Outdoors in the Land O' Lakes

By Steve Blight Spring has sprung, and for woodland wildflowers, spring is by far the peak of the flowering season. There is an explosion of life under the canopy of the tall trees once the snow has melted and the forest soils begin to warm up. Many...

By Steve Blight For many rural residents, the arrival of the Eastern Bluebird is one of the most welcome signs that spring has finally sprung. This cheery member of the thrush family normally arrives back in our area by about the last week of March....

by  Lorraine Julien The Sharpshin (sometimes called “Sharpie” or “Bullet hawk”) hunts in quiet woodlands through most of Canada and the U.S. It eats rodents, frogs, snakes and insects but prefers small birds and may even attack young...

By Steve Blight Winter is beginning to wind down, the days are getting longer and the sun feels a little bit stronger every day. Not to say that we can put away the snow blowers and bring out the beach umbrellas just yet – we all know that March...

by  Lorraine Julien About 15 years ago, I purchased a sleigh I’d seen advertised in a cottage magazine. It was an intriguing looking contraption, unlike anything I’d ever seen. In the years since, I’ve used it every winter – if there’s...

by Steve Blight It’s midwinter in the Land O’ Lakes. Around this time of year, the human residents of the area who haven’t flown south for the winter along with most birds normally begin seeking signs of life away from the woodstove. One...

   Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at  [email protected]  or Steve Blight at [email protected]

by Lorraine Julien Photo of two Jays bickering by Heather Bashow. Making suet cakes for wild birds is actually quite easy and you can use a wide range of ingredients, most of which can be found in your kitchen cupboards. Birds require the high...

  Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at  [email protected]  or Steve Blight at [email protected]

by Steve Blight The American Beech is an elegant tree that is commonly found in the forests of this area. They make lovely contributions to forest landscapes at any time of year, but they really stand out in winter when their smooth bluish-gray bark...

By Lorraine Julien The first thing to note is that this woodpecker does not have a red belly! Very confusing for a novice bird-watcher! The male has a red forehead, crown and nape, while the female only has a red nape – both have pale under parts...

by Steve Blight Drawing: Porcupine quill, Hinterland Who’s Who, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada. Reproduced with permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2005. The porcupine is a common and well-known...

By Lorraine Julien In late autumn, when the air is crisp and most leaves have drifted to the earth, Tamaracks put on a show of their own. The Tamarack (Larix Laricina) is the only native needle-leaved tree in eastern Canada that is not an evergreen...

By Steve Blight As the seasons continue their inevitable progression into winter, animals that don’t migrate prepare to survive the cold season in a host of different ways. Some cut wood and dig out their dormant snowblowers. Others, like turtles,...

by: Lorraine Julien It was early September and, as I left the house, something caught my eye way up in one of our maple trees. It was a huge hornet’s nest about 30 feet up in the tree - so high that I had to use my binoculars to see it in any...

This column is about an interesting but obscure natural phenomena that we often see in our lakes in summertime. Earlier this summer, some visitors to our area saw what was described as a “globulous gelatinous mass” in Sharbot Lake, and I was...

by Lorraine Julien Now that late summer is here, it’s a great time for walking in the Land O’ Lakes – there are no bugs and you never know what you might see. I’ve noticed this summer that there have been a lot of mushrooms of all types -...

By Steve Blight Photo: Typical Ontario Marsh A couple of weeks ago I was wandering about our property east of Sharbot Lake when I stopped at a rocky knoll overlooking a small wetland. This wetland is a former beaver pond abandoned by the beavers...

By: Lorraine Julien Illustration: Audubon’s Warbler by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. This summer we’ve noticed lots of yellow flashes throughout the cedar bush near our deck. Sometimes the trees looked as though they’d been decorated for Christmas...

By Steve Blight For me, a welcome sign that spring is right around the corner is the loud, repeated "kee-aah," calls of the Red-shouldered Hawk. Every year since we bought our cottage on Bobs Lake, we have been greeted by this very vocal hawk early...

By Lorraine Julien A few days ago, I happened to glance out one of our windows that faces a little concrete slab pathway. I had not seen a Northern Flicker here before so was amazed to see one digging for insects in the cracks between the slabs. Too...

by Steve Blight My first exposure to flying squirrels was through a long-ago popular cartoon character named Rocky – of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. Although I was young, I recall wondering at the time whether flying squirrels were real. As it turns...

by Lorraine Julien Recently, I’ve noticed some disturbing articles in several southern Ontario newspapers and on the internet reporting that Monarch butterflies may be facing another year of declining numbers in their struggle against loss of...

by Steve Blight Without a doubt, the return of hummingbirds to our area is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of spring. These brilliantly coloured, pint-sized bundles of energy are the smallest bird in eastern North America, but they punch...

by Lorraine Julien Photo Top Right: American Ginseng. Bottom Right: Sarsparilla. Just what is this legendary and intriguing plant that still grows wild in a few areas of eastern and central Ontario, across southwestern Quebec and through some U.S....

by Steve Blight Photo Top Right: Adult male midge -- males have feathery antennae. Bottom Right: Adult Mayfly. Now that the wildflowers are out and the migratory birds have either arrived or are on their way home, there is something else to look...

by Lorraine Julien Feathers are a defining characteristic of birds. Simply put, if an animal has feathers, it is a bird. Although feathers play a major role in enabling birds to fly, creatures without feathers can also fly. Some examples are bats,...

By Steve Blight Adult Trumpeter Swan For many people, the mere mention of swans evokes pleasant images of large, white, noble birds swimming gracefully on peaceful ponds. This impression is supported by the frequent appearance of swans in popular...

by Lorraine Julien When you look closely at some of the things in nature, it’s often the little things that are the most interesting and unique. Feathers are quite complex and are a good example of nature’s wonders. The following general feather...

by Steve Blight Adult Mourning Cloak Butterfly Why a column on butterflies this early in the season, you may well be asking. While it is true that butterflies are more common in the warmer months, you may be surprised to know that there are a few...

By Steve Blight Note the webbed feet on this otter.Photo Dave Pape Just before the big rainstorm in the last week of January, I was out exploring the winter landscapes in the Sharbot Lake area and was surprised by the richness of the traces of local...

By Lorraine Julien It was mid-February and time for my brother’s annual Boys’ Weekend. This regular get-together has been going on now for about 25 years and has become a real tradition. The “boys” range in age from about 21 to about 61 and...

By Steve Blight This flock of Bohemian Waxwings was spotted during the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists’ Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Howard Robinson I remember the first time I saw a waxwing. I was living in Calgary and enjoying a walk in a...

by: Lorraine Julien As we do many mornings after a fresh snowfall, we were snowshoeing along some of our regular trails recently. The air was still and all was quiet except for the soft swooshing sound of the snowshoes. In the distance we could hear...

by Steve Blight Snow Bunting, most likely a female in breeding plumage. Photo: Donna Dewhurst, US Fish and Wildlife Service It’s the heart of winter in the Land O’ Lakes, and many of our summer birds are spending the winter under the tropical...

By Lorraine Julien After the first week of December, anyone living north of Highway 7 had loads of snow, then an ice storm and the snow continues to fall. While our snowy world may seem, on the surface, to lack animal activity, keep in mind there...

What landowners can do The first column on old growth forests published on November 12 described some of the features and benefits of old growth forests. This column will look at some of things that landowners can do to help create old growth...

Lake Monsters – is there such a thing or are they just figments of our imagination? Do you ever wonder what lies beneath the surface of some of our deeper lakes in the cool, dark depths? We’ve all heard about the Loch Ness monster, but what...

Over the past decade or so, the term “old-growth forests” has steadily crept into the vocabulary of land managers, nature lovers and the media. This column will explore some of the benefits and features of old growth forests, and my next column...

by Steve Blight Now that winter has a firm grasp on the Land O’ Lakes area, we will be able to find out if this will be another year that we get to enjoy the presence of one of North America’s largest owls, the Great Gray Owl. While there is no...

by Lorraine Julien As winter is now really settling in, getting colder and snowier by the day, please remember to feed our little feathered friends. Feeding birds can be as simple as throwing a few bread crusts or kitchen scraps on the snow or by...