Another Successful StoryWalk

On December 11, 2011 we set of into Lambton Woods.  The day was sunny and fairly mild for the season.  We visited the two feeders and at the first feeder we saw lots of Downy Woodpeckers, male and female, also Chickadees.  There were some Red Squirrels racing around, tried to feed them but they are very wary.  At the other feeder further into the woods there no birds but lots of Grey Squirrels. From there we went onto the footbridge above the Humber River where a large community of Mallards and Black Ducks had gathered.  At this point I told my story, this time a true story about a disabled Cardinal, a true hero.

Then we walked along the shore of the Humber back towards James Gardens. A couple of flocks of Canada Geese drifted in and, again, there were Mallards gathered where people throw  bread. There were, however a couple of ducks that we could not identify; we're thinking some sort of hybrid perhaps.  They were the size and shape of Mallards, and one had the Mallard's shiny green head, however their fronts were pure white.  Other than that the colouring resembled more that of the Black Duck. 

Arriving back at James Gardens the Mallards on the pond were putting on quite a show.  They seemed to be turning themselves into water fountains by flapping their wings in the water and then standing up and flapping the wings in the air so that droplets of water came off in all directions, sparkling in the sunlight.  Beautiful.  The squirrels are friendly here and came up to my hand for peanuts.

Our upcoming walk is set as January 8, 2012, "Back to the Spit"

Storytelling nature walks

I have allied myself with Toronto Pig Save and, under their auspices, have started a series of Storytelling nature walks.  The way it works is as follows: I choose a good location to view nature, depending on the season (and weather) and we set out to see what we can see. Then  in the middle of the walk we pause and I tell a story always nature related and mostly true stories.

Walks we have done so far.
October 30, 2011, Leslie Street Spit.  Beautiful mild day.  Most migrant birds had moved on, however we did see a number of shorebirds, such  as Longtailed Ducks, Hooded Merganzers, Gulls(of course), Mute Swans, Trumpeter Swans. We also saw Golden Crowned Kinglets (including a visit to the banding station where we saw a GCK released),  In addition we saw lots of Woolly Bear caterpillars and some enormous Carp attempting to breach the barrier that keeps them out of the lagoons.

The main story told that day was about the amazing Peregrine Falcon, 'Windwhistler', this a true story from my own observations and my affiliation with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation as a volunteer.

November 20, 2011, Humber Bay East.   Very windy, but sunny.  We started out on the footbridge over the Mimico Creek.  Because of the relevance of this location, I started with the true story of the Passenger Pigeons that used to frequent this place in their billions but were hunted out of existence. A lesson to us! As I talked I got a glimpse of movement down on the rocks and there we were treated to the sight of a Mink running along, what sleek and beautiful creatures they are. Walking toward the lake we saw a Mockingbird in some sumac and as we made our way down the bank to see the Beaver's lodge, we saw a Great Egret in the shallows.  Then we saw flocks of Canada Geese overhead, and at the lagoons there were Mallards, Buffleheads, Hooded Merganzers, Lesser Scaup. At the lake the wind was whipping the waves into a frenzy and lone Common Merganzer was bouncing in the surf.

Upcoming Walk
December 11, 2011, Lambton Woods, starting at entrance to James Gardens at 9:30 a.m.





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