©LKHOA 2007
Updated 3/21/2007

Jun 2006 Not much in the way of nature sightings have been reported this month. Perhaps we will have more as the weather gets warmer. Nancy Hanson reported spotting many Sandhill Cranes (endangered species) behind her home on Killarney Drive in the swampy area. Listen for them as they fly overhead!

She also tells of Wild Garlic Mustard growing in the region. Garlic Mustard is a seriously invasive alien plant. Left to itself, it can completely take over an area, crowding out all native plants. Feel free to pull up and eat as much of this plant as you can.

Also from Nancy, if you want Baltimore Orioles in your yard, put out fresh orange halves.

Jan 2006 George Lazansky says he saw something bigger than a coyote feeding off a dead carcass on the ice. he's pretty sure it's a wolf. Jessica Edberg from the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN says that there are no wolves in our area and the this sighting was most likely a large coyote of a wolf-dog hybrid.

For more information go to www.wolf.org and if you see something please let Judy know.



Nov 2005 I have had a few people tell me of different wildlife they have seen in the last
few months. Karen Mancusco said she saw a loon.

I saw many Painted Turtles, I am not sure if they are Western or Eastern
Painted Turtles. Maybe someone can tell us more information. The painted turtle, Chrysemys picta, is a common turtle in North America; it is also called the painted terrapin. This reptile lives in ponds, lakes, marshes, and slow-moving rivers that have soft, muddy bottoms. In the wild, this turtle
 lives from 5 to 10 years; in captivity it can live over 20 years. Spending most of its time in the water, the painted turtle often suns itself while lying on a log, a rock, or the shore. These turtles are often seen in large groups. During very cold weather, northern painted turtles hibernate, burying themselves for months in the mud beneath streams and ponds. The are many subspecies of painted turtles which vary in size, coloration and plastron pattern (the plastron is the lower shell). The painted turtle has a hard upper shell (the carapace), which is from 4 to 7 inches (10-18 cm) long. The webbed feet are used for swimming. The painted turtle is an omnivore (it eats both meat and plants). The young eat mostly meat. Adults eat both animals (including insects, snails, slugs, crayfish, leeches, mussels, tadpoles, frogs, fish eggs, small fish, and dead animals that it finds) and plants (including duckweed, algae, and lily pads). Raccoons, skunks, opossums, birds, snakes, and some other large turtles prey upon the painted turtle; the young are especially vulnerable to predators. The female lays 5 to 10 eggs in each clutch. The eggs are laid in a shallow pit that she digs with her hind legs. She covers the eggs with sand or dirt, and then abandons them.
The eggs hatch in about 10 to 11 weeks. Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), phylum Chordata, class Reptilia (reptiles), order Testudines (terrapins and tortoises), family Emydidae, genus Pseudomys, species P. picta.

Here are some birds pictures:
That’s the Green Heron in the 2 Left Photos.
 

sorry no pictures:
 

Please send me your submissions and eventually, we can confirm and update the 1973 list that is posted on the Web Site.
Send submissions to: Judy Marshall by e-mail: gadgetgirl58@comcast.net