A Conservation Plan for the Ottawa Valley
By Jessica Sutton Jessica Sutton is a 2nd-year University of Ottawa student in Environmental Studies and Biology. This fall, Jessica is volunteering with the OFNC through the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. Report from the 2014 Youth Summit The November monthly meeting kicked off with a presentation by Emma Kirke and Emily Pollington - two youth from the Ottawa-Gatineau area who attended the 2014 Ontario Nature Youth Summit in September. The OFNC sponsored Emma and Emily to attend this yearly event that [...]
Wildlife in Sri Lanka
By Jessica Sutton Jessica Sutton is a 2nd-year University of Ottawa student in Environmental Studies and Biology. This fall, Jessica is volunteering with the OFNC through the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. On a rainy night late last month, Jeewa Mendis treated us to the videos and photos she took during a 2-month trip to Sri Lanka last winter with her husband. Her videos, accompanied by beautiful Sri Lankan music, showcased the wildlife inhabiting Sri Lankan National Parks and Reserves. Their tours of most parks [...]
Insect Workshop at FWG Interpretive Centre
The first Sunday of November, I had the pleasure of attending an insect workshop at the Fletcher Wildlife Interpretive Centre hosted by no other than the President of the OFNC, Fenja Brodo. Each participant had access to a microscope, an array of insect specimen samples, as well as the opportunity to ask questions that our experienced demonstrator answered. Fenja provided everyone with an Orders of Winged Insects in Algonquin Park dichotomous key as well as a handout outlining the characteristics [...]
Mushrooms of MacSkimming
By Jessica Sutton Jessica Sutton is a 2nd-year University of Ottawa student in Environmental Studies and Biology. This fall, Jessica is volunteering with the OFNC through the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. On October 4, 2014, I attended the Mushrooms of MacSkimming event at the MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre. MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre opened in 1967 as a school within the Ottawa Public School Board. Today the 175-hectare centre is an “outdoor classroom” for kindergarten through Grade 12 students within and outside [...]
A first-timer’s experience at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden
By Jessica Sutton Jessica Sutton is a 2nd-year University of Ottawa student in Environmental Studies and Biology. This fall Jessica is volunteering with the OFNC through the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. As a child living in Peterborough, I would often visit family in Ottawa, and we were frequent visitors of the Arboretum but unaware of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, which is located in the same area. Earlier this Fall I went to the garden for the first time. As a 2nd-year university student [...]
F.L.A.P. Ottawa Wing to the rescue
by Sandy Garland Note: Volunteers are needed. Please contact F.L.A.P. at Ottawa@flap.org or call 613 216-8999 to find out how you can help. If you find birds who have collided with windows, please get in touch immediately. If a bird hits one of your windows, please report it to F.L.A.P. Migratory birds are literally hitting Ottawa this week and the Ottawa Wing of F.L.A.P. (Fatal Light Awareness Program) has been racing to keep up. As Anouk Hoedeman, who organizes the [...]
A closer look at Red-tailed Hawks in the Ottawa/Gatineau area
By Jon Ruddy The Red-tailed Hawk is the quintessential hawk – it’s big, powerful, graceful, and beautiful. Eastern Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis ssp borealis) Adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawk. Photo: Brenda McRae Our local breeder, the Eastern Red-tailed Hawk is a familiar sight along roadsides. Anyone who has ever driven along the 416 has most likely seen these gorgeous birds "teed up" along stretches of highway where plenty of rodents can be found in adjacent fields. Eastern Red-tails can be [...]
OFNC hosts Ontario birders’ convention in Ottawa
By Linda Burr OFNC member, Mark Patry, and colleague, Manson Fleguel, led Friday's excursion to Westmeath Provincial Park and area. Photo by Mark Brenchley Last weekend, a gathering of some rather exceptional "species" took place in Ottawa. I am referring, of course, to the annual convention of some of this province’s most enthusiastic birders. From September 26 to 28, the OFNC played host to some 230 members of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO), who chose Ottawa for their [...]
Mud Lake Fall BioBlitz
By Lucy Patterson, member of the OFNC Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) On September 12-13th, 2014, Nature Canada held a fall BioBlitz event at Mud Lake. Its goal was to locate, identify, and photograph as many living things as possible within a 24-hour period. The event was part of a larger effort to learn about local biodiversity and catalogue changes over time in population patterns. Mud Lake is a key location to hold a Bioblitz because it lies [...]