On Saturday February 8, 2025, a large group walked the Linear Trail and then visited Riverside Park in Cambridge. Here are a few photos from that walk.
For the full report on the walk, with many more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Outing to Linear Trail and Riverside Park, Cambridge, ON.
On Saturday, December 14, 2024, 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 are a few photos from that outing.
For the full report on the outing with many more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Outing to the North Shore of Lake Ontario.
Late Summer Birding in Waterloo
by Stewart MacDonald
On Saturday August 31, 2024, an enthusiastic group of 14 joined the Author for a Successful and Fun day of Birding in Waterloo. The outing was in 3 parts. The day started off overcast and muggy, changing to sunshine and very warm temperatures by late morning.
In total, over 40 Species of Birds were identified by the group!
The outing started at the Stork Family Y, where a late Osprey was seen on it’s nest. Possibly the same bird was spotted at Columbia Lake later. A Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk conveniently perched on a telephone pole, providing us with good views…our outing was off to a good start!
We walked west and stopped at a storm drainage pond, where Red-Eyed Vireo and a fast moving Wilson’s Warbler in Fall plumage was spotted by the author. The first of several Great Blue Herons on the day was observed.
Moving on, we walked to a local pond, where the Author had received permission from a homeowner to take the group on his property, so that a Spotting Scope could be set up. From the author’s experience, this is the only place that a clear view of the pond was possible. We were not disappointed!
Clear views of an Adult Black-Crowned Night Heron, 2 Green Herons and 2 Great Egrets resulted. These were the 3 target birds of the outing and all were within 50 yards of each other! The Night Heron was a Life bird for some of the participants.
Moving north to the bridge at Laurel Lake, a # of Pied-Billed Grebes were spotted, as well as a flyover of a Common Merganser, and a Common Gallinule was a surprise find…another Lifer for some group members. Moving off road to the viewing platform, Cedar Waxwings and a mini flock of Warblers were spotted, including a Canada Warbler and an American Redstart!
The group then trekked back to the meeting place and drove to Columbia Lake. A # of shorebirds had been seen by the author the previous day, but alas, they had all departed, except for a group of Killdeers. However, a Bald Eagle, Caspian Terns, Blue-Winger Teal and a # of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons were visible. A Red-Tailed Hawk, a Juvenile Broad-Winged Hawk and several Turkey Vultures were also observed by the group soaring above us in the blue sky.
We finished the day driving to the Waterloo Rec Center and walking in Waterloo Park. The highlight of our walk was a flock of Warblers that we came across, led by a # of Black-Capped Chickadees. Pine, Black-Throated Blue, and Black and White Warblers were observed.
In conclusion. an exciting and fulfilling day of birding in the City of Waterloo was enjoyed on this late summer day. Thank you to all of the group members for their participation.
On Saturday, October 26, 2024, a group of WRN people spent a cool fall morning walking the Mill Race Trail to St Jacobs.
For the full report on the outing with more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Outing to the Mill Race, St. Jacobs, ON.
On Saturday, September 21, 2024, 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, and Bronte Harbour. Here are a few photos from that outing.
For the full report on the outing with many more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to North Shore of Lake Ontario – 21 September, 2024.
On Saturday, August 17, 2024, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a group to view shorebirds at West Perth Wetlands, Mitchell, ON. The morning started with a downpour, but it turned into a great day. Along with the birds there were a number of interesting insects. Here are a few photos from that outing.
For the full report on the outing with more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Outing to West Perth Wetlands, Mitchell, ON, 17 August, 2024.
18 enthusiastic participants joined trip leader Stewart MacDonald on a breezy but pleasant day of birding in the Long Point and Port Rowan area on April 1, 2024.
Songbirds were active at the feeders at the Old Cut Observatory where bird banding had just started for 2024. During our walk, Stewart spotted a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, which the group had good looks at. Several Northern Flickers were passing through and a number of Eastern Phoebes entertained the group with their persistent tail bobbing!
On Wednesday March 27, 2024, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a large group along the Mill Race Trail, St. Jacobs. They didn’t see as many birds as anticipated, but still got a variety. Here are a few photos from that walk.
For the full report on the walk with more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to The Mill Race , St. Jacobs, ON.
On Sunday October 15, 2023, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a group exploring the new Mike Schout Wetlands Preserve in New Hamburg. Here are a few photos from that day.
For the full report on the day, with more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to Mike Schout Wetlands Preserve, New Hamburg, ON.
Wood Duck Box Cleanout at Montgomery
On Friday, October 13, 2023, the Montgomery Committee performed our usual fall maintenance on the two Wood Duck boxes we have at the F.H. Montgomery Wildlife Sanctuary. The boxes are cleaned out and new wood shavings are added. There is always a bit of suspense ahead of opening the boxes.
The boxes are mounted fairly high up on a pole with a predator guard.
Each mounting pole is unlocked and then it swings down so that the box can be opened and cleaned.
The first box we opened had a large amount of fluffy down in with the wood chips.
The egg shells look like predation might have occurred, since normally we find membranes and shell fragments broken up by the ducklings moving around just before they leave the nest.
At the second box we discovered that there had been two different residents over the summer.
There was some trepidation in removing the Yellowjacket nest, but it had already been fully vacated.
An owl pellet and feathers were obvious clues as to the second resident. There is a reason that Blue Jays are not fond of owls.
This year was missing some of the excitement of two previous years, when a surprised occupant went for an unexpected ride.
On Saturday, September 23, 2023, David Gascoigne and Miriam Bauman led a group on an all day outing along the shore of Lake Ontario looking for birds. Here are a few photos from that day.
For the full report on the day, with many more photos, see David’s blog at WRN Outing to North Shore of Lake Ontario.
Alvar Field Trip
On June 1st, a small group from Waterloo Region Nature embarked on a 3 hour journey to meet with Bob Bowles in Orillia for a tour of Prairie Smoke and Little Bluestem Reserve Alvars. When we arrived, the temperatures were quickly warming up. Based on the small group size and anticipated heat we changed plans and followed Bob to a different Alvar. We drove from highway to backroad to dirt path and arrived at the limestone plain of the Robert L. Bowles Alvar. Immediately we could see that see an array of plants and colours in full bloom among the grikes and clints of the plain. Bob led us from the south to the north part of the Alvar to an area he called flat rock where we were saturated with a vibrant display of alvar wildflowers, mosses, and lichens. This was by far one of the most dramatic experiences of alvar flora that I have seen.
However temps were >30C and mosquitos were thirsty so we cut our day short and cooled down with a drink in nearby Brechin. I had a brilliant time and would highly recommend experiencing these alvars. Keep in mind that alvars are not protected by any legislation, and although the plants are resilient, they are at risk of being lost due to quarrying, as quality bedrock is present near surface.
Jeff Leader
Here’s a list of many of the plants, mosses, lichens, shrubs & many other species we encountered on our field trip:
Scarlet Painted Cup – Castilleja coccinea
Purple Prairie Smoke – Geum triflorum
Hairy Beardtongue – Penstemon hirsutus
Rock Sandwort – Sabulina michauxii
Long-leaved Bluets – Houstonia longifolia
Canadian Summer Bluet – Houstonia canadensis
Tall Cinquefoil – Potentilla arguta
Crawe’s Sedge – Carex crawei
Field Chickweed – Cerastium arvense
Early Saxifrage – Saxifraga virginiensis
Early Buttercup – Reanunculus fascicularis
Balsam Ragwort – Packera paupercula
Red Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
Orange Hawkweed – Hieracium aurantiacum
Wild Strawberry – Fragaria virginiana
Biting Stonecrop – Sedum acre
Upland White Goldenrod – Solidago ptarmicoides
Grey Reindeer Lichen – Cladonia rangiferina
Green Lichen – Flavoparmelia caperata
Dog Pelt Lichen – Peltigera canina
Tornado Moss – Torella tortuosa
Delicate Fern Moss – Thuidium delicatulum
Fir Tamarisk-moss – Albietinella abietina
Wild Bergamot – Monardo fistulosa
Tufted Hairgrass – Deschampsia caespitosa
Pussytoes – Antennaria plantaginifolia
Meadow Buttercup – Ranunculus acris
Early Buttercup – Ranunculus fascicularis
Tower Mustard – Turritis glabra
Fragrant Sumac – Rhus aromatica
Staghorn Sumac – Rhus typhina L.
Common Snowberry – Symphoricarpos albus
Chokecherry – Prunus virginiana
Nannyberry – Viburnum lentago
Common Juniper – Juniperus communis
Other notable species:
Beaverpond baskettail
Two-spotted Bumblebee
House Wrens
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrows
Field Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Killdeer
Snowshoe hare
Lots of Moose scat & Mosquitos!
On Saturday, May 13, 2023, Curtiss MacDonald led a WRN birding expedition to Hullett Marsh. Here are a few photos.
For the full report on the outing with more photos, see David Gascoigne’s blog at WRN Outing to Hullett Marsh, Huron County, ON .
On Wednesday April 12, 2023, David Gascoigne organized the first of WRN cleanups this month at Laurentian Wetland.
For the full report on the event with more photos, see David’s blog at Waterloo Region Nature Tackles the Cleanup of Laurentian Wetland.
