I was staying at the Colquhoun's place a few years ago and I spotted a big noisy pileated woodpecker that landed on a dead tree down near the dock (the tree blew down in a storm later on). I summoned the Colquhouns to come outside and view the pileated. . .
They had never seen one before. I think they're fairly rare in Muskoka. I'd only seen one before up in Georgian Bay.
A young raptor landed on the stern rail of my sailboat last summer, having accidentally dropped his prey into the lake right behind my boat. He couldn't see me and tried a couple of times (unsuccessfully) to pluck the dead bird out of the lake, returning each time to perch on the stern rail. It was really neat watching him from such a close vantage point.
