Today we explored Grenadier Pond and the surrounding woodland and savannah with our cameras in hand. Everybody took such interesting photos! Here is a small sampling of some of the kids’ pictures. Enjoy!
Some amazing mushrooms. Photo by Jasmine.
Trilliums. Photo by Jasmine.
Ducks on a log. Photo by Jasmine
Ducks in a Puddle. Photo by Lily.
Duckweed! Photo by Odessa.
A Mute Swan. Photo by Lily.
Toad. Photo by Odessa.
Spring migration is well underway. To celebrate, the “Tuesdays on the Pond” group went birding in the rain on May 17 and we saw lots of amazing birds!
Steadying the binoculars isn't difficult with a little help from your friends.
Over one and a half hours, we watched for birds around Grenadier Pond. Here is what we saw:
Total # of birds: 67
Total # of species: 15
Red-Winged Blackbirds: 16 (11 males, 5 females)
Mallard Ducks: 14 (11 males, 3 females)
Wood Ducks: 13 (6 males, 7 females)
American Robins: 10
Scarlet Tanagers: 3 (2 males, 1 female)
Mute Swans: 2
“Loud Annoying Bird” -otherwise unidentified: 1
Ring-Billed Gull: 1
Cat Bird: 1
Yellow-Rumped Warbler: 1
Common Grackle: 1
House Sparrow: 1
Double-Crested Cormorant: 1
Heron (Either Black-Crowned Night or Great Blue…..it was across the pond and our binoculars were fogging up): 1
Rock Dove (Pigeon): 1
Beautiful Blooms! After a long wait this spring, the cherry blossoms are blooming beautifully. Come on out to High Park this weekend to appreciate the fleeting beauty of these Sakuras. This weekend the trees along the hill down to Grenadier Pond will be at peak bloom. Enjoy.
Looks like it will be a Mother's Day bloom!
The cherry blossoms are progressing nicely. The florets are now extended, but none have bloomed. Very close!
Cherry blossoms in the rain on Tuesday, May 3.
Cherry blossom florets are emerging on April 26.
Nature runs upon it’s own schedule. It looks as though we must wait a little longer for those cherry blossoms to bloom. The florets are bursting from the bud, but they have yet to start opening. Once they start opening, it will still be another 4 – 6 days before “peak bloom” (when 70% or more of the blossoms are in bloom).
It looks as though these April showers will bring May flowers. Our current prediction is that the flowers may start to open this weekend, but will not reach “peak bloom” until later next week and into the weekend.
Keep checking this website for our photos of the blossoms as they emerge.
Thanks to some cold weather, the cherry blossoms have still not bloomed. Although it is difficult to predict, we are expecting the bloom to begin late next week.
These are the flower buds of a cherry tree on April 21. They still need more time.
Despite the lack of blossoms the Cherry Blossom Hike will still take place on Saturday April 23. We will learn about the history of the trees and investigate the flower buds. We will also explore the recently burned area of the black oak savannah and keep an eye out for birds by the pond.
Here at the High Park Nature Centre, we love snow. Here are 10 good reasons that we eagerly check the weather forecasts and cheer like children at the hint of a coming snowstorm.
The woodlands are especially beautiful with freshly fallen snow.
All the seasons are beautiful (especially in High Park), but when snow falls on branches or creates graceful drifts, winter becomes awe-inspiring. Go for a snowshoe hike after a snowfall to enjoy how snow transforms the natural landscape.
Enjoy the beauty of snow crystals. There are many types of snow to identify. Hexagonal crystals, stellar crystals, column crystals, needle crystals, graupel, powder, bullet crystals, spatial dendrites are just some of the snowflake types.
How to watch snowflakes:
1. Cool a piece of black paper in the freezer or outside.
2. Hold the black paper outside to catch some snowflakes.
3. Use a magnifying glass to check out those crystals up close.
David W. Stokes’ “A Guide to Nature in Winter” has an excellent description of each of the different types of crystals.
Snowshoeing is a great way to walk through snow. Katie and an "At Home in High Park" participant snowshoe through the High Park woodlands.
Slide! Make a giant snow ball! Make a snow person or a snow animal! Make snow angels! Catch snowflakes on your tongue! Throw a snowball! Make an awesome snow fort! Your only limit is your imagination (and the amount of snow).
Although they may look very, very similar every single snowflake is slightly different. According to scientist Kenneth Libbrecht, snow crystals are made of billions of billions of frozen water molecules. The number of different ways to make a snow crystal is larger than the number of total atoms in the universe. Libbrecht, who authored The Snowflake – Winter’s Secret Beauty, “It could snow day and night until the sun dies before two snow crystals would be exactly, precisely alike.” AMAZING!
Believe it or not, snow is like a blanket that protects plants, mammals and dormant insects from the cold temperatures and winds. Space between the ground and snow is called a “subnivean layer” and is warmer than above the snow. Once snow reaches a depth of 15 cm or more, the subnivean layer stays around 0 degrees celsius.
Amazingly, sunlight radiates through snow. Some plants like wintergreen will photosynthesize even under the snow!
An entry/exit hole to a mouse's subnivean tunnels. Not only are these tunnels safer and easier than above the snow, they are also warmer.
6. It Protects
Snow is like an invisibility cloak for mice and voles who might otherwise be caught be hawks or owls. The “subnivean layer” is a life-saving winter space for mice and voles who create vast networks of tunnels beneath the snow.
Also, dormant insects can sleep peacefully with fewer predators able to get them while green plants go un-munched in the early spring.
Snow can help birch tree seeds (and others as well) move from one place to another. When birch seeds fall onto snow that has a hard crust they can be blown by breezes far and wide. By travelling wider, they have a better chance of growing in a suitable spot. Without crusty snow, these seeds would be stopped by mushy snow, logs, leaves or grasses.
Stuck for conversation? Everybody has something to talk about when it is snowing outside!
A Red Fox track let us know that it had been on the hunt, travelling along a snow-covered fallen log.
9. Tracking
Snow helps us learn animals’ stories. By studying tracks, we can learn where animals have been and what they have been up to. This morning we followed a squirrel’s tracks to where it had dug up its stashed acorn through the snow and scampered off to a tree. In High Park, you might see the tracks of Red Foxes, Squirrels, Coyotes, Mice, Raccoons or Beavers.
Spring is muddy, wet and ideal for seeds to germinate and begin growing. Much spring moisture is compliments of melting snow! Snow is holding water in a frozen state until it is really needed. Waking trees get a big drink of water while toads and frogs have more water for breeding territories.
So, those are just some of the many, many reasons to love snow. Leave a comment with your own reasons you love snow.
A fox den entrance. Foxes like to make their dens on south-facing slopes near forest edges. They also prefer dry, sandy soil and High Park has lots of sandy soil near forest edges!
This weekend the Ramblers Hiking Club saw a fox den! We noticed 2 entrances about 25 cm wide and a large pile of excavated sand was outside one of them. One of the Ramblers decided this was the “porch”. Red Fox’s underground burrows can be up to 25 m long but judging by the amount of sand, this one isn’t that long. Dens are often on a south-facing slope to maximize warm sunlight and have a good view of the surrounding area.
Elusive, secretive and shy, Foxes live in High Park and stay active all winter long. Foxes thick tails can be wrapped around their feet and face to keep warm in the coldest conditions. And they manage to find enough food to survive. In the winter foxes eat mostly meat: meadow voles, mice and squirrels. Remains of a fox’s meal can often be found just outside their dens.
With difficult winter hunting conditions, foxes rely heavily on these senses to catch enough food for survival. Foxes have excellent sight, smell and hearing. Amazingly, foxes can locate mice beneath deep snow through use of their hearing. This video shows the fox’s unbelievable winter hunting skills: BBC clip of Red Fox hunting in the snow
A fox track has 4 toes, is about 4.5 cm wide and 5-6 cm long.
We also found some fox tracks! Fox tracks look very similar to domestic dog tracks. However, there are some differences. Dogs tend to explore their surroundings somewhat randomly. Foxes don’t have this luxury and hunt very purposefully. Their tracks reflect this: a dog’s seem random while a fox’s are often straight and careful. We noticed the fox tracks by the den and went along the fallen trees and branches wherever possible.
Foxes often walk along landforms like a ridge, a forest edge or in this case, along a fallen branch. What balance!
For more reading on the wildlife of High Park visit: High Park Nature
For more reading on foxes visit: Hinterland Who’s Who – Red Fox
Although many leaves have already changed colour and fallen, our fascination with them continues. If you take a minute to look closely at fallen leaves you can see all sorts of intriguing evidence. Holes munched by bugs and assorted moulds, mildews and fungi. Bring along a magnifying glass to appreciate the strange beauty up-close.
This White Oak leaf is host to a number of galls. Each of those galls houses a tiny insect larvae!
If you are really observant, you may even find a “leaf gall”. Galls are small ball-like deformities of a plant caused by an insect. The insect uses this deformity for shelter as well as food throughout the summer and fall. Some insect species will stay inside the gall all winter long. Galls can grow on branches, trunks, fruits, flowers, roots, twigs, or in this case: leaves.
Some galls are fuzzy, some are smooth and some even resemble hedgehogs! Different species of insects make different galls on different species of plants. This one was found on a Red Oak.
Here in High Park we have been noticing plenty of different galls especially on Oak leaves. Inside of these little shelters live tiny larvae! Most oak galls are formed by insects called “gall wasps” (or Cynipids).
Next time you come out to High Park, look for galls. You might be surprised how many you discover.