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Dear All, June 16, 2007
At North Alton last evening, at about 7:00 p.m., I had a reenactment
(but this time the date is known) of the Ruffed Grouse display that I
mentioned recently on Naturens.
As I approached a fork in the road, a brownish low animal that I
took to be a Woodchuck skittered off in thickets to the left of the left
fork. A Grouse ran from somewhere to the left with tail fanned, crossed
the left fork on the dead run, cut in front of me, turned with tail even
more fanned and with neck feathers splayed out and then ran to the right
of the right fork and disappeared without leaving even a puff of smoke.
It happened in about 1/5 the time it takes to read about it.
Reviewing this a few minutes later, I think it likely that the
'Woodchuck' was a Grouse, possibly the same one that displayed in front
of me, and possibly a hen acting in a strange way for hens.
The woods, positioned to catch the evening sun well, were fairly
alive with birds. I was splitting wood and watching for ATVs and horses
that are tearing my roads up, but had to pause frequently to take in the
action; small things flitting about, Crows protesting, male Pheasants
calling, Flickers calling and visiting (I think) a nest (a Flicker
landed on a stub, flew down to the left and when I moved to see where it
had landed, a Flicker ( I think the same one) flew out of a large hole.
Shortly after I had heard an off-key harsh 'Flicker call', a
Crow-sized (but more stubby) hawk landed low in the crown of a large
Poplar and then flew off in a zig-zag course low in the canopy.
Prominent features were stubby wings, vigorous flight, dull ocre-reddish
breast especially when perched with the sun on it and a large white
patch below at base of tail when in flight.
I don't know hawks but saw this one well, with sun in my back, and
it seems to fit Couper's except I thought the tail was relatively short.
As the sun dropped behind the canopy, a dark Sap Beetle
(_Carpophilus sayi_ Parsons), that is usually present on split Poplar in
my woods (especially under loosened bark), became much more evident on
exposed and partly dried wood. Earlier in the evening they were sparse
and only on shaded areas, moist ends or edges of split bark.
In the yard yesterday, _Pidonia ruficollis_ (Say), a slim dark
Long-horned beetle, was abundant on Strawberry flowers and on _Cornus
stolonifera_, breeding with such determination that being flicked onto
my hand and then eased back onto a flower cluster did not interrupt the
process.
They were also frequent and breeding this afternoon, in North Alton
on Cornus alternifolia_ along with Orsodacne atra_ (Ahrens); abundant
and breeding as usual.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
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