Other Wildlife

I have spent so much time looking up, when I go for walks with DW, in search of new birds to photograph that I sometimes forget to look down.

Every weekend since before I bought my new camera, a Sony α6700, DW and I have left the house early to visit either Mud Lake or Bruce Pit. They have nice, easy hiking trails but most importantly, they are havens for myriad birds.

We've seen and heard everything from tiny northern yellow warblers to child-sized wild turkeys. Each outing adds a new species to the life list of our Merlin birding apps.

But birds aren't the only creatures that inhabit these wooded areas. At Bruce Pit, we've seen beavers and minks swimming in the pond and creek. And last weekend, at Mud Lake, we saw some wildlife that were uncommon to our usual spottings.

I've seen raccoons in the woods before (they aren't just hanging out in my neighbourhood). But anytime I've seen them at Mud Lake, they've been up high in the trees. I'm not sure what they do up there but I suspect that they've scoped out an unattended nest and are looking for eggs.

Poor birds.

On Sunday, Kid 1 joined DW and me at Mud Lake. She was reluctant to come out, to spend time with her parents, but because it was Mother's Day, she made a concession. Perhaps it was because she could bring some seeds with which to feed the birds; or, perhaps it was the promise of going for Halifax donairs, after, that drew her out.

What she, DW, and I didn't expect was to see a raccoon at ground level, near a tree stump along the path, looking cute. It wasn't shy as we stood there, looking back at it, and I snapped a photo.

Kid 1 also loves snakes. She has a silver ring that is a snake, coiled around her finger. Another snake ring has the reptile eating its own tail. And for her 25th birthday, in March, some friends of our family gave her cool snake earrings that are in two pieces and, when in place, look as though the creature is passing through her ear lobes.

She loves them (snakes and the earrings).

So imagine her fascination, and the surprise of all of us, when we encountered a snake on the trail at Mud Lake. It was in the bushes near a lookout and crossed the path to make its way into the lake.

Because I had my telephoto zoom on the α6700, I couldn't get wide enough to capture the whole water snake, but Kid 1 was able to get some images on her phone. And I was able to get a closeup that managed to also capture the snake's forked tongue.

The next time DW and I head out to photograph nature, we'll be sure to look down as well as up. You never know what you're going to find.

Happy Friday!