It was a very foggy start to the day by the Guild Inn. Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud which often occurs near bodies of water.

Gradually the fog lifted:

Today’s group:

Some botany and snails:

The Carolina Wren is found in much of the eastern United States. Southern Ontario, especially near Lake Ontario is as far north as they venture.

We heard two singing loudly this morning.

It is an unusual bird in that it does not migrate and I have heard them singing in every month of the year.

The song is notated as “tea kettle tea kettle tea kettle” or “richelieu richelieu richelieu”.

Diet consists insects and spiders. Food items like moths, stick bugs, caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, cockroaches and crickets are their favorite foods. However, occasionally, they would also feast upon frogs, lizards, or snakes, as also herbivorous items like plant matter in a small amount. In winter, they consume seeds of poison ivy, bayberry, sweet gum, nuts and fruit pulps.

Once, while leading a walk at Rattray Marsh, we heard a Carolina Wren singing very close to us out in the open. Because of their small size and lack of movement while perched, it took 10 minutes before one of the 15 of us was able to locate its exact position. Since then I have considered myself very fortunate every time I spot one. The photos of this post were taken through a window into my back garden. The only time I have ever seen a Carolina Wren by the house.

Species list: Canada goose, ring-billed gull, killdeer, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, black-capped chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, Carolina wren, gray catbird, American robin, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, white-throated sparrow. (15 species)

NATURE POETRY

September strews the woodlot o’er
With many a brilliant color;
The world is brighter than before,
Why should our hearts be duller?      – Thomas W. Parsons (1819–92) 

Miles Hearn

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