Plains Rd. Burlington. ON. February 3rd. 2021. A couple of unlikely sightings today. The first was a Wild Turkey that had become something of a celebrity in its neighbourhood. It has taken up residence in a busy, mixed-use, urban part of town where followers of a local Facebook group keep everyone current on its whereabouts. Today I photographed it whiling away time on top of an array of traffic lights at a very busy crossroads. A passer-by told me that just yesterday, it had stopped all commerce as it sauntered through the intersection while a police officer directed traffic. It’s not uncommon in this city to have to stop for a slow moving parade of Canada Geese crossing the road, but turkeys!
The turkey’s behaviour is bizarre and hard to explain other than to suggest that it’s got something to do with winter. There is a substantial flock known to inhabit an area of woodland and farm fields a couple of kilometres north, but it’s not like it’s a hop and a skip away. To get there means crossing a major railway line and a 6-lane highway among other man-made barriers; but Wild Turkeys are strong fliers. Who knows.
More conventionally but striking in other ways, was the pleasure of seeing two Eastern Screech Owls sunning themselves. I’ve written about them before, the grey one (above) just a month ago, and today it was standing tall exposed to the sun’s precious warmth. The red one was in a well-known owl-tree in a local cemetery, its presence was almost predictable. Screech Owls sunning themselves has become a mark of mid-late winter for me, a reminder that, while there’s plenty of cold ahead, the sun is gaining strength.
Lovely shots of screech owls sunning- Great Horned hooting yesterday afternoon in southeastern Massachusetts. Hope.