Treading Lightly With Taylor
A Collection
Of Photographs With A Naturalist's Dialogue...
by Peter
Taylor, Photographer And Resident Of Pinawa
COSMIC
FUZZBALL OVER PINAWA
Here
is a different kind of backyard nature photo! On October 24, the hitherto
obscure Comet Holmes suddenly brightened almost a million times to become
visible to the naked eye. An eruption on the comet's nucleus had sent
a huge cloud of dust into space – larger than the sun by November 17,
when I took this heavily tweaked time exposure. The cloud is fading
as it expands, however, and binoculars are now needed to pick out the
comet in the constellation Perseus, the gorgon-slaying dude who hangs
out up there with Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Check for a lot of much
better photos at the following website:
http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes.html
.
BEAUTY
AT THE FEEDERS
It
is that time of year again when much of the remaining bird activity
is clustered around human habitation, where feeders provide easy access
to high-energy food such as sunflower seeds and suet. Among the most
attractive feeder birds are Pine Grosbeaks. Good numbers arrived from
the north around the beginning of November. They can be seen at a variety
of fruit- and seed-bearing trees as well as at feeders. Small flocks
also gather at the roadside to gather salty grit to help their digestion,
and they have been especially conspicuous along PR 520 in recent weeks.
This handsome male was photographed at a crabapple tree a couple of
weeks ago.
Recently
I had one of my rare successes with pishing (the
squeaky noise that birders make to coax small birds out of hiding).
The woods seemed empty a little way out of Pinawa when a lone Pine Grosbeak
landed in a treetop nearby. Some pishing brought a couple of dozen of
its companions into sight, a small flock of White-winged Crossbills
veered by to check me out, and two Gray Jays flew in to see what all
the fuss was about. None of the woodpeckers or grouse I was hoping for
on that particular trail, but it was a memorable moment all the same.
Listen for the Pine Grosbeak's "whisper song", a long, quiet,
rambling warble sprinkled with imitations of other birdcalls. It's a
real treat for the ears on a quiet winter day.
COLD
FEET, TIRED WINGS
Straggling
waterfowl are a sad sight when fall migration is over. Common Goldeneyes
seem to have little difficulty over wintering on the Winnipeg River,
but most other species look ill at ease. These three Canada Geese and
a couple of Mallard were still on the Pinawa Channel below the diversion
dam on Sunday. At best they have a poor sense of timing. At worst they
are sick or injured, unable to leave, and unlikely to make it through
the winter. To help preserve their dignity, I ran a quick digital zamboni
over the numerous droppings on the ice.
PERMISSION
TO LAND?
I've
used Evening Grosbeak pictures before at this time of year, but this
really is the quintessential Pinawa Christmas bird. Our Evening
Grosbeak numbers have diminished somewhat in recent years, after reaching
record levels a decade or so ago, but they seem to have bounced back
a bit this year. They are boisterous birds, creating lots of noisy action
at busy feeders. Look for them on boulevard trees as well, especially
Manitoba maples. This female shows off her massive, seed-cracking bill
while looking for a landing spot on one of our feeders recently.
Back
to the Front Page December 2007...
|
