Connections to Wildlife

Yearly, the Canadian Wildlife Federation sends me

a wonderful calendar featuring monthly photos by Nature photographers.

So delighted am I to daily reference each for my activities.

Prior to saying 'Adieu' to 2019, I happily send you

comments from May to December.

MAY: The Gray Treefrog can be active from April to until the beginning of October. Growing up to six centimetres in length, the female is is usually larger than the male. Depending on light and temperature conditions, the Gray Tree frog can change its colouration becoming lighter or darker.

JUNE: The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in Canada. It has elaborate courtship displays and often nest in colonies. The male and the female share nurturing duties: both incubate the eggs and feed their young. The adult Blue Heron has a few natural enemies. It is occasionally attacked by eagles. Crows, ravens, gulls, birds of prey and raccoons prey upon the eggs and young.

JULY: The Humpback Whale has an incredibly melodic way of communicating with other whales. It sings intricate and complex songs that can last up to 20 minutes long and can be heard over 32 kilometres away. The male Humpback will sing the same song again and again for hours.

AUGUST: The Monarch is unique among North American butterflies in performing an annual two-way migration in vast numbers from one area of the continent to another. Probably no other insect among the millions of species on earth performs a similar migration. Many of the Monarchs that arrive in Canada, are actually the great grandchildren of the Monarchs that left Mexico on their northward migration.

SEPTEMBER: The Snowy Owl, unlike most owls, is active during the day and at dawn and dusk. In the breeding season, it is typically found from the treeline to the northern limit of Canada, preferring high rolling tundra with tall points of land for nest sites and perches. During winters in southern Canada, it inhabits prairies, marshes, open fields or shorelines ~ habitats that resemble the treeless tundra of the breeding range.

OCTOBER: The Red Fox has excellent eyesight, a keen sense of smell and acute hearing, which helps greatly when hunting. The slight movement of an ear may be all that it needs to locate a hidden rabbit. It can smell nests of young rabbits or eggs hidden by long grass.

NOVEMBER: When the Red-tailed Hawk isn't circling above the fields, hunting for a vole or a rabbit, you might see it perched on top of telephone poles or other tall structures keeping an eye for

prey. If you're bird-watching, you'll find this raptor hard to miss, one of Canada's largest birds.

DECEMBER: The American Goldfinch breeds late in the year from July to September ~ a fact that has puzzled many scientists. Some have suggested that the timing of breeding is linked to the bird's unusual habit of moulting or shedding feathers. The American Goldfinch and its eggs are vulnerable to a variety of prfedators ~ including cats,weasels, snakes, squirrels, jays and Cooper's hawks.

The foregoing submission by Merle Baird-Kerr...December 1, 2019

Always, comments welcome: mbairdkerr@cogeco.ca

And when December ends, I can fully enjoy 2020's January calendar!.

.