Thursday April 8, 2021 – Just finished a 2 hour walkabout at Montgomery. We inspected the area all along the riverbank between the river and our trail, and walked our entire trail as well. No GH seen, but several areas are in need of chainsaw work. Spring beauty, Dutchman’s breeches, skunk cabbage, and bloodroot in bloom. Blue cohosh, trilliums and jack-in-the-pulpit emerging. Some buds in the trout lily and lots of wild leeks. Woodpeckers all over as well. Was a nice morning to be in there before the rain turns parts of it into a mud pit 🙂
Wendy Shaw
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 – Removed 4 GH plants from Montgomery yesterday. Again none on our trail; one larger one was well hidden near a fallen log. Still lots of wildflowers in bloom, and a male and female Red-bellied woodpecker were busy. Swampy areas were fairly dry but I’m sure that will change in the next couple of days!
Wendy Shaw
Tuesday April 20, 2021 – I removed 8 GH plants; seven of them were between the river and the trail closest to the river (not our trail) before you reach signpost 6. I actually did not find any on our trail. The largest plant was past signpost 6, but again closer to the river. All were easy to dig out, and the largest was a bit wider than my shovel–so no large plants.
There were a number of Ruby-crowned Kinglets–fun watching the males flashing their red patches. There was also a Great Horned Owl being mobbed by crows. Got a good look at it when it was resting in the trees, but the crows persisted and eventually it was chased across the river.
In bloom: Wood anemone, Dutchman’s breeches, White trillium, May apple, Blue cohosh, White trout lily, Twinleaf, Yellow and Purple violets, Cut-leaf Toothwort.
Overall a nice walk in the woods with a little work thrown in.
Wendy Shaw
Sunday, May 2, 2021 – Donna and I spent some time in “Montgomery” this afternoon. We removed 8 GHW plants, none of which were on our property.
We also noted a number of birds, all without birding being the focus of our visit. Included were American Robin, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downey woodpecker, Song Sparrow, House Wren, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Mallard Duck, Blue Jay, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, American Crow and Northern Flicker.
We found an American toad (about toonie sized) and one large Green Frog. Three or four species of butterfly, including Mourning Cloak and a good number of Bumblebees. Jack in the Pulpits are beginning to unfurl, Twin leaf, already finished blooming.
Marco DeBruin
Friday, May 7, 2021 – Graham MacDonald and I just finished a walk through Montgomery. Beautiful weather. We found 2 plants near the river; both about 30 cm tall. A third was located farther inland on the east side of the trail about 60 cm tall. None were on our property.Â
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 – Wayne Buck and I just completed this week’s Giant Hogweed search. We removed two plants, one quite large as shown in this photo taken by Wayne. It was 3 ft x3 ft. The other was smaller. Neither were on our property.
The following birds were heard or seen: mallard, spotted sandpiper,G B heron, kingfisher, red-bellied and hairy woodpeckers, flicker, GC flycatcher, jay, chickadee, WB nuthatch, house wren, starling, robin, goldfinch, red winged blackbird, cowbird, and cardinal.
Ostrich ferns are unfurling. There are still a few trout lilies in bloom along with wood anemone and trilliums. Jack-in-the-pulpits are emerging.
Fraser Gibson
Thursday, May 27, 2021 – I visited Montgomery today with bright sunshine, nicely cool air and fairly dozy mosquitoes. I did actually take a bit of time out from my bird-watching to scan the ground.
I found two small Giant Hogweed plants around the first inlets/sloughs by accidentally stumbling across the plants just as I was about to step on them. The surrounding vegetation is high enough to hide them now. The next 3 plants were right beside the pathway further down, and much easier to find. Somebody had already flagged them but hadn’t dug them up. I didn’t spot any GH on WRN property.
Along with lots of Dames Rocket and Buttercups, the Canada Anemone and Wild Geranium were in bloom.
Paul Bigelow
Birds
Canada Goose
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
