Lifeguard On Duty
Posted May 19, 2011
You’re safe to swim – as long as you don’t mind the fact that the lifeguard is a turkey vulture!! 30+ of these soaring scavengers roost overnight in a stand of pine trees at Camp Shalom where I do pond studies with grade 4 classes. I see theme regularly as they get ready for a […]
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Cool Critters
Posted May 15, 2011
This little critter is a “fairy shrimp.” It is a tiny crustacean – related to crabs and crayfish – but it has no outer carapace or shell. If you were touch it it would feel like jelly!! Fairy Shrimp inhabit vernal, or temporary, meltwater ponds and pools. They live only a short time, mate, and […]
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Urban Wildlife
Posted May 14, 2011
Lots of natural goings-on around my house in Kitchener this spring. My next-door neighbour had 4 baby raccoons removed from her attic. Another neighbour was out jogging one morning and saw a wild turkey on a lawn on Forest Hill Drive. Last week two coopers hawks were screeching at each other from trees on the […]
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Big Migration Day
Posted May 11, 2011
Today while waiting for the AM bus (~10 mins) I heard or saw 48 species of birds. Included are my first Cape May Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, and Tennessee Warbler of the year. I also had 4 species of sparrow, and a couple birds of prey. I have been entering all of my sightings […]
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Earth Day Revisited…
Posted May 10, 2011
It’s been a while since our Web of Life 2.0 Earth Day program, and we have been remiss in not acknowledging the great things that took place that day. 48 students from 12 schools, with accompanying teachers and parent volunteers, joined us at the Huron Natural Area for our annual Earth Day Green Team Challenge. […]
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A Bird in the Hair
Posted May 5, 2011
A Titmouse trying to get nesting material. From welovebirds.org [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U6P2vydE9c&w=425&h=344]
Quiz #2
Posted May 3, 2011
The spring migration of songbirds is well underway in Southern Ontario. Over the past couple of weeks the Camp Heidelberg property has seen the return of Chipping, Song, and Swamp Sparrows, Northern Flickers, Wood Ducks, and even an early Eastern Kingbird. Although warblers, a group of songbird consisting of 30-ish species during migration in S. […]
EcoSchools
Posted April 26, 2011
Since 2007 the Outdoor/Env Ed Centres of the WRDSB have been certified as EcoSchools. To achieve certification the sites must maintain levels of strict criteria that fall into four catagories – Ecological Literacy, Waste Minimization, Energy Conservation, and School Ground Greening. The initiative encourages students and the wider school community to think and act in […]
Late spring greetings!
Posted April 21, 2011
The first activity we started with today was the geocaches. It seemed like we had a great start until we just couldn’t find one of the cashes, we eventually found it but it was maybe 10 meters away. It was either moved or the satallite was not very good where we were in the forest. […]
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Beaver Dams
Posted April 21, 2011
We went for a hike through the forest and we saw some beaver dams. There were about three of them. Also we saw some of the trees that beavers had started to chew on and didn’t get finished. Near one of the dams there were a couple of holes. We suspected that they were the […]
