Purple Woods Conservation Area: Late March, 2020

Purple Woods is located north of Oshawa. This 41 acre property, located on the top of the Oak Ridges Moraine, is home to a large and actively tapped 150 year old sugar maple forest. The trees have tubes attached.

The property has a sugar shack where sap is boiled down to make maple syrup.

There are 2 short trails here:

Some views from the trails:

Woodchuck den
hut covered in Balsam Fir branches

Not too many birds about but I did hear a Song Sparrow on this 4 degree, overcast day.

American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
PIleated Woodpecker drilling
PIleated Woodpecker drilling

Some botany:

White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
White Ash (Fraxinus americana)
White Ash (Fraxinus americana) dead from Ash Borer
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
last summer’s grapes from Riverbank Grape
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) cone after squirrel feeding
Crab Apple (Malus)
Juniper (Juniperus communus)
Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)
Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Mapledust Lichen
Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
Yellow Birch (Betula allegheniensis)
Marginal Fern from last year
Moss
Haircap Moss
Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
Polypore
Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)
White Birch (Betula papyrifera)

NATURE POETRY

Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares,
and take the winds of March with beauty.     – William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Miles Hearn

1 thought on “Purple Woods Conservation Area: Late March, 2020

  1. Lisa Volkov

    Ahhhh…there was a Parkbus Active Days trip planned for here that had to be cancelled. The next best thing!

    Reply

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