Friday, August 31, 2007
My favourite duck
nn5102 Earl Plato
I was asked, “How come you don’t write much about birds lately?” Good question. I have been living too long in town. The family farms were where I experienced great bird observing. Yes, we still feed birds in our back yard but the number and variety are low. Winter is coming soon and with it the knowledge that only a relatively few species of birds are sufficiently adapted to survive our Ontario winters. You know why.
Our birds must acquire food of course. Donald Stokes in his informative book, Nature in Winter states that cold and snow are two factors that alter the availability of accessible food. Cold most affects the food sources of water birds. It causes much of the water plants to die back. Many water animals recede into the mud to hibernate and are no longer available for the food chain. Inland the cold freezes over streams and ponds making what food still exists inaccessible. Herons, ducks, rails and sandpipers head to open water or fly south. Lake Erie won’t freeze over this winter. That’s good news for shore birds. At Point Abino ducks and swans will feed on the underwater beds of wild celery in the bay. Many birds depend on insects - mainly airborne, as a major source of food. Cold destroys these insects so the birds must fly south in order to survive. Winter brings snow and with it protective cover for seeds and small animals. Every year many hawks and owls must migrate to warmer climes. Go to beamer’s Point each fall and witness their flight south. Winter brings great changes for our feathered friends.
Here’s where you come into the picture. Eating enough food to keep warm is the main activity of birds in winter. Feed the birds. Start now and don’t stop. Be a dependable source of food for birds.
***
Think big, really big. In this ‘throw away world” where it’s “here today and gone tomorrow” it still lives. Ontario. so we read, has cut down more trees and complete forests in North America since the arrival of John Graves Simcoe in the 1780’s than any other province or state. “Clear cut” is the term used. Somehow the tree cutters missed this one. Some of us have been castigated as “tree huggers.’ So be it.
I have walked the concrete canyons of big cities such as Toronto, Boston, and New York. Fifth Avenue in New York has trees growing in regular spacing as does University Avenue in Toronto. It makes a difference to me. Visit our little Ridgeway and see the difference that the Linden trees have made to the beauty of Ridge Road. Think old, very old of our giant hemlock - 200 years plus? I think so.
This giant Eastern hemlock, I believe, qualifies as Old Growth. Yes, it’s on Marcy property.
Cousin, Keith Plato, and I measured it the other day. Keith had us take two measurements at the widest girth. This towering tree was almost 15 feet in circumference. 14 ft. 11 in. to be exact. It looks healthy and is no threat to structures. You and I are on earth only a little while. Allow this Old Growth tree to survive for future generations, eh. I am a tree lover and yes, I hug one once in a while.
I was asked, “How come you don’t write much about birds lately?” Good question. I have been living too long in town. The family farms were where I experienced great bird observing. Yes, we still feed birds in our back yard but the number and variety are low. Winter is coming soon and with it the knowledge that only a relatively few species of birds are sufficiently adapted to survive our Ontario winters. You know why.
Our birds must acquire food of course. Donald Stokes in his informative book, Nature in Winter states that cold and snow are two factors that alter the availability of accessible food. Cold most affects the food sources of water birds. It causes much of the water plants to die back. Many water animals recede into the mud to hibernate and are no longer available for the food chain. Inland the cold freezes over streams and ponds making what food still exists inaccessible. Herons, ducks, rails and sandpipers head to open water or fly south. Lake Erie won’t freeze over this winter. That’s good news for shore birds. At Point Abino ducks and swans will feed on the underwater beds of wild celery in the bay. Many birds depend on insects - mainly airborne, as a major source of food. Cold destroys these insects so the birds must fly south in order to survive. Winter brings snow and with it protective cover for seeds and small animals. Every year many hawks and owls must migrate to warmer climes. Go to beamer’s Point each fall and witness their flight south. Winter brings great changes for our feathered friends.
Here’s where you come into the picture. Eating enough food to keep warm is the main activity of birds in winter. Feed the birds. Start now and don’t stop. Be a dependable source of food for birds.
***
Think big, really big. In this ‘throw away world” where it’s “here today and gone tomorrow” it still lives. Ontario. so we read, has cut down more trees and complete forests in North America since the arrival of John Graves Simcoe in the 1780’s than any other province or state. “Clear cut” is the term used. Somehow the tree cutters missed this one. Some of us have been castigated as “tree huggers.’ So be it.
I have walked the concrete canyons of big cities such as Toronto, Boston, and New York. Fifth Avenue in New York has trees growing in regular spacing as does University Avenue in Toronto. It makes a difference to me. Visit our little Ridgeway and see the difference that the Linden trees have made to the beauty of Ridge Road. Think old, very old of our giant hemlock - 200 years plus? I think so.
This giant Eastern hemlock, I believe, qualifies as Old Growth. Yes, it’s on Marcy property.
Cousin, Keith Plato, and I measured it the other day. Keith had us take two measurements at the widest girth. This towering tree was almost 15 feet in circumference. 14 ft. 11 in. to be exact. It looks healthy and is no threat to structures. You and I are on earth only a little while. Allow this Old Growth tree to survive for future generations, eh. I am a tree lover and yes, I hug one once in a while.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Old Habits
Have you ever noticed that in late fall and winter some oak trees retain crisp, dry leaves long after maples, elms and the walnuts have become bare skeletons? Come next spring we will find that the strong winter winds and the early spring rains have not stripped the oak branches completely. This is what I read recently in a devotional booklet. "As springtime progresses, something wonderful happens. Tiny little oak leaf buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. What the winds and rains could not do without, the forces of new life do from within." Now you don't have to wait to spring in order to make new resolutions for 2006. We all know that at times old habits, that are not essentially good for us, cling to our lives with the same tenacity as those old oak leaves. The message is: "The best way to get rid of a bad habit is to start a good habit." The writer also says, "Rely on God and he will give you the strength to push off our old habits." That's good advice.
***
Why is the sky blue? Air is transparent which is why we can see the stars at night. In the day time the seven main colours of the spectrum except blue travel directly to our earth’s surface. The blue is scattered by gas molecules throughout the sky, thus the blueness to the atmosphere. The sun when viewed from outer space is white but it appears yellow from the earth’s surface. Why? All the colours of the spectrum minus the blue and you get the yellow hue from our perspective on earth. It seems inconceivable that the sky should change so much that it should endanger our lives. But there was a time when the atmosphere couldn’t support life. Believe the Bible or take the evolutionist view - both agree that the earth at one time did not support life. That security blanket for one thing is not thick. Breathable air ends eight kilometres (5.9) miles above sea level. It’s not comforting to know that the sky’s composition has become precarious. The ozone layers especially at the polar points are thinning. The process is allowing increasing amounts of ultraviolet radiation to strike our planet’s surface. That’s not good for human kind. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industrialized nations (Canada is one of the leaders) are blamed for the “green house” effect. There is a gradual warming caused by the heat trapped underneath an ever thickening layer of gas. Keep cutting the trees down and see the process ever increase. Plants and trees are necessary in saving our planet and the sky’s atmosphere. Plant more and more trees in the years ahead. Builders, if you can save trees on a new building lots do so. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give off life saving oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. “Blue skies smiling at me.” Enjoy this day in nature,
***
Why is the sky blue? Air is transparent which is why we can see the stars at night. In the day time the seven main colours of the spectrum except blue travel directly to our earth’s surface. The blue is scattered by gas molecules throughout the sky, thus the blueness to the atmosphere. The sun when viewed from outer space is white but it appears yellow from the earth’s surface. Why? All the colours of the spectrum minus the blue and you get the yellow hue from our perspective on earth. It seems inconceivable that the sky should change so much that it should endanger our lives. But there was a time when the atmosphere couldn’t support life. Believe the Bible or take the evolutionist view - both agree that the earth at one time did not support life. That security blanket for one thing is not thick. Breathable air ends eight kilometres (5.9) miles above sea level. It’s not comforting to know that the sky’s composition has become precarious. The ozone layers especially at the polar points are thinning. The process is allowing increasing amounts of ultraviolet radiation to strike our planet’s surface. That’s not good for human kind. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industrialized nations (Canada is one of the leaders) are blamed for the “green house” effect. There is a gradual warming caused by the heat trapped underneath an ever thickening layer of gas. Keep cutting the trees down and see the process ever increase. Plants and trees are necessary in saving our planet and the sky’s atmosphere. Plant more and more trees in the years ahead. Builders, if you can save trees on a new building lots do so. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give off life saving oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. “Blue skies smiling at me.” Enjoy this day in nature,
Bird Feeders
Bird Feeding Earl Plato
This is a North American centred article. What was happening in Europe in he 1800’s I did not research. Here in America Henry David Thoreau around 1845 recorded some of his activities at Walden Pond in Massachusetts. I was at Walden Pond in 1954 before the building boom began. I’ve returned twice and now you can not recognize the place and his rustic cabin because of the surrounding build up. I have a Thoreau book and we read that over 150 years ago Thoreau was offering corn and bread crumbs to the birds at Walden Pond. He was feeding the birds at his beautiful, rustic setting. Read Walden Pond if you haven’t already. This philosopher loved nature and wanted to help the local songbirds. He is the first recorded bird feeder as far as I know. There were no handmade feeders as we know. Thoreau’s fellow naturalist and author John Burroughs toward the end of the 1800’s tells of feeding birds regularly at his woodland cabin. Again it seems a matter of scattering seeds and crumbs on the ground.
By 1910 we rad that there were many references to bird feeding, including two books on bird feeding: Methods of Attracting Birds, by Gilbert H. Trafton and Wild Bird Guests (1915) by Ernest H. Baynes. Three more informative books were also written at this time. Interest was growing. We learn that food was often offered in crude but practical homemade feeders. Less scattering of seed on the ground.
There is even a reference to a young Californian woman in the early 1900’s while convalescing from an illness sprinkled some sugar water on some flowers. Soon she had attracted hummingbirds. We learn that shortly after a Caroline Soule of Brookline, Massachusetts provided hummingbirds with the first sugar-water feeder. Philanthropist B.F. Tucker began in 1926 to sell hummingbird feeders. They sold well. Another feeder that became a commercial success was invented in 1930. You know it well. I have had two of them up. Peter Kalham gave us the first modern tubular hanging feeder. John Dennis says, These were the humble beginnings of a hobby that is now among the most popular in North America. Feed the songbirds but take note: Once you start be faithful, don’t stop!
This is a North American centred article. What was happening in Europe in he 1800’s I did not research. Here in America Henry David Thoreau around 1845 recorded some of his activities at Walden Pond in Massachusetts. I was at Walden Pond in 1954 before the building boom began. I’ve returned twice and now you can not recognize the place and his rustic cabin because of the surrounding build up. I have a Thoreau book and we read that over 150 years ago Thoreau was offering corn and bread crumbs to the birds at Walden Pond. He was feeding the birds at his beautiful, rustic setting. Read Walden Pond if you haven’t already. This philosopher loved nature and wanted to help the local songbirds. He is the first recorded bird feeder as far as I know. There were no handmade feeders as we know. Thoreau’s fellow naturalist and author John Burroughs toward the end of the 1800’s tells of feeding birds regularly at his woodland cabin. Again it seems a matter of scattering seeds and crumbs on the ground.
By 1910 we rad that there were many references to bird feeding, including two books on bird feeding: Methods of Attracting Birds, by Gilbert H. Trafton and Wild Bird Guests (1915) by Ernest H. Baynes. Three more informative books were also written at this time. Interest was growing. We learn that food was often offered in crude but practical homemade feeders. Less scattering of seed on the ground.
There is even a reference to a young Californian woman in the early 1900’s while convalescing from an illness sprinkled some sugar water on some flowers. Soon she had attracted hummingbirds. We learn that shortly after a Caroline Soule of Brookline, Massachusetts provided hummingbirds with the first sugar-water feeder. Philanthropist B.F. Tucker began in 1926 to sell hummingbird feeders. They sold well. Another feeder that became a commercial success was invented in 1930. You know it well. I have had two of them up. Peter Kalham gave us the first modern tubular hanging feeder. John Dennis says, These were the humble beginnings of a hobby that is now among the most popular in North America. Feed the songbirds but take note: Once you start be faithful, don’t stop!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Owls, anyone?
Owls, anyone? Earl Plato
So I missed the annual Bert Miller Club Owl Prowl this year. We were in Simcoe at our grandson’s hockey playoff game. So I lost on both accounts. Writer’s note: We did beat Simcoe 4-1 in the final game back in Fort Erie! What did I miss nature-wise? Here’s an old memory.
We have met Blayne Farnan of Port Colborne, noted owl expert, and have walked with him. during the day. Blayne has developed “owl finding” skills to a high degree. I made some notes over the past years. Blayne took us to owls’ appropriate habitats. We found areas where conifers grow - such as spruce, arbor vitae (cedar), and red pine. Owls like these most.
1. Walk slowly and quietly looking down on lower branches and on the ground for white droppings and the dark, usually oblong pellets of fur and bone that owls cough up daily. We have found a treasure trove of Great horned owl pellets. I counted easily ten pellets in the area. As we approached the pellet site there were the tell tale white washing on the trees.
2. When you find a tree marked by either or both signs look up into the tree for a dense spot which may hide or be an owl. Don’t expect any movement unless you disturb one. Be quiet and look carefully. This is how Bob Chambers uncovered a little Saw whet owl. 3. As soon as you spot an owl back off immediately to the farthest spot you can see it. Why? The owl is then more likely to relax, less likely to fly away. I have been with Rob Eberly when he focused in on a Short eared owl on Ott Road. There staring at you were these two huge yellow orbs. amazing closeness! 4. Blayne Farnan takes many large groups out but usually it’s he, his wife, and a few of us. Make it a small group and avoid surrounding the bird. If the owl has to continuously turn its head to see all of you , it may fly off.
5. Be alert for the loud, frenzied calling of birds mobbing a predator (owls and hawks). This is how Ernie Giles and I once had a good look at a Great horned owl in the Stevensville Conservation Park. A large flock of crows had surrounded the raptor as he sat in deep in the protection of a pine tree for several minutes until finally he tried for an escape. The last we saw him he was flying east pursued by the crows. Remember that these owl day hunts occurred in winter and early spring. Keep birding, eh.
So I missed the annual Bert Miller Club Owl Prowl this year. We were in Simcoe at our grandson’s hockey playoff game. So I lost on both accounts. Writer’s note: We did beat Simcoe 4-1 in the final game back in Fort Erie! What did I miss nature-wise? Here’s an old memory.
We have met Blayne Farnan of Port Colborne, noted owl expert, and have walked with him. during the day. Blayne has developed “owl finding” skills to a high degree. I made some notes over the past years. Blayne took us to owls’ appropriate habitats. We found areas where conifers grow - such as spruce, arbor vitae (cedar), and red pine. Owls like these most.
1. Walk slowly and quietly looking down on lower branches and on the ground for white droppings and the dark, usually oblong pellets of fur and bone that owls cough up daily. We have found a treasure trove of Great horned owl pellets. I counted easily ten pellets in the area. As we approached the pellet site there were the tell tale white washing on the trees.
2. When you find a tree marked by either or both signs look up into the tree for a dense spot which may hide or be an owl. Don’t expect any movement unless you disturb one. Be quiet and look carefully. This is how Bob Chambers uncovered a little Saw whet owl. 3. As soon as you spot an owl back off immediately to the farthest spot you can see it. Why? The owl is then more likely to relax, less likely to fly away. I have been with Rob Eberly when he focused in on a Short eared owl on Ott Road. There staring at you were these two huge yellow orbs. amazing closeness! 4. Blayne Farnan takes many large groups out but usually it’s he, his wife, and a few of us. Make it a small group and avoid surrounding the bird. If the owl has to continuously turn its head to see all of you , it may fly off.
5. Be alert for the loud, frenzied calling of birds mobbing a predator (owls and hawks). This is how Ernie Giles and I once had a good look at a Great horned owl in the Stevensville Conservation Park. A large flock of crows had surrounded the raptor as he sat in deep in the protection of a pine tree for several minutes until finally he tried for an escape. The last we saw him he was flying east pursued by the crows. Remember that these owl day hunts occurred in winter and early spring. Keep birding, eh.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Beware!
Beware Earl Plato
Bees, yellow jackets, and wasps - the female side of our family are not too happy about their presence at anytime. They have had allergic reactions to their stings. Late summer and family picnics seems to high light the Hymenopteras greater appearances. Yes, I have been stung several times but fortunately no problems. This article is about wasps. I have always been fascinated with them. At the rental cabin near Kincardine I watched for a few summers these wasps at work under the cottage eves. My nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, shared the following: “The sun glints on the burnished black body of the mud wasp and on its legs marked with white. Clutched in those legs, it carries its paralyzed prey. Always the prey is the same - a spider.”
Writer’s note: Every year at Marcy Woods on the Upper Trail in late August you meet Orb spiders - hundreds of them and their wondrous webs. Back down the trail at the old Marcy cabin someone had knocked down the five mud wasp nests. Scattered on the ground were the broken hard shells in which dead spiders were exposed.
“With quick, nervous movements, it drags its victim into one of the tubes. Then it reappears and is airborne in an instant. With in each tube the space is divided by masonry partitions into smaller cells. Beginning at the end, the wasp crams in its prey, lays an egg on the close-packed mass of spiders, then walls them in. This process is repeated until all the space in the tube is occupied.”
Writer’s note: Who seems to do all the work? The female mud wasp.
“Within each cell a larva hatches from the deposited egg, gorges itself on spiders and pupates. The adult that emerges bites its way to freedom through the hard shell of the tube.”
Writer’s note: What about the male mud wasp? Among Hymenoptera it has an “exceptional” purpose.
“ The male mud wasp stands guard over the partially stocked tubes while the female is away hunting spiders. If the nests were left unguarded at such times small parasitic wasps of the genus Chrysis would dart into the mud wasp cells and lay their eggs on the food collected for the mud wasp larvae.”
Note: Not a bad deal for the male mud wasp, eh? Human kind the woman goes to work and brings in the pay check. The man stays home and guards the children. It works for the mud wasps. Be observant in nature.
Bees, yellow jackets, and wasps - the female side of our family are not too happy about their presence at anytime. They have had allergic reactions to their stings. Late summer and family picnics seems to high light the Hymenopteras greater appearances. Yes, I have been stung several times but fortunately no problems. This article is about wasps. I have always been fascinated with them. At the rental cabin near Kincardine I watched for a few summers these wasps at work under the cottage eves. My nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, shared the following: “The sun glints on the burnished black body of the mud wasp and on its legs marked with white. Clutched in those legs, it carries its paralyzed prey. Always the prey is the same - a spider.”
Writer’s note: Every year at Marcy Woods on the Upper Trail in late August you meet Orb spiders - hundreds of them and their wondrous webs. Back down the trail at the old Marcy cabin someone had knocked down the five mud wasp nests. Scattered on the ground were the broken hard shells in which dead spiders were exposed.
“With quick, nervous movements, it drags its victim into one of the tubes. Then it reappears and is airborne in an instant. With in each tube the space is divided by masonry partitions into smaller cells. Beginning at the end, the wasp crams in its prey, lays an egg on the close-packed mass of spiders, then walls them in. This process is repeated until all the space in the tube is occupied.”
Writer’s note: Who seems to do all the work? The female mud wasp.
“Within each cell a larva hatches from the deposited egg, gorges itself on spiders and pupates. The adult that emerges bites its way to freedom through the hard shell of the tube.”
Writer’s note: What about the male mud wasp? Among Hymenoptera it has an “exceptional” purpose.
“ The male mud wasp stands guard over the partially stocked tubes while the female is away hunting spiders. If the nests were left unguarded at such times small parasitic wasps of the genus Chrysis would dart into the mud wasp cells and lay their eggs on the food collected for the mud wasp larvae.”
Note: Not a bad deal for the male mud wasp, eh? Human kind the woman goes to work and brings in the pay check. The man stays home and guards the children. It works for the mud wasps. Be observant in nature.
It's Coming!
It’s Coming Earl Plato
Have you ever noticed that in late fall and winter some oak trees retain crisp, dry leaves long after maples, elms and the walnuts have become bare skeletons? Come next spring we will find that the strong winter winds and the early spring rains have not stripped the oak branches completely. This is what I read recently in a devotional booklet. "As springtime progresses, something wonderful happens. Tiny little oak leaf buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. What the winds and rains could not do without the forces of new life do from within." Now you don't have to wait to spring in order to make new resolutions for 2006. We all know that at times old habits, that are not essentially good for us, cling to our lives with the same tenacity as those old oak leaves. The message is: "The best way to get rid of a bad habit is to start a good habit." The writer also says, "Rely on God and He will give you the strength to push off our old habits." That's good advice.
***
Why is the sky blue? Air is transparent which is why we can see the stars at night. In the day time the seven main colours of the spectrum except blue travel directly to our earth’s surface. The blue is scattered by gas molecules throughout the sky, thus the blueness to the atmosphere. The sun when viewed from outer space is white but it appears yellow from the earth’s surface. Why? All the colours of the spectrum minus the blue and you get the yellow hue from our perspective on earth. It seems inconceivable that the sky should change so much that it should endanger our lives. But there was a time when the atmosphere couldn’t support life. Believe the Bible or take the evolutionist view - both agree that the earth at one time did not support life. That security blanket for one thing is not thick. Breathable air ends eight kilometres (5.9) miles above sea level. It’s not comforting to know that the sky’s composition has become precarious. The ozone layers especially at the polar points are thinning. The process is allowing increasing amounts of ultraviolet radiation to strike our planet’s surface. That’s not good for human kind. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industrialized nations (Canada is one of the leaders) are blamed for the “green house” effect. There is a gradual warming caused by the heat trapped underneath an ever thickening layer of gas. Keep cutting the trees down and see the process ever increase. Plants and trees are necessary in saving our planet and the sky’s atmosphere. Plant more and more trees in the years ahead. Builders, if you can save trees on a new building lots do so. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give off life saving oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. “Blue skies keep smiling at me.” Enjoy this day in nature,
Have you ever noticed that in late fall and winter some oak trees retain crisp, dry leaves long after maples, elms and the walnuts have become bare skeletons? Come next spring we will find that the strong winter winds and the early spring rains have not stripped the oak branches completely. This is what I read recently in a devotional booklet. "As springtime progresses, something wonderful happens. Tiny little oak leaf buds start appearing at the tips of the twigs, pushing off the dried remnants of the preceding season. What the winds and rains could not do without the forces of new life do from within." Now you don't have to wait to spring in order to make new resolutions for 2006. We all know that at times old habits, that are not essentially good for us, cling to our lives with the same tenacity as those old oak leaves. The message is: "The best way to get rid of a bad habit is to start a good habit." The writer also says, "Rely on God and He will give you the strength to push off our old habits." That's good advice.
***
Why is the sky blue? Air is transparent which is why we can see the stars at night. In the day time the seven main colours of the spectrum except blue travel directly to our earth’s surface. The blue is scattered by gas molecules throughout the sky, thus the blueness to the atmosphere. The sun when viewed from outer space is white but it appears yellow from the earth’s surface. Why? All the colours of the spectrum minus the blue and you get the yellow hue from our perspective on earth. It seems inconceivable that the sky should change so much that it should endanger our lives. But there was a time when the atmosphere couldn’t support life. Believe the Bible or take the evolutionist view - both agree that the earth at one time did not support life. That security blanket for one thing is not thick. Breathable air ends eight kilometres (5.9) miles above sea level. It’s not comforting to know that the sky’s composition has become precarious. The ozone layers especially at the polar points are thinning. The process is allowing increasing amounts of ultraviolet radiation to strike our planet’s surface. That’s not good for human kind. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by industrialized nations (Canada is one of the leaders) are blamed for the “green house” effect. There is a gradual warming caused by the heat trapped underneath an ever thickening layer of gas. Keep cutting the trees down and see the process ever increase. Plants and trees are necessary in saving our planet and the sky’s atmosphere. Plant more and more trees in the years ahead. Builders, if you can save trees on a new building lots do so. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give off life saving oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. “Blue skies keep smiling at me.” Enjoy this day in nature,
Monday, August 13, 2007
new hobby?
Why not start a new hobby? Hawk watching. Our local hawks are back - Red-tails, Coopers, Sharp-shinned, Kestrel and even some rarer species. Where to go? The rural areas of Niagara - the side roads and specific places you know. If you “hawk” from the confines of your car, be careful. It’s best if one drives and in the passenger seat the other uses the bird glasses. Watch for cars behind and if possible pull over on the shoulder. Don’t block traffic.
When I started “hawk” watching after my retirement I found a few places I liked to sight these fascinating raptors. South Koabel Road off Netherby Road is great for watching from your car. This is Red-tail country although we see the beautiful little Sparrow hawks (Kestrel) there quite often.
One place I return again and again to is the Stevensville Conservation Area. This is where I saw “mobbing” of a Great Horned owl by a murder of crows. Murder? Yes. For over an hour I watched the systematic bedeviling of that great raptor. It eventually flew eastwards pursued by the crows. This article is dedicated to the late naturalist writer, Ed Teale. In an insert in his log he tells us about the great flying hawk, the Sharp-shinned and his mobbing foes, the Blue Jays. If you know about this acrobatic raptor here is a portion of Teale’s account.
“A sharp-shinned hawk had been haunting the yard this morning trying to catch a chickadee. I saw this predator streaking in, speeding low across the yard toward the terrace apple tree.”
Writer’s Note: The sharp-shinned hawk is a raptor. It hunts other birds. It’s a great flyer. It is not a large hawk. Our most common hawk locally is the red-tailed hawk. It is a much larger hawk and can not maneuver like a sharp-shinned. A red-tail’s diet consists mainly of the meadow vole not other birds.
***
Take Mitchener Road west out of Ridgeway and just past the ‘s’ curve this side of Longmeadow Farm is a Red-tailed hawk’s nest on your left. Here it is the end of May and we see the mother’s head in the nest. Any young ones? We pull off the road and we view with the binoculars. I’ll return and set up my bird scope. Road birding is fun just be careful, eh.
When I started “hawk” watching after my retirement I found a few places I liked to sight these fascinating raptors. South Koabel Road off Netherby Road is great for watching from your car. This is Red-tail country although we see the beautiful little Sparrow hawks (Kestrel) there quite often.
One place I return again and again to is the Stevensville Conservation Area. This is where I saw “mobbing” of a Great Horned owl by a murder of crows. Murder? Yes. For over an hour I watched the systematic bedeviling of that great raptor. It eventually flew eastwards pursued by the crows. This article is dedicated to the late naturalist writer, Ed Teale. In an insert in his log he tells us about the great flying hawk, the Sharp-shinned and his mobbing foes, the Blue Jays. If you know about this acrobatic raptor here is a portion of Teale’s account.
“A sharp-shinned hawk had been haunting the yard this morning trying to catch a chickadee. I saw this predator streaking in, speeding low across the yard toward the terrace apple tree.”
Writer’s Note: The sharp-shinned hawk is a raptor. It hunts other birds. It’s a great flyer. It is not a large hawk. Our most common hawk locally is the red-tailed hawk. It is a much larger hawk and can not maneuver like a sharp-shinned. A red-tail’s diet consists mainly of the meadow vole not other birds.
***
Take Mitchener Road west out of Ridgeway and just past the ‘s’ curve this side of Longmeadow Farm is a Red-tailed hawk’s nest on your left. Here it is the end of May and we see the mother’s head in the nest. Any young ones? We pull off the road and we view with the binoculars. I’ll return and set up my bird scope. Road birding is fun just be careful, eh.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
It Flies!
The Southern Flying Squirrel Earl Plato
I don’t know if they believed me. I had just described my sighting many years ago of a Southern flying squirrel at the entrance to Marcy Woods. Here in late October the Special Needs Class of St.Paul’s High School and some parents and helpers listened to my oft repeated spiel. We stopped at the site of our sighting. “One early morning Ray Willwerth and I saw a southern flying squirrel glide from the high top of that spruce tree over there. It sailed several feet and landed over there at the top of another spruce. I knew what I saw for I had seen flying squirrel sbefore. The word is ‘glide’ not ‘fly.’ The Ministry of Natural Resources did a study of Marcy Woods and found at least three pairs of these unique squirrels there. They are mainly nocturnal creatures so it’s as an unusual sight.” What do you know about this Carolinian mammal?
Not much you say. You need to be in the woods at night and luckily your flashlight will reveal the large bright shiining bkack eyes of this miniscule squirrel. It is a very small squirrel with a silky fur coat. The ones I saw were grayish-brown on top and white underneath. It has a fkattened gra-brown tail. Think small. Length from 7 3/4 inches (198 mm) to 10 1/8 inches (255 mm.). Shagbark Trail enthusiasts listen. They like shagbark hickory, beech and maple trees. Let’s import some of these attractive squirrels, eh.?
I don’t know if they believed me. I had just described my sighting many years ago of a Southern flying squirrel at the entrance to Marcy Woods. Here in late October the Special Needs Class of St.Paul’s High School and some parents and helpers listened to my oft repeated spiel. We stopped at the site of our sighting. “One early morning Ray Willwerth and I saw a southern flying squirrel glide from the high top of that spruce tree over there. It sailed several feet and landed over there at the top of another spruce. I knew what I saw for I had seen flying squirrel sbefore. The word is ‘glide’ not ‘fly.’ The Ministry of Natural Resources did a study of Marcy Woods and found at least three pairs of these unique squirrels there. They are mainly nocturnal creatures so it’s as an unusual sight.” What do you know about this Carolinian mammal?
Not much you say. You need to be in the woods at night and luckily your flashlight will reveal the large bright shiining bkack eyes of this miniscule squirrel. It is a very small squirrel with a silky fur coat. The ones I saw were grayish-brown on top and white underneath. It has a fkattened gra-brown tail. Think small. Length from 7 3/4 inches (198 mm) to 10 1/8 inches (255 mm.). Shagbark Trail enthusiasts listen. They like shagbark hickory, beech and maple trees. Let’s import some of these attractive squirrels, eh.?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Stump
The Marcy Woods Stump Earl Plato
Marcy Woods and a stump fascination - c’mon Plato. Yes, this article is about a very tall stump. Hey, a stump is just a stump, eh. Not so, at least according to this stump admirer. I love Marcy Woods, that pristine 250 acres of second growth trees. Yellow birch, beech, black oak, black maple, hemlock, and a few giant tulip trees are found there. If you love trees just for the sake of their longevity you would have enjoyed a walk along the Lower Trail. One morning long before the property was sold, I took my sketch book, my collapsible tripod seat and headed for my stump. If you know Marcy Woods the yellow birch stump was located just before the Lower Trail takes a sharp swing south. I spent about an hour drawing the remains of the stump that stood about fifteen feet tall. Someone knocked the stump down in the years that followed. The late owner Dr. George Marcy didn’t believe in removing fallen trees unless they blocked the walking paths. The remains of the old stump is still there helping to produce new organic life as it decays. I like the Yellow birch not because it far outlives our common White or Paper birch but because it is associated with the Carolinian trees found at Marcy’s. Just a few hundred feet into the trail you find the first of several huge Yellow birches. They have a yellowish sheen to their rather loose and laterally peeling bark on their trunks. You might even think that the bark had been lightly buttered here and there. If it was possible in 2005 to come out sometime for a walk here you could agree or disagree with my above observation. Tim Seburn of the Bert Miller Nature Club pointed out to me a long time ago that Yellow birch twigs have a pleasant wintergreen flavour. Just sample one, eh. How old was my old stump? Yellow birches can live from 60-100 years or more. What I drew was the remnant of a mighty tree that was probably alive in the 19th century. That’s the 1800’s! Remember there’s plenty of time in 2005 to plant a good tree.
Marcy Woods and a stump fascination - c’mon Plato. Yes, this article is about a very tall stump. Hey, a stump is just a stump, eh. Not so, at least according to this stump admirer. I love Marcy Woods, that pristine 250 acres of second growth trees. Yellow birch, beech, black oak, black maple, hemlock, and a few giant tulip trees are found there. If you love trees just for the sake of their longevity you would have enjoyed a walk along the Lower Trail. One morning long before the property was sold, I took my sketch book, my collapsible tripod seat and headed for my stump. If you know Marcy Woods the yellow birch stump was located just before the Lower Trail takes a sharp swing south. I spent about an hour drawing the remains of the stump that stood about fifteen feet tall. Someone knocked the stump down in the years that followed. The late owner Dr. George Marcy didn’t believe in removing fallen trees unless they blocked the walking paths. The remains of the old stump is still there helping to produce new organic life as it decays. I like the Yellow birch not because it far outlives our common White or Paper birch but because it is associated with the Carolinian trees found at Marcy’s. Just a few hundred feet into the trail you find the first of several huge Yellow birches. They have a yellowish sheen to their rather loose and laterally peeling bark on their trunks. You might even think that the bark had been lightly buttered here and there. If it was possible in 2005 to come out sometime for a walk here you could agree or disagree with my above observation. Tim Seburn of the Bert Miller Nature Club pointed out to me a long time ago that Yellow birch twigs have a pleasant wintergreen flavour. Just sample one, eh. How old was my old stump? Yellow birches can live from 60-100 years or more. What I drew was the remnant of a mighty tree that was probably alive in the 19th century. That’s the 1800’s! Remember there’s plenty of time in 2005 to plant a good tree.
Beaver and Bald Eagle
Beaver - Canadian Made Earl Plato
This recent call from a Niagara Falls reader confirmed again that there are beavers on the loose in Niagara. “On the Welland River near the S.P.C.A. there are beavers felling trees.” Over the past several years we have had beavers sighted in rural east Port Colborne and at Point Abino in Fort Erie. Our national emblem is trying to reestablish itself again. This was great beaver country once and after the decimation of the Attiwandarons (Neutral) indians in the 1600’s our Niagara peninsula remained a great beaver hunting ground for the Seneca Iroquois, Thanks to Tim Tiner in his Wild Woods Guide for the following background on the beaver, builder of dams and fortunes. “Mad as a hatter!” What does that have to do with our beaver, Castor canadensis? Read on. Europeans came regularly to Canada for the cod but it was the beaver that beckoned them into our interior. With the European beaver becoming virtually extinct visiting vessels tapped into a luxury market in beaver pelts. Local natives were only too happy to trade for metal tools and implements. Europeans in the upper classes craved broad hats made of beaver pelts, BUT! Mercury was used to separate the fur from the longer guard hairs and to break it down to felt. Sadly the poisonous mercury caused mental deterioration among the ungloved hatmakers. The expression “mad as a hatter,” became associated with the beaver pelt industry. A sad price to pay for fashion. eh?
***
Eagles and more eagles. The American Bald eagle is attempting to return to Niagara. Rick Stockton, vice - president of the Bert Miller Nature Club, saw a pair out in Lake Erie off Thunder Bay recently. He also cited the fact that a pair were working on a nest on Strawberry Island. One was carrying a large branch to an old cormorant nest! I know where those old double crested cormorants nested. Let’s hope that they settle down on this tiny island just north of Fort Erie. This past Saturday I set up my bird scope on the river bank across from the island. Bob Summerville, local birder, pulled up behind us and we both looked for the birds and any signs of nest activities. No luck this day. If we are fortunate it will be the first eagles’ nest on this top end of the Niagara River since 1940. What a wonderful sight to behold. Keep birding.
This recent call from a Niagara Falls reader confirmed again that there are beavers on the loose in Niagara. “On the Welland River near the S.P.C.A. there are beavers felling trees.” Over the past several years we have had beavers sighted in rural east Port Colborne and at Point Abino in Fort Erie. Our national emblem is trying to reestablish itself again. This was great beaver country once and after the decimation of the Attiwandarons (Neutral) indians in the 1600’s our Niagara peninsula remained a great beaver hunting ground for the Seneca Iroquois, Thanks to Tim Tiner in his Wild Woods Guide for the following background on the beaver, builder of dams and fortunes. “Mad as a hatter!” What does that have to do with our beaver, Castor canadensis? Read on. Europeans came regularly to Canada for the cod but it was the beaver that beckoned them into our interior. With the European beaver becoming virtually extinct visiting vessels tapped into a luxury market in beaver pelts. Local natives were only too happy to trade for metal tools and implements. Europeans in the upper classes craved broad hats made of beaver pelts, BUT! Mercury was used to separate the fur from the longer guard hairs and to break it down to felt. Sadly the poisonous mercury caused mental deterioration among the ungloved hatmakers. The expression “mad as a hatter,” became associated with the beaver pelt industry. A sad price to pay for fashion. eh?
***
Eagles and more eagles. The American Bald eagle is attempting to return to Niagara. Rick Stockton, vice - president of the Bert Miller Nature Club, saw a pair out in Lake Erie off Thunder Bay recently. He also cited the fact that a pair were working on a nest on Strawberry Island. One was carrying a large branch to an old cormorant nest! I know where those old double crested cormorants nested. Let’s hope that they settle down on this tiny island just north of Fort Erie. This past Saturday I set up my bird scope on the river bank across from the island. Bob Summerville, local birder, pulled up behind us and we both looked for the birds and any signs of nest activities. No luck this day. If we are fortunate it will be the first eagles’ nest on this top end of the Niagara River since 1940. What a wonderful sight to behold. Keep birding.
Fall is Coming
NN4102 Earl Plato
Autumn will soon be here and what better place to spend it - in Marcy Woods. It was a nine o’clock ramble lead by Rob Eberly. We set off on the Lower Trail. Rob has been a long time fellow naturalist who has matured in his knowledge of our Creative world. We would walk a few steps and Rob would point out some plant or tree. Sure I have done this on Marcy walks but Rob really impressed me with his botanical knowledge. This old naturalist picked up some new knowledge. I know why. Rob has taken some of the best natural scientists on walks here and has assimilated some of their expertise. Great!
Brian, a young computer expert from Pennsylvania, shared with us. He has walked from the southern end of the Appalachian Trail circa Mt. Mitchell in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Six months it took him from late March to August! I quipped, “I walked the Trail too - a mile here and two miles there in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.”
Rob explained the uniqueness of Marcy’s with its wooded sand dunes.
More trees down from the winds. One new one for me was a giant rare Black maple. With the future of the Woods at stake no attempt has been made, as in the past, to clear the trails. Sad.
George and I followed the three as they climbed the sand hill to the overlook of the pristine beach. This time I had my camera. I took a good shot from the dune top that I will have enlarged.
Rob pointed out the long time plan of the late Dr. Marcy of saving the forested dunes. Year after year he and Dr. Rick Stockton planted trees on the dune slopes in an effort to preserve them. They succeeded.
Go west to Point Pelee along the north Lake Erie shore. How many forested sand dunes along the way do you find? Marcy Woods is unique, citizens of the Niagara Peninsula! George and I heard the news from Rob. “We’ll climb back up the dune the way we came and head for the cabin.” Back up the dune! We two seniors did make it back up but with some effort. Brian was impressed with the cabin.
Rob explained the movie made by Bruce Kershner about Marcy Woods to the two. What great views of this Carolinian gem. I want to see it again and again. Without a notebook or tape recorder I missed a great chance to record Rob Eberly’s vast knowledge. From the anomaly of the Witch’s Broom to the giant fallen Black maple to the stands of yellow and orange Jewel weeds (“Touch-me-nots”) to the Hop and Bladder Nut trees and the fragrant smell of the Spice bush leaves along the Lower Trail - again it was worth the effort.
Visit Marcy Woods this fall, eh.
Autumn will soon be here and what better place to spend it - in Marcy Woods. It was a nine o’clock ramble lead by Rob Eberly. We set off on the Lower Trail. Rob has been a long time fellow naturalist who has matured in his knowledge of our Creative world. We would walk a few steps and Rob would point out some plant or tree. Sure I have done this on Marcy walks but Rob really impressed me with his botanical knowledge. This old naturalist picked up some new knowledge. I know why. Rob has taken some of the best natural scientists on walks here and has assimilated some of their expertise. Great!
Brian, a young computer expert from Pennsylvania, shared with us. He has walked from the southern end of the Appalachian Trail circa Mt. Mitchell in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Six months it took him from late March to August! I quipped, “I walked the Trail too - a mile here and two miles there in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.”
Rob explained the uniqueness of Marcy’s with its wooded sand dunes.
More trees down from the winds. One new one for me was a giant rare Black maple. With the future of the Woods at stake no attempt has been made, as in the past, to clear the trails. Sad.
George and I followed the three as they climbed the sand hill to the overlook of the pristine beach. This time I had my camera. I took a good shot from the dune top that I will have enlarged.
Rob pointed out the long time plan of the late Dr. Marcy of saving the forested dunes. Year after year he and Dr. Rick Stockton planted trees on the dune slopes in an effort to preserve them. They succeeded.
Go west to Point Pelee along the north Lake Erie shore. How many forested sand dunes along the way do you find? Marcy Woods is unique, citizens of the Niagara Peninsula! George and I heard the news from Rob. “We’ll climb back up the dune the way we came and head for the cabin.” Back up the dune! We two seniors did make it back up but with some effort. Brian was impressed with the cabin.
Rob explained the movie made by Bruce Kershner about Marcy Woods to the two. What great views of this Carolinian gem. I want to see it again and again. Without a notebook or tape recorder I missed a great chance to record Rob Eberly’s vast knowledge. From the anomaly of the Witch’s Broom to the giant fallen Black maple to the stands of yellow and orange Jewel weeds (“Touch-me-nots”) to the Hop and Bladder Nut trees and the fragrant smell of the Spice bush leaves along the Lower Trail - again it was worth the effort.
Visit Marcy Woods this fall, eh.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Butterfly time
Wing Time Earl Plato
My homemade movie at Marcy's Abino Woods many years ago showed naturalist, Ernie Giles, pursuing butterflies with his large homemade net. Yes, Ernie is a butterfly collector. He's always looking for perfect specimens. On my wall encased in glass are two fine specimens of the Silver-spangled Fritillary. I am thankful for the gift from my friend. However, I am not a collector of butterflies. Ernie is a natural scientist and has collected butterfly specimens over the years for examination. Sorry Ernie, I just can't appreciate catching butterflies and ending their lives. I agree with nature photographer, Phil Schappert, who says, "The current trend towards watching and photographing butterflies instead of capturing them and ki lling them is long overdue. ...a good mix might include careful netting of a specimen for close examination, then releasing it unharmed." If we learn just to enjoy watching butterflies, then there will always be more of them for us, our children and grandchildren. I have been on some great butterfly hunts with Ernie Giles at Marcy Woods, Short Hills Provincial Park and many other areas. However, local naturalist, Tim Seburn, had inspired me years ago to look for butterflies every year. Tim, I believe, is not a collector but a strongly interested observer. It was he who took me to the area where I first saw the Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies at Marcy Woods. With him I also saw there the Tiger Swallowtails that feed on the wild cherry leaves. These are two beautiful butterflies. There are many, many more species if you arrive at certain times of the year. From our Fort Erie Centennial library I took out the Peterson field guide, Eastern Butterflies and the Audubon Handbook for Butterfly Watchers. I am serious again this year as I turn the pages and read the accounts. I want to see new species in our Niagara Peninsula How about you?
***
Thanks to Teresa Forte, Niagara’s garden expert, I had cut back my butterfly bushes about six inches each spring. I now have two beautiful bushes in full bloom. Sulphurs and Whites are showing up and yesterday a Red Admiral appeared. Today Monarchs and two beautiful Tiger swallowtail landed on the bushes! More will be coming to feed on the lavender-coloured blossoms, I am sure.
My homemade movie at Marcy's Abino Woods many years ago showed naturalist, Ernie Giles, pursuing butterflies with his large homemade net. Yes, Ernie is a butterfly collector. He's always looking for perfect specimens. On my wall encased in glass are two fine specimens of the Silver-spangled Fritillary. I am thankful for the gift from my friend. However, I am not a collector of butterflies. Ernie is a natural scientist and has collected butterfly specimens over the years for examination. Sorry Ernie, I just can't appreciate catching butterflies and ending their lives. I agree with nature photographer, Phil Schappert, who says, "The current trend towards watching and photographing butterflies instead of capturing them and ki lling them is long overdue. ...a good mix might include careful netting of a specimen for close examination, then releasing it unharmed." If we learn just to enjoy watching butterflies, then there will always be more of them for us, our children and grandchildren. I have been on some great butterfly hunts with Ernie Giles at Marcy Woods, Short Hills Provincial Park and many other areas. However, local naturalist, Tim Seburn, had inspired me years ago to look for butterflies every year. Tim, I believe, is not a collector but a strongly interested observer. It was he who took me to the area where I first saw the Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies at Marcy Woods. With him I also saw there the Tiger Swallowtails that feed on the wild cherry leaves. These are two beautiful butterflies. There are many, many more species if you arrive at certain times of the year. From our Fort Erie Centennial library I took out the Peterson field guide, Eastern Butterflies and the Audubon Handbook for Butterfly Watchers. I am serious again this year as I turn the pages and read the accounts. I want to see new species in our Niagara Peninsula How about you?
***
Thanks to Teresa Forte, Niagara’s garden expert, I had cut back my butterfly bushes about six inches each spring. I now have two beautiful bushes in full bloom. Sulphurs and Whites are showing up and yesterday a Red Admiral appeared. Today Monarchs and two beautiful Tiger swallowtail landed on the bushes! More will be coming to feed on the lavender-coloured blossoms, I am sure.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Newfoundland 2006
Newfoundland -2006 Earl Plato
We were told that there were no snakes or skunks in Newfoundland. During our ten days in Newfoundland we saw no road kill. Yes, they have raccoons and squirrels. We saw twelve moose mainly on the west side of the province. Most of these giant animals were in the wetlands. We saw a few near the only highway in the area. There were signs to warn us of moose crossing areas. Our big Denure tour bus meeting a bull moose circa 2,000 lb. would be quite a collision. At Twillingate in the north at the local lighthouse point we saw several Humpback whales as they jetted their sprays into the air. These are huge mammals as I found out later. At Grand Falls we visited the giant salmon ladder. The Atlantic salmon are raised there and when large enough climb the man-made ladder to reach the upper reaches of the Exploits River where they spawn. You can see these fish up close through a glassed in area. Salmon and cod were on the menu all over the island. Excellent eating. On to St. John’s where I went on a whale watching hunt on a catamaran. All ready cancelled the day before because of stormy weather we braved the elements the next day. After all we had come this far to see whales up close. I normally can take care of boat motion, however, I took a Gravol and it worked. Several people were seasick as the boat plunged into the rolling waves. Then a mother Humpback and her young came into sight. A marvellous view as they dove and emerged. The mother whale blowing her jet of water. Four dolphins passed by us as we headed for Puffin island. Hundreds of Kittiwakes and thousands of Puffins were seen and smelled. The ammonia from their droppings assailed our nostrils as we neared the cliffs. Countless nesting holes on the cliff side held these colourful Puffins called “Sea parrots.” A rare sighting of a Northern Phalarope was shown to me by one of the boatmen. As I viewed it with my binoculars he said, “That’s a female phalarope. They’re the colourful one. Brighter than the male. He’s the one who incubates the eggs,” as he chuckled. Was he kidding me? Not so. Check it out. The “Rock” is a great place to visit. However, we saw only one lonely iceberg. Plenty of flora and fauna though.
We were told that there were no snakes or skunks in Newfoundland. During our ten days in Newfoundland we saw no road kill. Yes, they have raccoons and squirrels. We saw twelve moose mainly on the west side of the province. Most of these giant animals were in the wetlands. We saw a few near the only highway in the area. There were signs to warn us of moose crossing areas. Our big Denure tour bus meeting a bull moose circa 2,000 lb. would be quite a collision. At Twillingate in the north at the local lighthouse point we saw several Humpback whales as they jetted their sprays into the air. These are huge mammals as I found out later. At Grand Falls we visited the giant salmon ladder. The Atlantic salmon are raised there and when large enough climb the man-made ladder to reach the upper reaches of the Exploits River where they spawn. You can see these fish up close through a glassed in area. Salmon and cod were on the menu all over the island. Excellent eating. On to St. John’s where I went on a whale watching hunt on a catamaran. All ready cancelled the day before because of stormy weather we braved the elements the next day. After all we had come this far to see whales up close. I normally can take care of boat motion, however, I took a Gravol and it worked. Several people were seasick as the boat plunged into the rolling waves. Then a mother Humpback and her young came into sight. A marvellous view as they dove and emerged. The mother whale blowing her jet of water. Four dolphins passed by us as we headed for Puffin island. Hundreds of Kittiwakes and thousands of Puffins were seen and smelled. The ammonia from their droppings assailed our nostrils as we neared the cliffs. Countless nesting holes on the cliff side held these colourful Puffins called “Sea parrots.” A rare sighting of a Northern Phalarope was shown to me by one of the boatmen. As I viewed it with my binoculars he said, “That’s a female phalarope. They’re the colourful one. Brighter than the male. He’s the one who incubates the eggs,” as he chuckled. Was he kidding me? Not so. Check it out. The “Rock” is a great place to visit. However, we saw only one lonely iceberg. Plenty of flora and fauna though.
Shagbark Trail
Hickory Time Earl Plato
Want some peace and quiet? Take a walk through Shagbark Trail in Ridgeway. Thanks to the town’s vision and the Ridgeway Lions’ Club we now have about 60 acres of greenery. Too late now for many of the spring flowers but still time to discover the reason for the trail’s name, the Shagbark hickory. Young Shagbark hickory trees have smooth gray bark. Confusing, yes. I have been told that it takes about 30 years for this hickory to “shag.” Look for the mature trees that have distinctive shaggy bark composed of thin narrow strips that curve outward at the ends. I drew a shagbark hickory tree on the south trail. How old is it? take a guess. The name “hickory” comes from the American Indian word for the oily food removed from pounded kernels (hickory nuts) steeped in boiling water. This sweet hickory milk was used in cooking corn cakes and hominy. Our early European settlers made a yellow dye from the inner bark. Many of us have collected nuts from these trees and have enjoyed them. Check them out in Shagbark Trail and take some time to just enjoy this great natural setting.
***
Butterfly fields? Over 2,000 plugs of butterfly attracting plants are now hopefully growing in five large areas on either side of Shagbark Trail path in Ridgeway. On June 4, 2005 many helped to see one of the many early phases become a reality that will turn the park into a beautiful natural setting. What will you see in the future? Monarchs, swallowtails, fritillaries, sulphurs, hairstreaks, admirals, viceroys, blues, skippers, commas and on and on. I can’t wait.
***
Shagbark Trail Park has some interesting trees beside its namesake - Shagbark hickory. Years ago naturalist Ernie Giles while we were in Shagbark woods answered my question. Are there two hornbeam species in here? I was confused. I grew up with the Ironwood or as we called it “muscle” tree in our back woods. Ernie said, “Look here. This is Hop Hornbeam.” The trees about only 5-6 inches across had gray-brown bark with countless papery vertical strips. “ Its scientific name is Ostrya virginiana. It’s a carolinian tree.” Back then I didn’t know about Carolinian Canada. “There’s some Ironwood over here. They call it Blue beech because of the shape of its leaf but it is also called Hornbeam.” Confusing? Ironwood has tight bark of wavy and twisting blue and gray bands that look like a strong man’s forearm. However, research tells me that the leaves of the Ironwood are about the same shape. size, and general appearance of the Hop hornbeam. Two distinctly different trees except that both are Carolinian species and their leaves are closely similar. They are all through Shagbark Park.
Want some peace and quiet? Take a walk through Shagbark Trail in Ridgeway. Thanks to the town’s vision and the Ridgeway Lions’ Club we now have about 60 acres of greenery. Too late now for many of the spring flowers but still time to discover the reason for the trail’s name, the Shagbark hickory. Young Shagbark hickory trees have smooth gray bark. Confusing, yes. I have been told that it takes about 30 years for this hickory to “shag.” Look for the mature trees that have distinctive shaggy bark composed of thin narrow strips that curve outward at the ends. I drew a shagbark hickory tree on the south trail. How old is it? take a guess. The name “hickory” comes from the American Indian word for the oily food removed from pounded kernels (hickory nuts) steeped in boiling water. This sweet hickory milk was used in cooking corn cakes and hominy. Our early European settlers made a yellow dye from the inner bark. Many of us have collected nuts from these trees and have enjoyed them. Check them out in Shagbark Trail and take some time to just enjoy this great natural setting.
***
Butterfly fields? Over 2,000 plugs of butterfly attracting plants are now hopefully growing in five large areas on either side of Shagbark Trail path in Ridgeway. On June 4, 2005 many helped to see one of the many early phases become a reality that will turn the park into a beautiful natural setting. What will you see in the future? Monarchs, swallowtails, fritillaries, sulphurs, hairstreaks, admirals, viceroys, blues, skippers, commas and on and on. I can’t wait.
***
Shagbark Trail Park has some interesting trees beside its namesake - Shagbark hickory. Years ago naturalist Ernie Giles while we were in Shagbark woods answered my question. Are there two hornbeam species in here? I was confused. I grew up with the Ironwood or as we called it “muscle” tree in our back woods. Ernie said, “Look here. This is Hop Hornbeam.” The trees about only 5-6 inches across had gray-brown bark with countless papery vertical strips. “ Its scientific name is Ostrya virginiana. It’s a carolinian tree.” Back then I didn’t know about Carolinian Canada. “There’s some Ironwood over here. They call it Blue beech because of the shape of its leaf but it is also called Hornbeam.” Confusing? Ironwood has tight bark of wavy and twisting blue and gray bands that look like a strong man’s forearm. However, research tells me that the leaves of the Ironwood are about the same shape. size, and general appearance of the Hop hornbeam. Two distinctly different trees except that both are Carolinian species and their leaves are closely similar. They are all through Shagbark Park.
Marcy Woods 2006
MarcyMay06 Earl Plato
We stopped to listen for the forest birds. Instead we heard the Chorus frogs, Spring peepers and then the “chucking’ sounds of the little Wood frog in the Marcy pond. No sound of the American toads or the ‘baaing’ of the Fowler’s toad. Maybe another time. Marcy Woods is bird country especially during migration times. We reached the cabin and took a break. Now we would take the Upper Trail and be on the lookout for birds. Some saw Turkey vultures soaring overhead. Two Red-tailed hawks were spotted. We heard the beautiful calls of the White-throated sparrow and then a moment later saw two Red-bellied woodpeckers. Yes, in the distance to the north came that powerful hammering sounds of the Pileated woodpecker. There was a Hermit thrush wagging its tail. Some identified a Yellow-bellied sapsucker, a Brown creeper, and a White breasted nuthatch. The place is filled with birds. The calls of Blue jays and crows echoed throughout the woods. In the vale below a red fox had been seen. Young ones around? We think so. We crossed the bridge and descended the steps on our way out. Someone pointed the budding in the wetlands of the beautiful Marsh marigolds. Soon they would be in full bloom and we would then return to Marcy Woods. Want to come along?”
***
As founder of the Bert Miller Nature Club of Fort Erie I was one of a few members of that new club who sat at the table in the Marcy farm house that evening years ago. Dr. George Marcy wanted the property protected permanently. He was excited about the Bert Miller Club members becoming responsible stewards of what he then called Abino Woods now affectionately named Marcy Woods. George Marcy died too soon. The years have passed and the property was purchased by the Canadian DiCienzo family. This is still private property but I have met with the DiCienzos.. Their wish is to preserve the forested sand dunes and the forest as the Marcys wished. Dino Jr. has allowed me and others to take organized walks in the Woods along the traditional trails. Work on the steps and railings by Dino Sr. and his work crew this Wednesday, May 3rd is finished. A great job. All three trails are opened now - The Lower Trail, Little Hemlock Ridge Trail, and the Upper Trail. Thank you DiCienzos. St. Paul High School staff will walk the trails this Saturday and see a new Marcy Woods.
We stopped to listen for the forest birds. Instead we heard the Chorus frogs, Spring peepers and then the “chucking’ sounds of the little Wood frog in the Marcy pond. No sound of the American toads or the ‘baaing’ of the Fowler’s toad. Maybe another time. Marcy Woods is bird country especially during migration times. We reached the cabin and took a break. Now we would take the Upper Trail and be on the lookout for birds. Some saw Turkey vultures soaring overhead. Two Red-tailed hawks were spotted. We heard the beautiful calls of the White-throated sparrow and then a moment later saw two Red-bellied woodpeckers. Yes, in the distance to the north came that powerful hammering sounds of the Pileated woodpecker. There was a Hermit thrush wagging its tail. Some identified a Yellow-bellied sapsucker, a Brown creeper, and a White breasted nuthatch. The place is filled with birds. The calls of Blue jays and crows echoed throughout the woods. In the vale below a red fox had been seen. Young ones around? We think so. We crossed the bridge and descended the steps on our way out. Someone pointed the budding in the wetlands of the beautiful Marsh marigolds. Soon they would be in full bloom and we would then return to Marcy Woods. Want to come along?”
***
As founder of the Bert Miller Nature Club of Fort Erie I was one of a few members of that new club who sat at the table in the Marcy farm house that evening years ago. Dr. George Marcy wanted the property protected permanently. He was excited about the Bert Miller Club members becoming responsible stewards of what he then called Abino Woods now affectionately named Marcy Woods. George Marcy died too soon. The years have passed and the property was purchased by the Canadian DiCienzo family. This is still private property but I have met with the DiCienzos.. Their wish is to preserve the forested sand dunes and the forest as the Marcys wished. Dino Jr. has allowed me and others to take organized walks in the Woods along the traditional trails. Work on the steps and railings by Dino Sr. and his work crew this Wednesday, May 3rd is finished. A great job. All three trails are opened now - The Lower Trail, Little Hemlock Ridge Trail, and the Upper Trail. Thank you DiCienzos. St. Paul High School staff will walk the trails this Saturday and see a new Marcy Woods.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Wild Turkey Time
This August day Rob and I headed down Halloway Bay Road. We had just been to the Port Colborne Canal Day. Just a short side trip to the entrance of Marcy Woods. As we approached the end of the road five wild turkeys crossed the road in front of us. We watched them disappear into the undergrowth. Fort Erie has lots of wild turkeys. The picture below is a group of about fifty we saw a few years ago. They were feeding on a harvested soy bean field. When they saw us they quickly dispersed. They can run and run fast. Gobble
sounds we know but we heard clucks and yes, yelps.
sounds we know but we heard clucks and yes, yelps.
Think Big
Think Big
This photo was taken just inside Algonquin Park. We were rdriving from the east toward Huntsville. It was late spring. Road salt attracted many moose to the edges of the main road. Many moose that day. Some ambled across the road in front of us. I had just bought a moose key chain. On the back it read, “ Among the largest animals in the northern hemisphere weighing 1000-1500 lbs.” Two of our sighted moose that day were huge. They towered over our little car as they passed by us. Think big, really big. No racks at this time but still
enormous animals.
***
Norway is moose country for every kilometres there are road signs warning you of moose. I know for two of my daughters and I drove north from Oslo to Trondheim.
Moose wander through my cousin Erling’s place in Asker just outside of Oslo. His son Erick told the sad tale of a high scool girl friend who was given a sports Saab on graduation. She took a spin and hit a giant bull moose. The big animal , antlers and all, crashed her windshield killing her. He warned us to be alert. We were and the trip was made safely. That was as close to a moose we came except our cousin served us a delicious moose meal when we returned. I had big servings.
This photo was taken just inside Algonquin Park. We were rdriving from the east toward Huntsville. It was late spring. Road salt attracted many moose to the edges of the main road. Many moose that day. Some ambled across the road in front of us. I had just bought a moose key chain. On the back it read, “ Among the largest animals in the northern hemisphere weighing 1000-1500 lbs.” Two of our sighted moose that day were huge. They towered over our little car as they passed by us. Think big, really big. No racks at this time but still
enormous animals.
***
Norway is moose country for every kilometres there are road signs warning you of moose. I know for two of my daughters and I drove north from Oslo to Trondheim.
Moose wander through my cousin Erling’s place in Asker just outside of Oslo. His son Erick told the sad tale of a high scool girl friend who was given a sports Saab on graduation. She took a spin and hit a giant bull moose. The big animal , antlers and all, crashed her windshield killing her. He warned us to be alert. We were and the trip was made safely. That was as close to a moose we came except our cousin served us a delicious moose meal when we returned. I had big servings.
Death Angel Beware!
Came across my drawing today of a deadly fungus, the Destroying Angel. This specimen was found on a trail of the Fort Erie Sportsmen Club on Bertie Road in Fort Erie. Ernie, my naturalist friend, pointed it out. He pulled from his backpack a small plastic bag. With his knife he cut the fungus out and bagged it. “No temptation now.” The fungus was fleshy white. Ir has a thick stalk with a swollen base.
There was a membranous white ring under the white cap.
The Peterson Guide says - “Do not try it. One bite may kill.” Got the message? Late summer and fall is when these fungi appear often in large groups. That day just a solitary
Destroying angel. Enjoy nature but be alert, eh.
There was a membranous white ring under the white cap.
The Peterson Guide says - “Do not try it. One bite may kill.” Got the message? Late summer and fall is when these fungi appear often in large groups. That day just a solitary
Destroying angel. Enjoy nature but be alert, eh.
Don't Bite!
I had just kneeled down to enter my little pup tent when I
heard the screams of agony We rushed over to the far side
of the boy scout encampment. There was Jim writhing in great pain as he held his mouth. . Not so . What had happened? Scout leader Ed had told us a short hour before about poisonous plants. He held in his hand a full Jack-in-the-pulpit specimen. He told how our native people would harvest the plant (Indian turnip) and boil the bulb to remove the oxalic acid there in. Ed said, “Don’t eat it raw! You will regret it.” Jim didn’t listen. His tent was near to a patch of the jacks. Jim bit into the uncooked corm and oxalic crystals were released into Jim’s mouth. No amount of water relieved the pain. Jim survived although with burned mouth tissues. Lesson learned? I hope so.
***
We read that the needle-like calcium oxalate crystals in the underground Jack-in-he pulpit tuber has a peppery taste, “It causes a strong burning sensation if eaten raw.” Message imparted: don’t eat anything in nature unless you are positive of its properties. Enjoy nature but take care.
heard the screams of agony We rushed over to the far side
of the boy scout encampment. There was Jim writhing in great pain as he held his mouth. . Not so . What had happened? Scout leader Ed had told us a short hour before about poisonous plants. He held in his hand a full Jack-in-the-pulpit specimen. He told how our native people would harvest the plant (Indian turnip) and boil the bulb to remove the oxalic acid there in. Ed said, “Don’t eat it raw! You will regret it.” Jim didn’t listen. His tent was near to a patch of the jacks. Jim bit into the uncooked corm and oxalic crystals were released into Jim’s mouth. No amount of water relieved the pain. Jim survived although with burned mouth tissues. Lesson learned? I hope so.
***
We read that the needle-like calcium oxalate crystals in the underground Jack-in-he pulpit tuber has a peppery taste, “It causes a strong burning sensation if eaten raw.” Message imparted: don’t eat anything in nature unless you are positive of its properties. Enjoy nature but take care.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Ferns and Lost Canyon
T he two percherons were a great team as we emerged from Lost Canyon at the Dells in Wisconsin. Our driver was David a veteran of eight years who was very knowledgeable. He knew the history of this unique place. He said that each layer of strata took up to a thousand years to form. Countless layers towered on either side as we wended our way through narrow passageways. Eastern hemlock appeared to be the main coniferous trees. We saw various large ferns such as the Common and Sensitive and a few towering Ostrich ferns. I asked David, “ Any Maidenhairs?” He smiled and said, “Just around the corner.” There they were. This was fern heaven for those who like ferns as there were many more to see. Cool and pleasant in the canyons on the July summer day of 2007.
Nature in the South
Think Nature in the South Earl Plato
Florida beckons especially after the Burrisons , our next dooe neighbours, sent their magazines over this past Fall. It was “flashback” time again. So close to another nature centre but not enough time. A naturalist from Port Colborne had talked me and encouraged us to visit Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. “The best,” he said. However, we had to head back to our home base.
The Swamp is located northeast of Naples, Florida. Yes, we drove down from Fort Meyers but as I said time was crucial. Decide Plato - a great mid-afternoon lunch at the famous Kapok Tree restaurant or a 2.25 mile ramble on the boardwalk at Corkscrew. Do both? No. What did we miss?
Without a whisper of sound a Barred owl will suddenly alight on a branch near you. We note with some satisfaction that this 11,000-acre sanctuary is beyond any development. (Oh, that Marcy Woods, that Carolinian gem, in Fort Erie could escape any building development.)
I like what Linda Rathbun wrote,”... the boardwalk takes you on an adventure into the swamp. To appreciate Corkscrew, you must walk slowly, look closely, and listen carefully.”
Corkscrew Swamp someday? I hope so.
***
Florida beckons especially after the Burrisons , our next dooe neighbours, sent their magazines over this past Fall. It was “flashback” time again. So close to another nature centre but not enough time. A naturalist from Port Colborne had talked me and encouraged us to visit Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. “The best,” he said. However, we had to head back to our home base.
The Swamp is located northeast of Naples, Florida. Yes, we drove down from Fort Meyers but as I said time was crucial. Decide Plato - a great mid-afternoon lunch at the famous Kapok Tree restaurant or a 2.25 mile ramble on the boardwalk at Corkscrew. Do both? No. What did we miss?
Without a whisper of sound a Barred owl will suddenly alight on a branch near you. We note with some satisfaction that this 11,000-acre sanctuary is beyond any development. (Oh, that Marcy Woods, that Carolinian gem, in Fort Erie could escape any building development.)
I like what Linda Rathbun wrote,”... the boardwalk takes you on an adventure into the swamp. To appreciate Corkscrew, you must walk slowly, look closely, and listen carefully.”
Corkscrew Swamp someday? I hope so.
***
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Pitcher Plant
Pitcher Plant Earl Plato
I couldn’t believe it. I had in my hand a T-shirt and embossed on the front was a flowering Pitcher plant. It is the provincial flower of the province of Newfoundland! Wife, Elaine, took a photo of a group of them while on a nature walk in Gros Morne National Park. Yes, I bought the shirt.
*** My mentor, the late naturalist Bert Miller, had taken us to Wainfleet Bog. I was only a child as he showed us the unusual plant. Not too many years ago former area naturalist, Ernie Giles, lead us to that same area in the marsh. No luck. No Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia purpurea). This curious plant is found in Ontario in bogs, swamps, marshes and wet lands generally. With the systematic draining of Wainfleet marsh over the past decades the plant has not survived unless you know otherwise. Its name comes from the strange shape of the fleshy leaves that are hollowed like narrow, curving pitchers with a large pouring lip that might easily serve as a handle. The Pitcher plant is a meat-eater like the Venus Fly-trap and Sundew plants. The unlucky insect that crawls into the hollow leaves of the Pitcher Plant are unable to extricate themselves, The backward-pointing stiff hairs that line the inside of the leaves prevent any upward movement. The insect eventually dies and falls to the bottom into the water held by the leaves. As time passes the insect is absorbed as food for the Pitcher Plant. I am told the full diet of this plant is varied as its roots find nourishment in the ground. Want a challenge? Explore Wainfleet Marsh and look for meat-eating plants including the Pitcher Plant. Good luck!
***
On our ten day trip through Newfoundland recently we saw several pitcher plants but only one lonely ice berg, 12 moose, several humpback whales, and thousands of puffins. The “Rock” is a great place to visit.
I couldn’t believe it. I had in my hand a T-shirt and embossed on the front was a flowering Pitcher plant. It is the provincial flower of the province of Newfoundland! Wife, Elaine, took a photo of a group of them while on a nature walk in Gros Morne National Park. Yes, I bought the shirt.
*** My mentor, the late naturalist Bert Miller, had taken us to Wainfleet Bog. I was only a child as he showed us the unusual plant. Not too many years ago former area naturalist, Ernie Giles, lead us to that same area in the marsh. No luck. No Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia purpurea). This curious plant is found in Ontario in bogs, swamps, marshes and wet lands generally. With the systematic draining of Wainfleet marsh over the past decades the plant has not survived unless you know otherwise. Its name comes from the strange shape of the fleshy leaves that are hollowed like narrow, curving pitchers with a large pouring lip that might easily serve as a handle. The Pitcher plant is a meat-eater like the Venus Fly-trap and Sundew plants. The unlucky insect that crawls into the hollow leaves of the Pitcher Plant are unable to extricate themselves, The backward-pointing stiff hairs that line the inside of the leaves prevent any upward movement. The insect eventually dies and falls to the bottom into the water held by the leaves. As time passes the insect is absorbed as food for the Pitcher Plant. I am told the full diet of this plant is varied as its roots find nourishment in the ground. Want a challenge? Explore Wainfleet Marsh and look for meat-eating plants including the Pitcher Plant. Good luck!
***
On our ten day trip through Newfoundland recently we saw several pitcher plants but only one lonely ice berg, 12 moose, several humpback whales, and thousands of puffins. The “Rock” is a great place to visit.
Senses
Senses Earl Plato
My smelling sense is okay. For me it’s eyesight. I need to be with some one who has good eyesight. They sight the bird and then I have a little time to focus on it. We have the Hooded warbler on the Upper Trail at Marcy Woods. My hearing is good and I have taped the call of the Hooded warbler. It’s a loud song that’s whistled - “weeta-wee-tee-o” Listen for a metallic “Chink, chink” too as it forages. I am trying to see it this weekend. Do you have good eyesight? It has a black hood and bib and a bright yellow face. I hope to see one but I may need help.
***
Rediscovered! Thanks to the University of Guelph Field Naturalists at Marcy Woods this past Saturday. We had just met owner Dino Di Cienzo who greeted us on the Lower Trail. As we walked along I told Kevin Butt, the Guelph botanist, about the Wild Ginger plant. When I was ten or so my father and I went with naturalist Bert Miller to Niagara Glen. Bert had a plan for the Woods. He removed a number of these plants. That same day we went to Abino Woods ( it was known then as Marcy Woods) and transplanted them around a large maple tree on the Lower Trail east of the cabin. There they grew for years. Lift up the heart-shaped leaves of this low lying plant and find a curious purple-brown flower. Since I have returned to Marcy Woods I couldn’t find the Wild Ginger. Thanks to Peter Foebel, a past President of the Bert Miller Nature Club, who told me recently, “Earl, they’re still there near the stump.” We stood at the huge overturned maple stump when Kevin of Guelph Field naturalists called to me. “Here they are at the back of the stump!” One of the lady naturalists found some others of them while walking up to the cabin. It’s too early for the flowers yet but a great rediscovery for plant lovers of the Woods. Be excited about nature offerings.
Writer’s note: The root has a strong ginger-like odour. Don’t dig up this rare plantor an plant on this private protected property! In the old days the late Fort Erie naturalist Bert Miller told us that when the root was cooked with brown sugar it was used by the early settlers as a confectionary. By itself it could be used as a substitute for ginger. Ginger bread cookies comes to mind. How are your taste buds?
Note: Rob Eberly, Ridgeway naturalist, has a fine growth of Wild Ginger growing at his place, Very Impressive.
My smelling sense is okay. For me it’s eyesight. I need to be with some one who has good eyesight. They sight the bird and then I have a little time to focus on it. We have the Hooded warbler on the Upper Trail at Marcy Woods. My hearing is good and I have taped the call of the Hooded warbler. It’s a loud song that’s whistled - “weeta-wee-tee-o” Listen for a metallic “Chink, chink” too as it forages. I am trying to see it this weekend. Do you have good eyesight? It has a black hood and bib and a bright yellow face. I hope to see one but I may need help.
***
Rediscovered! Thanks to the University of Guelph Field Naturalists at Marcy Woods this past Saturday. We had just met owner Dino Di Cienzo who greeted us on the Lower Trail. As we walked along I told Kevin Butt, the Guelph botanist, about the Wild Ginger plant. When I was ten or so my father and I went with naturalist Bert Miller to Niagara Glen. Bert had a plan for the Woods. He removed a number of these plants. That same day we went to Abino Woods ( it was known then as Marcy Woods) and transplanted them around a large maple tree on the Lower Trail east of the cabin. There they grew for years. Lift up the heart-shaped leaves of this low lying plant and find a curious purple-brown flower. Since I have returned to Marcy Woods I couldn’t find the Wild Ginger. Thanks to Peter Foebel, a past President of the Bert Miller Nature Club, who told me recently, “Earl, they’re still there near the stump.” We stood at the huge overturned maple stump when Kevin of Guelph Field naturalists called to me. “Here they are at the back of the stump!” One of the lady naturalists found some others of them while walking up to the cabin. It’s too early for the flowers yet but a great rediscovery for plant lovers of the Woods. Be excited about nature offerings.
Writer’s note: The root has a strong ginger-like odour. Don’t dig up this rare plantor an plant on this private protected property! In the old days the late Fort Erie naturalist Bert Miller told us that when the root was cooked with brown sugar it was used by the early settlers as a confectionary. By itself it could be used as a substitute for ginger. Ginger bread cookies comes to mind. How are your taste buds?
Note: Rob Eberly, Ridgeway naturalist, has a fine growth of Wild Ginger growing at his place, Very Impressive.
Friday, August 3, 2007
A Waik in the Clouds
Walk in the Clouds Earl Plato
You are forty to fifty feet above the forest floor. You are hooked from your belt harness to a heavy cable for safety’s sake. Quite a thrill as we three Fort Erie senior couples took a “Walk in he Clouds” in the Haliburton forest. That was some years ago. The rustic wildlife reserve camp near Minden, Ontario has operated more than forty years that is until recently. Last month a tornado classified as a F1 with wind speeds of up to 180 km/h cut a 10 kilometre path through the walkway in early August. Owner Peter Schleifenbaum stated, “We can’t be offering any tours at the moment …” I guess not. There was extensive damage. There were large trees ripped apart and uprooted. Some of the trees were half a metre in diameter. Schleifenbaum said “People get up into the forest and they get a beautiful view.” He’s right. A new walkway is being built in another part of the forest and should be ready soon. It is an experience to see the world from the perspective of a squirrel or an owl up in the canopy. Think 20 metres (60 ft.) above the ground. Go for it.
Writer’s note: This walk is not easy but was worth it even for old timers like us.
***
Just to enjoy the birds and to appreciate the wild flowers is no longer enough. No longer can we view either with the single-minded innocence of earlier years. In this time of dying lakes and poisoned rivers, abused land, destroyed wildlife, and polluted air, w need not only appreciate nature but appreciate it enough to join privately, and in cooperation with groups in-so far as we are able-the protection of what we enjoy. To enjoy and protect… Enjoyment in the present, in our immediate surroundings, and concern for he future, for the greater whole - both are needed.
***
Remember Fort Erie has many areas classified as prime wetlands that are essential to the future existence of plant and animal life. Builders in the town have a responsibility that with the destruction necessary to build new homes comes the responsibility to maintain an acceptable balance for the survival of our wildlife.
Will they do it? Already there is evidence that there are builders who don’t seem to care about our natural heritage.
You are forty to fifty feet above the forest floor. You are hooked from your belt harness to a heavy cable for safety’s sake. Quite a thrill as we three Fort Erie senior couples took a “Walk in he Clouds” in the Haliburton forest. That was some years ago. The rustic wildlife reserve camp near Minden, Ontario has operated more than forty years that is until recently. Last month a tornado classified as a F1 with wind speeds of up to 180 km/h cut a 10 kilometre path through the walkway in early August. Owner Peter Schleifenbaum stated, “We can’t be offering any tours at the moment …” I guess not. There was extensive damage. There were large trees ripped apart and uprooted. Some of the trees were half a metre in diameter. Schleifenbaum said “People get up into the forest and they get a beautiful view.” He’s right. A new walkway is being built in another part of the forest and should be ready soon. It is an experience to see the world from the perspective of a squirrel or an owl up in the canopy. Think 20 metres (60 ft.) above the ground. Go for it.
Writer’s note: This walk is not easy but was worth it even for old timers like us.
***
Just to enjoy the birds and to appreciate the wild flowers is no longer enough. No longer can we view either with the single-minded innocence of earlier years. In this time of dying lakes and poisoned rivers, abused land, destroyed wildlife, and polluted air, w need not only appreciate nature but appreciate it enough to join privately, and in cooperation with groups in-so far as we are able-the protection of what we enjoy. To enjoy and protect… Enjoyment in the present, in our immediate surroundings, and concern for he future, for the greater whole - both are needed.
***
Remember Fort Erie has many areas classified as prime wetlands that are essential to the future existence of plant and animal life. Builders in the town have a responsibility that with the destruction necessary to build new homes comes the responsibility to maintain an acceptable balance for the survival of our wildlife.
Will they do it? Already there is evidence that there are builders who don’t seem to care about our natural heritage.
Aliens
Aliens in Nature Earl Plato
This nature lover inherited the coloured slides of the late Bert Miller, noted naturalist. One slide taken in 1954 was that of a great stand of Purple loosestrife somewhere in Niagara. When did this evasive plant come to Niagara? I don’t know. For almost ten years I paced off a field on Gorham Road to the west the growing extent of this evasive ALIEN plant. Did I say ALIEN? Of course, I capitalized the word. Now I am not against aliens coming to North America. My German, Welsh and Norwegian ancestors from Europe were aliens at one time. However, some bird aliens from Europe have caused and continue to cause problems for our indigenous bird populations. Those who read my column know I am no lover of House/English sparrows and starlings. They are both ALIENS. The House/English sparrows were first introduced to North America in the winter of 1850-51 and in little time they covered North America. Likewise the starlings in 1890 and they have even multiplied more rapidly. Notice the word “introduce”. This was a deliberate attempt by scientists to have these two bird species do some good deeds. You know the story. Good intentions - bad results. We had two colonies and two large Purple martin houses at the family farm in Sherkston. One year house sparrows settled in the west martin house. What could we do? I am not a killer of birds but we wanted our long time residents, the Purple martins, back in their homes. We had up to 22 pairs of these beautiful birds in the east martin house. We knew about when the martins would arrive from the south in mid-spring. At first we lowered the support pole to the ground. We had both houses on poles that were hinged. We removed any sparrow nests and placed a plastic bag over the box. Cruel? The message was - ALIENS move on!. At the first sighting of some martin scouts we lowered the boxes and removed the covering bags. It worked. The house sparrows moved on. If we had done nothing the aggressive House sparrows with established nests would have probably driven the martins away.
Starlings, a much larger bird than our Purple martins, can bully their way and take over a martin house. I am not familiar with this starling behaviour with martins. Are you? What can you do to move these ALIENS on and away from our natural songbirds and their quest for a peaceful life?
This nature lover inherited the coloured slides of the late Bert Miller, noted naturalist. One slide taken in 1954 was that of a great stand of Purple loosestrife somewhere in Niagara. When did this evasive plant come to Niagara? I don’t know. For almost ten years I paced off a field on Gorham Road to the west the growing extent of this evasive ALIEN plant. Did I say ALIEN? Of course, I capitalized the word. Now I am not against aliens coming to North America. My German, Welsh and Norwegian ancestors from Europe were aliens at one time. However, some bird aliens from Europe have caused and continue to cause problems for our indigenous bird populations. Those who read my column know I am no lover of House/English sparrows and starlings. They are both ALIENS. The House/English sparrows were first introduced to North America in the winter of 1850-51 and in little time they covered North America. Likewise the starlings in 1890 and they have even multiplied more rapidly. Notice the word “introduce”. This was a deliberate attempt by scientists to have these two bird species do some good deeds. You know the story. Good intentions - bad results. We had two colonies and two large Purple martin houses at the family farm in Sherkston. One year house sparrows settled in the west martin house. What could we do? I am not a killer of birds but we wanted our long time residents, the Purple martins, back in their homes. We had up to 22 pairs of these beautiful birds in the east martin house. We knew about when the martins would arrive from the south in mid-spring. At first we lowered the support pole to the ground. We had both houses on poles that were hinged. We removed any sparrow nests and placed a plastic bag over the box. Cruel? The message was - ALIENS move on!. At the first sighting of some martin scouts we lowered the boxes and removed the covering bags. It worked. The house sparrows moved on. If we had done nothing the aggressive House sparrows with established nests would have probably driven the martins away.
Starlings, a much larger bird than our Purple martins, can bully their way and take over a martin house. I am not familiar with this starling behaviour with martins. Are you? What can you do to move these ALIENS on and away from our natural songbirds and their quest for a peaceful life?
Butterfky Bush
Butterfly Bush and Earl Plato
Greetings from cousins in Norway on this bright, late August day, 2006. These words “ We have had a hot summer too -25-30 Celsius.” Small world we live in. I have butterfly bushes and in a previous article mentioned butterflies coming to feed on them. One species was the beautiful Red admiral. Guess what? My cousin sent to me as an E-mail attachment from near Oslo, Norway. There feeding on my cousin’s butterfly bush blossoms was clearly a Red admiral! The photo could have been taken here in Ridgeway. Thanks for sharing, cousin.
***
I was talking about them this week. I had not seen any yet this summer. Elaine and I were away on a day bus trip when they arrived at our butterfly bushes. Thank goodness three of our grandchildren and their parents came over. They saw two of them. Have you ever seen Hummingbird hawk moths ? This moth unlike most moths is seen on clear sunny days. Many people confuse them with hummingbirds because of their colouration and their movements. Our moths were about two inches (5 cm) long. From an earlier photo I took they have an olive-green body with red bands across their abdomen. They move quickly darting here and there on our Black-eyed susans and our butterfly bushes. Tuffs of hair at the end of their abdomen look like feathers. Watch them if you can as they feed. They have a long, thin needle-like mouthpiece called a proboscis by which they feed. As they come to flowers they uncoil their proboscis deep into the flower where the nectar is. Like a humingbird, eh.
***
Friend Jerry Rising, nature writer for the Buffalo News, shares this about The Pests of August. “Never slap a yellow jacket against your body. They emit pheromone that leads others to attack.” I know as a youth I asked boyhood friend, Ken, to slap the yellow jacket on my back. Six more stings later I learned the lesson! Don’t want yellow jackets around? Keep foods covered, clean up garbage and pick ripe fruit from your garden. Use perfumed scents sparingly at this time of the year- they attract yellow jackets. Stay away from their nests. Remember they can fly faster than you can run!
Greetings from cousins in Norway on this bright, late August day, 2006. These words “ We have had a hot summer too -25-30 Celsius.” Small world we live in. I have butterfly bushes and in a previous article mentioned butterflies coming to feed on them. One species was the beautiful Red admiral. Guess what? My cousin sent to me as an E-mail attachment from near Oslo, Norway. There feeding on my cousin’s butterfly bush blossoms was clearly a Red admiral! The photo could have been taken here in Ridgeway. Thanks for sharing, cousin.
***
I was talking about them this week. I had not seen any yet this summer. Elaine and I were away on a day bus trip when they arrived at our butterfly bushes. Thank goodness three of our grandchildren and their parents came over. They saw two of them. Have you ever seen Hummingbird hawk moths ? This moth unlike most moths is seen on clear sunny days. Many people confuse them with hummingbirds because of their colouration and their movements. Our moths were about two inches (5 cm) long. From an earlier photo I took they have an olive-green body with red bands across their abdomen. They move quickly darting here and there on our Black-eyed susans and our butterfly bushes. Tuffs of hair at the end of their abdomen look like feathers. Watch them if you can as they feed. They have a long, thin needle-like mouthpiece called a proboscis by which they feed. As they come to flowers they uncoil their proboscis deep into the flower where the nectar is. Like a humingbird, eh.
***
Friend Jerry Rising, nature writer for the Buffalo News, shares this about The Pests of August. “Never slap a yellow jacket against your body. They emit pheromone that leads others to attack.” I know as a youth I asked boyhood friend, Ken, to slap the yellow jacket on my back. Six more stings later I learned the lesson! Don’t want yellow jackets around? Keep foods covered, clean up garbage and pick ripe fruit from your garden. Use perfumed scents sparingly at this time of the year- they attract yellow jackets. Stay away from their nests. Remember they can fly faster than you can run!
At Last- The Rock
Finally - the Rock Earl Plato
Have you been to the Rock? Elaine and I finally made it to Newfoundland. For ten days we saw the flora and the fauna all across our tenth province. Gros Morne National Park provided most of the flora. July is Orchid Month in Newfoundland. Plenty of them were in this amazing and spectacular park. We spent two days at Gros Morne. You could spend easily two weeks there. I first saw the orchids of the west coast of Newfoundland via the late Dave Marr’s slides at Fort Erie Centennial Library. They were world class shots. Now we saw them first hand at Gros Morne Park. Western Brook Pond Trail starts at the large parking lot. In the far distance were the fjords nestled in the 2,000 foot high mountains. The boardwalk trail crosses bogs and low limestone ridges to the shore of the Pond. Just into the Trail were beautiful White-fringed orchids. At the top of each leafy stalk was a dense cluster of pure white flowers with deeply fringed petals. Just then a call went up for out in the tableland a bull moose and cow were seen feeding. Two other orchids that grow here are the Yellow lady’s slipper and my favourite the Showy lady’s slipper. Beautiful specimens. Back at the new Interpretive Centre we were told again that the first three weeks of July were the best weeks for orchid sightings. It was July 10th a perfect time. I stayed at the Centre to see two informative movies. Elaine took the 45 minute hike up the rocky hillside where my gimpy knees might find some difficulties. Her guide was very informative. Elaine took photos of Pitcher plants, the province’s official flowering plant. Yes, I had to buy a t-shirt with the Pitcher plant embossed on it. Further on up the coast at the Norse settlement of L‘ans aux Meadows we saw three small bog flowering plants. The guide pointed out Partridgeberry also called Mountain cranberry, Black crowberry, and Bakeapple or Cloudberry. This last plant would soon have bright yellow berries we were told. Easy to see the various colours - red, blue/black, and bright yellow. All of their fruits were edible and must have provided those Norse people of 1000 A.D. some necessary sustenance during the rugged winters. The bog areas here along the interpretive trail were covered with our traditional blueberries not yet ripe. Earl, don’t eat them if they were. It too is a national heritage site.
Next: The fauna of Newfoundland
Have you been to the Rock? Elaine and I finally made it to Newfoundland. For ten days we saw the flora and the fauna all across our tenth province. Gros Morne National Park provided most of the flora. July is Orchid Month in Newfoundland. Plenty of them were in this amazing and spectacular park. We spent two days at Gros Morne. You could spend easily two weeks there. I first saw the orchids of the west coast of Newfoundland via the late Dave Marr’s slides at Fort Erie Centennial Library. They were world class shots. Now we saw them first hand at Gros Morne Park. Western Brook Pond Trail starts at the large parking lot. In the far distance were the fjords nestled in the 2,000 foot high mountains. The boardwalk trail crosses bogs and low limestone ridges to the shore of the Pond. Just into the Trail were beautiful White-fringed orchids. At the top of each leafy stalk was a dense cluster of pure white flowers with deeply fringed petals. Just then a call went up for out in the tableland a bull moose and cow were seen feeding. Two other orchids that grow here are the Yellow lady’s slipper and my favourite the Showy lady’s slipper. Beautiful specimens. Back at the new Interpretive Centre we were told again that the first three weeks of July were the best weeks for orchid sightings. It was July 10th a perfect time. I stayed at the Centre to see two informative movies. Elaine took the 45 minute hike up the rocky hillside where my gimpy knees might find some difficulties. Her guide was very informative. Elaine took photos of Pitcher plants, the province’s official flowering plant. Yes, I had to buy a t-shirt with the Pitcher plant embossed on it. Further on up the coast at the Norse settlement of L‘ans aux Meadows we saw three small bog flowering plants. The guide pointed out Partridgeberry also called Mountain cranberry, Black crowberry, and Bakeapple or Cloudberry. This last plant would soon have bright yellow berries we were told. Easy to see the various colours - red, blue/black, and bright yellow. All of their fruits were edible and must have provided those Norse people of 1000 A.D. some necessary sustenance during the rugged winters. The bog areas here along the interpretive trail were covered with our traditional blueberries not yet ripe. Earl, don’t eat them if they were. It too is a national heritage site.
Next: The fauna of Newfoundland
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Ghosts of the Air
Face to Face!
We were in York, England in November of 1973. It was a typical English late Fall setting - cold, clammy weather and ‘pea soup’ fog. We were following the ‘Ghost Walk’ famous to York. We had just passed the grave yard of St/ Elizabeth church when it appeared. Soaring out from our right it glided past us - a ghostly apparition. Not so. It was a huge Barn Owl clothed in its white feathers. A thrill indeed. I had met Barn Owls before. Let me share this boyhood incident. As a five year old I was actively curious. With father at work and my two older brothers at school I told my busy mother that I was playing outside. I hear strange sounds in our old barn. . Just inside was a rung ladder leading up into the mow. . I started to ascend the rungs. I Something was in the mow. What was it? I Then just above me came a series of clicks. could hear it moving about. Then a loud hissing as my head rose above the last rung. There it was wings widespread as it let out an unearthly scream. I started quickly down the ladder. In my fright I fell back down and landed on the old hay bales. The wind was knocked out of me. Recovering I screamed. Mother heard and older brother arrived. I was alive! Up above a protective mother Barn owl was snapping its bill. Later Dad climbed up another way. Yes, a barn owl and two young ones.\
We left them alne and in a few weeks left. However, I had a lasting image
***
Audubon guide says, “This nocturnal ghost of a bird frequents such places as church belfries, deserted buildings and hollow trees. Here’s my rough sketch.
We were in York, England in November of 1973. It was a typical English late Fall setting - cold, clammy weather and ‘pea soup’ fog. We were following the ‘Ghost Walk’ famous to York. We had just passed the grave yard of St/ Elizabeth church when it appeared. Soaring out from our right it glided past us - a ghostly apparition. Not so. It was a huge Barn Owl clothed in its white feathers. A thrill indeed. I had met Barn Owls before. Let me share this boyhood incident. As a five year old I was actively curious. With father at work and my two older brothers at school I told my busy mother that I was playing outside. I hear strange sounds in our old barn. . Just inside was a rung ladder leading up into the mow. . I started to ascend the rungs. I Something was in the mow. What was it? I Then just above me came a series of clicks. could hear it moving about. Then a loud hissing as my head rose above the last rung. There it was wings widespread as it let out an unearthly scream. I started quickly down the ladder. In my fright I fell back down and landed on the old hay bales. The wind was knocked out of me. Recovering I screamed. Mother heard and older brother arrived. I was alive! Up above a protective mother Barn owl was snapping its bill. Later Dad climbed up another way. Yes, a barn owl and two young ones.\
We left them alne and in a few weeks left. However, I had a lasting image
***
Audubon guide says, “This nocturnal ghost of a bird frequents such places as church belfries, deserted buildings and hollow trees. Here’s my rough sketch.
Tracks, eh!
Funny Tracks, eh Earl Plato
We are on the Lower Trail at Marcy Woods. My quest are for animal tracks. Of all the tracks I have seen there is one that I have never recognized at Marcys. I told owner Dino DiDizeno Jr. that I had seen that Carolinian transplant, the opossums’ dead bodies, on Point Abino Road, Mitchener Road, and last year even on Matthews Road. These three roads surround the Marcy farm property north of Marcy Woods. Point? There must be some opossums in the Woods. I told Dino Jr. that I love tracking animals. I have three animal track books - The largest and most complete is the Peterson Guide book. Great for reference but too bulky to carry at least for me. Friend, Erin, gave me a more compact one, Animal Tracks Ontario, by Ian Sheldon. It’s my favourite. One I had for years is the convenient, Track Finder, by Dorcas Miller. Tattered and torn it now rates below the Sheldon book. Opossums or possums, what do you know about them and their tracks?
Some fifty years now this slow moving marsupial from the Carolinas has lived in Southern Ontario. That’s my guess. I have had some exciting encounters with the ‘possum. That’s another story. It’s the unusual tracks it makes that I find interesting. I have seen them in mud and yes, even in the snow during the warmer weeks of winter as late as in 2002. I remember the unusual hind print next or beside the fore print. Once you have seen the ‘possum’s rear foot print you won’t forget it. The long, distinctive , inward-pointing thumb is unique. No other mammal has such a footprint. I have seen one possum with a shortened tail. Normally the long-naked tail makes a line in the snow as it rambles along. This thinly haired animal can suffer from frost bite and as a result the unprotected tail suffers irreparable damage and part may fall off. Remember that it’s primarily an animal of the Carolinas and warmer temperatures. Look for the tell tale opossum tracks.
***
Joyce Berry of Ridgeway (Thunder Bay) has photos of local opossums. John Day of Ridgeway has three ‘possuns visitors on a regular basis.
John feeds them and knows quite a bit of their daily habits. After several decades of its presence in Southern Ontario let’s accept this southern transplant as a natural citizen.
We are on the Lower Trail at Marcy Woods. My quest are for animal tracks. Of all the tracks I have seen there is one that I have never recognized at Marcys. I told owner Dino DiDizeno Jr. that I had seen that Carolinian transplant, the opossums’ dead bodies, on Point Abino Road, Mitchener Road, and last year even on Matthews Road. These three roads surround the Marcy farm property north of Marcy Woods. Point? There must be some opossums in the Woods. I told Dino Jr. that I love tracking animals. I have three animal track books - The largest and most complete is the Peterson Guide book. Great for reference but too bulky to carry at least for me. Friend, Erin, gave me a more compact one, Animal Tracks Ontario, by Ian Sheldon. It’s my favourite. One I had for years is the convenient, Track Finder, by Dorcas Miller. Tattered and torn it now rates below the Sheldon book. Opossums or possums, what do you know about them and their tracks?
Some fifty years now this slow moving marsupial from the Carolinas has lived in Southern Ontario. That’s my guess. I have had some exciting encounters with the ‘possum. That’s another story. It’s the unusual tracks it makes that I find interesting. I have seen them in mud and yes, even in the snow during the warmer weeks of winter as late as in 2002. I remember the unusual hind print next or beside the fore print. Once you have seen the ‘possum’s rear foot print you won’t forget it. The long, distinctive , inward-pointing thumb is unique. No other mammal has such a footprint. I have seen one possum with a shortened tail. Normally the long-naked tail makes a line in the snow as it rambles along. This thinly haired animal can suffer from frost bite and as a result the unprotected tail suffers irreparable damage and part may fall off. Remember that it’s primarily an animal of the Carolinas and warmer temperatures. Look for the tell tale opossum tracks.
***
Joyce Berry of Ridgeway (Thunder Bay) has photos of local opossums. John Day of Ridgeway has three ‘possuns visitors on a regular basis.
John feeds them and knows quite a bit of their daily habits. After several decades of its presence in Southern Ontario let’s accept this southern transplant as a natural citizen.
What;s Happening in Nature?
v
What’s happening? Earl Plato
An answer to the scarcity of frogs at Marcy Woods this year. Thanks to owner Dino DiCienzo Jr. I received this e-mail from nature scientist, James Kamstra, that helps us understand the scarcity of frogs at Marcy Woods. I quote as follows: “Not sure why the frogs seem to have declined. Wood frogs have a very narrow calling period which is only about two weeks in any one area. April warmed up very quickly this year and my impression was that their calling period was even more compressed than usual. Also their peak calling period coincides with warm night temperatures, and it is hard to hit their peak right on. Perhaps the writer (That’s me) hit the peak in a previous year and then was not quite at peak during his visits this year. I have been monitoring one site in Oshawa for more than 15 years. Some years I hit the peak and other years I don’t. I doubt that the Wood Frogs have declined significantly in Marcy Woods.”
Writer’s note: Remember this is the first spring for me in Marcy Woods for four years. That’s good news that next year I will probably hear the Wood frogs again.
***
Scientist James Kamstra continued with his e-mail message. “ The other two species have longer calling periods. Chorus Frogs typically breed in very open temporary ponded (vernal pools) areas. They were quite common in the open field/ thicket area north of Marcy’s Woods when I did the surveys in 2004 but I don’t think they were in the Woods proper. As for Spring Peepers, they were common in fields and swamps in the Woods. They have the longest calling period. Not sure why they would have disappeared. Maybe the writer (That’s me) was out on a cold night when they were less active.”
James Kamstra.
***
Kamstra is right. The sound of Chorus frogs were always in the fields just to the north of Marcy Woods and south of Abino Woods farm. There are vernal (spring time) pools there. The collected trilling calls of these frogs was very loud in certain years. Yes, the high pitched sounds of the Spring Peepers were nearer to the Marcy Pond but in the Woods just to the north in the string of vernal pools. Great sounds to a nature lovers ears. Learn more about nature this year.
What’s happening? Earl Plato
An answer to the scarcity of frogs at Marcy Woods this year. Thanks to owner Dino DiCienzo Jr. I received this e-mail from nature scientist, James Kamstra, that helps us understand the scarcity of frogs at Marcy Woods. I quote as follows: “Not sure why the frogs seem to have declined. Wood frogs have a very narrow calling period which is only about two weeks in any one area. April warmed up very quickly this year and my impression was that their calling period was even more compressed than usual. Also their peak calling period coincides with warm night temperatures, and it is hard to hit their peak right on. Perhaps the writer (That’s me) hit the peak in a previous year and then was not quite at peak during his visits this year. I have been monitoring one site in Oshawa for more than 15 years. Some years I hit the peak and other years I don’t. I doubt that the Wood Frogs have declined significantly in Marcy Woods.”
Writer’s note: Remember this is the first spring for me in Marcy Woods for four years. That’s good news that next year I will probably hear the Wood frogs again.
***
Scientist James Kamstra continued with his e-mail message. “ The other two species have longer calling periods. Chorus Frogs typically breed in very open temporary ponded (vernal pools) areas. They were quite common in the open field/ thicket area north of Marcy’s Woods when I did the surveys in 2004 but I don’t think they were in the Woods proper. As for Spring Peepers, they were common in fields and swamps in the Woods. They have the longest calling period. Not sure why they would have disappeared. Maybe the writer (That’s me) was out on a cold night when they were less active.”
James Kamstra.
***
Kamstra is right. The sound of Chorus frogs were always in the fields just to the north of Marcy Woods and south of Abino Woods farm. There are vernal (spring time) pools there. The collected trilling calls of these frogs was very loud in certain years. Yes, the high pitched sounds of the Spring Peepers were nearer to the Marcy Pond but in the Woods just to the north in the string of vernal pools. Great sounds to a nature lovers ears. Learn more about nature this year.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Goldthread-Love nature
What a joy to be back in Marcy Woods this past spring of 2007. Some years ago daughter ,
Allison Kells rediscovered the little plant , Goldthread. Great naturalist, Ernie Giles, had shown it to me near the beginning of the Marcy Woods trails. Gently he parted the lower area of the plant revealing a golden threaded stem. 24 carat? Guess what? Allison rediscovered again the Goldthread this spring in the same area we
had first seen it. It’s a member of he Buttercup family. Ernie shared the following back then: - the natives and early colonists chewed the golden stem/root to relieve mouth sores hence the name Canker-root. Enjoy nature.
Allison Kells rediscovered the little plant , Goldthread. Great naturalist, Ernie Giles, had shown it to me near the beginning of the Marcy Woods trails. Gently he parted the lower area of the plant revealing a golden threaded stem. 24 carat? Guess what? Allison rediscovered again the Goldthread this spring in the same area we
had first seen it. It’s a member of he Buttercup family. Ernie shared the following back then: - the natives and early colonists chewed the golden stem/root to relieve mouth sores hence the name Canker-root. Enjoy nature.
Hello Bon Echo
Hello Bon Echo Earl Plato
“Bon Echo” - know your French? We were opposite the towering 300 foot cliffs of Bon Echo in mid-August. Our tour boat hostess asked, “Give me a one-syllable word.” Wife, Elaine suggested “Ed.” (That’s her brother-in-law’s name.) The hostess told us on the count of three to yell, “ Ed!” We did. The echo was clear and loud as it reverberated from the cliff face.. Bon echo. We repeated the call. Same results - Great echo! I don’t suggest that our whirl-wind trip is the best way to enjoy nature.
Bon Echo Provincial Park had been suggested to me over the years as a neat nature spot to visit. This was the time for our first visit. The weather was ideal. What a summer!
After our stop at Emily Provincial Park the previous day and a stay at Peterborough we headed west on Highway 7 to Kaladar. Here we turned north on Highway 41 to Bon Echo.
Hey we’re seniors! Where was the Visitor Centre? We parked where the signs pointed. It was parking space for the Amphitheater. We walked back to a meandering road and followed the signs. A half mile? More. I thought, as this guy with his sore leg avoided dips and dives. What a place for a Visitor Centre! I asked the young park guide, “How close can you drive to this place?” “Where did you park?” “The Amphitheater parking lot!” “That’s as close as you can get.” Not convenient for all.
Our boat ride on Lake Mazinaw was delayed. Why? People had booked up to three months ahead for the hour plus tour. We had to wait until the third trip of the day. Time to wander around in the bookstore and go out to a good local restaurant. We came back to the Centre - same way - me stumbling over tree roots. There were the other seniors - some thirty of them. They had driven to below the Centre in two large vans. Hey a walk of about fifty feet! Could we have done the same? No, you had to book the vans ahead of time. Call first if you want to check the time of the tours.
After the ‘echo’ exercise we headed for the cliffs where they claim the Algonkians painted 250 red-ochre pictographs on its face. Use your imagination. Our guide pointed out the barely discernible drawings. She explained the religious significance of each.
Ahead two small motor boats had tied up at an outcrop. Two families had scaled a ledge about twenty feet up. ‘Cannon ball time’ on this hot day was the exercise.
Our Guelph University graduate guide gave us a great deal of geologic information. We looked closely at the rock formations of this Canadian Gibraltar. We saw climbers above us at a lookout at the top that must offer them a panoramic view. No time for that climb this day.
Campers will like Bon Echo Provincial Park. It has a full program for you according to their brochure. Keep exploring Ontario.
“Bon Echo” - know your French? We were opposite the towering 300 foot cliffs of Bon Echo in mid-August. Our tour boat hostess asked, “Give me a one-syllable word.” Wife, Elaine suggested “Ed.” (That’s her brother-in-law’s name.) The hostess told us on the count of three to yell, “ Ed!” We did. The echo was clear and loud as it reverberated from the cliff face.. Bon echo. We repeated the call. Same results - Great echo! I don’t suggest that our whirl-wind trip is the best way to enjoy nature.
Bon Echo Provincial Park had been suggested to me over the years as a neat nature spot to visit. This was the time for our first visit. The weather was ideal. What a summer!
After our stop at Emily Provincial Park the previous day and a stay at Peterborough we headed west on Highway 7 to Kaladar. Here we turned north on Highway 41 to Bon Echo.
Hey we’re seniors! Where was the Visitor Centre? We parked where the signs pointed. It was parking space for the Amphitheater. We walked back to a meandering road and followed the signs. A half mile? More. I thought, as this guy with his sore leg avoided dips and dives. What a place for a Visitor Centre! I asked the young park guide, “How close can you drive to this place?” “Where did you park?” “The Amphitheater parking lot!” “That’s as close as you can get.” Not convenient for all.
Our boat ride on Lake Mazinaw was delayed. Why? People had booked up to three months ahead for the hour plus tour. We had to wait until the third trip of the day. Time to wander around in the bookstore and go out to a good local restaurant. We came back to the Centre - same way - me stumbling over tree roots. There were the other seniors - some thirty of them. They had driven to below the Centre in two large vans. Hey a walk of about fifty feet! Could we have done the same? No, you had to book the vans ahead of time. Call first if you want to check the time of the tours.
After the ‘echo’ exercise we headed for the cliffs where they claim the Algonkians painted 250 red-ochre pictographs on its face. Use your imagination. Our guide pointed out the barely discernible drawings. She explained the religious significance of each.
Ahead two small motor boats had tied up at an outcrop. Two families had scaled a ledge about twenty feet up. ‘Cannon ball time’ on this hot day was the exercise.
Our Guelph University graduate guide gave us a great deal of geologic information. We looked closely at the rock formations of this Canadian Gibraltar. We saw climbers above us at a lookout at the top that must offer them a panoramic view. No time for that climb this day.
Campers will like Bon Echo Provincial Park. It has a full program for you according to their brochure. Keep exploring Ontario.
Senior Time in Ontario
When Nature Calls Seniors Earl Plato
Seniors, take a trip in Ontario this fall. We had come back from a 1,000 km three day trip in Central-Eastern Ontario. I collect several brochures from our Ontario travel bureaus along with a free Ontario road map. I sit down and plan a trip. Three days - three sites, that was the plan. I recommend all three locations - Bon Echo Provincial Park, Bonnechere Caves near the Ottawa River and my favourite - Algonquin Park. I was known by my growing children as the dad who used to say, “But, it’s worth a side trip”. I still do it. On our way to Peterborough and an overnight stay I had always wanted to visit Emily Provincial Park just west of the city. Why? It had a marsh boardwalk and a sighting tower. This is osprey country and there are nesting sites of this large fish hawk. “We’re doing good time. Let’s take a look.” Located outside of Omemee just at the south end of Pigeon Lake, the park was very busy with most sites filled. We drove in free of charge - map in hand. Only one major problem - signs were missing or non-existent. We drove around and around trying to make sense of the map. “Stop and ask.” came the pleas from our wives. We did. No close parking to the boardwalk at Emily. Of course you need to walk a distance. Still healing from my tendonitis I said, “Let’s try it another time.” We will. I love ospreys and the Kawartha’s Nature booklet says,” here (at Emily) you can watch the ospreys feeding their young or making spectacular dives into the water to catch fish.” We were told hat there were two nesting sites. 2003 I will return in late spring, the Lord willing.
***
A well fed cat won’t hunt. Gina Spadafori of the Buffalo News wrote as follows: “The ability to hunt is hardwired into all cats, but the level of desire varies by each cat’s genetics and early experiences, not by the rumbling in his belly.”
Whitey, my childhood cat was an excellent mouser and birder. She taught her offspring well. Sadly back in those days of the thirties there were plentiful open fields and meadows Whitey would catch a meadowlark at times and bring it home for her young. The beautiful songbird didn’t have a chance. Even a bob-o-link was a catch. However, as a farm cat she kept our barn free of mice.
We watched Whitey with her young. “ The play of the kittens - pouncing and leaping on anything that moves - is really hunting behaviour. Observers of feline behaviour believe that if the mother is an eager hunter, the kittens will probably be too.”
Whitey trained her kittens well. I recall Blacky, one of her offspring, as a consistent hunter who often brought his prey back still alive. He would play with his victims for several minutes. Spadafori writes, “... the cat’s much-observed tendency to play with its prey is really a matter of the animal’s not being hungry enough to eat but still being instinctively driven to hunt.”
Seniors, take a trip in Ontario this fall. We had come back from a 1,000 km three day trip in Central-Eastern Ontario. I collect several brochures from our Ontario travel bureaus along with a free Ontario road map. I sit down and plan a trip. Three days - three sites, that was the plan. I recommend all three locations - Bon Echo Provincial Park, Bonnechere Caves near the Ottawa River and my favourite - Algonquin Park. I was known by my growing children as the dad who used to say, “But, it’s worth a side trip”. I still do it. On our way to Peterborough and an overnight stay I had always wanted to visit Emily Provincial Park just west of the city. Why? It had a marsh boardwalk and a sighting tower. This is osprey country and there are nesting sites of this large fish hawk. “We’re doing good time. Let’s take a look.” Located outside of Omemee just at the south end of Pigeon Lake, the park was very busy with most sites filled. We drove in free of charge - map in hand. Only one major problem - signs were missing or non-existent. We drove around and around trying to make sense of the map. “Stop and ask.” came the pleas from our wives. We did. No close parking to the boardwalk at Emily. Of course you need to walk a distance. Still healing from my tendonitis I said, “Let’s try it another time.” We will. I love ospreys and the Kawartha’s Nature booklet says,” here (at Emily) you can watch the ospreys feeding their young or making spectacular dives into the water to catch fish.” We were told hat there were two nesting sites. 2003 I will return in late spring, the Lord willing.
***
A well fed cat won’t hunt. Gina Spadafori of the Buffalo News wrote as follows: “The ability to hunt is hardwired into all cats, but the level of desire varies by each cat’s genetics and early experiences, not by the rumbling in his belly.”
Whitey, my childhood cat was an excellent mouser and birder. She taught her offspring well. Sadly back in those days of the thirties there were plentiful open fields and meadows Whitey would catch a meadowlark at times and bring it home for her young. The beautiful songbird didn’t have a chance. Even a bob-o-link was a catch. However, as a farm cat she kept our barn free of mice.
We watched Whitey with her young. “ The play of the kittens - pouncing and leaping on anything that moves - is really hunting behaviour. Observers of feline behaviour believe that if the mother is an eager hunter, the kittens will probably be too.”
Whitey trained her kittens well. I recall Blacky, one of her offspring, as a consistent hunter who often brought his prey back still alive. He would play with his victims for several minutes. Spadafori writes, “... the cat’s much-observed tendency to play with its prey is really a matter of the animal’s not being hungry enough to eat but still being instinctively driven to hunt.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)