Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Out West VIA
NNVIA1.06 Earl Plato
Think big, really big! We travelled VIA Rail to Vancouver and back recently. We were four retired couples from Fort Erie. It was a trip of a lifetime. After a city tour of Vancouver we boarded the ferry for Victoria, Vancouver Island. We would explore this unique and beautiful island for the next five days. In our rented cars we headed north and reached Cathedral Grove. Elaine and I had been there in 1970. We had camped across Canada with our children. The Grove had been one of our highlights. Now here in 2006 we had returned with Fort Erie friends to walk the entire trails. We knew that it was a not-to-be-missed stop on Highway 4 to Port Alberni- a chance to be awed by nature. Think old. At Cathedral Grove there is a wondrous display of 800 year old trees. When Elaine and I were there in 1970 only a few trees were down. We had the children pose on one fallen giant. In January 1997 a severe windstorm damaged many of the ancient Douglas fir giants. There are short trails winding through some of the biggest trees in Canada. One Douglas fir in the South Loop Trail measures over 9 metres in circumference. Think almost 30 feet! Writer‘s note: We thought that Bert Miller’s giant local Tulip tree at Rosehill that measured 161/2 ft. was big. Look up. The tallest tree in Cathedral Grove is a Douglas fir 76 metres high. Amazing! That’s over 200 feet tall!
Among the many fallen trees lush growths of ferns and Red Cedar trees are interspersed in the under story. We walked in a wet area on a bridge made from a fallen Douglas fir. Friend Ken examined the sides of the bridge where the rangers had hewn out openings for the railing supports/ It as a long and strong bridge. Cathedral Grove is only a small part of MacMillan Provincial Park yet it is a most important part. The Park is still restoring other trails as a result of the 1997 storm. Cathedral Grove has been fully restored thankfully.
***
The eight of us sitting in the observation dome of our VIA Rail car looked for animals on our way both west and east. Collectively we saw the following: elks, deer, bisons (buffalo), bear, mountain sheep or goats, beaver, bald eagles, ravens and crows. One of the most exciting views was that of seven mountain sheep beside our stopped train. Led by a large horned ram they made their way up the cliff and posed for us on the way..
Think big, really big! We travelled VIA Rail to Vancouver and back recently. We were four retired couples from Fort Erie. It was a trip of a lifetime. After a city tour of Vancouver we boarded the ferry for Victoria, Vancouver Island. We would explore this unique and beautiful island for the next five days. In our rented cars we headed north and reached Cathedral Grove. Elaine and I had been there in 1970. We had camped across Canada with our children. The Grove had been one of our highlights. Now here in 2006 we had returned with Fort Erie friends to walk the entire trails. We knew that it was a not-to-be-missed stop on Highway 4 to Port Alberni- a chance to be awed by nature. Think old. At Cathedral Grove there is a wondrous display of 800 year old trees. When Elaine and I were there in 1970 only a few trees were down. We had the children pose on one fallen giant. In January 1997 a severe windstorm damaged many of the ancient Douglas fir giants. There are short trails winding through some of the biggest trees in Canada. One Douglas fir in the South Loop Trail measures over 9 metres in circumference. Think almost 30 feet! Writer‘s note: We thought that Bert Miller’s giant local Tulip tree at Rosehill that measured 161/2 ft. was big. Look up. The tallest tree in Cathedral Grove is a Douglas fir 76 metres high. Amazing! That’s over 200 feet tall!
Among the many fallen trees lush growths of ferns and Red Cedar trees are interspersed in the under story. We walked in a wet area on a bridge made from a fallen Douglas fir. Friend Ken examined the sides of the bridge where the rangers had hewn out openings for the railing supports/ It as a long and strong bridge. Cathedral Grove is only a small part of MacMillan Provincial Park yet it is a most important part. The Park is still restoring other trails as a result of the 1997 storm. Cathedral Grove has been fully restored thankfully.
***
The eight of us sitting in the observation dome of our VIA Rail car looked for animals on our way both west and east. Collectively we saw the following: elks, deer, bisons (buffalo), bear, mountain sheep or goats, beaver, bald eagles, ravens and crows. One of the most exciting views was that of seven mountain sheep beside our stopped train. Led by a large horned ram they made their way up the cliff and posed for us on the way..
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Beavers, how big!
How Big! Earl Plato
Yes, I am a Edwin Way Teale fan. The Pulitzer prize nature writer has long been a model for me. After twenty years of my nature writing I used many of Teale’s observations for article themes. I have seven of his books as reference and inspiration. Journey Through the Year, is my favourite Teale book. However, it is in his Pulitzer prize winning novel, Wandering Through Winter, that inspired this article about the beaver. I quote: “ It was in the summer of 1843 when John James Audubon descended the Missouri River in a fur company boat.” Audubon reports that one giant beaver measured almost five feet and weighed ninety pounds. Wow! Locally in the Niagara peninsula and in Western New York the beavers I have seen weighed about 25-30 lbs in my estimation. I made a movie of a beaver colony and caught a beaver on film. He was huge. How big? He disappeared quickly so I’ll never know. However, he was the largest I have ever seen. What about you? Any beavers in your territory? How big?
Yes, I am a Edwin Way Teale fan. The Pulitzer prize nature writer has long been a model for me. After twenty years of my nature writing I used many of Teale’s observations for article themes. I have seven of his books as reference and inspiration. Journey Through the Year, is my favourite Teale book. However, it is in his Pulitzer prize winning novel, Wandering Through Winter, that inspired this article about the beaver. I quote: “ It was in the summer of 1843 when John James Audubon descended the Missouri River in a fur company boat.” Audubon reports that one giant beaver measured almost five feet and weighed ninety pounds. Wow! Locally in the Niagara peninsula and in Western New York the beavers I have seen weighed about 25-30 lbs in my estimation. I made a movie of a beaver colony and caught a beaver on film. He was huge. How big? He disappeared quickly so I’ll never know. However, he was the largest I have ever seen. What about you? Any beavers in your territory? How big?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Beaver and Eagle
Canadian Beaver Earl Plato
A past 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.
A past 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.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Marcy Woods Again
Marcy Woods Again Earl Plato
It’s been at least four years since I walked Fox Trot Trail at Marcy Woods. Bud and I rediscovered this old pathway this November. I wanted to update my map of the DiCienzo’s property made by Neil Reichelt . I had forgotten that it was beyond the eastern gate of the boundary of Marcy Woods but still part of the Woods. We did not enter the grown over path. We had spent two hours already. We would return another day. Good memories of this trail with naturalist Ernie Giles. Memories of Giant swallowtail and Spicebush butterflies, of young Tulip trees, and a pond with a different growth of duckweed. Beyond to the north was a trail leading into the wetlands and who knows where. We named the trail “Fox Trot” because of the numerous fox feces on the trail. The map has been redrawn by Neil.
***
We were away for two weeks out west. Did we have an Indian Summer while away? No one I asked seemed to know. At Marcy Woods this past week I saw chipmunks still scampering up and down fallen trees. To my right a gray squirrel launched itself from limb to limb and peered down at us. Were these the last days of a departing Indian Summer? It was a bright crisp morning in the Woods. I reflected on the Marcy family. The late Dr. George Marcy and his wife Elizabeth could have been enjoying American Thanksgiving at their Abino Hills farm. I can picture roast turkey - light meat and dark- the dressing, gravy, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce, and the pumpkin pie. Back to reality, eh. What is your definition of Indian Summer? Some say that those few sunny days after a heavy killing frost is an Indian Summer? Let me know if we already had it.
***
My nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, asked the question. Have you ever seen a red squirrel scampering on the ground? Gray and black squirrels I have seen often on the ground but the smaller red guys always seem to be up in trees. Teale said that except at the time when nuts are ripening at their peak do you see the red squirrel in awe-inspiring nervous energy racing up and down the trunk of a home nest. He’s only on the ground briefly as he is collecting food for the winter. He is always on defence of his territory. Grays and blacks look out!
It’s been at least four years since I walked Fox Trot Trail at Marcy Woods. Bud and I rediscovered this old pathway this November. I wanted to update my map of the DiCienzo’s property made by Neil Reichelt . I had forgotten that it was beyond the eastern gate of the boundary of Marcy Woods but still part of the Woods. We did not enter the grown over path. We had spent two hours already. We would return another day. Good memories of this trail with naturalist Ernie Giles. Memories of Giant swallowtail and Spicebush butterflies, of young Tulip trees, and a pond with a different growth of duckweed. Beyond to the north was a trail leading into the wetlands and who knows where. We named the trail “Fox Trot” because of the numerous fox feces on the trail. The map has been redrawn by Neil.
***
We were away for two weeks out west. Did we have an Indian Summer while away? No one I asked seemed to know. At Marcy Woods this past week I saw chipmunks still scampering up and down fallen trees. To my right a gray squirrel launched itself from limb to limb and peered down at us. Were these the last days of a departing Indian Summer? It was a bright crisp morning in the Woods. I reflected on the Marcy family. The late Dr. George Marcy and his wife Elizabeth could have been enjoying American Thanksgiving at their Abino Hills farm. I can picture roast turkey - light meat and dark- the dressing, gravy, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce, and the pumpkin pie. Back to reality, eh. What is your definition of Indian Summer? Some say that those few sunny days after a heavy killing frost is an Indian Summer? Let me know if we already had it.
***
My nature writer mentor, Ed Teale, asked the question. Have you ever seen a red squirrel scampering on the ground? Gray and black squirrels I have seen often on the ground but the smaller red guys always seem to be up in trees. Teale said that except at the time when nuts are ripening at their peak do you see the red squirrel in awe-inspiring nervous energy racing up and down the trunk of a home nest. He’s only on the ground briefly as he is collecting food for the winter. He is always on defence of his territory. Grays and blacks look out!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Oven Bird
Oven Bird Earl Plato
I witnessed in the 1990’s an unusual bird performance deep in both Willoughby Marsh and Marcy Woods while with naturalist Ernie Giles . Henry David Thoreau witnessed the same performance that we saw. His entry in his journal, dated June 7, 1853, provided then some of the first observations of the unusual antics of the ovenbird. He wrote the following, ”… runs from her covered nest so close to the ground under the lowest twigs and leaves, like a mouse, hat I can not get a fair view of her. She does not fly at all. Is it to attract me, or partly to protect herself?” It was deep in Willoughby Marsh that we saw this distinctive trait. Natute writer Teale tells us that this performance of the ovenbird is one of innumerable distraction displays - such as the killdeer’s broken wing diversionary performance - that birds employ to draw away danger from the vicinity of their nests.
***
My huge book - The Audubon Society ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS - says that more than 200 species of North American birds utilize some form of feigning to divert attention to themselves and away from their eggs and young in times of peril. Great mothers.
***
My interest in this subject has me share the following: A wood thrush on one occasion was observed holding the interest of a blacksnake heading for its nest by engaging in a broken-wing display on a low lying branch. We are told loons will display this same injured wing show if their nest
And the occupants are in danger. Have you seen this? Some small birds flutter like butterflies in front of a predator. I read about “False feeding” where some warblers, woodpeckers and killdeers have been seen
carrying food to places where their nests were not while a predator observed them.
***
I walked the steps at Marcy Woods last week all alone. Something on the Upper Trail was a concern. A large maple had fallen across the trail bringing down three sections of the trail railings. Knowing the owners, Dino DiCienzo and family it will be removed. Fall is a beautiful time in Marcy Woods. I have just completed my power point presentation on the Woods. .
I witnessed in the 1990’s an unusual bird performance deep in both Willoughby Marsh and Marcy Woods while with naturalist Ernie Giles . Henry David Thoreau witnessed the same performance that we saw. His entry in his journal, dated June 7, 1853, provided then some of the first observations of the unusual antics of the ovenbird. He wrote the following, ”… runs from her covered nest so close to the ground under the lowest twigs and leaves, like a mouse, hat I can not get a fair view of her. She does not fly at all. Is it to attract me, or partly to protect herself?” It was deep in Willoughby Marsh that we saw this distinctive trait. Natute writer Teale tells us that this performance of the ovenbird is one of innumerable distraction displays - such as the killdeer’s broken wing diversionary performance - that birds employ to draw away danger from the vicinity of their nests.
***
My huge book - The Audubon Society ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS - says that more than 200 species of North American birds utilize some form of feigning to divert attention to themselves and away from their eggs and young in times of peril. Great mothers.
***
My interest in this subject has me share the following: A wood thrush on one occasion was observed holding the interest of a blacksnake heading for its nest by engaging in a broken-wing display on a low lying branch. We are told loons will display this same injured wing show if their nest
And the occupants are in danger. Have you seen this? Some small birds flutter like butterflies in front of a predator. I read about “False feeding” where some warblers, woodpeckers and killdeers have been seen
carrying food to places where their nests were not while a predator observed them.
***
I walked the steps at Marcy Woods last week all alone. Something on the Upper Trail was a concern. A large maple had fallen across the trail bringing down three sections of the trail railings. Knowing the owners, Dino DiCienzo and family it will be removed. Fall is a beautiful time in Marcy Woods. I have just completed my power point presentation on the Woods. .
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