers remain unfrozen. Like I said earlier, Mother Nature must have the hiccups . . . Most of us are enjoying one less month of winter weather but there are those that depend on winter for a living or look forward to winter recreation – the ski resorts, snow clearing operators, snow machine enthusiasts and the like. It has been snowing lightly today so perhaps winter will arrive in the next few days – we’ll see. Personally I’ll be happy to settle for a warmer winter with snow – can’t imagine not having a white Christmas on the prairies.

Look at those big feet !  This will help the little hare run on top of the soft snow instead of sinking into it.

The Snowy Owl preys on rabbits and small rodents.  They survey their hunting grounds from high up and can often be seen perched on top of hydro poles.

Enjoy !

~Sharon

More on the Birds of Manitoba and another member of the raptor family, the Great Horned Owl. These birds are commonly found around our province. Within the city, they can be found at Assiniboine Park, Fort Whyte Centre and other park like areas. They like to have open areas nearby for hunting but also the protection of spruce trees. The eggs are laid in loosely built nests of sticks high up in the branches of trees. This year, the family I was watching had three owlets. I was speaking to the city workers who were keeping an eye on the family. One owlet had fallen to the ground and a worker was advised by a wildlife employee to put it back up into a tree. He did this but suffered the consequences of the parent owl who silently and swiftly thumped him from behind leaving claw marks on his back. I have heard other people mention the parent owl will often take a swoop at them to protect their young. One should not try and get too close to any nesting birds – we should not want to disturb them in any way. Watch from a distance and enjoy. (Click on thumbnails to view a larger image)
~Sharon

Great Horned Owlet

Great Horned Owl

I plan on doing some blogs featuring Birds of Prey and thought I would start with the Merlin.  The Merlin is an extremely swift flying member of the falcon family who nabs its prey in mid-air.  They are very common in the city and have a distinctive high pitched call. I witnessed this one take down a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker in mid flight one day and happened to have a camera on hand. The sapsucker is almost as large as the Merlin itself. While it was very sad to watch the demise of one beautiful bird I had to keep in mind that this is natures way.  Future blogs will feature the Great Horned Owl and owlet as well as Bald Eagles.

~Sharon