Birds of Prey Show

Eastern Screech Owl

Smallest owl with ear tufts in North America
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This past weekend was the annual Beaver Brook Fall Festival. It was rather pathetic compared to past years filled with vendors and more people. This year, the only real highlight (aside sipping my first hot apple cider of the year - its tradition for me to only have my first one here each year) was the Birds Of Prey show put on by a nonprofit raptor rescue: Wingmasters They rescue injured, orphaned or sick raptors. They release to the wild when the birds are ready, but some are handicapped for life and must stay.

I took pics of all the birds they showed and educated us on, however the bright sunlight and white tent made for poor quality images. However, here they are with one fact I took away from the show for each (my favorite fact/story is for the Barn Owl at the bottom);

Northern Saw Whet Owl
Adults only weigh up to 3.2 ounces.
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Red Tailed Hawk
When you hear "eagle calls" in movies - its usually the call from this hawk they dub in
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Peregrine Falcon
Can travel between 100 - 200 miles per hour! (160 - 321 kph)
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American Kestrel
Worlds smallest falcon. Yes. It's a falcon.
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Great Horned Owl
Has no natural predators. Deaths usually are caused by man.
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Golden Eagle (Lakota) with Wingmaster Julia (Lakota thinks Julia is her mate)
Has a wingspan of 6 feet

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North American Barn Owl
Often found hunting voles in cemeteries back in colonial times because they would live in bell towers (and barns obviously). They would stop voles dead in their tracks by shrieking and stunning the vole. Couple that with a ghostly white face flying over the headstones, and many ghost stories around cemeteries arouse from the hunting techniques of this lovely owl.
(also.. I've seen Labyrinth... this is possibly a goblin king)
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Lovely Autumn

Monarch on New England Asters

With the exception of the random tropical storm that came up the coast yesterday and today, autumn has decided to make its entrance for the year. Apples, pumpkins, corn - all at least a week or two early. The deciduous trees are changed for the most part, but it will be a short lived fire of color this year. We only had about 6 days of rain in over 2 months.

Beaver Brook Maple Tree Because of the lack of rain, I was rather surprised to even see any decent foliage this year. I'm sure when I leave my home tomorrow, after the tropical downpours and winds, all these orange and red oaks and maples and yellow birches and beeches will be branch bare.Maple Leaves at Beaver Brook

With autumn comes lovely asters, mums, sunflowers and a forest load of busy chipmunks and squirrels.





White Mums at Maple Hill Gardens







Most of the time, chipmunks are hard to capture with my little digital camera. Between their size and speed, my basic 5 year old camera can't deal with it. However, lucky in one way and tragic in another, I came across a sick chipmunk. This poor chipmunk actually came out of its hole in the ground and ran into my foot as if almost about to attack. I examined her and found there was nothing I could do for her - she was in the last stages of distemper. I took a picture of her, and put her back in her hole, careful not to come in direct contact with anything but the end of her tail. I'm sure she's gone by now, and wanted to include her here.

Cow Birds... lots of em