By Jeff Skevington, foreword by Natalie Sopinka Whether it's beetles, butterflies or bees, "bugs" are in the news. Invasive southern pine beetles are wreaking havoc on New Jersey’s pine trees, as the world warms butterflies are emerging earlier, and a parasitic fly may be changing honey bees into "zombees." In local news, on September 7 this year, the [...]
By William (Bill) Halliday, member of the OFNC Bill Halliday As many of you might have seen recently on the OFNC Facebook page, web site, and Trail & Landscape, I was (and still am) looking for snake hibernating sites (called hibernacula) around the National Capital Region. I received great feedback from this call-out. I [...]
By Natalie Sopinka At the November monthly meeting members were treated to an overview of the Ontario Nature Youth Summit by OFNC ambassador Sarah Wray, and amazed by Bruce Di Labio’s ability to recall memories of birding at Lac Deschênes. Sarah Wray attends youth summit When she’s not playing soccer and basketball, you can find [...]
by Christine Hanrahan The FWG's November blog is up and running now (http://www.pbase.com/fwg/fwg_blog_november_2013). It was kick-started by some excellent photos from Robert Berry. I've added a few more, and there'll be more to come as the month progresses. Incipient winter is felt in the decreasing numbers of birds and the almost entire lack of insects [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Where DOES the time go? Here it is, past the mid-way point in September, on the downslide to October. That autumn feeling is really seeping in with the colour changes in the leaves, the business of birds fuelling up for journeys south, and bees nectaring like mad on the dwindling supply of [...]
by Christine Hanrahan How time flies. Here it is, early September, with all the signs of approaching autumn now firmly in place. The old field is full of asters and goldenrods, the latter already losing their bloom. Fruit is heavy on the vine and tree, some of the sumacs are turning vivid red, and of [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Mid-afternoon at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, August 14th. A sunny and pleasant afternoon to be looking for things to photograph for the PBase Blog. My first sighting was of the Sphex ichneumoneus, the Great Golden Digger as it is sometimes called, nectaring on swamp milkweed. Its counterpart, the Great Black Digger, S. [...]
Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring at cardinal flowers by Christine Hanrahan You can certainly see that summer is pushing on. Goldenrod is blooming, New England Asters are starting to flower, Evening Primroses are finishing up, Solanum is fruiting, many grasses are in seed - food for wildlife is abundant. Families of Grey Catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Despite coolish temperatures and grey skies, there was much to see at the garden today. House Wrens busy feeding young Birds are VERY active feeding their young. I watched a pair of house wrens constantly carrying food to their nest. Meanwhile, a male Common Yellowthroat sounded the alert when I [...]
by Christine Hanrahan Tuesday afternoon at the garden, June 4th, and a lovely day to be wandering through the FWG. Mating pair of silvery blue butterflies Silvery blue butterflies were fluttering around in many locations, including this mating pair near the new woods. Common ringlets were indeed common that day but hard to [...]
