There is a special eclipse of the Moon Sunday evening, and despite the forecast of some cloud during the early evening hours, and the possibility of rain overnight, I’m going to head out to see it! Perhaps it will be cloudy, perhaps there may even be some showers, but I’m hopeful that there’s going to be either light enough cloud to see something worthwhile, or that there may actually be a break in the clouds during the critical hours just after dark as some weather models show. You are invited to join me. I’m going to park at Home Hardware and walk across Highway #10 at the lights. Once across the road, I go through the ‘gates’ and turn left along the new path that heads northwards parallel to the highway. I’m going to go close to the end of the first long bridge, which is about half a kilometre… Read more »
It’s a large world; it’s a small world; it’s a diverse world; it’s a connected world. We’re a third of our way through our tour of the eastern provinces, presently staying in Nova Scotia with friends from university and before. Turns out that “D” was the statistics advisor to Troy Macmillan, whom you might remember as our lichen speaker and field trip guide from several years back. It’s a small interwoven world! We’re staying with “D&L” at their cottage on a lake in the interior of Nova Scotia. We could be on any Algonquin area lake, with rich brown humus-y water, Common Loons, Lake Trout, Ospreys and Poison Ivy. But something is subtly and significantly different. Red Maples predominate, not Sugar Maples which are rare. There’s Grey Birch as well as the more familiar Silver and Yellow species. The American Beechs almost all have fungal infection that makes their mature bark… Read more »
Great Egrets on Island Lake, August 15, 2015 (photo by Mark Whitcombe) On an increasingly warm morning, Linda and Chris led us on an exploration of the impressive new trail & boardwalk that completes the circle around Orangeville’s Island Lake. The finished trail is a wonderful tribute to the volunteers of the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation! The many walkers, joggers, families (… and perhaps too many fast bike riders…) speak to the value of this addition to the community. We saw lots of Canada Geese and Mallards, many Cedar Waxwings, several Kingfishers, some Kingbirds, two Great Blue Herons, a still-enthusiastic Red-eyed Vireo, as well as a Caspian Tern. There were Painted Turtles galore in some spots, sunning on stumps, basking in the shallows, and ploughing lanes through the water plants. I saw at least three species of dragonfly that I couldn’t identify over the open water. I only saw 3 butterflies, all… Read more »
