Naturalists, Nursery join forces for garage sale
Article content
The Pembroke Area Field Naturalists and the Children’s Garden Nursery School are holding their annual joint garage sale on Saturday, June 8, from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. The sale will be held at the Nursery School at 375 Doran Street in Pembroke. This is a fundraiser for both organizations, and donations of goods are welcome during the week leading up to the sale. For more information, please call Benita Richardson at 613-735-2259. Check it out; you never know what you may find!
The spring migration is in full force with new birds arriving every day. Recent arrivals to our area include Barn, Bank, and Cliff Swallows, Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, Bobolinks, Common Moorhens, Wilson Snipe, Upland Sandpipers, Red-eyed Vireos, Least Flycatcher and most recently, White-crowned Sparrows. There are also several more members of the Wood Warbler family including Nashville, Blackburnian, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and several others. The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds arrived late this year, but their numbers have been increasing over the past week.
During the next week expect more arrivals such as American Bittern, Sora, Virginia Rail, and more of the Thrush and Flycatcher families to return. It is a great time for bird watching; however, make sure you bring your bug spray if you are in wooded areas!
On May 8, Melissa Patterson observed her first Cardinal on Cedar Trail off Golf Course Road. It is always special to see your first Cardinal. Melissa also has a pair of Common Goldeneye Ducks near her home on the Ottawa River.
On May 14, Lee Mousseau of Round Lake Road informed me that she has both Evening and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at her feeders as well as her first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the season.
On this same date, Jim Vienneau of Petawawa observed the area’s first spring Indigo Bunting. Nice sighting!
Around this same period, Terry Demers of Riverside Drive had both male and female Cardinals at his feeder. It seems that in the last few years, the Cardinals have really spread themselves around town.
On May 15, Kerry McDonald of Petawawa updated me with her most recent bird sightings. She still has her Red Crossbills and 15 Pine Siskin at her feeder. The Siskin should have left by now so I suspect that a small colony has established itself in her area. She also has Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Song, Fox, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows and an Eastern Phoebe. A few days earlier, she spotted the area’s first Belted Kingfisher on Highway 41 near Lake Dore. Nice variety of birds, Kerry!
Finally, on May 18, Al Dalton of Witt Road observed two mature Bald Eagles in a tree near Lake Dore. This must have been quite a sight!
Please call me with your bird sightings at 613-735-4430 or e-mail me at hooles@bell.net. For more information on nature events and links to other nature sites, I refer you to the Pembroke Area Field Naturalists’ website at www.pafn.on.ca .