Galwegians- November 2023

MVW continues to make progress on the renovations to the Galway Hall kitchen. The main hall is the temporary home for the new counter tops and cupboards. It’s been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Check out the picture of the renovations included in this article. Anyone have any questions as to why there is no upcoming turkey dinner at the Galway Hall this November?

The deadline to apply for the Kinmount and District Bursary is Wednesday, November 15^th, 2023. This application is for the upcoming winter term. Check out www.kinmount.ca or www.galwayhall.ca for all the details and forms.

Was everybody happy with the warm temperatures and dry weather in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving weekend? This blip in the weather made the lakes swimmable into October with very little discomfort. The dry weather caused brown to be a common colour of the changing leaves this fall. The chipmunks are still scurrying about, enjoying this extended stretch of fair weather.

The first half of the month of October has brought several sightings of Trumpeter Swans around Crystal Lake. After reporting that black bear sightings have been rare for many years now, the days around Thanksgiving had three. A picture of a young one was taken on East Clear Bay Road by a motorist. One was caught on a trail cam in Crystal Heights. The third sighting was captured on video from a motorist, showing three young bears crossing Crystal Lake Road. There have been several sightings of otters frolicking about in the water and upon docks. Sadly, a Northern Goshawk was found dead along the side of Clear Bay Road. This bird is large in size, measuring about two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. It is the tail that adds to the length to this bird. Did you know that Northern Goshawk pairs build and maintain up to eight alternative nests within their nesting area?

Probably most readers have seen Turkey Vultures soaring high in the sky as they catch the thermal updrafts. In mid- September, we got to witness with some friends fifteen to seventeen Turkey Vultures soaring above the far shore of Clear Bay. A large group of Turkey Vultures in flight is called a “kettle”. A group on the ground or in trees is known as a “committee”. A group of Turkey Vultures feeding is called a “wake”.

Life has been less than normal around our birdfeeders so far. As mentioned in an earlier article, our feeders go up in mid-August in attempts to attract migrating birds. Since then, the only birds that have been consistently around are the blue jays. There has been a Hairy Woodpecker a couple of times. No chickadees, no nuthatches which is very strange indeed. There were lots of American Goldfinches at the start when the feeders went up but they too have not been around.

Looking up into November’s night sky, if there are no clouds, November 3^rd is the best time to view the giant planet, Jupiter. With a good pair of binoculars, you should be able to see its four largest moons. They will appear as bright dots on either side of Jupiter. The Taurids Meteor Shower occurs on November 4^th/5^th. It is a long-running minor meteor shower but unusual because it consists of two separate streams- dust grains from Asteroid 20004 TG10 and debris from Comet 2P Enke. November 13^th is the best time to view Uranus but it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot. The Full Moon occurs on November 27^th. This moon is known as the Beaver Moon but is also called the Frosty Moon and the Dark Moon.

Still looking upwards, but into the final month of 2023, Mercury is visible on December 4^th. The Geminids Meteor Shower occurs on December 13^th/14^th and the Ursids Meteor Shower is on December 21^st/22^nd. The Winter Solstice begins on December 22^nd. The Full Moon in December happens on the 27^th.