A TOUGH WINTER

A few evenings ago I watched Canadian TV program on the flora and fauna of the Carolinian forest. For those who aren't familiar with this term, the Carolinian forest is the Canadian appellation for the eastern deciduous (broad-leaf) forest that once covered a huge stretch of eastern United States, from the Carolinas up to parts of southwestern Canada. Much of the original forest is gone, and what remains if very fragmented in both countries. In Ontario, the remnants of this once-great ecosystem embrace several preserved areas. Perhaps the most important of these is Point Pelee National Park, just down the road from my place. In Canada, this ecozone occupies less than one percent of Canada's land mass, but has one quarter of the population, so development is always a threat. Some 60 species have been officially designated as "at risk" but a number of others are also in trouble. Some of the rare and endangered species in tiny Point Pelee Park (just 15 square kilometers, or less than 6 miles) include the the southern flying squirrel, the five-lined skink, the common hop tree, the prickly pear cactus, monarch butterflies, red-headed woodpeckers, and the bald eagle. Many naturalists know Point Pelee as a world-class migration spot, both spring and fall for birds, and for the monarch butterflies in the fall, but it's a great place to visit all year.

I live right on the lake (Lake Erie) so there's not a lot of natural habitat in my backyard, but I do get some cottontail bunnies, and the occasional raccoon and once, an opossum. This winter has been particularly tough. The normal mild winter temperatures of the Canadian Carolinian zone have taken a beating from the Jet Stream. It's been colder for longer than usual, and that takes a toll on all the resident species. One critter in particular is especially vulnerable, I learned from the TV show: the opossum. I've only seen an opossum a couple of times; they aren't plentiful, and I'm not often out on the roads at dawn and dusk,when the 'possums are active, but I do see many poor opossums dead by the side of the road, killed by cars that were out early or late. One quiet morning I did see a mother 'possum cross my yard with a sweet pointy-faced little baby clinging to her back. The TV program said that opossums don't hibernate, and must be abroad in any weather to find food. They also don't have fur covering their sensitive noses, tails, ears and paws, so they are especially susceptible to frostbite. I feel badly that this cold spell will probably mean that some of these creatures may not survive. They may not be the cutest critter you could name, but as Canada's (North America's) only marsupial, they'd be entitled to a special place, if it were up to me. Here's hoping spring comes soon!





Photo from Wikimedia Commons

STRANGE DAYS AT POINT PELEE

Keep in mind that I have only been living here a short while, so I definitely don’t know everything, but I have noticed a couple of curious things about my new residence. First of all, there are no chickadees! No chickadees at all!! By “chickadee” I’m referring to the black-capped species, which should be here in abundance, by my reckoning. Black-caps are the most widely distributed chickadee in North America, but with six other species on the continent, everyone will have at least one kind to enjoy. But not in my Postal Code! When I first arrived here from the Alberta foothills (where I had black-caps, boreals, and the cute little cranky-looking mountain chickadees) on the Summer Solstice of ’05, I assumed that as soon as I hung up a feeder, they would come. When the feeder didn’t bring them, I was sure they’d show up when the weather turned cold. Still no ‘dees – none at the seed feeder, none at the suet cage. And it has been that way the whole time. How odd, I thought, to be in such a famous birdwatching area, and have no chickadees; they're such a staple of the pasttime. Finally, I called the Ranger at the Point Pelee Visitor Centre. He said there were very few (like, 3 or 4!) in the Park, but in general, chickadees just hadn’t seemed to populate the area yet. But he assured me they were likely expanding their range, and would “get established eventually.” I certainly hope so!

Another thing I noticed is that there seems to be a real absence of scavengers. This totally surprises me. One of my favorite birds has always been the turkey vulture, ever since I saw my first one decades ago on a trip to Tampa. However, you don’t see them much in western Alberta. They tend to hang glide more on the eastern side, and on into Saskatchewan, so I was happy to see how plentiful they are here. Another plentiful thing here is roadkill: skunks, ‘possums, squirrels, and raccoons, plus a distressing number of free ranging cats (did see a small white-tail deer by the golf course once). All those critters, and still, in three years, I have yet to see a turkey vulture on the ground picking at anything. In fact, I don’t see anything hanging around the shoulders, trying to nab some lunch. In Alberta, roadkill comes in all sizes, from ground squirrels to moose, and nothing is ignored. Between the ravens, crows, magpies, eagles, and coyotes, a moose carcass can be half gone almost before the clean-up truck (the one with the winch!) can collect it. But here, a hapless raccoon can lie beside the yellow line until weather and passing cars reduce it from a fuzzy speed bump to a mere stain. I recently learned that opossums will sometimes scavenge, but upon reflection, I’ve never seen a dead ‘possum in the road lying next to an even deader squirrel… I don’t get it; a lot of valuable nutrition is going to waste. It just doesn’t seem in the nature of nature to do that. So – turkey vultures of Pelee, come to the buffet! Just watch out for the traffic, please.

Photo of black-capped chickadee and turkey vulture from Wikimedia Commons
Photo of mountain chickadee from Sshutterstock