A mug shot of an escapee spotted in Dunrobin was one of the surprises unveiled at our January members’ night show and tell.

Linda Lackner shared several great avian images taken at Stoney Point, Armitage Avenue, Dunrobin, near her family’s home along the Ottawa River but the surprise of the evening was the Lady Amherst Pheasant spotted in her compost pile. 

The pheasant was a pleasant surprise, initially thought to be a Ring-necked Pheasant until Michael identified it as a female Lady Amherst Pheasant, a non-native kept in captivity, so an escaped bird.

Also spotted that day was a Bald Eagle feasting on a Canada Goose followed by a Wood Duck, seen on December 13, 2021

Northern Pintails were seen earlier, on December 6, 2021

Further afield, the Lackners photographed American White Pelicans at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Thunder Bay. Michael noted that pelicans were expanding eastward from Lake of the Woods to Nipigon and farther east.

 

Jim Simpson watched two acrobatic Pileated Woodpeckers on Christmas Day.

Murray and Cathy Borer spotted a Red-winged Blackbird on December 10, one of 14 species they saw at Oakgrove, Admaston during the month.

Julian Romeskie found bear tracks on the Carp Ridge, January 2, 2022  

While some were surprised by this sighting, Michael tells us that bears are not true hibernators — they slow down and their body temperature remains high so on a warm day the temperature alone can wake them up.

 

Stephen Duff shared photographs from a summer trip to Alberta.

FUNGI

The Fungi family got some well-deserved attention

Lynn Ovendon

Lynn Ovenden’ photographed Phallus ravenelii, a fungus in the Phallaceae (stinkhorn) family, on a foray to Lavigne Natural Park near Bourget on October 23, 2021.

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Joan Heyding

Joan Heying shared five fungi found at Otter Lake, Pontiac County, Quebec