Category Archives: Nature Walk Reports

Scarborough Bluffs: August 2, 2018

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24 degrees and sun / cloud mix at the start

Bird Highlight: Barn Swallow

Barn Swallows

Botany Highlight: Late Goldenrod

Late Goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)

Species list: turkey vulture, eastern pewee, barn swallow, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, gray catbird, American robin, cedar waxwing, red-eyed vireo, warbling vireo, house sparrow, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, house finch, song sparrow. (15 species)

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

Japanese Beetles on a grape leaf

Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)

Red Osier (Cornus sericea)

House Finch (female)

Curly Dock (Rumex crispus

Birdfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

American Toad

Hedge Bindweeed (Calystegia sepium)

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Indian-hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)

Crown-vetch (Securigera varia)

American Goldfinch (immature)

Artist’s Conk

Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)

Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaea)

Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

And since all this loveliness can not be Heaven,
I know in my heart it is June.

– Abba Goold Woolson (1838–1921)

Scarborough Bluffs: July 31, 2018

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24 degrees and sunny at the start

Bird Highlight: American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch (male)

Botany Highlight: Canada Thistle

Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

Species list: turkey vulture, Cooper’s Hawk, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, barn swallow, Carolina wren, American robin, cedar waxwing, red-eyed vireo, house sparrow, common grackle, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, indigo bunting, song sparrow. (15 species)

Thanks to Eugene Knapik who sent me 12 photos because I was having some camera difficulties.

Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Gall on Balsam Poplar leaf

Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)

Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia)

Mourning Dove

St. Augustine’Seminary

Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)

House Sparrows

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Miles Hearn

PHOTOS by EUGENE KNAPIK

Queen Anne’s Lace

Black Swallowtail

NInebark

Pineapple Weed

Chicory

Bee

Canada Thistle

Burdock

Dame’s Rocket

Honeysuckle

Bergamot

Crown Vetch

NATURE POETRY

The earliest breath of June
Blows the white tassels from the cherry boughs,
And in the deepest shadow of noon
The mild-eyed oxen browse.

– Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911)

Lambton Woods: July 26, 2018

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25 degrees and sunny at the start

Bird Highlight: escaped Budgerigar

Budgerigars also called Parakeets or Budgies are caged birds which originate in Australia. This one has escaped and, as they eat seeds, will not enjoy the worm that it is inspecting.

Budgerigar

Botany Highlight: Iris seed pod

Iris seed pod

Species list: Canada goose, mallard, killdeer, spotted sandpiper, ring-billed gull, northern flicker, great crested flycatcher, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, gray catbird, American robin, cedar waxwing, warbling vireo, house sparrow, red-winged blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, common grackle, northern cardinal, indigo bunting, American goldfinch, song sparrow. (22 species)

House Sparrow (female)

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Ring-billed Gull

Canada Thistle with bee

Great Burdock with bee

Mallard duckling

False Solomon-seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)

Blue Jay

Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)

Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

Red Squirrel

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

Fair and green is the marsh in June;
Wide and warm in the sunny noon.
The flowering rushes fringe the pool
With slender shadows, dim and cool.

– Antoinette Alcott Bassett (b. 1857)

July Weedwalk: Broadview Subway area

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Temperature 25 degrees with a sun / cloud mix.

The walk was a mixture of alleyways, park borders and city streets.

Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides)

Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisifolia)

Common Burdock (Arctium minus)

Great Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Field Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis)

Dog-strangling Vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum)

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)

Galinsoga (Galinsoga parviflora)

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)

Lamb’s-quarters (Chenopodium alba)

Beggar-ticks (Bidens frondosa)

Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)

Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Miles Hearn

Lambton Woods: July 24, 2018

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25 degrees and sunny at the start

Bird Highlight: Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow parent and chick

Barn Swallow family

Botany Highlight: Wild Parsnip

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)

Species list: Canada goose, mallard, rock pigeon, northern flicker, downy woodpecker, eastern kingbird, great crested flycatcher, barn swallow, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, gray catbird, American robin, warbling vireo, house sparrow, red-winged blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, common grackle, northern cardinal, indigo bunting, American goldfinch, song sparrow. (21 species)

Canada Goose

Japanese Beetles

Weeping Willow with crown galls

moulting Mallard (male)

Stickseed (Hackelia deflexa)

Chipmunk

Poison Ivy (Tocicodendron rydbergii)

American Robin

Twelve-spot Skimmer

Common Burdock (Arctium minus)

Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

Red-winged Blackbird (female)

Field Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis)

House Sparrow (female)

Inky Cap Mushrooms

Starry false solomon-seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Black Currant (Ribes Americanum)

Forget-me-not (Myosotis)

ganoderma (varnish shelf mushroom)

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

In June ’tis good to lie beneath a tree
While the blithe season comforts every sense,
Steeps all the brain in rest, and heals the heart,
Brimming it o’er with sweetness unawares.

– J. R. Lowell (1819–91)

Rouge Hills: July 12, 2018

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24 degrees and sunny at the start

Bird Highlight: Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting (male)

Botany Highlight: Grecian Foxglove

Grecian Foxglove (Digitalis lanata)

Species list: northern flicker, eastern pewee, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, American robin, wood thrush, red-eyed vireo, American goldfinch, chipping sparrow, field sparrow, song sparrow. (12 species)

Purple Loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria)

Lopseed (Phryma leptostachya)

Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)

Bird Vetch (Vivia cracca)

Early Goldenrod (Solidago juncea)

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Poke Milweed (Asclepias exalata)

Yellow Bedstraw (Galium verum)

Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris)

Starry False Solomn-seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

False Solomon-seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Solomon-seal (Polygonatum pubescens)

Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)

Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra)

St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum)

enormous Basswood leaf (Tilia americana)

White Vervain (Verbena urticfolia)

Pointed Leaf Tick Trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum)

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

With constant motion as the moments guide,
Behold in running life the rolling tide!
For none can stem by art, or stop by power
The flowing ocean, or the fleeing hour.

– The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1827

Rouge Hills: July 10, 2018

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24 degrees and sunny at the start

Bird Highlight: Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Botany Highlight: Michigan Lily

Michigan Lily (Lillium michiganense)

Species list: turkey vulture, mourning dove, northern flicker, black-capped chickadee, American robin, wood thrush, red-eyed vireo, common yellowthroat, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, field sparrow, song sparrow. (12 species)

Common St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana)

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Wild-bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Chickory (Cichorium intybus)

Slug

Spiderwort (Tradescantia)

Sensitive Fern

Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)

Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris)

Red Baneberry (Doll’s Eyes) Actaea rubra)

Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides)

Grecian Foxglove (Digitalis lanata)

Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix)

May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum)

Miles Hearn

NATURE POETRY

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

– Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)