In collaboration with the Kawartha Land Trust, and The Ontario Woodlot Association, a new initiative has been launched by our neighbours to the west. They have started a local Forestry Cooperative. Among the many motives for this move was to prevent their plantations from collapsing, position themselves to take advantage… Continue reading
My record-keeping isn’t as good as I’d like and so I don’t have proof that the leaves are late falling this year. But it sure seems like it! Of course, we all know it’s been much warmer than usual, with only two frosts to date. Oaks are always slow to… Continue reading
The Trout Unlimited Millbrook Chapter partnered with the local Girl Guide Rangers and Otonabee Region Conservation Authority to partake in the Yellowfish road program. The community program is designed to educate residents that storm drains are the doorways to our local streams. Putting anything other than rain water in the… Continue reading
Poetry often captures truths better than prose. The poet Wordsworth had a wonderful eye for nature: “…of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower…” is one of those good bits. The heavy dews and frosts along with plentiful spider webs bespangled with dew or frost certainly reveal that… Continue reading
As we head into September, I would like to profile our most iconic native tree, the national tree of Canada, our beloved sugar maple (Acer saccharum). There is only a faint hint of the colourful changes to come as I write this at the end of August, but you can… Continue reading
If you have used an ancestry kit, or watched a favorite crime series, you know that the use of DNA (or deoxyribonucleic acid) is more mainstream today than it was 20 years ago. DNA is the set of biological instructions unique to every organism. Although DNA’s chemical structure is the… Continue reading
The rains following the earlier hot, dry weather have been an absolute blessing for the trees, especially since they were so stressed by the Gypsy Moth caterpillars. In fact the new leaves that have sprung out on the trees have made me think we were having a second spring. The… Continue reading
This has been a bad year for the Gypsy moth. While we usually see outbreaks of this pest every seven to ten years, 2021 will be the second year in a row of a severe infestation in many parts of Ontario. At the larvae stage, the creatures chew holes… Continue reading
Walking through his pasture fields just south of Millbrook a few days ago, Peter Kennedy stumbled upon an unusual sight: a red-tailed hawk on the ground. This bird of prey is common enough in the area, but is usually spotted soaring above, searching for its next meal. This one was… Continue reading
