Field trip in the rain (May 13, 2017)
Birds were singing — we heard a Winter Wren, Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthush. Biting flies were out, and we had recently emerged Black Flies in our faces, but they weren't quite biting yet. We directed out attention to a much neglected corner of our Study Area — the far southwestern corner, in fact. The small patch of deciduous forest there had some Saskatoonberry trees with their white flowers, and quite a number of American Beech trees with uncharacteristic white stripes [...]
Visit to FWG by Ontario’s environmental commissioner
By Ted Farnworth Environmental Commissioner Dr. Dianne Saxe (right) talks with Ted Farnworth, Sandy Garland, and Diane Lepage at the FWG On Monday, May 9, the Ontario environmental commissioner, Dr. Dianne Saxe, did a walking tour of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. FWG volunteers Sandy Garland and Ted Farnworth, along with Diane Lepage (OFNC president) pointed out many aspects of the garden including, the amphibian pond, the butterfly meadow, and the new woods to the commissioner. Our efforts with [...]
Nature-art workshop (May 6, 2017)
May 6, 2017: Nature-art workshop As the end-of-May deadline for Little Bear contributions approaches, we all sat down to sketch and draw creatures that appeal to us. Some members flipped through bird books, one used a field-trip image on Rob's laptop as his model, and Rachel called up a picture on her smart-phone. Niccolo drew his subject from life — he had brought in bunch of Gypsy Moth eggs that had begun to hatch, and examined the tiny caterpillars under [...]
Creatures of earth, sky, land and water (Apr. 29, 2017)
The number and range of things to see increases tremendously as spring arrives. We hadn't quite entered our Study Area when a Great Egret flew out of it, big and white against the blue sky, and bucking the strong north wind. Once in, under a little grove of Red Maples we noticed that the leaf litter was gone already, consumed by introduce earthworms (we found the culprits under a log: Lumbricus terrestris, along with L. rubellus and Aporrectodea turgida). In [...]
Yukon salmon (April 22, 2017)
Apr. 22, 2017: Swimming 3200 km to get home We have all seen video of salmon leaping natural obstacles and dodging bears. We have also heard that the spawning runs are faltering in many places. Today Nick Lapointe explained that Chinook Salmon spawning in the upper Yukon River are a shadow of their former abundance. Why this should be is a puzzling problem to fish biologists like him, because the Yukon River is largely free of trouble. In its 3200-km [...]
2017 OFNC award winners at the Ottawa Regional Science Fair
by Lucy Patterson A raven’s view of the Ottawa Regional Science Fair at Carleton University It is that time of year again - when young scientists come together to present their science projects at the Ottawa Regional Science Fair. On March 31st and April 1st, 2017, students from grades 7 to 12 from the Ottawa-Gatineau region presented science projects attempting to answer a number of questions. Is it possible to buffer ocean acidification with baking soda? Can cilantro [...]
Spring in the Study Area (April 8, 2017)
Apr. 8, 2017: Seeing the snow go On our first spring trip to our Nature Study Area, we could have used both snow boots and rubber boots. We tramped through acres of snow still deep enough to go over the tops of rubber boots, but there were also pools of meltwater that proved irresistible. Rubber boots or no, we soon had water soakers as well as snow down our boots. It was the first warm day, however and nothing aquatic [...]
Victory! An end to the Snapping Turtle hunt
by David Seburn "Snapping Turtles take about 20 years to reach maturity in Ontario" - that's a long time to survive before being able to reproduce! (photo by David Seburn) Earlier this year, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) released proposed changes to the hunting regulations for the province. Among them was a proposal to shorten – but not end – the hunting period for the Snapping Turtle. The Snapping Turtle is listed as a species [...]
Mongolia’s wildlife (Apr. 1, 2017)
Apr. 1, 2017: The wild life in Mongolia What do you see when you look at the horse shown here? It is rather stocky, isn't it? Note its thick neck and large, blocky head. And how its mane stands up so stiffly. Domestic horses don't have these features. This is a wild horse, the world's only surviving wild horse species. Known as Przewalski's Horse, it lives wild in Mongolia. Our speaker, Roy John, had photographed this horse in the [...]