Another double header – two gardens in one day
by Sandy Garland Tuesday must be a good gardening day. Actually, it was the weather that dictated planting the new garden beds at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne on Tuesday morning - cloudy with showers expected in the evening. Lynn Armstrong, who is designing a series of raised beds there, asked if the FWG would like to contribute plants to a bed devoted to butterflies. Yes, of course, was the answer, so I delivered Joe-Pye Weed, Flat-topped Aster, Butterfly Weed, [...]
Double header – two volunteer groups in one day
by Sandy Garland Yes, despite the threatened thunderstorms, both the Tuesday group and a crew of people involved in the Learning Garden at Ottawa U came to work in our Old Woodlot the same day. In the afternoon, Derek and Mirko tackled the milkweed field with scythes. Despite the hot, humid weather, they succeeded in clearing the west side of the field. However, Mirko hinted that we might think about hiring someone with a gas-powered (rather than human-powered) cutter. [...]
OFNC’s 15th annual butterfly count – one counter’s perspective
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 Field-Naturalists' butterfly count took place Saturday, July 4, 2015 - on a perfect sunny summer day. This was the second count that my children and [...]
Best nature walk yet!
by Sandy Garland Great sunny weather and a number of Facebook friends made this the best nature walk we've had this year. Don't worry, though, there's still time to join us for the next one. We're having guided walks at the garden every second Sunday afternoon until the fall. They're casual and fun - just a good time to get outdoors and relax. Laurie Wilson photographed by Lisa Vee Laurie's enthusiasm about nature and the garden make these [...]
Burdock, motherwort, and nettle jungle (or It’s not always about DSV)
by Sandy Garland Tuesday again and another chance to work in the Old Woodlot! I was rather disorganized this week as it sort of looked like rain, except when the sun came out, and volunteers arrived one at a time, so it was hard to know how big a job to tackle. So we loaded a little bit of everything into the wagon and set off for the woods. Riddell's Goldenrod protected by a wire fence until they become [...]
Rollers, nibblers, and spit
by Sandy Garland This Red Osier Dogwood is probably over 15 years old. I remember when this Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) shrub was just a tiny thing at the edge of the path. It sent out roots - one of them sticking out so that we'd trip over it every now and then. We almost dug it out, but eventually it got so big we just walked around it and the roots were no longer a problem. [...]
Treasure hunting in the Old Woodlot
by Sandy Garland It may be easy to see this young tree, but can you see the other smaller ones in the background? Stakes help. This Tuesday, we took a break from scything DSV and went on a bit of a treasure hunt. Ted pointed out that as he's been weeding he's coming across all sorts of small trees that we've planted over the past few years. Many are still so small that they are easily overgrown by [...]
More hands, but still heavy work
by Sandy Garland Tuesday afternoon and time to work in the woods again. With all the rain, things have changed considerably since the last blog post 2 weeks ago. Jewelweed is still dominating the whole area, but the trees planted this year and last are doing well and lots of wildflowers are popping up. Despite the threatened thunderstorms, we sharpened the scythes, gathered other tools, loaded up the wagon and wheelbarrow, and Mirko, Ted, Catrina, Evelyn, Jesse, Kate, and I [...]
Birding in Gatineau Park’s Parkway Sector
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 who joined today’s Birding in Gatineau Park’s Parkway Sector excursion for its third annual installment. As usual, we started by watching birds while still at [...]