I met up with my friend Hobie this morning, for a nature walk at Lambton Woods. It turned out to be a great morning, with some sun and moderate temperatures. There were a lot of birds out this morning. We watched some groups of blue… Read More
Lambton Woods is one of my favourite places to walk. There are trails both through the woods and along the Humber River. It’s a great place to observe plant life, birds, and mushrooms, right in the GTA. Access to Lambton Woods is from a parking… Read More
Lichen is made up of a composite of algae or cyanobacteria that lives happily ever-after together with multiple fungi species. I read that combined it exhibits properties that are different than the stuff the makes it up. How can that be? Lichen comes in many… Read More
When I started going on nature walks I thought it was an activity suited to only certain times of the year. I’ve come to learn, though, that each season has something to teach us about the natural world around us. This time of year, as… Read More
For the longest time, I though larch and tamarack trees were the same. I’ve learned that they share a genus but are different species. Larch = Larix occidentalisTamarack = Larix laricina An easy way to tell which is which is to look at the cones.… Read More
There are still quite a few berries around. Here are 3 we came across on today’s nature walk with naturalist Miles Hearn, at Ashbridges Bay on the east side Toronto. These beautiful orange berries are Sea Buckthorn. They are edible and some people use them… Read More
I’m used to seeing field sow thistles as summer wildflowers. They grow tall and spindly and look kind of like dandelions on steroids. I wasn’t sure what this was when I saw it – low to the ground, with gorgeous magenta foliage. Fortunately, we were on one of Miles Hearn’s excellent nature walks, and Miles assured me this was a sow thistle.
I snapped these at Humber Bay East today.
Dawn Redwoods were thought to be extinct until specimens were found in China in the late 1940s. The ones in High Park were apparently gifts from the Chinese government.
It was only a month or so ago, we were seeing so many varieties of asters in full bloom. Now, they’ve all gone to seed. These are New England Aster.
