Sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time.

In February we were out with some friends and it was mentioned that they had seen some white Squirrels in a park at the north end of the county. Well that sounded different enough for us to go have a look at, so off we go to Belle River and pull into the park wondering where they might be. Didn’t have to wonder too long, because as soon as we parked we saw 3 of them running around the tree right in front of us. Too easy. Then when I was getting my camera out of the car, I noticed 2 more hanging out in another tree, so we had 5 in total. They didn’t seem to mind the human with a camera being in their area and they just played tag with the black Squirrels, or hung out in the sunshine trying to get a tan.
These were not Albinos, but from what I understand, they have a gene variant from the Grey Squirrels.

I was walking along the boardwalk at Holiday Beach near the end of February, and happened to see something interesting flying over the marsh. I took a quick photo and zoomed in to see that it was a Pelican. I thought it was odd to see one so early so I sent a message to one of our friends who felt it was of interest. I posted it to our group and went over to one of the blinds for a better look. Another birder was there and he pointed out that there were about 50 Pelicans just offshore. This was exciting so I made sure to post that new info, and that started a month of daily posts from our group about the growing number of Pelicans throughout Holiday Beach and the Big Creek area. One day there was a count of 300 spread all across the marsh. And then all too soon, they were gone. A small number have been seen throughout Essex County since then, on and off, but I am hoping they show up in those numbers again during the outbound migration.

It’s not every day that you see a randy couple getting down and dirty out in Mother Nature, but it just so happened that I chanced upon a lovely pair getting ready to “have some fun”. I’ve had some time to get to know some of the moves that Swans make before they, well, you know, nudge nudge wink wink …

First comes the head in the water and out again move from the male, then they both start dipping either together or one after the other, then suddenly he mounts her and eventually pushes her head under the water, then when he finishes they do a “chest bump” and lovingly form a heart with their necks. All very sweet.

Anyhow, that’s another quick update of the first 3 months of this year. Now that I have the photos from our trip to Texas all sorted out I hope to have a big blog ready within the next week or so.

Keep an eye out, but I suggest putting some time aside to read it when it comes in.

Thanks much for staying with us.

Till next time