Small walk at Macnamara Trail
Maureen Carrier knows the diverse habitats along this lovely trail near Arnprior. She and one other member enjoyed a terrific winter walk in the quiet forest on December 8th. They saw 9 species of birds.
Small walk in Pine Grove
Participants on the November 27th walk on NCC trail 43. by Lynn Ovenden The group met at P18 and we all introduced ourselves. From there we crossed Davidson Road and walked leisurely up trail 43 to the 'arboretum'. The interpretive panels tell the history of the site: a sandy farm and woodlot 80 years ago, [...]
OFNC butterfly count 2020
Which fritillary? Participants found Great Spangled, Atlantis, Silver-bordered, Meadow, and a record number of Aphrodite Fritillaries on 4 July 2020. Photo by Li-Shien Lee. Despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, a small dedicated group of 18 OFNC members undertook this year's butterfly count. This annual count is part of the North American Butterfly [...]
Mycology Ottawa
by Lynn Ovenden. Several OFNC members who enjoy looking for mushrooms and lichens are sharing information and photos of their fungal finds on a web forum. We meet periodically for Shroom Zoom, an online show&tell. Details at forum.mycoott.org. If this sounds fun, join OFNC if you haven't already, and check into the forum. .
Greetings and reminder of online resources
Dear OFNC Members, It has been a long time since we have been able to meet in person, whether at our monthly meetings or on field trips. We all hope these activities will resume sometime. Meanwhile, we wanted to make sure all members were aware of the many digital nature learning and appreciation resources available [...]
Birders find a warbler in the bleak mid-winter!
By Gregory Zbitnew; photos by participant Suzanne Hawkins (Editor’s note: Gregory submitted his text long ago, just after the trip; as did Suzanne submit the photos. It’s all my fault that it’s being posted so late. Thank you very much to Gregory and Suzanne! BM) The third annual “birding in the bleak midwinter” field trip [...]
Transit explorers “discover Pinecrest Creek”
Pinecrest Creek is piped underground from just south of Carling Avenue to near its mouth at the Ottawa River. Above, Erik looks for invertebrates. by Bev McBride (photos: Bev McBride) Today’s [Saturday, November 2, 2019] OFNC field trip, “Transit explorer series, Lincoln Fields the other way,” was fun and interesting. I can say that, even [...]
Birding Petrie Island
We saw many of these plants loaded with colourful red berries, “highbush cranberries,” either the native North American or introduced European subspecies of Viburnum opulus. According to the experts present, these berries are edible, but when raw they are very sour, and have an unpleasant taste and smell. According to one source, “When you eat these berries [...]
Carlington Woods – a fine place for a nature walk
Carlington Woods is a natural wonder in the middle of the city. by Bev McBride What a treat it was to go on the Carlington Woods Ramble this morning! This was a joint event with the OFNC and the Friends of Carlington Hill. Convener-leader Owen Clarkin met the group at the trailhead. It was a [...]
OFNC butterfly count 2019
Three new species and new record high counts for eight others in this year's butterfly count. by Jeff Skevington The final totals are all in for yesterday's (6 July 2019) OFNC butterfly count, and we ended up with 1143 butterflies of 48 species. The count diversity was average but higher than expected, because we missed [...]