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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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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Feathers and Fangs
Posted May 26, 2011
Our Victoria Day long weekend holiday was spent near Tobermory on the Lake Huron side of the Bruce Penninsula. For me it is a naturalist’s paradise with a great many species of birds and a variety of wild orchids flowering almost every month of the growing season. This weekend we logged just over 50 species […]
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my backyard
Posted May 22, 2011
Just as the fireworks were being lit around the neighbourhood I heard a familiar sound coming from my backyard – the unmistakeable song of the Common Yellowthroat. I had to hear it again to make sure and then it also gave two call notes. I called my brother-in-law (who called me to let me know […]
Now Arriving – Indigo Bunting
Posted May 20, 2011
Even the briefest period of fair weather has revived the spring bird migration. Clouds of jays have been on the move the last few days, a dozen at a time chowing down at the Blair feeders. But yesterday a dazzling flash of blue caught my attention, and since there is little else in nature quite […]
