In case you missed it: 1st Annual Bug Day
By Jeff Skevington, foreword by Natalie Sopinka Whether it's beetles, butterflies or bees, "bugs" are in the news. Invasive southern pine beetles are wreaking havoc on New Jersey’s pine trees, as the world warms butterflies are emerging earlier, and a parasitic fly may be changing honey bees into "zombees." In local news, on September 7 this year, the Entomological Society of Ontario (ESO) hosted Ottawa's first Bug Day. It was funded by a public encouragement grant from the Entomological Society of Canada and sponsored by [...]
Home sweet snake home: Bill Halliday’s research on snake habitat selection
By William (Bill) Halliday, member of the OFNC Bill Halliday As many of you might have seen recently on the OFNC Facebook page, web site, and Trail & Landscape, I was (and still am) looking for snake hibernating sites (called hibernacula) around the National Capital Region. I received great feedback from this call-out. I learned of six potential communal hibernating sites (places where multiple snakes hibernate), as well as one location where a snake was hibernating under someone’s pool. [...]
Turkey Vulture vomit and memories of Lac Deschênes
By Natalie Sopinka At the November monthly meeting members were treated to an overview of the Ontario Nature Youth Summit by OFNC ambassador Sarah Wray, and amazed by Bruce Di Labio’s ability to recall memories of birding at Lac Deschênes. Sarah Wray attends youth summit When she’s not playing soccer and basketball, you can find Sarah Wray, a grade 10 student at Nepean High School, volunteering in the FWG’s Butterfly Meadow. This year Sarah was sponsored by the OFNC to [...]
Christine’s walks: early November 2013
by Christine Hanrahan The FWG's November blog is up and running now (http://www.pbase.com/fwg/fwg_blog_november_2013). It was kick-started by some excellent photos from Robert Berry. I've added a few more, and there'll be more to come as the month progresses. Incipient winter is felt in the decreasing numbers of birds and the almost entire lack of insects at the garden now. However, one hardy Clouded Sulphur was still fluttering around on the edge of the Old Field, and several flies were clustered [...]
Christine’s walks: mid-September 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Where DOES the time go? Here it is, past the mid-way point in September, on the downslide to October. That autumn feeling is really seeping in with the colour changes in the leaves, the business of birds fuelling up for journeys south, and bees nectaring like mad on the dwindling supply of flowers. Having been away for a week, I stopped in at the garden to see what was what this week. Many of the goldenrods are [...]
The jungle never sleeps
By Ted Farnworth One of the activities that we carry out at the FWG is to introduce or re-introduce bushes and trees into the property that will maintain and enhance the various habitats we are trying to highlight. A lot of thought, discussion, and planning goes into deciding which plants should go where. This is followed by a bit of grunt work, when volunteers clear chosen areas in preparation for planting. The actual planting of a bush or a shrub [...]
Christine’s walks: early September 2013
by Christine Hanrahan How time flies. Here it is, early September, with all the signs of approaching autumn now firmly in place. The old field is full of asters and goldenrods, the latter already losing their bloom. Fruit is heavy on the vine and tree, some of the sumacs are turning vivid red, and of course, birds are migrating through the area, as they have been and will be, for some time. I made it my mission to look for [...]
Christine’s walks: mid-August 2013
by Christine Hanrahan Mid-afternoon at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, August 14th. A sunny and pleasant afternoon to be looking for things to photograph for the PBase Blog. My first sighting was of the Sphex ichneumoneus, the Great Golden Digger as it is sometimes called, nectaring on swamp milkweed. Its counterpart, the Great Black Digger, S. pensylvanicus, is often more numerous, but both are large and impressive. Other insects found include numerous Acutalis treehoppers, one of our smallest treehoppers, tiny little [...]
Christine’s walks: 6 August 2013
Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring at cardinal flowers by Christine Hanrahan You can certainly see that summer is pushing on. Goldenrod is blooming, New England Asters are starting to flower, Evening Primroses are finishing up, Solanum is fruiting, many grasses are in seed - food for wildlife is abundant. Families of Grey Catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, and Song Sparrows are vocal and noticeable. A Green Heron was calling from somewhere near the pond, a lone Fed-winged Blackbird male flew into the [...]