From the Earth to the Sky

 There is a wonderful group of native plant lovers called the North American Native Plant Society that I hang out with.  Every year we go on botany forays, attend workshops and host tables at eco-festivals across Ontario.  Our annual plant sale in May is great! I have been talking about the Alvar so much that they wanted to come and see for themselves.  We got together with naturalist Bob Bowles in Spring of 2006 for an excursion.  As a native plant lover and gardener, we are compelled to bring home seed from plant forays, this can be very detrimental to an endangered habitat.  Please refrain from doing this, unless there is a massive quantity, and then take only a few, the standard is not more than 10%.  This is also true of the 'pavement' on the Alvar.  I have been in groups where people are compelled to bring home a piece of the alvar as a souvenir, this is not doing you or the habitat any good.  What use is one piece of limestone pavement...

 As a 'mature' lister, I don't always have my historic birds on ebird.  When I look at my ebird checklists, and my 'lifers' I see that there is one list that sets the bar for all other lists.  It is the June 14, 2008 checklist  ebird from the Carden Alvar.  This place is one of my all time favourite places to go and explore nature.  I originally come from that area, born in Orillia, moved to Keswick when I was 5, then Newmarket when I got married and in 2009 I migrated south to Lambton County (Alvinston, Petrolia and now Wyoming)  I found this scrapbook that I had put together for the Carden Alvar Nature Festival.  I thought it would be fun to reproduce it here.  The photos are 35 mm prints that I have scanned/photographed for digital purposes.  I will go back there again, I hear there is a Carden Alvar PP now and Bob Bowles has his own Nature Centre that I would love to visit.  Maybe in the spring with OFO? Mainly on the Plain Dri...

 The other day I was on a birding hike, and as with all good birding hikes, there is a chance to walk together and talk together ( when we're not listening for birds that is).  I overheard one conversation about listing the birds that we see, and many of us use ebird, and what would happen if the big www crash would happen.  I must admit I do rely on ebird quite a bit, it is a quick and easy way for one to track where you bird and what species and numbers of species you see.  There is also a place that you can leave comments such as the weather or if you are with an organized group, etc.  It will also track your exact location if you set the app to GPS tracking, which I do, unless otherwise instructed not to (like with the Walpole Island trip).   I got to thinking about what my parents did.  They were both avid backyard birders and my Dad would write down if he saw new birds on his travels. (he was a fisherman and went to Alaska at one time, would...

 It was a cool (1C) extremely overcast morning as I followed the eastern star (Sirius) towards Long Point in Port Rowan.  I met up with a group of 17 Ontario Field Ornithologists  and our fearless leader Liam Thorne (Emma was sick) to tour the Long Point and Port Rowan area.  We toured the Bird Studies Canada HQ, where Liam gave us detailed itinerary of what we would be doing that way. Long Point is an area of outstanding natural significance and the historic home of Bird Studies Canada, founded as Long Point Bird Observatory in 1960.  Long Point's unique diversity of ecosystems including vast wetlands, productive sheltered waters, extensive forested areas, and the significant wildlife they harbour, has earned the region recognition as a United Nations World Biosphere Reserve and Globally Important Key Biodiversity Area, a Ramser wetland and International Monarch Butterfly Reserve  . Bird studies Canada We toured the grounds where, out to the lake (Erie) wh...