Submitted by John Dickson
The Owen Sound Field Naturalists’ (OSFN) featured guest Jenna McGuire was scheduled at the Bayshore Community Centre at 7PM Thursday November 11. Through her live, in person presentation Exploring the Geology of the North Shore, Manitoulin Island and Lake Superior, she will share what she has learned exploring the geology to the north of Grey-Bruce and how it ties into local geological and cultural stories.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I have spent most of the pandemic engrossed in studying the origins and mineral nature of the glacial erratics of the area.”
Jenna also plans to bring a variety of local and northern specimens with her for viewing.
Stephane Menu, Station Scientist at the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory (BPBO), included this eloquent and exciting paragraph in his recent blog: “The morning of October 29 dawned overcast and windy, conditions that did not change over the course of the day. The strong East wind blew relentlessly all day whipping Georgian Bay in a frothy fury. As in the previous days, a few flocks of White-winged Crossbills appeared at first light, however it quickly became clear that October 29 was going to be different. Soon we were witnessing in amazement a near constant stream of low, fast-flying flocks of chattering White-winged Crossbills, all heading East against the strong wind, barely clearing the tree tops, occasionally stopping for a very short time. The River of Crossbills was at its highest flow between 8:30 and 10:00am when a befuddled but delighted team counted over 1500 of them as flocks after flocks flew over Cabot Head. The total for the day was 2500 White-winged Crossbills, an estimate of course, but one we felt was a conservative one. All the flocks were flying against the wind and none were seen going the other way. I have never seen anything like it in 16 years at Cabot Head. To think that a few days ago we were impressed with a total of 130 White-winged Crossbills! The following day, October 30, we counted about 400 White-winged Crossbills, a very respectable number but one that felt anticlimactic after the previous amazing show. On the last day of the fall migration monitoring, October 31, one small group of 20 White-winged Crossbills was seen. We wonder where all these birds came from and where they were headed.”
Perhaps some of those Crossbills made it to Collingwood where about 50 of them were observed on October 30, by an OSFN birding group led by David Turner. Earlier highlights in the Clarksburg area included a Greater Yellowlegs, the only one I have seen this year.
Other recent sightings have included Snakes, sunning themselves on roadways, paths, shorelines, in wooded areas and even on a deck. Bob Knapp observed a Water Snake near Cabot Head on October 28, and an Eastern Garter Snake on November 7 near Barrow Bay, while on a family outing there. On that same warm day, Jim Coles saw two Eastern Garter Snakes in the Arran Lake area.
