Raven Mad
Posted March 4, 2016
Some of our local birds are starting to think about carving out breeding territories for themselves for the spring. This may involve harassing others of their own species until they command their own piece of turf. Today at Laurel Creek someone was banging on our window. When I went to see who it was, I […]
Biodiversity Trek
Posted February 19, 2016
Grade 6 students studying Biodiversity do a hike around the Blair property looking for evidence of winter wildlife. We struck pay dirt yesterday with fresh deer tracks in the field, a shallow spot along the stream where a fox broke through thin ice (no worries, it was only centimeters deep) and this awesome scene of […]
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Blue Monday
Posted February 8, 2016
January 18th of this year was known as Blue Monday. It is supposedly the dreariest day of the year, when the weather, holiday debt, and unmet New Year’s resolutions weigh on our spirits. On that day, Mrs. Carbone’s grade 4-5 class from Glencairn Public School came to Laurel Creek for an energy and structures program, and a cross-country […]
Blue Monday
Posted February 8, 2016
January 18th of this year was known as Blue Monday. It is supposedly the dreariest day of the year, when the weather, holiday debt, and unmet New Year’s resolutions weigh on our spirits. On that day, Mrs. Carbone’s grade 4-5 class from Glencairn Public School came to Laurel Creek for an energy and structures program, and a cross-country […]
Hot Enough for You?
Posted February 3, 2016
Hereby recorded at the Laurel Creek Outdoor Education Centre on February 3rd at 2:55 pm: a temperature of 14 degrees Celsius. However, that is only 10 degrees with wind chill.
Funny Bone
Posted January 28, 2016
During a grade 7 fur trade program today, we found a big bone in the snow. It looked pretty chunky for a deer bone, but it had some meat and gristle still attached to it. A little research suggests it’s the metacarpal bone of Bos Taurus (I bet you look that up…). Perhaps a raccoon stole […]
Winter Robins!
Posted January 8, 2016
It’s not unusual to see a robin or two over the winter, but this morning they number about 100 at the Blair OEE Centre! On Monday morning this week, following the holidays when the feeders aren’t kept up daily, there was a single robin on the ground under a row of cedars. Tuesday there were […]
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Optimistic
Posted December 30, 2015
Getting out the cross-country skis for grade 5’s next week…
… and counting
Posted December 18, 2015
After reading Sean’s blog below, and the shot across the bow, it seemed I needed to defend my birding-self : ) Since we began this a few years ago it has been a lot of fun and we have both enjoyed comparing notes throughout year. Sean’s sighting of a Northern Shike is significant to me, […]
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Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens
Posted December 17, 2015
Outdoor Ed. Guy Al Woodhouse and I have had a friendly contest to see who can see more species of birds at our respective nature centres in 2015. Yesterday I saw a northern shrike, a cool but deadly bird that you can read about here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shrike/id The shrike brings my yearly total to 103 species. […]