Restoring the Oak Ridges Moraine

The original vegetation of the area of the Oak Ridges Moraine was "a mixed forest of pine and hardwoods. The valuable white pine was early sought out and very few trees of any size are left in the present woodlots. Among the hardwoods, hard maple, beech, and red and white oak were the most important and a few good stands may be seen." This is according to the book "The Physiography of Southern Ontario", published by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

In my May 30 blog I reported how these trees - pine, maple, beech and oak - are among the very most important ones for creating wildlife habitat.

The destruction of trees has continued in the same way as in the early days, because of developers feeding off the human overpopulation problem. However, if there is any good news about urban sprawl, it is that most of the houses have very large yards round them. What an opportunity to plant new trees! Instead of having to spend their weekends cutting acres of grass, the owners of these new houses - rather, the entrusted stewards of the land - could create good karma for themselves by planting the kinds of trees which rightfully belong there.

Then they could enjoy observing the many species of birds and animals which these trees would attract.

The Grackles' Reply to the Construction Project

It was on September 15 , 2006 just after lunch that I took a walk down a Toronto residential street which had been plagued by loud construction noise from one, particular house all summer. The house was one of those oversized, bull-in-a-china-shop types which would never look right on the street anyway.

Every fall, for generations long past, a large flock of grackles have migrated south over that location and stopped to rest and eat along the way. They are a part of nature which was meant to be.

A young squirrel, whose habitat was also being disrupted, made pitiful, repeated cries of disorientation and pain at the ongoing, loud noise of the construction. The large flock of grackles perched in the tall, white oak while the construction workers sat down to eat lunch. Unexpectedly, the grackles started biting off unripe acorns and letting them fall to the ground. Most of them landed on the car below, sounding like an intense staccato of hail. Some landed on the next car too. The grackles were fighting back!

The men at first thought it was the squirrels. After a few more minutes of the grackles continuing to pound acorns on the car, the worker who owned it came over to move it. "I'll get my shotgun out after those birds!" he yelled. The grackles had successfully exposed the violence inherent in the construction activity.

The rest is up to us. The grackles have done their share.

Birds of Toronto's Neville Park Beach: Part 2

There are several reasons for the relatively large number of bird species listed in Part 1:

1) This area is just east of Tommy Thompson Park, which is an internationally recognized important birding area, with over 300 types of resident and migrant birds having been recorded.

2) There are tall red and white oaks, willows, pines and other trees available for food, cover and nesting.

3) The fish and plant life in Lake Ontario provide food for water birds.

4) The water attracts mosquitoes which are food for a number of birds including swallows.

5) The eggs and young of the smaller birds are food for larger ones.

6) There are wildflowers along the shore which provide seeds for some species of birds to eat.

7) Some home-owners provide bird feeders and bird baths, as well as trees and shrubs attractive to birds.

Yet, despite all of these reasons, the number of birds there now would be only a fraction of the number once there, before houses and yards were built right over the river which led down to the lake. Marshy areas were destroyed by humans. There are also leaf-blowers, lawnmowers, construction machinery and aircraft, as well as motorized watercraft. Humans are inadvertently destroying what is priceless in their selfish pursuit of temporary, material ends.

Birds of Toronto's Neville Park Beach: Part 1

Many city-dwellers seem unaware of the rich biodiversity of species around them. Yet, the following 37 species of birds have been observed at or within two blocks of the foot of Neville Park Blvd. in the Toronto Beach area in 2006 to 2008:

Double-crested Cormorant
Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Mallard Duck
Oldsquaw
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Black-crowned Night Heron
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Common Tern
Caspian Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
American Robin
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Warbling Vireo
Yellow Warbler
House Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
European Starling
Orchard Oriole
Northern Oriole
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
House Finch

Nature Awareness and Thornton W. Burgess

The many nature books by Thornton W. Burgess which were enjoyed by our parents and grandparents still have great environmental relevance today.

The stories are about mammals, birds, frogs etc., and they are characters who have names, feelings, personalities, and talk like human beings. There would be much more caring about nature if the young people today were taught to think of nature's creatures as being just like them.

Attributing human qualities to animals is called "anthropomorphism" but, whatever you choose to call it, it is something which can have great educational benefit. It can also encourage imagination and sensitivity which go beyond nature.

Even adults, who tend to have trouble getting to sleep at night after listening to all the violence on the news, could benefit by choosing instead to read about the adventures of Peter Rabbit, Sammy Jay and Reddy Fox just before bed.

The public libraries still have many books by Thornton W. Burgess, and you or your children can benefit greatly from the peaceful aura they create.

How to Create a Butterfly Garden in Ontario

Butterflies, like people, require food, water, shelter, and a place for their their young to grow.

For food, they need nectar which comes from flowers. They are best attracted to colourful, native flowers which are easy to land on such as milkweed, butterfly weed, echinacea, goldenrod, bee balm and butterfly bush.

For water, they cannot drink from a big pool or lake, and instead they need mud puddles or the edge of a pond.

For shelter they like trees, especially those with lots of leaf or needle cover where they are safe. They like willows, pines, cedar and spruce, as well as honeysuckle vines.

For their young, they require what are called host plants, where they can lay their eggs and then have the caterpillars hatch out and eat the leaves. The host plants must be the right kind for each type of butterfly.

Here is a list of common Ontario butterflies and the host plants they need for their young:

Black Swallowtail - plants of the carrot family
Tiger Swallowtail - willows, cottonwoods, wild cherries, yellow poplar etc.
Cabbage White - mustards
Clouded Sulfur - legumes
Orange Sulfur - alfalfa and clovers
Eastern Tailed Blue - legumes
Spring Azure - dogwood, blueberries etc.
Fritillary - violets
Comma - hops, nettles
Mourning Cloak - willows, elms and poplars
Red Admiral - nettles
Painted Lady - daisies and thistles
Viceroy - willows, poplars
Monarch - milkweeds
Skipper - legumes, grasses