And Stephanie, too, is for the Birds

 

Fishing and Hunting, Quebec rules

The following is the information regarding fishing and hunting seasons and regulations. It was appended to a 2023 post, but your fearless editor suspects it may be more useful as a 2024 post.

https://www.quebec.ca/en/tourism-and-recreation/sporting-and-outdoor-activities/sport-hunting/seasons-bag-limits

Another Wildlife Sighting

 In late May, I awoke one morning quite early because a crow was being exceedingly noisy outside my window. Usually they settle down after a bit, but this one was intent on destroying the last vestiges of my sleep. So I got up, went to the window to look for the culprit and saw, not a crow, but a hulking brute (backlit, so features hard to make out) perched on a branch between me and the lake.

Vulture? I thought, but it seemed more compact than that. Then it turned its white head and gave me its profile. A bald eagle. No wonder the crow was distressed.

We have seen the eagle off and on over the winter, but this was an amazing up-front and personal view.

It soon left its perch to fly across the lake, pursued by a mob of one very brave crow, still spitting expletives.

**********

Merlin tags of recent weeks: indigo bunting, hermit thrush, and a chorus of thousands.

Kindness of Madeleine

Tonight there was a rainbow over the lake that was still there as I, and a thousand blackflies, reached the shore. While I looked, a loon [Editor's note: It's a mallard. Still beautiful withal.] drifted quietly past and into Outlet Bay over the coloured water. Lake Anne is magic!

Spring Has Sprung 2024

It was a relatively mild winter, with long rainy thaws in unexpected places. Spring came early but decided to stay and stay. So cool, rainy days after a lovely 20C bit somewhere at the start of April. Everything is hovering around 10C to 15C these days.

The ice went out on or about April 19, after lingering for days looking fragile and past its best-before date.

The first loon was heard (by me, others may have heard it earlier) on April 18, while the ice was still covering all but the edges of the lake. There proceeded a very long week of lonely loon calls and receding ice, followed by a joyful carillon of two-loon joy beginning April 25.

The coltsfoot is in vibrant bloom, whether or not we want it.

A beaver swam past the dock a week or so ago, and deer were running down the length of the lake not long before the ice went out. WW looked out the window and said, "Oh dear!" Turns out he was saying, "Oh! Deer!"

And birds. Seriously, birds.

There are, of course, all the usual suspects: black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, dark-eyed juncoes, American crows, American robins, Canada geese (sporadic and few so far) and turkeys...so many turkeys. But there's more going on.

The woods are alive with ruby-crowned kinglets voicing their loud, lovely song. When they allow space, the yellow-rumped warbler, northern flicker, chipping sparrow, song sparrow, pine siskin, eastern phoebe and northern water thrush all pitch in.

I know all this because of the wonderful app from Cornell University: Merlin. It identifies birds by their songs. You can click on birds you've recorded and see a photo and brief description. Who had ever heard of a water thrush?? Merlin had.

The hummingbirds have reached Hudson, QC, so it's time to unlimber your hummer feeders, if that is something you do. Apparently, these wee birds return to the same feeder(s) year after year, so don't disappoint the little jewels.

Just so it's not all rainbows and unicorns...mosquito at the gate today.

And Then There's Fishing

 

Bob has sent this reminder:

The fishing season for lake trout, speckled trout, and splake, is over as of September 18, next Monday.

Thus proving that Bob is also for the fish.

Further to: Hunting

 

It appears that your Fearless Editor failed to transmit the proper link to the Quebec website with all the official information about the hunting seasons.

Let's try again:

https://www.quebec.ca/en/tourism-and-recreation/sporting-and-outdoor-activities/sport-hunting/seasons-bag-limits

 

There we go!

Photo from Andrew

 

A flutterby, kindness of Andrew. Anyone know what kind it is?

Bob is for the...Critters

Over here, we had many squirrels running around our cottage. And coming up to greet us.  Like...every hour. Since 5 or 6 weeks, not one!

In prior years, there were lots of chipmunks in our rock walls, and in our garden. Lots of babies. This year, not one! None since last fall.

And, lo and behold! Not one mouse since mid-winter. None. And none in our compost bin.  Very rare!

Don't know if it is due to an ermine(s) or a fisher. Doubt that it is a fisher, so close to a residence. A mink would not venture far from the shoreline.  And our resident broadwinged hawk rarely strays from Anne Est.

Anything unusual on your side?

Robert Gaudreau

[Editor's note: Over on this side, can't answer for mice, but plenty of squirrels however far fewer chipmunks. I read in Joseph Graham's column in The Main Street, that heavy rains flooded their burrows and many drowned. I'm sad 😢]

Another Photo from Madeleine

On Aug. 10th, after the rain,...I ventured out in my kayak.  The reflections on the lake, and the mist in the hills were beautiful.  When I landed back at our dock, I turned around and saw the following:

Hunting Information, Fall 2023

A Message From Reid McDougall

Hi everyone – quick update on hunting on Lake Anne Club lands.

The LAC is in the annual process of signing agreements with the hunters of Famous Grouse
Lodge and the hunters of the Shrewsbury Knights for the 2023 fall hunting season. These two
groups are our neighbours and have been hunting on our buffer lands for many years.

We allow the hunting of deer and moose by hunters of both clubs during the bow and rifle season. Lake Anne is in Zone 9 West and the 2023 dates for our zone are as follows:

• September 30 to October 13 (bow season for deer)
• October 7 to October 13  (bow season for moose)
• November 11 to November 26 (rifle season for deer)

We do not permit hunting on LAC lands over Thanksgiving long weekend.

Both hunting clubs do a good job of keeping unaffiliated hunters off our lands and their

presence year after year has been a great partnership for LAC.

Every year the ministry updates the opening and closing dates for hunting season here.

If you have any questions about how the LAC works with hunters, let me know

(reidmcdougall@gmail.com).

Loon shot

 Kindness of Madeleine.

Creepy Critter?

 Bill Hogg found this lovely being, with two others, off his dock. 

So far, the only suggestion, from Andrew, is a fresh water jellyfish. Jerome wants to know how it smells, whether animal or vegetable.

Craspedacusta sowerbii or the peach blossom jellyfish is an invasive species that originated in the Yangtse River. It is now found in lakes around the world. It eats little bitty protozoa. While it does have a sting, the venom is aimed at little bitty protozoa, so it should not harm humans. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craspedacusta_sowerbii]

Somehow, this identification doesn't seem right to your Humble Editor. It looks more like some kind of aquatic worm.

Any brilliant biologist out there with suggestions?

Erratum

 A booboo was made in the post about the tree planting. David did not say he would be planting deciduous saplings. He said their were plenty already in place. Thank you Mother Nature.

Coming up

So many things happening or about to happen.

The Morin Heights Farmers' Market is back. It's held every Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. all summer long. Check it out at Basler Park at 99 chemin du Lac Echo.

SuperFolk is back with its series of concerts and its festival. The next concert will be Monday, July 31, at 7 p.m., at Trinity Church, 757 chemin du Village, Morin Heights. Price: $25. Performers are Irish Millie, a 19-year-old incredible fiddle player from Peterborough (www.irishmillie.ca). She'll be performing with singer-songwriter Pat Johnson (www,patjohnson.ca). 

The sixth iteration of the SuperFolk Festival will take place in Basler Park on August 18, 19 and 20. For more information check out the website at superfolk.ca

There's much excitement over SuperFolk's concert scheduled for Saturday, September 2, at Chalet Bellevue in Morin Heights ($30). Bonneville is a "folk- and blues-influenced song and groove man who is strongly influenced by New Orleans". (www.raybonneville.com)

Shakespeare in the Park from Repercussion Theatre is presenting  Cymbeline on July 22 in Basler Park starting at 7 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket. Free but donations are gratefully accepted.

Arundel Craft Fair will be held Saturday, June 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Arundel United Church. There will be a farmers' market across the street.

The Dunany Music Fest is happening on July 28 and 29 at the Dunany Country Club.

More coming events as your faithful blogger learns about them.

New trees installed

Forestier David Armstrong was well into his work of planting almost 300 little trees on the land that was cleared a few years ago off chemin du Lac Anne, when I joined him. It was 8 a.m. 

He was planting white pine and red spruce babies, pulling them from shoulder bags to place in holes he made with a...hole maker (technical term). He says he'll be back with some deciduous trees, too, red maple and something else I didn't catch. An excellent blend to avoid the dangers of monoculture and encourage the Wood Wide Web (David agreed). 

The mosquitoes were ferocious, though he said they don't bother him. I came with gloves, all ready to help, but he said he had everything under control. So I took a few pics and, unceremoniously, fled.

About them wildfires

 Last Friday was a very smoky day due to the many wildfires burning in Quebec and Ontario. I will demonstrate:

A clear day (today)

A smoky day (Friday)

Not pleasant for walking. Makes you cough. Makes your eyes water. Is smelly. Advice is to stay indoors and let your air circulation system do the work. Not easy when you have a dog.

Open fires are verboten in the Laurentians. 

Please be careful out there.

We Need to Talk About Ticks

 As the climate warms up (it is 31C as I write on May 31), various critters are moving north and some of them are distinctly undesirable.

In my long-ago and far-distant youth, we didn't have earthworms at Lake Anne! (True fact. It was just too cold for them.) And we didn't have ticks. Now we have both.

The problem with ticks, other than that they bite and suck blood and aren't cute, is the collection of tick-borne diseases they bring with them.

The species of greatest concern in terms of human health is the black-legged or deer tick, Ixodides scapularis, which can transmit the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. These ticks like humid, cool weather and begin their activity as soon as the snow is gone.

A second species is massed at the U.S.-Canada border, ready to invade. This is the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. This little fellow is an 'aggressive biter' and brings with it a new set of pathogens. It has been reported over the past couple of years in both Ontario and Quebec.

Quebec Public Health recommends the following to avoid tick bites;

• wear long sleeves and trousers

• use a DEET- or icaridin-based insect repellent, such as these:

• walk along trails, not through the brush
• maintain yards and cut long grass, especially in areas where children play
• check for ticks when you return home; removing a black-legged tick within 24 hours significantly reduces the risk of contracting Lyme disease

If you see a tick, you are advised to take a picture and send it to the eTick website, established by Bishop's University Professor Jade Savage. Someone will contact you and advise you of what, if any action to take.

Montreal public health has issued a prescription for pharmacists to offer post-exposure prophylaxis to anyone bitten by a tick. Rapid post-exposure antibiotic treatment can stall Lyme disease in its tracks.

I don't know all this through osmosis, so I would like to acknowledge the source, from which I drew liberally, or plagiarized, if you will:

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/an-aggressive-biter-there-s-a-new-tick-to-worry-about-in-quebec-and-ontario-1.6377541

Bob's For the Birds -- May

 Sent by Bob on May 20: 

• Hummingbirds finally showed up, two weeks later than normal.
• Beaver on the lake, several times.
• Yellow shafted flickers. First time around our cottage.
• Two pairs of mallards nesting nearby. One in Derek's Bay, one at Sally's.
• Black and white warblers moving along the shoreline several times in the last two weeks.
• Evening grosbeaks moving along the shoreline. First appearance in more than 10 years.
• Healthy (big) mink moving along the shoreline. First sighting since last May.
• At least three loons on the lake.
• A pair of smaller ducks off Green Mountain, maybe a pair of grebes. Too far to tell. Scared by a loon surfacing within two yards of them!
• Lots of pileated woodpecker activity.
• And, lastly, the usual golden eagles everywhere (this one's for Stephanie!)

*****

On the other side of the lake, April and May:

• Evening grosbeaks at our seed feeder during the winter.
• Lots of geese flying over, starting about April 10.
• Loon first heard on April 26; photo by Andrew Martin-Hugessen, April 30.

• Ice out April 28/29.
• Just before the ice went, WW looked out and said, "There's an eagle on the lake." Indeed there was, an golden eagle together with a small bird. WW thought maybe an eaglet but that would be a rush for a pair of eagles to build a nest, lay eggs, hatch and fledge the young all before the end of April. As we watched, the little bird flew away, while the eagle continued to stand there. My wild guess--the melting ice on the lake messed with the eagle's depth perception, crashed after catching the smaller bird, then sat there stunned. Later, it flew off. A day or so later, I was  headed in to St. Sauveur when a golden eagle flew over me and landed beside (presumably) his or her mate. Very distracting, but I stayed on the road!
• After the ice went, there were four or five geese-intensive days which meant early wake-up calls for those in their vicinity (us). They start discussing travel plans at about 4:30 a.m. Fortunately, they don't stay all summer.
• First thunderstorm of the year, May 2, produced a lovely rainbow...also first of the year.

• Male hummingbirds arrived May 11, females about a week later.

Bob's for the Birds -- April 2023

Submitted April 15

Last weekend, we had a barred owl hooting over on Green Mountain.  And robins (still 100% snow coverage of wooded areas).  The usual chickadees, many juncos, nuthatches, and several song sparrows.

This week, a duck flying around Green Mountain, many warblers along the shoreline (shorelines are still iced up) of Presqu'Ile and Woods Bay, which usually open up first.

No geese yet.  Turkey tracks on Anne Est, as well as the occasional deer track.  The raccoons are up and about.  Lots of squirrels, but no chipmunks yet.

And, of course, the occasional GOLDEN EAGLE ( nope, just kidding!)

Full ice coverage, but wet spots everywhere.

- Bob Gaudreau

*********

On the other side of the lake, things have been hopping all winter long. Deer, grouse, turkey, bunny and fox tracks. Also, about a month ago, a fox moving gracefully down the middle of the snow-covered lake, headed away from the Island. 

The feeder was emptied daily by an army of chickadees, hairy and downy woodpeckers, jays, white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. Occasional visitors included evening grosbeaks and redpolls. With the coming of warmer weather, purple finches have put in an appearance, as have juncos and one mourning dove. There was a morning when the forest rang with the wittering of warblers--an unmistakable and wonderful sound. Red squirrels have been cleaning up under the feeder all winter, and a very slender chipmunk put in an appearance recently. Raccoons are evident from thumps in the night (the feeder is brought in every evening, so it didn't score). The groundhog has emerged to the dog's hysterical delight. Geese are coming over almost every morning, but there is not yet enough open water for them to stay.

During a winter walk, I had the pleasure of meeting a male three-toed (or possibly a black-backed) woodpecker at eye level, hammering away at a rotting tree. It was remarkably unfazed as I looked on. The males of both these woodpeckers are distinguished by a yellow crown spot, unlike the hairy or downy whose crown spot is red. Both the three-toed and black-backed woodpeckers are rare or uncommon, so it was an honour to meet and observe one.

Last week, during a glorious run of 20C days, our deck was visited by a Polygonia comma or eastern comma butterfly. I asked Dr. Google for information about "butterfly looks like bark" and was rewarded with the identification. Apparently, this little guy overwinters tucked into crevices in tree bark then comes out and creates a first round of caterpillars that become butterflies that have a second round of egg-laying that eventually produces the butterflies that overwinter. They feed on nettles and rotting fruit and have been observed over-indulging and becoming intoxicated. They are incredibly fast flyers, a fact to which I can attest.

I'm sorry I couldn't capture an image of this lovely creature with its wings spread. The dorsal surface is a deep orange with black spots.

Ice is withdrawing from the edges of the lake. It won't be long now!