The Unexpected! And No Camera...

September 17, 2021, we headed to the city shortly after 5:00 and were home before 7:00. It was an extra trip so a bit troubling. We had no idea how special it would be!
We had just turned out of the Park at the Eastbank gate when a very large whitish bird flew across the road and roosted within sight of binoculars. It was a Great Horned Owl! We’ve seen these birds at Condie Park and one year by the Scout Camp at Pike Lake. Surprised but not totally untoward.
At the north end of the lake, we slowed, searched for and found, the Great Blue Heron that has been frequenting the lake this past week. We see them pass through but they don’t stay here all year. In no hurry to get to the city, we turned onto the back road. Four geese were feeding in the first field such that you could see heads and necks only craning to look at us. Fun. A white tail doe and fawn were in the fourth or so field and three turkey vultures came soaring over us soon after. Last week along this same road en route from the tree farm we had seen about a dozen turkey vultures, many young without the characteristic red head, feeding on a deer carcass in the ditch. As we passed, we noted those bones were picked totally clean.
We thought we had been very lucky in our sightings but in the next field, our passing vehicle disturbed three young bucks, all well-antlered mule deer. They posed for a close up view with the binoculars. Also, near the fence in the field across the lane we saw sandhill cranes near a flock of geese. These are among the first crane sightings this fall other than flocks we have seen fly over. Well satisfied with our wildlife count for the evening, we turned onto the paved Valley Road, past the tree farm. But before we arrived at the Berry Barn and Tuff Turf fields, something dark caught my eye; I called out uncertainly ‘moose?". We pulled over and parked. We discovered that we were indeed viewing a huge, an enormous bull moose that had a rack to be envied! We could each have had an armchair up there! Very impressive. We watched him for awhile. He was headed back to where we had come from but every now and then he avoided a bush and turned our way so we got a front view and could watch his wattle sway too. We have no photos to share, just memories and incentive to go for a drive now and then two hours before sunset!

Post Script: In addition to our regulars at the bird feeders and in the yard: chickadee, white-breasted nuthatches, hairy and downy woodpeckers, robins, goldfinches and purple finches, we have hosted juncos, flickers, jays, white-throated sparrows, grackles, and a chipmunk. On and over the lake we've watched various unidentified ducks, Canada geese, cormorants, small pied-billed grebes, a lone pelican, and of course the heron I mentioned earlier. Yes, we have seen the beaver lately too. They head south an hour or two before sunset travelling way out near the middle of the lake; it is too shallow along the shoreline this year.

Posted on September 22, 2021 03:42 AM by sasksurely