Early 2012 I had some interesting encounters with some native wildlife.
January 2012 I got a text from my former boss saying that his son had found a owl, and if I wanted it. Of course I jumped on this, and I was ready to tackle a big Great Horned or Snowy Owl. When I got there what greeted me was this little Northern Saw-whet Owl. Saw-whets normally migrate south for the winter, as they have trouble finding food through the deeps snow and keeping warm. They get their name from their call, which sounds like someone sharpening a saw blade on a whet-stone. This one seems to have been attacked by a predator, it couldn't fly and had some blood on its wing. I took it home, and promptly got it some water and a frozen thawed mouse, which it ate fairly quickly. The next evening someone from the Wildlife Haven picked it up, but they later told me it had to be put down, as it couldn't be released.
In February I went to have a fire in Bird's Hill Provincial Park with my family, we usually go to a trail that has several bird feeders, where we often feed the chickadees and other birds by hand. On this particular occasion I noticed an animal running about the feeders which was quite a bit larger than a Red Squirrel. Grabbing my camera I ran to where I saw it. Running up the trunk of a tree right in front of me was an American Marten! Martens are members of the Mustelid family, which includes weasels, badgers, otters, mink, wolverines, and ferrets. Martens are generally arboreal, but also spend some time on the ground. Their main prey items are Red-backed Voles and Red Squirrels, both of which are abundant around the feeders. I managed to snap this quick shot of him/her as they paused to watch me from directly above.
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