ENCOUNTERS

What interesting things have MFN members seen as they venture to the four corners of Muskoka? Encounters provides an opportunity for others to share in the experience of a unique wildlife sighting, finding a strange set of footprints in the snow, discovering an unfamiliar flower, or witnessing an unusual natural phenomenon.

If you have an encounter that you would like to share with others, please email photos and details to muskokafn(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ when entering address).
CASPIAN TERNS - AUGUST 2013 - LAKE MUSKOKA, BRACEBRIDGE
This adult Caspian Tern (right) was observed feeding its young on a dock on Lake Muskoka in August 2013. The adult bird made frequent "fishing" trips out over the lake while the young bird waited patiently on the dock for its parent to return with dinner. Caspian Terns don't nest on Lake Muskoka, but they often venture inland from their known breeding colonies in southern Georgian Bay in search of food. These two birds were seen over the course of a week in mid-August 2013.





GREAT BLUE HERON - DECEMBER 15 2013 - HENRY MARSH, BRACEBRIDGE
While participating in the Gravenhurst-Bracebridge Christmas Bird Count on December 15 2013, Regan, David, and Mara Goodyear found a Great Blue Heron standing in a small open area of water at the edge of Henry Marsh in Bracebridge. The heron had ice covered legs and feet, heavy clumps of ice attached to its breast feathers, and appeared to be in distress. It was unable to fly away and fell over onto the snow as they approached it. They were able to pick up the heron and took it back to their car where they wrapped it in a blanket. They took it to the Bracebridge OSPCA where it was admitted for care. "Henry" was standing on "his" own and was eating minnows a couple of days later and was later taken to a bird rehabilitation centre in Toronto where "he" will be released. This was not the first Great Blue Heron that has been observed in Muskoka in December, but this first year bird (owing to the dark feathering on the top of its head, not white feathering as in adult birds) was caught out by the sudden drop in temperatures and the quick freeze up of standing water.
Muskoka Field Naturalists
SUNNING SQUIRRELS - DECEMBER 23 2013 - HUNTSVILLE
A family of 5 black squirrels sun themselves vertically on a maple tree in our
back yard.  The tree faces south and in the morning light we often find this
family hanging out together, basking in the rays of the winter sun.
Helena Renwick