Carbon Sink

Posted February 17, 2015

I don’t know if this says something about the tenacity of living things, or the state of our plumbing at the nature centre.

Wrigley Coyote Returns… and he brought a friend.

Posted February 13, 2015

The video Sean has been getting with his trail camera is fantastic.  He has inspired me to put mine out too.  I don’t want this to be a competition… I just think it will be fun to see what we can get on camera with a couple more of these things in the field. Last […]

Wily Trail Cam Video

Posted February 10, 2015

A couple of people have asked me why I haven’t posted any trail cam videos lately. For a couple of weeks I had the camera focused on the mink den (see previous posts). What I have learned about mink is that they don’t dilly-dally. The trail camera has a 1-3 second delay between the time […]

That Chickadee Feeling…

Posted February 4, 2015

Mr Maloney’s class was studying Biodiversity out to the Camp Heidelberg OEEC last week.  During their visit we took the opportunity to feed Black-capped Chickadees from our hands, which is always a thrill.  We had briefly discussed Frank Glew’s ‘That Chickadee Feeling’ where the child in the story describes the experience of a chickadee feeding […]

Pileated Woodpecker

Posted January 27, 2015

This morning, with the bird feeders empty following the weekend, I set off down to the forest to replenish the seed and suet supplies.  I heard the work of a nearby woodpecker and  felt a bit of a rush realizing it might be a pileated.  Peering up, and following the sound, I saw it was […]

Winter Nest Box Surprise!

Posted January 19, 2015

Last week while studying Winter Birds we decided to check out one of the nest boxes in the field.  “Will there be a bird in the box?” I asked.  Probably not, the class replied.  “Will there be a nest in the box?”  Maybe.  “Let’s look”, and I loosened the screw to flip open the front […]

Yesterday’s Hoar Frost

Posted January 15, 2015

Every surface was coated with shimmering ice-crystals, yesterday.  As the sun was rising, the back-lighting was stunning.  When I arrived at work, the trees surrounding the parking lot were quite spectacular.  I only took a couple of photos while standing beside the car, but I thought something was better than nothing…

Aldo

Posted January 11, 2015

Today, January 11, is the birth date of Aldo Leopold – forester, philosopher, conservationist, educator and author.  Leopold, who was born in 1887 and died in 1948, coined the phrase “land ethic” to describe an “ethic dealing with human’s relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it”.  As a teenager […]

Breakfast of Champions

Posted January 9, 2015

This morning at the forest feeders at Blair, suet was the number 1 menu item.  With the cold weather we’ve been having, the birds need fat as fuel to keep them warm.  Our suet feeders are visited by a number of species, but today it was a downy woodpecker and both white and red-breasted nuthatches… […]

Bird Smarts

Posted January 8, 2015

One day this week a juvenile Cooper’s hawk buzzed the bird feeders here at Blair in the hopes of grabbing a quick bite.  Often they are unsuccessful in the initial strike, but then perch nearby waiting for the birds to leave the safety of cover, and strike again.  They can accelerate to full speed in […]

1 … 8 9 10 … 38