Tracks

Posted November 18, 2013

Last week there were some mornings with a light brushing of snow.  These mornings are the best for checking out which residents of Laurel Creek were out and about.  Here are the pictures of the tracks I saw.  Try to figure out which animal made them before looking at the answers. Top Left-Rabbit     […]

Cats and Dogs?? No… Poop!!

Posted November 13, 2013

While with grade 9 students in mid-October, we arrived at the pond under a beautiful, bright, blue sky. As we were about to begin our analysis of the ecosystem I noticed what appeared to be a tiny rain storm within a small, leafless Balsam Poplar. We were all quite amazed by the volume of liquid […]

Potters trap! How to catch a Chickadee.

Posted November 12, 2013

At Wrigley corners I band Black-capped Chickadees so that the students here can study the birds behaviour. Of course, you have to catch them first! I use a Potters trap in the Winter. Check out the video to see it in action. [wpvideo 0Z3EzcNU]   Check out my new blog. Chickadees of the F.W.R Dickson […]

Last Day at the Pond

Posted November 8, 2013

Today was the last day of the Pond Communities unit here at Laurel with classes from Riverside P.S. and Smithson P.S. visiting.  For this unit we head down to the pond, catch amazing creatures, and bring them back to the Nature Centre to study them.  There was one thing different about today: it snowed.  A […]

Winter Finch Forecast

Posted October 31, 2013

I annually post Ron Pittaway’s compilation of data/observations for those that are interested in what irruptive species might be visiting their feeders this winter. This year it was posted as a Feature on eBird, the citizen science webpage for bird sightings. http://ebird.org/content/canada/news/ron-pittaways-winter-finch-forecast/

Whet at Laurel Creek

Posted October 30, 2013

Yesterday at the end of the day I went over to Laurel Creek to drop some things off for Laura. When I got out of the car the Chickadees were going nuts, accompanied by a White-breasted Nuthatch and an American Goldfinch. Former outdoor educator, Fraser Gibson, was coming out of the building and I pointed […]

Snappy McSnapperson

Posted October 21, 2013

Last June 7th, with Mrs. Gammie’s class from N.A. MacEachern P.S, we arrived at the pond to find the female snapping turtle laying eggs. We all gathered around her and watched in amazement at this part of the Eastern Snapping Turtles life cycle. I took some video with my phone. It is a short clip, […]

Where to start?

Posted October 17, 2013

A few weeks ago I had a great group of students here from Jacob Hespler Secondary School.  We had a fun time at the pond and the students were suitably impressed by the wide variety of living things we were catching. I often discuss with the visiting teachers how they address ecology in the classroom, […]

Southridge Greening Video

Posted October 17, 2013

Southridge Public School in Kitchener has been working with Dennis Wendland and Evergreen over the past few years to green its school grounds. The school has planted 49 trees, installed natural seating for students, and this fall, students are planting a naturalized garden with shrubs and wildflowers. Evergreen had a video made of students and staff involved in […]

What do you call a group of…

Posted October 16, 2013

A week or so ago, Mr. Harper’s Grade 4 class from Breslau Public School came to the Blair OEE Centre to do a Habitats and Communities study.  I was impressed with  their knowledge of some local issues like the Jefferson’s salamander – a provincially and federally listed species at risk – and how it’s presence […]

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