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A reader from South Frontenac sent the Frontenac News this marvellous picture of a small, round face observing the world from the safety of a tree hole. Its huge yellow eyes, narrow hooked bill and disk-shaped face quickly identifies it as an owl,...
I have strong childhood memories of gathering bluish hairy caterpillars and keeping them in jars until I became bored with that pursuit and my mother quietly released my captives. My attention span at the time wasn’t long enough to see what they...
Poplars are widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere and are found in every province of Canada. Fast growing and prolific, they are the first trees to regenerate in areas devastated by forest fires. Regeneration occurs by means of...
Of Ontario’s eight native species of turtles, seven are at risk of extinction. Many people may not recognize the need to protect these shy, quiet animals but they are an integral part of our wetland and aquatic environments whether they are...
The proper name for a Muskrat is Ondatra Zibethicus (Ondatra is the Iroquois name for Muskrat and Zibethicus is Latin for “musky-odoured”). Muskrats, like the beaver, range over most of the North American continent, except for the Arctic...
About 25 years or so ago, my wife and I took part in our first Christmas bird count. We were assigned an area within the urban boundary of Ottawa, and when the big day dawned, clear and cold, we pulled on our warmest boots and headed out to find...
It’s four years since this column first appeared in the newspaper but, after receiving an inquiry from a reader, I thought it would be interesting to provide this information again. A small white face pushes up through the snow, its small black...
Almost anyone can identify a Cardinal. This medium-sized red songbird is characterized by a unique crest they can move at will, a black mask on the face and a short, cone-shaped bill. Although known for their vivid red colour, only males have the...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
An early and familiar sign of spring in the Land O’Lakes is the spectacular breeding display of the male American Woodcock. Once this pint-size shorebird arrives on its territory in late March or early April, it begins its territorial displays...
The Mourning Dove is easily recognizable with its long, plump, medium-sized body and undersized head. They are an interesting and intelligent bird and are sometimes called Turtle Doves. The body is a grayish light brown colour with a very pale, rosy...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
It’s wonderful to hear the songbirds these past few weeks as they’ve arrived back from their winter retreats, although I have felt sorry for them with the colder than normal spring. Worms started to pop through the ground recently, only to dive...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Although spring has been more winter-like than spring, fiddleheads will be popping up any day now. Fiddleheads are the tightly coiled fronds of a new fern. The name comes from their resemblance to the curled end of a musical instrument such as a...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Ticks and Lyme disease have been in the news a lot recently. While there is currently much welcome discussion about effective testing and treatments, one thing that needs no debate is that black-legged ticks and Lyme disease are here in the Land...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
At our property in North Frontenac, we have been inundated with Forest Tent Caterpillars the past few weeks. In more than 30 years, we have never seen so many caterpillars. Although tent caterpillars can have explosive growth in population every few...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Mink, weasels and martens are all members of the Mustelidae (Weasel family), which also includes otters, skunks, fishers, ferrets, wolverines and badgers. It can sometimes be difficult to make a definite identification with mink, weasels and martens...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
We recently had an inquiry from a reader in the Georgian Bay area, who while searching for information on Poisonous Hemlocks, found a column that was published in the News five years ago. He was extremely concerned because he had found plants on his...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Now that the heat of summer is finished and summer vacations for a lot of people are over, it’s a nice, quiet time to explore forests and fields. The brown moths that evolved after the forest tent caterpillar invasion have gone into a dormant...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
This is a busy time of year for birds and animals. I recently observed some squirrel activity that was really unusual so I wanted to share the little story in case anyone else has observed the same thing. During October we did get some much needed...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
It’s almost Halloween and the following creepy creatures seemed appropriate for this scary time of the year: The Northern Mole Cricket: Photo by Betsy Betros, bugguide.net, used by permission As the name suggests, this insect’s actions are much...
As winter approaches, many birds change some of their eating habits. Birds that usually eat insects may start to eat berries and fruit to supplement their diets. I’ve noticed that worm-loving robins will quickly switch over to berries and fruit to...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Perhaps it was the mild weather and open water but at least a couple of small flocks of swans were spotted in the Land O’ Lakes area recently. Helen Hoogsteen of Big Clear Lake, near Arden, reported that she saw two adult swans and three grayish...
Please send your observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
With all the talk about dwindling Monarch butterfly populations, I wanted to help in some small way, starting this summer, by having more butterfly friendly flowers in my garden. I started bugging (pardon the pun) garden centres in April and finally...
Fall is certainly the best time of the year to spot Fungi growing in the woods, especially after a rainfall when all kinds of fungi seemingly pop up through the wet leaves almost overnight. Of course, you’ll find fungi in other areas but forested...
Ever since I was a child growing up on a farm, I’ve loved to watch the swoops and mid-air dives of beautiful Barn Swallows. I remember that it was always a sad day in early August when we’d see the last of the swallows gathering to leave. By...
For many people who use our lakes and rivers, seeing a Bald Eagle can be the thrill of a lifetime. However, too much disturbance to nesting eagles can have a negative impact on nest success. Recently a reader reported a situation where he observed a...
By: Lorraine Julien As you try to stay warm this month, just think of the animals and birds that somehow survive these freezing, icy winter blasts. It seems they have all adapted their own methods of survival. I used to wonder how tiny little birds...
By: Lorraine Julien Though rarely seen because of their nocturnal habits, opossums have been slowly moving into southern Ontario from the eastern U.S. for quite a few years. This past winter would have been particularly cruel for this little animal...
By: Lorraine Julien The Northern Leopard frog is easily identified by its irregular shaped greenish-brown spots that cover its back and legs. The frog’s underside is a creamy white colour with light coloured ridges on either side of its back....
My morning routine had become familiar. I got up, changed the water for the dog, and went down into the basement to check the live mouse traps. Sure enough, the little trap door on one of the black plastic boxes was closed, meaning that I had caught...
Following are some of my families’ personal experiences with wildlife in the city and at the cottage. I hope you find them interesting and a little bit humorous. The first story is about a little pond that is in the fenced city backyard belonging...
by Steve Blight Many people find it a bit sad to see the leaves fall after the glorious display our trees put on in September and October. However one of the benefits of the landscape’s new leaflessness is that lots of birds’ nests have now been...
by Lorraine Julien This fall I purchased a very effective bird feeder pole with a squirrel baffle guaranteed to keep raccoons and squirrels from raiding the bird feeders. It has been very effective – the baffle works so well that after one look,...
By Steve Blight It’s midwinter here in the Land O’Lakes, and the birds coming to the feeders at our house have settled into a fairly regular pattern. There is the usual flock of six to eight Black-capped Chickadees, a few noisy Blue Jays, the...
By Lorraine Julien Has anyone else noticed the defoliated stands of Tamarack along Hwy. 7 between Kaladar and Peterborough? My husband and I drive that stretch of the Trans-Canada on a regular basis and have noticed what appear to be dead or dying...
By Steve Blight It’s August, and I thought I would devote this column to sharing a few nature experiences that I have from this summer that I think (and hope) readers may find interesting. First is the Black Horse Fly. In late July I spotted a...
By Steve Blight The other day I was nursing my second cup of coffee and contemplating the changing colours outside our window when a group of small birds flitting and darting among some branches caught my attention. Binoculars at the ready, the...
by Lorraine Julien Late summer and early fall brings on the stereophonic sound of Field Crickets. Wherever there are open fields or near the edge of forests, you’ll hear these amazing insects. Once the chill of fall arrives, the fields become...
by Lorraine Julien On November 1 this year, the Toronto Zoo held a presentation for participants who had reported sightings of wetland inhabitants - frogs, toads, turtles, salamanders and snakes. My husband and I were happy to be invited. In the...
This column is about an interesting but obscure natural phenomena that we often see in our lakes in summertime. A couple of summers ago, some visitors to our area saw what was described as a “globulous gelatinous mass” in Sharbot Lake, and I was...
By Steve Blight This year I have seen more individual Io (pronounced EYE-oh) Moths than in all other summers combined. Likely this is because I am now able to spend more time in Io Moth country than in the past. Whatever the reason, I am happy to...
By Steve Blight The house we live in has quite a few windows. The main purpose of building our house near Sharbot Lake was so that we could live in a rich natural setting. Having a lot of glass allows tons of natural light into the house, affords...
By Lorraine Julien My neighbours had a visit recently from a large Snapping Turtle. The turtle laid her eggs on a septic bed where the ground was nice and sandy and good for digging. Snappers have very few natural enemies but their eggs seldom hatch...
by Steve Blight Early one morning in May, I was woken up gradually by a familiar birdsong drifting through my open window. As I often do when I hear a bird that takes me a few minutes to register and identify, I ran through some of the possibilities...
by Lorraine Julien As you may know, Monarch butterfly numbers are at an all-time low. Monarch populations reached a peak in 1996 when there were nearly a billion Monarchs spanning over nearly 45 acres of forest in Mexico’s Monarch sanctuaries...
Send your observations to Steve Blight at [email protected] or Lorraine Julien, [email protected]
by Lorraine Julien How suitable this name is! Are you familiar with stink bugs? I found a little stink bug on a planter last summer and thought it was kind of cute – certainly distinctive with the weird “shield” shape. We have lots of native...
There was a very prophetic article in the Arnprior Chronicle-Guide last fall. At that time, the author, M. Runtz, noted there were large numbers of Blue Jays in the Ottawa area (the birds, not the baseball players!). Runtz predicted that many jays...
by Lorraine Julien
Now that the short dark days of December are here and we look forward to Christmas, I took a few minutes and looked longingly at pictures taken this past summer. Some photos are of summer scenery around the cottage but most of the wildlife pictures...
It seemed that everywhere I turned this fall, there were mushrooms all over the place. There were loads of interesting mushrooms of all shapes and sizes just under the damp leaves. On a walk through the woods recently, I discovered numerous...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
During the height of summer I saw a long, sticklike thing on my garage door, and approached it to get a much closer look. Sure enough, the thing had legs – 6 of them – antennae, and several other features usually found on insects. I had seen...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Did you know that raspberries, blackberries, dewberries and apples all come from a closely related species in the rose family? They all belong to the Rosaceae family. Some of them have flowers that resemble roses and the thorn-covered berry canes...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
