Marg, Lily and Other Stuff

     In life one has friends and acquaintances, people who pass through with more or less impact, sometimes hardly at all, and then one is fortunate to have to have true, true friends, who can be counted on, who entertain, who delight, to whom one is irresistibly drawn.

     Margaret Lewis-Macdonald is such a person.

     She recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, and such an auspicious event could not be allowed to pass without celebration, even under the dire circumstances imposed by COVID-19. 

     The whole event was organized outside by her stalwart husband, Graham, and went off without a hitch. 

     As you may note, Marg took it all very seriously.

     She had insisted that she wanted no sappy cards and that all greetings should be humorous or naughty! That describes Marg down to a tee!

     As it happened, other friends had birthdays at the same time, so it was a joint celebration for three birthday beauties.

Marg Wendland (80), Marg Macdonald (80), Lynda Buck (75)

     What a pleasure it was to celebrate with these  gorgeous ladies. Good friends, good food, good wine - what more could one ask for?

     Well, you could ask for Lily too!

     Before going any further, permit me to show you a couple of pictures of Heather as a baby, and note the stunning resemblance to Lily. It could be the same person! Down to the hair almost!

     We were joined on our walk this week by Shane, Lily's daddy, having recently shaved his beard and looking like an erstwhile Tom Selleck! 

     I am utterly convinced that as we continue these nature walks with Lily she will start to absorb the smells, sights and sounds around her, and that her character will be formed in part by these early encounters with nature.

     A girl has to have a sleep now and then.

     So that she can wake up lively and ready to look around.

     And what is life all about if you can't blow bubbles?

  

     On other fronts, we have a robust population of juvenile Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) at SpruceHaven. Many of them are content to perch on a wire and wait for devoted parents to zoom by, stuffing food in their mouths on the way past.

     I mentioned in an earlier post that Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) appear to have had a successful breeding season, and this recently independent bird was seen at Forwell Park.

     We pass through a tunnel on our way from Forwell Park to Hillside Park, and it is unfortunate that some of our less enlightened citizens cannot resist defacing the walls with their graffiti. Wouldn't it be wonderful if one of them could, even once, come up with something creative?

      The view above is looking back and I have spared you the pathetic nature of their crude daubing. You will be happy to know, however, that they can spell at least one word correctly, and it has four letters.

     If this American Crow (Corvus brachrynchos) perched high above considered himself superior he was right.

     If I am not mistaken, this insect is a Common Eastern Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) and it was fascinating to watch as it got right into the corolla of the flower on which it was feeding.

     On a visit to SpruceHaven with the Morgans, Alan took these two wonderful shots.

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice) on coneflower

     We had arranged to meet Andrew and Lorraine Wesolowski at RiverSong to tour around and stay for lunch, and just as we arrived a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) ambled slowly across the river.

     It was a wonderful welcome to a beautiful spot.

     Several Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) were basking in the warm sun.

     Sometimes you have to make room for a friend.

     Lorraine is an accomplished photographer and managed this superb shot of an Osprey (Pandion haliaeetus) flying along the Conestogo River.

     A Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) was perched a little out of range for a really good picture, but I think that what Lorraine achieved is delightful.

     Miriam and I made our first visit to the sewage ponds at Milverton, where Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) was far and away the most common species.

     For those not  familiar with the esoteric niceties of birding, sewage farms are highly prized habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, herons, egrets and others, and by default therefore, equally cherished locations for birders. Eau de sewage is a powerful attractant, verging on pheromone for a dedicated birder!

     The highlight of this visit was to locate a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), quite rare in these parts.

     Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) were present, but not in the numbers one would normally expect at this time of the year.

     Many young Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were enjoying (or not) their first flush of freedom from the nest.

     Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) were no less common.

     As you can see, COVID-19 has not really slowed us down one bit!   

Fairmount-Webwood Passage Nature Reserve

Fairmount-Webwood Passage Nature Reserve

Donor Tour

8 June 2014

    All of the clubs, associations and individuals who donated part of the money needed to acquire this tract of land by The Bruce Trail Conservancy were invited to take part in a tour of the property. The Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists participated in this event and were well represented by several of its members, including Miriam and me.

    This acquisition was deemed to be especially significant as it provides a connecting corridor of rich habitat between the existing reserves known as the Fairmount Wetland and Webwood Falls. Now that there is a direct route between the two, several kilometres of road travel have been eliminated.

    Our two staff ecologists for the day were Brian Popelier and Adam Brylowski and they did a fine job of interpreting the natural riches of the area.

Brian, Adam

    Before embarking on our walk we took a small detour to look at one of the falls from which Webwood Falls takes its name. It was quite beautiful, although the mosquitoes in that area were fierce. We were well prepared with repellent, however, so it didn't bother us too much.

    There were many attractive features of the property which contains a variety of habitat, not the least of which was this swamp, so typical of the area.

    Several species of damselflies and dragonflies were observed, not easy to photograph, however, since we were engaged in an exploratory walk and not able to tarry at length. Nevertheless we were able to get a fairly decent shot of this male Ebony Jewelwing Caloptyeryx maculata.

    Miriam reacts badly to insect bites and she was well buttoned up for protection. This, combined with a liberal application of bug spray on every square centimetre of exposed flesh, served her well for she was not bitten even once.

    There were many beautiful plants and trees including extensive patches of  Tall Buttercup Ranunculus acris.

    Wood Anemone Anemone quinqefolia was prolific and gorgeous.

     The curiously named Ostrich Fern Matteuccia struthiopteris is a native species and was quite prolific in some areas. It was quite wonderful to see it swaying in the gentle breeze, seeming at times to resemble a wave.

    Common Milkweed Asclepias incarnata is critical to the survival of the Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus and it was encouraging for all of us to see a few plants in the meadows. Brian recounted that "blowing parties" have been organized when the seed pods are about to burst. Volunteers literally blow the seeds from the pods to disperse them as widely as possible to stimulate farther and more widespread densities of the plant. It bears repeating that this is the only plant on which a Monarch lays its eggs and it depends on the toxins provided by milkweed to bolster its defences.

    The whole area was filled with a wide variety of birds, but it would require more time and some dedicated effort to photograph them. This is not a very good picture of Cedar Waxwings Bombycilla cedrorum but it certainly was great to see them flycatching from the snags in the swamp.

    Part of this land is restored pasture and one of the meadows formerly contained a good deal of invasive Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica. Once it takes hold this is a difficult shrub to remove and it was through the concerted efforts of about thirty volunteers over a two-day period that it was eliminated. It is very pleasing to see the amount of regeneration of native trees taking place, based on entirely natural seed dispersal. In twenty or thirty years this meadow will revert to the kind of forest that existed before European settlement in the area.

    At the end of the walk it was time for Miriam to share the friendship of other members of KWFN who had made the journey north to take part in the celebration of this new reserve. Here she is with the ever irrepressible Marg Macdonald.

    And with Mary Ann Vanden Elzen, one of the true stalwarts of the club.

    Delicious baked goodies were provided and a glass of sparkling apple juice to toast the new reserve and all the donors who made it possible.

    I confess to feeling a great sense of pride and satisfaction that our club, now in its 81st year, was able to contribute to making this day happen.