House Wren Troglodytes aegon - the commoner of the two Wrens around here. We also have Troglodytes troglodytes, the Winter Wren, which is the same species as the European Wren called simply "Wren" over there. rather less commonly seen and this isn't it. [...]
Two years ago as part of the creation of the Canada 150 Trail in the Morgan Arboretum a subset of volunteers from the friends of the Morgan Arboretum created "The Copse". As I have said in earlier posts, this is a small collection of trees and shrubs, all native species, selected for their [...]
Interactive Trail Maps Ever since I was six or seven years old and went out "hiking" with my father, I have been fascinated by maps. I was never so proud as the day I could navigate for us with the aid of a compass and Ordinance Survey "inch to the mile" map without [...]
In Search of Spring Flowers in the Arboretum It's the time of year when the trees are in blossom and forest ephemerals are flowering and making the most of the available light before the tree leaves cast the forest floor into shade. Mid-week the Arboretum suggested a walking route that would take visitors [...]
A Walk in the Forest ... a Self-guided Exploration in the Morgan Arboretum Following the success of the Guide to Birding in the Arboretum that was released a couple of years ago, the final touches are now complete on the arboretum trail guide that we have been developing for the past two [...]
"Just the place for a Snark!" the Birders cried, As they entered the forest with care; Stepping, each man, with gait broad and wide While they searched for the Snark in his lair. What the 21 intrepid BPQ and Arboretum birders were seeking this morning was perhaps not the Snark, which anyway turned [...]
Morgan Arboretum Two big snowfalls this week tempted us to go and explore the "winter wonderland" that the arboretum has turned into this week. Apart from a couple of distant people skiing and a couple more walking dogs (dogs love snow) I think we had the place to ourselves. If you live nearby [...]
Elves or Gnomes? Looking south from the path beside the "Bobolink Field" in the arboretum. Always a bird-rich and interesting part of the trail system. EXIF data Copyright © All images are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 CA) License … which [...]
Still some wonderful colour Spent a couple of hours in the arboretum this morning, just poking around on the trails. I had deliberately not taken a camera with me as to be honest I expected the best of the colour would now be behind us and I wanted to concentrate on the birds. Well, [...]
Fly Agaric Fungi + Wild Parsnip Found these two species (I would have said 'two plants' but these days, and for good reasons, fungi are no longer plants but a separate 'kingdom' altogether - see note below) in close association at the arboretum about a week ago. The tall green plant is wild parsnip [...]