In this week’s Buncombe CBC we had one on Town Mountain Road—maybe less than a
mile from downtown. I understand white squirrels aren’t albinos but if it had
red eyes, wouldn’t that make it an albino? That seems to be the interest in
looking at the eyes.
Michael Galovic
<mailto:galovic@xxxxxxxxxxxx> galovic@xxxxxxxxxxxx
From: emas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:emas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
Marcus Simpson
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2017 11:13 PM
To: Marilyn Westphal
Cc: adlenk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; EMAS
Subject: [EMAS] Re: Owen Park: The usual and unusual
You can find a good bit of info on these squirrels via Google search and
Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy web site, including some of the stories
about how they "arrived" hereabouts. A few are in our yard just about every day
here in Mills River.
Mark
On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 7:39 PM, Marilyn Westphal <mjwestph@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The white squirrels aren't albinos. It's just a different color phase of the
gray squirrel. They are pretty common in both Transylvania and Henderson
Counties now. Maybe it's a dominant gene. In some places up north there is a
black phase that is quite common. I've heard that the white phase squirrels
were introduced in Transylvania County many years ago. They are certainly
spreading.
Marilyn
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 3, 2017, at 7:19 PM, alan lenk <adlenk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
A morning visit to Owen Park revealed some interesting wildlife. Here are the
highlights:
White Squirrel- when I arrived I walked along the trail at the west end of the
first lake hoping to see the Virginia Rail. I spotted this white squirrel. I
had seen them at Brevard College Campus but this was my first in Swannanoa. I
am not sure if it was a true albino, the eyes did not appear pink but the photo
was taken with flash that can alter eye color. I talked with a lady who lived
near by and she said she sees white squirrels at her feeder occasionally.
Virginia Rail- there was a small crowd of birders on the trail that bisects the
two lakes. Local birders Jim Poling, Tom Bush and others were peering into
the dense vegetation at the end of this trail on the right, near the corner of
the lake. The Rail had been spotted but there were no good views. I hung out
there for over an hour with a birder named Joe waiting for the Rail to come
into the open but it never really did. I got a partial shot of the Rail's
upper body.
Bald Eagle- while waiting on the Rail to make its appearance a Bald Eagle flew
west over the lakes (photo #3). In about 30 minutes it return flying east,
this time carrying a clump of grass in its talons (photo #4). This made me
wonder if it might be building a nest, does anyone know when they prepare a
nest? Unfortunately it dropped the grass clump and watched it fall toward the
water (photo #5). Soon the eagle was getting close with good light that
provided a nice shot. (photo #5).
Great Blue Heron- during the "excitement" this heron paid little attention and
continued preening.
It was a good morning.
Alan Lenk
Asheville
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