Skulls and bones (Dec. 10, 2016)
Macouners are notorious scavengers of skulls and bones, routinely raiding a friendly trapper's carcass pile with abandon, and dragging home items that parents with more sensitive noses may relegate to the garage, the backyard, or even earthen burial. But well chosen, cleaned, and prepared specimens can be things of fascination and beauty. OFNC member Jim Montgomery has donated his own childhood collection, and came in with two other enthusiasts to share their knowledge. David Campbell is a retired zoologist from [...]
Rob’s winter forest (Dec. 3, 2016)
Macoun leader Rob Lee lives in the forest, and today we explored part of it. We found a good lunch place where the bare deciduous trees (Sugar Maple, Beech, and Ironwood) let a little sunshine in, and a few White Pines provided dead, dry branches for a hot, steady fire. The temperature never got above freezing, but those sitting closest soon stripped off coats and boots. At the end, we used snow to douse the last flames and embers. Then [...]
Kids visit Museum of Nature’s special live reptile exhibit (Nov. 26, 2016)
A month ago, Macoun member Morgan told us about an amazing travelling exhibit of 30 live reptiles that is being presented at the Museum of Nature this winter. Today we visited as a group. With the benefit of prior experience, Morgan held intense consultations with some of the boys. Heads together, the three of them sidled along, gesticulating, and punctuating their conversation with bursts of laughter, and exclamations of “Oh! That reminds me!” Rory and Aidan told her all about [...]
Study Trees and more (Nov. 19, 2016)
Our Study-Tree Woods is only 10 acres in extent, yet after 25 years of choosing trees, new Macoun members can still find ash trees and ironwoods that no one else has ever studied before. We spent the morning hours touring all those that current members are following (and picking new ones). One very large White Ash had split wide open and fallen in big pieces. Niccolo took it as his own and counted the exposed annual rings: the tree appeared [...]
The Story of Stuff (Nov. 12, 2016)
We began by reviewing last week's field experiments, in which we measured the speed of sound by timing three repeat echoes off an isolated house (getting a result of 1010 feet per second). Rob explained how we can use that figure to tell how far away lightning is striking as a storm approaches. We had also heard echoes from the forests on either side of the field, at a higher pitch than those from the flat wall of the house. [...]
Up the creek without a paddle (Nov. 5, 2016)
Indian River is a minor watercourse that runs slow and deep out into the farmland of Lanark County, but has its origins in springs and lakes in hilly country. We settled down for lunch in woods beside the last stretch of rushing water above miles and miles of marshy meanders. The steep valley sides seem to have protected the place from human disturbance. Big Sugar Maples and White Cedars stood close along the banks, and like the boulders, were green [...]
Birds of the Galapagos
Blue-footed Booby showing those namesake feet! Photo by Justin Peter by Marissa Carroll Justin Peter, director of programs and senior naturalist for Quest Nature Tours and vice-president of the Toronto Ornithological Club, brought his extensive knowledge of fascinating Galapagos birds to the Ottawa Field-Naturalist Club’s monthly meeting this past Tuesday. Host to unique and interesting species, the Galapagos Islands are home to the swallow-tailed gull, the albatross, the Galapagos hawk, a variety of Boobies, and Darwin’s finches. Although [...]
Getting a handle on our place in space (Oct. 29, 2016)
What's out there as night falls? Not down here, where owls hoot and mice scurry, but up there where first one faint light and then another appears. People have been wondering in a serious way about the sun and the moon and the stars for thousands of years. Today Rob guided an exploration of the cosmos by probing and expanding our collective knowledge. The ancient Greeks took some significant steps forward, and some back. Anaxagoris calculated the distance to the [...]
Pakenham in the late autumn rain (Oct. 22, 2016)
Late autumn on a cold, rainy day: what is there to see in the woods? We dragged a small sheet over the ground but collected no ticks at all. Apart from a solitary Raven circling high overhead when we walked away from the cars, there were no birds. Two types of mushrooms were seen several times: Destroying Angel and Jellied False Coral. Three individual wildflowers were in bloom: Heart-leaved Aster, Bunchberry, and Sweet White Clover. But at lunchtime on a [...]