All in attendance thoroughly enjoyed Dana Church’s talk on April 17, 2024, on Bees, Monarchs and Climate Change and her book sales were brisk! This was the last of this year’s IDNC Nature Notes lecture series. Thanks to the Ingersoll Public Library for co-hosting.
It’s flowering season for most of our native trees and shrubs! While all trees and shrubs produce flowers, not all produce showy blooms.
Wind pollinated trees like maples and oaks produce a lot of lightweight pollen that is carried in the air to other tree flowers of the same species. They trade off the expense of developing methods that attract pollinators, like petals and scents.
Insect-pollinated trees and shrubs like dogwoods and tulip trees use colourful or fragrant flowers to attract insects to them. In return, the pollinators (bees, butteflies, etc.) get nectar and pollen to eat. In the process, the sticky pollen gets stuck to them, so they carry it over to the next blossom of the same species for pollination.
In the past year, over 156 hectares of wetlands lost their provincially significant wetland designation and the strong provincial protection that designation imparts.
Did you know the proposed #Highway413 will cause irreversible environmental devastation? Please ask your MP to ensure it undergoes a federal environmental assessment.
Today’s club walk through beautiful Komoka Provincial Park netted some great bird sightings of soaring mature and juvenile bald eagles, red headed, downie and hairy woodpeckers, goldfinch, junco, field sparrows and a Cooper’s hawk hunting in the woods. Added bonus the bloodroot is getting ready to open. Thanks to those who came out this morning following last night’s wind storm!
At this time of year you have a good chance of seeing unfamiliar birds as they move north during spring migration. Most birds have a long journey to get to their breeding grounds and they may stop for a day or two to rest along the way. Storms can also break their journeys. How do you identify a new bird? Our Question of the Week gives you a few helpful tips.
June 1st 2024 is International Trails Day and Oxford County Trails Council is well advanced with our own plans for this special day of local festivities. Branded as Take a Hike, Oxford! we will be offering no fewer than four locations in Oxford County where people can come to learn more about our wonderful trails network and participate in a wide variety of activities designed to bring nature, and our shared responsibility to protect it, deeper into our lives.
Combining knowledge, physical and mental health is vital to our wellbeing and we recognise this starts from an early age and can last a lifetime. So, the activities at our four public sites will feature fun for kids and parents while catering for those who wish to explore each trail, with or without a guide, and perhaps capture their experiences with their camera or other mobile device. We have teamed up with several Woodstock area partners to allow up-close and personal and handson experiences to encourage a broader understanding of local nature, our environment and the many related, local resources available to us.
The four locations we have selected are as follows: Herbert Milnes Park Woodlot Patullo Avenue Woodstock – John Lawson Trail Wonham St. South, Ingersoll – Hickson Street North 99 Loveys Street Hickson – Oxford Thames River Trail 454779 45th Line Beachville.
Each location will be open from 10am to 2pm, rain or shine and will feature sanitation and hydration facilities. Bring your own water bottle, snacks, bug spray, sun screen and outdoor foot ware. Free parking will be available. We would like to thank our event sponsors who have made this festival free of charge for visitors.