Interlake

To those who check in frequently my apologies for the length of time since the last post .   Now on with the new . . .

This past weekend we dropped in on a friend who lives in the Interlake.  To our surprise she has been adopted by a Helmeted Guinea Fowl which is a bird native to Africa.  She figures it has  most likely escaped from a hobby farm and adopted her place as the new home base.  After some phone calls, they are confident a good home has been found for this delightfully funny bird which is a good thing with winter just around the corner.  We are told it loves its own reflection, pecks at her reflection on the glass door and follows her around. It also chases other critters out of the yard, disregards her cats completely and has a most unusual high pitched call.  We witnessed first hand some of the Guinea Fowl antics which is affectionately known as “Freda”.

“Freda” on the deck.

“Freda” likes to dig in her garden with her long claws searching for bugs.  There are holes dug all over the place.

Similar to a turkey, Freda likes to sit on fences and on the roofs.  Mostly a ground dwelling bird it can fly short distances up to a roost area.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

I make a point of driving up to Hecla Island a few times each year and it makes for a good day trip from Winnipeg.  While at the marsh boardwalk this little muskrat coated with some duckweed swam right up to where we were standing, climbed up the bank, immediately groomed his fur and dried off in what seemed a few minutes.  The muskrat started munching on greens – obviously not worried about any human presence.   Check out the teeth in the last photo -

Enjoy!

~Sharon

We are fortunate to have these beautiful arctic birds visit our area each winter.  The Snowy Owls can often be spotted sitting on the tops of hydro poles, signs along side our highways or outbuildings.  These owls are diurnal, meaning they are active both day and night.  Their preferance for higher perches allows them to scan their hunting territory ( in our case the open prairie fields ) for small rodents or rabbits.  They breed in the high arctic  where their prey would be lemmings and sometimes ptarmigan.  Both parents are fiece defenders of the nest and young owlets. The Snowy Owl featured here is either a female or immature bird as it has fairly extensive black markings.  An adult male would be mainly white with fewer dark areas.  Their bill is black, their eyes yellow and feet are heavily feathered. Snowy owls can weigh in the 6 pound range and have a wingspan of up to 59 inches which makes it one of our largest species of owls.

 This snowy only moved when its head turned around to look the other direction.  My neck hurt just watching it !

Enjoy !

~Sharon