by Richard Singhroy Richard Singhroy is a student at the University of Ottawa. As part of the university's Community Service Learning program, he has volunteered to report on several OFNC outings and meetings. On Sunday, November 1 at 8 am, a group of Ottawa Field-Naturalist Club members met at Andrew Haydon Park to do some [...]
by P.M. Catling and B. Kostiuk This article appeared originally in the fall 2015 issue of Trail & Landscape Figure 1. Part of the grasshopper study group with the habitat of regionally rare Boll’s grasshopper in the foreground, 27 Sept. 2014. Photo by B. Kostiuk. On Saturday, 27 September 2014, twenty OFNC members [...]
By Richard Singhroy Richard Singhroy is a 2nd-year environmental studies student at the University of Ottawa. This fall, he is volunteering with the OFNC through the Community Service Learning program. Presenter Rick Cavasin On Tuesday, October 13, at the Central Experimental Farm's K.W. Neatby Building, 960 Carling Avenue, Rick Cavasin gave an in-depth presentation [...]
by Lynn Ovenden The Ottawa-Carleton school board's MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre is a wonderful place just west of Rockland, with marshy shoreline along the Ottawa River, old meadows and ponds on the nearshore slopes, and a mature, upland mixed forest with lots of hemlock and beech. Once a year, staff invite the general public to [...]
by Frank Pope On May 31, a new Fern Trail was dedicated at a ceremony in the Backyard Garden part of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. The whole Cody clan was in attendance. Standing (L to R) David Cody, Douglas Cody, Gordon Cody, Margaret Cody; seated Leslie Cody-Durocher Lis Allison, creator of the [...]
by Lynn Ovenden A report on an OFNC excursion led by Gillian Mastromatteo on August 2, 2015 Petrie Island has quiet marshy interior bays, sandy beaches along the Ottawa River and lots of sunny openings in the forest in between. These make it a good place to find a variety of odonates. Gillian was hoping to [...]
Swamp Milkweed photographed by Gillian Shields by Gillian Shields Editor's note: The butterfly count is an annual OFNC event organized this year by Jeff Skevington and Peter Hall. Working in groups or alone, participants patrol the same location each year from about 9 a.m. to about 4 or 5 p.m. The 15th annual Ottawa [...]
by Justin Peter Report on an OFNC excursion led by Justin Peter and Carlos Barbery, 13 June 2015 From Gillian Shields: "Great crowd for the bird walk. We've already seen Black-billed Cuckoo!" — with Carlos Barbery and Justin Peter at Gatineau Park. Balmy temperatures and clear skies greeted 40+ OFNC members and friends [...]
by Rachelle Lapensee with photos by Sandra Dashney and Arlene Harold Virgina Rail photographed by Sandra Dashney This park includes the largest wetlands in the Ottawa area, and the trip was timed to coincide with the end of spring waterfowl migration. What a fantastic and successful birding trip to PARC NATIONAL DE PLAISANCE [...]
by Bev McBride The Laid Back Birding event at Mud Lake went well this morning. About 15 people tolerated the cold wind to follow me around the trails (with Dave Moore bringing up the rear). We encountered 34 species in a good mix of spring migrants, winter visitors, and year-round residents. Migrants included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, [...]
