Don’t look now…

Posted October 10, 2011

Insects visiting fall flowers for a last round of nectar or pollen would be wise to look twice before landing.  There are a number of predators from spiders to the well- known praying mantis awaiting their arrival, and their weapons are formidable. Camouflage is the number one adaptation working in favour of the predators.  Some […]

Entertaining Climate Change Argument

Posted September 16, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/sep/15/david-mitchell-soapbox-climate-change-doubters-video

Big Fish

Posted July 18, 2011

Last weekend, my brother-in-law Steve and I were fishing on Shadow Lake near Coboconk.  Steve landed this muskie after an exciting fight that saw the fish jump out of the water three times.  We had a scale, but there seemed to be no way of hooking it into the muskie without having the scale cut into it. […]

Carpenter Bees

Posted July 5, 2011

My last program at the Laurel Creek Outdoor Education Centre this June was Honey Bees for grade 4 students. We have four hives here that students get to visit. We put on veils and gloves and generally look pretty nerdy. There would be lots to blog about that. A lot of parents wanted to know, “What are those big bumble bees […]

Bye-Bye Birdies

Posted June 27, 2011

A few posts ago, I described a “citizen science” program called “Project Nest Box” that  I am participating in with students at the Blair Outdoor and Environmental Education Centre.  We assembled, installed and have been monitoring 6 nest boxes since April.  Our observations are sent to Bird Studies Canada via an on-line data entry system.  […]

Urban wildlife update

Posted June 23, 2011

So this duck had 7 ducklings. 2 eggs never hatched. The neighbour who owns the porch says the mother marched the family down the street, but later that evening they heard the ducks quacking at a crow.  They went to investigate, and the ducklings were all down in a sewer drain – probably to escape the crows. The neighbours […]

Tigers of the Pond

Posted June 17, 2011

Check this out!  These are predaceous diving beetle larvae.  The small one is the size that we usually find in the pond at Laurel Creek, but the big one is a whopper.  These are fearsome predators in the pond.  The mandibles inject digestive juices into their prey, and then they suck their meal back up.  […]

The Cycle of Life Continues – and We Watched

Posted June 10, 2011

While working at the pond with a class from Driftwood Park Public School we witnessed a very touching event. A female Painted Turtle was laying eggs, and we were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time… Some of the students sent me their thoughts, posted below. I was inspired by […]

The Century Mark

Posted May 31, 2011

Yesterday the 100th bird species for the calendar year showed up on the property – well, #99 and #100. The 99th species was the Black-billed Cuckoo, which was heard singing while studying Aquatic Ecology with Gr 9’s, and the 100th species… the Eastern Bluebird! It is a nice bird to have as #100. It is […]

Citizen Science Success!!

Posted May 30, 2011

At the Blair OEEC we are participating in a “citizen science” program called Project Nest Box.  We were provided with 6 nest boxes suitable for cavity nesting birds like tree swallows, the eastern bluebird, house wrens and the black-capped chickadee.  Students assembled the boxes which were then erected on posts in suitable habitat for these […]

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