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Who hasn’t walked through a field of grasses and weeds only to discover, after your walk, that you or your dog have picked up bunches of thistle burrs entangled in the dog’s fur or gathered on your socks? You know how difficult it is to pull...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
It’s early August and the first signs of late summer have started to emerge. The dawn chorus of birdsong is fainter, the goldenrod is starting to flower, and it may be my imagination but the chirping of the crickets seems to be a little more...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
A couple of weeks ago Wendy Hinch, a reader living in the Sydenham area, e-mailed me a picture of a bird and was wondering if it could be a Brown Thrasher. The picture clearly showed a slim, robin-sized bird with a rich, chestnut-coloured back and...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Birds are among the world’s most skilful nest builders. Few other creatures exhibit such a variety of architecture or materials. Many birds place their nests inside shelters (My brother is wishing he’d covered a section of aluminum soffit on his...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Every year as soon as the ice is off our pond, I get another opportunity to become reacquainted with North America’s smallest duck, the Bufflehead. With the advent of warmer weather and open water, a couple of males and a small number of females...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
As the first blush of green spreads across the land, among the earliest flowers seen on the landscape belong to serviceberry shrubs and trees. Found on rocky ridges, forest edges and hedgerows throughout our area, the serviceberries’ abundant...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Butternuts (Juglans cinerea) occur in eastern North America, ranging from the southern states, west to Iowa and Missouri, north to southern Ontario and Quebec and east to the New England states. In Ontario it is found throughout southwestern Ontario...
By Lorraine Julien
Have you seen the recent CBC Nature of Things documentary on coywolves, a hybrid breed of wolf and coyote? Needless to say, it was extremely interesting. The term coywolf is the unofficial name for a breed of Eastern coyote that has bred with wolves...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Anyone who has walked through the woods couldn’t help but notice bracket fungi. Tinder Conks belong to this large family of fungi that grow on trees. Some look like little shelves while others grow into a shape like a horse’s hoof. Although one...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
Now that we are just past the midpoint of winter, it looks like the stars of the winter birding show are the impressive numbers of redpolls being seen throughout the area. These little finches are plentiful at feeders, in weedy fields and in trees...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
by Steve Blight
Heavy snowfalls since mid-December have sent many birds to feeders in search of food. Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks and American Goldfinches have been seen in good numbers at feeders this winter throughout eastern Ontario. Bohemian Waxwings are also...
One of my neighbours recently mentioned she was nervous about her small children playing on their own because of the possible threat of cougars in the area. She had heard this from some local residents who had reportedly seen evidence of a cougar...
Outdoors in the Land O'Lakes - December 6, 2012 By Steve Blight In our area there are two tree species that are generally known as cedars – Eastern White-cedar, and Eastern Redcedar. These two members of the Cypress Family have one interesting...
The Northern Goshawk is the raptor cottagers are most likely to encounter deep in the woods in the dead of winter. It will brave the snow and cold as long as there are enough snowshoe hares, grouse and squirrels to feed on. The name “Goshawk”...
by Steve Blight Photo: Bull Elk in late fall This week’s column is about elk, the second largest member of the deer family in Ontario. Some readers may be wondering why there is an article on some big western mammal with antlers in a column that...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Northern Black Widow Spider (Latrodectus Variolus). With frost on the pumpkins and leaves falling from the trees, you just know that spooky Hallowe’en is just around the corner! I tried to think of the creepiest subject...
By Steve Blight The American Goldfinch is probably our best-known member of the finch family. Found in our area in all seasons, its “per-chick-o-ree” flight song and undulating flight pattern are good ways to identify this diminutive seed-eating...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Marten by US Fish & Wildlife Service. If you see one of the above members of the Mustelidae (Weasel) family, it can sometimes be difficult to make a definite identification, especially if you are a distance away and only...
By Steve Blight A couple of weeks ago there was an article in the Ottawa Citizen about the increasing number of ticks being seen in the Ottawa area. This will come as no surprise to many people who spent time outdoors in the Land O’Lakes area, who...
By Steve Blight Now that August has arrived, the dominant colours of the wildflowers of the fields, forests and roadsides are increasingly becoming yellow and various shades of mauve and purple. Given this year’s highly unusual weather it’s hard...
By Lorraine Julien The Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a fairly common salamander that lives in and around forested areas throughout most of eastern North America. In fact, North America has more kinds of salamanders (the...
Photo: Giant Swallowtail Butterfly by Ron Hipfner. A couple of weeks ago, we received a message from reader Ron Hipfner with a photo of a large black and yellow butterfly taken at Little Long Lake north of Sydenham. It was identified as a Giant...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Hummingbird Moth by Jack Alexander. Have you recently noticed little flying insects that look like bumblebees but fly like hummingbirds? Chances are you had a visit from the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Some people think...
by Steve Blight Photo: Gray Treefrog, gray colouration on a mossy background by Lorraine Julien Sooner or later, most people that spend time in eastern Ontario forests meet up with a Gray Treefrog. This remarkable little frog shows up in some odd...
by Lorraine Julien Photo by Lorraine Julien. It’s getting to be that time of year when we see road kill on the highways; especially horrible are the bodies of turtles that have been hit while trying to cross the roads to lay their eggs. You can do...
It’s early May, and almost all of “our” birds are back and are settling into their important summer routines of foraging for food, seeking mates and building nests to raise their young. One group of birds is known as aerial insectivores –...
by Steve Blight
It’s early May, and almost all of “our” birds are back and are settling into their important summer routines of foraging for food, seeking mates and building nests to raise their young. One group of birds is known as aerial insectivores –...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
By Lorraine Julien What happened to spring? Colourful butterflies were flitting around Frontenac County and probably the rest of southern Ontario the last couple of weeks but they must be shivering this past chilly weekend. In general, though, the...
by Steve Blight The warming temperatures of April trigger renewed life in the lakes, rivers and ponds in our part of the world. After months under ice, Ontario’s largest species of turtle, the Common Snapping Turtle, is cued by the thaw to come...
by Lorraine Julien When looking through my Ontario bugs book recently, I came across some really unusual bugs with strange names. Following is a small sampling of the really odd ones: The Stump Stabber – (Megarhyssa spp.) photo by Howard Ensign...
By Steve Blight Over the years, a number of people have asked me about names of plants and animals – why are they complicated and hard to pronounce, what do they mean, and really, who cares? In today’s column I’ll try to shed a bit of light on...
by Lorraine Julien With ice covering our little bay, we’re able to walk to our island now, which is perhaps 100 meters off shore. The island is well treed and is about ½ acre in size. At least it was well treed until a logger moved into the area....
By Steve Blight Photo: Pale Snowy Owl in flight -- likely an adult male. I remember seeing my very first Snowy Owl. It was in late January and I was standing beside my car squinting through binoculars at a silhouetted indistinct white bump at the...
By: Lorraine Julien
A small white face pushes up through the snow, its small black eyes gleaming. The long slender body comes next. It is probably one of the three main species of weasels that inhabit our area. They are: the Short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea), the...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
by Steve Blight About 20 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...
by Dr. Jim Bendell
[This interesting article on becoming a citizen scientist was written by retired Biology Professor Dr. Jim Bendell about a presentation given by Marlene Doyle of Environment Canada to the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) on September 15,...
Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at [email protected] or Steve Blight at [email protected]
by Steve Blight The arrival of cold weather and snow means usually means that even the very last stragglers of “our” summer birds have gone. But the beginning of winter also usually heralds the return of our winter birds, including some...
by Lorraine Julien Late fall is a great time to walk in the country with crispy brown leaves crunching underfoot, the chatter of cheeky squirrels, the rat-tat sound of woodpeckers as they look for food on nearby tree trunks and the smell of wood...
by Steve Blight Photo: Blue-beech trunk, showing the ridges that give the tree its other common name, Musclewood Fall provides an opportunity to see our local forests in a whole new light. With the leaves mostly on the ground, you can see much...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Lynx spider by Nickles, John, US Fish & Wildlife Service As though he knew Hallowe’en was approaching, a large black Wolf (Lycosidae) spider with fuzzy looking legs decided to take up residence near my kitchen door. I...
by Steve Blight Living in the Land O’ Lakes, we are lucky to be in one of those parts of the world where nature has one last fling before settling down into winter's sleep. A great Canadian tradition is to get out in the sunny fall weather and...
by Lorraine Julien Photos: Imperial Moth caterpilar (l) and the ault moth (r).One day this past August, we discovered a very large, scary-looking caterpillar near the base of some pine trees at my brother’s cottage. It was about 4 inches long and...
by Steve Blight Black bears live throughout much of Ontario and are relatively common in the northern parts of our area. They prefer forested areas where they are best able to find food, refuge and den sites. Just last week a medium-sized bear...
By Lorraine Julien There are two species of highly poisonous Hemlock weeds that grow throughout Ontario: Spotted Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) and Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum). Both are members of the Carrot family, as is Wild Parsnip, and...
By Steve Blight Photo: Giant Hogweed When I was a teenager, I was a fan of the English music group Genesis and was fascinated by the challenging lyrics of some of their songs. The Return of the Giant Hogweed was one of these songs, with the lyrics...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Wild Parsnip courtesy Roy Lingen The leaves and sap of Wild Parsnip can cause severe skin reactions when the plant is flowering, as it is now in July. Be extremely careful if you see this biennial plant growing along our...
by Lorraine Julien Photo: Birch Shield Bug I’ve learned a lot about bugs this past few weeks. I was lucky (not sure if that is the right word!) enough to find a strange looking bug perched on the side of one of my planters recently. I didn’t...
by Steve Blight Photo: Eastern Tent Caterpillars 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...
by Lorraine Julien While gathering firewood on our property this past February, we came across the handiwork of a very experienced logger – the beaver. His handiwork was evidenced by the number of fallen young birch trees on our island. While we...
By Steve Blight The last Outdoors in the Land O’ Lakes column was intended to help readers identify five common and attractive woodland wildflowers that bloom during early spring. This week, we’ll take a closer look at another five showy flowers...
