paul

WRN Kids – Maps at GeoTime Trail

by
woman holding a map and explaining it

Maps at the GeoTime Trail

Saturday, November 29, 2025

On Saturday November 29 Nature Kids met at the GeoTime Trail in Waterloo. The weather was cold but sunny and there was lots of snow.

Nature Kids volunteer Laura talked to the group about maps and what kinds of things we might see on maps and how to orient ourselves on one. We did a short practice with a small map she had drawn of our immediate area, then Laura gave us a bigger map.

woman holding a map and explaining it

Laura had drawn a map of part of the GeoTime trail with landmarks like trees, rocks, signs and paths along with control points. The control points were cards posted on trees or stumps or rock walls and marked with different symbols.

waypoint sun symbol
waypoint happy face symbol

Using the map, we headed out to find and record all twelve control points. The fresh deep snow made it more difficult to walk and the woods were beautiful. We recorded each point we found by drawing the symbol shown on posted cards.

group walking in snow
checking maps sitting in the snow
Checking where we are on the map.
tree with right angle crook
"Funky Tree" was one clue on the map
Sketching the symbol

Laura wasn’t sure if we would be able to hike to find all the points as the deep snow made walking more difficult and tiring, but we were up for the challenge. We found all 12 points! Many people were tired by the end.

This was a fun and challenging activity, and we learned about following a map.

Reported by: Rachelle

WRN Kids – Trail Trimming at SpruceHaven

by
Mother and daughter carrying branches

Trail Trimming at SpruceHaven

Saturday, December 13, 2025

WRN Teens had invited WRN Kids to join them in trimming trails at SpruceHaven. The day was overcast and the wind was cold out in the open spaces, but in the forest it was almost cozy. The snow was quite deep and Teens coordinator Anita definitely got her exercise while breaking trail at the head of our line.

Trail through the woods
People on the trail

At a couple of places Anita mounted a trail camera, to later see which animals might go by during the winter. She explained that animals like to use trails just like humans do, in order to conserve their energy.

Mounting a trail camera
Trail camera on a tree

Adults, Kids, and Teens all worked at trimming branches. It was hazardous work, because snow could get dumped down your neck at any time. Finally, when we were tired and had all the branches that we could carry, we headed back out from the woods.

People trimming branches
Mother and daughter carrying branches

Thanks go to Anita and the Teens group for inviting us. There will be houses with some attractive greenery displays during this holiday season.

Reported by: Paul

WRN Kids – Squirrels at Breithaupt Park

by
Child with orange sash chasing others.

Squirrels at Breithaupt Park

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Our October outing took place at Breithaupt Park in Kitchener. We learned about red squirrels and grey squirrels. Grey squirrels can be either grey or black in colour. Both grey and red squirrels gather food to hide to eat in the winter, but grey squirrels hide their food in many different places while red squirrels hide their food all in one place. This might be why red squirrels are more aggressive in defending their food hiding spot. If something finds the red squirrels food hiding spot, they could eat all the squirrel’s food, and the squirrel would have none for the wintertime.

People standing around in a circle.
Introduction to squirrels

We also played a game in which we were either a grey squirrel, or a red squirrel and we had to find and hide food. Then, we could steal each other’s food just like real squirrels do.

Children in shrubbery
Looking for a good hiding spot
Kids running to a large tree
Maybe behind this tree?

When a fox was added to the game, it became even more challenging to gather food and store it while trying to not get eaten by the fox. There were a lot of tired squirrels by the time the game ended!

Child with orange sash chasing others.
Look out for the fox!
Kid with cones at a table
Counting the cones
Kids with cones at a table
Counting the cones

Finally, we divided into two groups and went walking in different directions to tally up how many squirrels we could find. One group noticed many squirrels across a field and headed there. It became obvious why so many squirrels were there – oak trees with many acorns!!

In total the two groups observed 80 squirrels!

It is fun to learn more about an animal that we see so often in our daily lives.

Reported by: Rachelle

Long Point – Oct 25, 2025

by

On Saturday, October 25, 2025, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a group to Long Point in search of birds. Some of the places they visited had a disappointing number of birds, but their luck improved towards the end.

Here are a few photos from that trip.

Osprey
group photo

For the full report on the outing with many more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to Long Point, Norfolk County, ON.

BFCK – Lakeside Bird Walk and Junco Sketch Sesh – October 13, 2025

by
Junco sketches on a blanket

Lakeside Bird Walk and Junco Sketch Sesh

Saturday, October 11 was World Migratory Bird Day. To mark the event, Meredith Blunt (local artist, bird enthusiast, and co-chair of Bird Friendly City Kitchener) led 15 participants on a sauntering stroll along the paved trail at Lakeside Park. Following that, we sat for a guided ‘no-judgement’ sketch session of the recently announced official bird of the City of Kitchener – the Dark-eyed Junco.

The birds present that day included:

  • Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers
  • a skein of flying Mallards overhead
  • a Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • a pair of Turkey Vultures
  • American Robin
  • Northern Cardinal
  • a Pied-billed Grebe dunking and diving in the pond
  • and the sharp calls of Blue Jays and Red-winged Blackbirds
people on a trail looking for birds

It seemed the juncos hadn’t yet arrived at Lakeside. We didn’t see any. But, we set about to sketch them anyway. We made ourselves comfortable on chairs or blankets or at the park’s picnic tables, and art supplies were distributed.

People sitting and sketching
people sketching at a picnic table
Merideth Blunt

Meredith guided us step-by-step…

“It starts with a circle.”
“And then another one.”

two circles to start a Junco sketch

And, here’s what we came up with.

hands sketching from a picture of a junco Junco sketch Junco sketch Junco sketch Junco sketch Junco sketch hands sketching from a picture of a junco Junco sketches on a blanket

Comments made at the end of the session

  • “What an experience, sketching outside ‘in plein aire’ while hearing birds all around.”
  • “I really enjoyed it.”
  • “I’m so proud of my bird!”
  • “Junco is a sign winter’s coming.”
  • “Juncos are all round and fluffy.”
  • “Every junco should be described as magnificent.”
  • “What does a junco look like? Each of us has our own interpretation.”
  • “It’s really hard to describe how to draw but you, Meredith, achieved it.”
  • “I believe it’s the first ‘art’ outing we’ve had at Lakeside. It was so casual, relaxing, and enjoyable. And the weather was perfect.”
  • “I learned a lot. Start by using simple basic familiar shapes.”
  • “What a lovely way to start a holiday Monday. The walk and the art were terrific. I hope we can do more of these in Lakeside Park.”

Mary Ann Vanden Elzen

WRN Kids – Insects at Bechtel Park

by

Insects at Bechtel Park

Saturday, September 27, 2025

We went to Bechtel Park to learn about insects. The weather was cool but warm as well, and it was pretty sunny out.

We looked for insects and named the ones we found.

Owen from Nature Teen Club came and he showed us all the different kinds of insects around.

There were lots of Hickory tussock moth caterpillars, an inch worm, some spiders and some beetles.

We also looked for other cool stuff like curled leaves that were made by spiders.

We saw some damage made by Emerald Ash Borers inside a dead ash tree, it looked cool but it was sad to see our native trees dying.

Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar
Crane Fly
Cross Orbweaver
Turkey Tail Fungus
Cross Orbweaver
Maple Spindle Gall Mite
European Mantis
Grape Phylloxera ?

We also learned about why insects are important. If we don’t know where bugs are or what we’re doing to them we might hurt them, and we need insects! My favourite part was finding moss and mould growing on fungus, and a cute little brown inch worm.

Reported by: River

North Shore of Lake Ontario – September 2025

by

On Saturday, September 27, 2025, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a group along the shore of Lake Ontario. They stopped off at DesJardins Canal, Urquart Butterfly Gardens, Grindstone Creek, LaSalle Park, Paletta Park, and Bronte Harbour. Here is a small sampling of photos from that outing.

For the full report on the outing with many more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to the North Shore of Lake Ontario.

BFCK – Bird Collision Deterrent Markers Installed At Kitchener Library

by

Bird Collision Deterrent Marker Installation
at Kitchener Central Library

September 20, 2025

Over the course of two Saturdays, Bird Friendly City Kitchener (BFCK) volunteers gathered at the Central Kitchener Public Library for a brand-new bird-friendly experience! BFCK, a subcommittee of Waterloo Region Nature, seeks to make the region bird friendlier by committing to bird-friendly actions. A bird-friendly city is one that mitigates key threats to birds, restores nature for native birds, engages residents in admiring and monitoring local bird populations, creates events that protect birds, and helps create and lead municipal policy to protect urban birds.

BFCK volunteers worked with City of Kitchener lead, Rachel Voros, to identify a downtown building that would most benefit from the application of bird-friendly window collision decals. With the generous donation of over $2200 in materials by Paul Groleau, Vice President of Feather Friendly Bird Collision Deterrent Markers, and the cooperation and coordination of Kitchener Public Libraries, BFCK volunteers installed Feather Friendly markers on the external side of the Sheriff John Motz Courtyard windows. Come check them out!

BFCK thanks all of the volunteers who were able to help at the install, helping mitigate a key threat to our birds: window collisions, especially during peak migration, kill up to 42 million birds per year in Canada. BFCK also has an active collision monitoring program during migration season in downtown Kitchener. If you would like to volunteer for this, or other programs, shoot us an email at birdfriendlykitchener@gmail.com.

WRN Kids – Earth Day Community Cleanup

by
picking up garbage

Earth Day Community Cleanup at Bechtel Park

Saturday, April 26, 2025

In April, we went to Bechtel Park to pick up garbage for Earth Day.

At first there was not much garbage on the trail.

walking on trail

Then we got to a place where there was lots of garbage! It was right next to the river. We started picking up garbage, lots and lots of garbage.

picking up garbage
picking up garbage

It was pretty chilly out but we kept going until the whole area was almost fully cleaned up.

picking up garbage
picking up garbage
prize table

We hung out for a while seeing how much everyone found. And there were prizes for whoever found the most of each kind of trash!

It’s important to clean the earth up so that nature is still here when we are grown-ups.

Reported by: River

WRN Kids – Pond Study

by
Green Frog

Pond Study at Huron Natural Area

Saturday, May 31, 2025

We went to the Huron Natural Area in Kitchener for our pond study. The weather was pretty cool.

Getting our instructions

We went to a pond there and went netting.

Netting at side of pond
Netting at side of pond

We had buckets of water to put our creatures that we caught in. We came across nymphs, frogs, different sizes of tadpoles and a big dead fish.

We had an id key of different pond invertebrates to help us id them. I was able to id one of the nymphs to be a damselfly nymph.

Bucket contents
Dead fish
Tadpole
Nymph
Leech

The best find was a large leech!

Temporary capture of a Green Frog
Green Frog
The escapee

At the end we went back, had some snacks and talked about what we found.

Reported by: Hunter

Hullett Wildlife Area – Spring 2025

by

On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, a group of WRN people visited Hullett Marsh. Here are a few photos from that outing.

Beaver Meadow

For the full report on the walk, with many more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Outing to Hullett Provincial Wildlife Area, Huron County, ON.

WRN Kids – Predator Prey Game

by

Predator Prey Game at Huron Natural Area

Saturday, March 29, 2025

  1. What was the outing and where?

At Huron Natural Area in Kitchener. We went down a big path and then we came to a big circle of rocks. Then we played a Survival game.

Checking out something interesting along the trail.
Explaining the rules of the game
  1. What was the weather like?

Windy with a small drizzle of rain that went on and off.

  1. What did you learn, or what was new to you?

The game Survival was new to me. And I learned to not go near the water at the pond.

The chase is on
In every direction
What natural disaster or disease should we add to the game?
Rabies!!!
  1. What was your favourite part?

Being rabies during the Survival game. I liked that I was working together with Aspen, Indie, and Alana to attack other animals.

Reported by: Gus

Snack Time

WRN Kids – Winter Birding

by

Winter Birding at Riverside Park in Cambridge with David Gascoigne

Saturday, February 22, 2025

We went to Riverside Park to learn about birds, and feed them!

Riverside Park
Waiting for Chickadees

We learned that when chickadees say “chickadee” they’re happy, and when they say “chickadee-dee” they’re a bit upset, and when they say “chickadee-dee-dee-dee” they’re really mad.

We learned that female ducks are less colourful because they have to sit on the nest. If they were bright like the males all the predators would find them. The river was all frozen and the ducks were swimming through the snow on top of the ice.

Mallards on the ice (picture borrowed from the previous adult hike)
What kind of woodpecker made these holes?

We learned that woodpeckers are a keystone species because they make holes for other animals to live in. Chickadees, sparrows, bluebirds, swallows, blue jays, and squirrels all use old woodpecker nest holes.

All the food for the birds is buried under the snow and it’s really hard for them to get enough to eat. Chickadees are very small and need a lot of food to keep warm. If they don’t get enough food in a day they can die overnight when it’s very cold. Winter is very dangerous for birds. So we fed them lots and lots of birdseed!
We made a cafe for the birds on our hands and called it the Bird Feeder!
Patience... Patience...
Success!

We saw chickadees, sparrows, mourning doves, crows, blue jays, cardinals and woodpeckers, and a lot of bunny poop.

Reported by: River and Isla

Northern Cardinals (and hidden House Sparrows)

A list of birds that we saw:

  • Mallard
  • Mourning Dove
  • Ring-billed Gull
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • House Sparrow
  • American Tree Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • White-throated Sparrow
  • Northern Cardinal