By Amy Hoffman
Winter & Spring
Turkeys / Ruth Ann Eastman
Barred owl / Russ Clark
Pileated woodpecker / Curtiss Clark
Bobcat / Amy Hoffman
Stinking Benjamin or Wake robin / Amy Hoffman
Hobble bush / Amy Hoffman
Blueberries / Amy Hoffman
Eastman has a perfect habitat for birds. Ruth Ann Eastman reported the turkeys are still roaming near her home on the golf course. Curtiss Clark took an awesome photo of a pileated woodpecker. Adam Connelly saw one too and could not believe how big they are. Anne Langsdorf sent wonderful photos of a barred owl sitting in her tree.
Bob and Judy McCarthy reported an ermine running around their yard in its white winter coat and black-tipped tail. An ermine is a weasel whose coat turns brown in the summer and likes to eat voles and mice.
While grooming trails in John’s Glen, Nigel Heneghan saw a bobcat. Unfortunately no image was captured on the wildlife camera. However, Amy Hoffman was fortunate to find a bobcat on her front walkway waiting for squirrels.
Late spring is a wonderful time to wander Eastman trails looking for birds. It is also a perfect time to find emerging wildflowers and ferns. Walk out to John’s Glen to find two kinds of trillium, emerging ferns, cucumber plants (the roots taste like cucumbers), wild cherry and apple blossoms, and so many more. Take your camera, take a friend, take your kids for a wonderful opportunity to have some fun and enjoy the fresh air.
Summer
Fox kit / Karoline Liley
Porcupine / Amy Hoffman
Red squirrel / Charlene Frary
Snapping turtles / Cathy Lacombe
Bald eagle / Peggy Haskell
Karoline Liley spotted fox kits and their momma in a den under a large rock on Brookridge Drive right before the turn to Moose Run.
Kayakers Sharon and Mark Frank watched a grey fox swimming to get back to land one Sunday afternoon. A mink then harassed and hissed at it on shore.
Earlier in the summer, Charlene Frary reported a little red squirrel swimming very fast from island to mainland in Eastman Lake. Who knew that squirrels could swim?
Peggy Haskell was looking for loons while kayaking in August when she spied a bald eagle instead.
Liam Wachsman, son of James and Katey Wachsman, caught his first fish on a Cub Scout camping trip on Heron Island.
Ten-year old Louis Douville Beaudoin, grandson of Gary and Linda Douville, told us his fish story: “Moments later at the end of my rod where there used to be a worm was a 6-inch-long fish! I stared in awe. ‘WOW!’ I said out loud ‘that’s huge!’”
FROM AMY HOFFMAN
A Day on the Lake
Dragonflies, Damselflies, Kingfishers
The purple pickerelweed hummed with bugs.
A huge snapping turtle sunned on a rock.
I observed in a single day:
0 loon babies
1 swimmer with orange cap
1 fish spider
2 loons in South Cove lagoon; and
4 loons in the North Cove lagoon
2 bald eagles catching fish
3 great blue herons
Many paddle boards and kayaks
6 baby ducklings
7 turtles on a log