Let's ignore the fact that I skipped the third Beechwood evening because it was raining and extra cold -- although several stalwart stewards did show up and defeat more garlic mustard -- and turn our attention to this week, when Sarah from LEAF came to teach us about identifying trees. Being fairly hopeless at this, I was happy to attend the workshop, and I learned some useful things (which I will have forgotten by June if I don't write them down here):

*MADHORSE: This reminds me that the trees I'm most likely to see around here with opposite (as opposed to alternate) leaves are Maple, Ash, Dogwood and Horse Chestnut.

*That big tree by the Beechwood signs is an American Elm. Huh!

*Leaves from red oaks have pointy lobes -- remember the devil with those red pointy horns -- and leaves from white oaks have rounded lobes. Here's an example of some pointy oak leaves:

If only I had thought to snap some rounded ones to illustrate the difference. Another day. Many thanks to Sarah and LEAF for the great info. I'll have to start carrying my Trees of Ontario with me and actually using it.

I went back this morning to continue a little project I started last year, clearing "the point" (properly called "Marnie's Point," just waiting for the official plaque) of garlic mustard. I spent a lot of time at this last spring, and was curious about what I'd find this year. Would it be GM-free, or completely overrun? Somewhere in the middle, I discovered, with enough of the stuff to keep me busy for an hour and a half, but certainly much less than last year. I'm optimistic. I also cut down a lot of Japanese knotweed here last year, and of course it's returning as thick as ever, but I'll keep at it.

This little guy kept me company as I worked:

The sumacs we planted last fall are coming along pretty well:

Alas, so is the Japanese knotweed forest we keep cutting down:

There's a yellow jacket hard at work in the always-entertaining equipment box. I'm thinking this spells trouble for us later in the season:

Stay tuned for exciting updates!

Another rainy night, another small group of people who don't have the sense to come in out of it. We pulled more garlic mustard, spurred on by our leader's promise of one air mile per pound. I don't think we're going to be flying very far.

I saw the great blue heron in the river again. For a water bird, it sure does look miserable in the rain. I studied an animal on the bank for a while, hoping it would turn into a beaver, but it was just a groundhog. (You can tell the beavers -- they're the ones with the cellphones.)

First outing: I joined half a dozen team members for a session of garlic mustard removal. It rained steadily all evening, but I didn't find it unpleasant; in fact, it softened the earth and made the pulling easier. An oriole came to supervise and serenade us, and there was a great blue heron in the river along with the usual gulls, mallards, cormorants and black-crowned night herons. I didn't take my camera because of the rain, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

It's time to get back to work! Tomorrow night will be our first Beechwood outing of the season. We're off to a good early start this year, so beware, all you clumps of garlic mustard. Anyone interested is welcome to join us at Beechwood Wetland, Wednesday nights at 6.

Remember the gypsy moths from last year? The city is planning a helicopter spraying of several locations (Moore Park and Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Bayview and Lawrence E., Sunnybrook Park) to control the pests. More info here.

Stay tuned for a report on tomorrow's stewardship work. Until then, here's a picture of the oven-bird that was walking around in my garden last night. A first for me!

I went to Beechwood yesterday to see how things are progressing. As you can see, there's still a bit of ice on the pond, but the snow is gone. A lot of the smaller trees have been nipped off or stripped of bark by creatures needing something to eat during that hard winter. The sumacs we sweated over last fall are sad little stubs, but the poplars we planted "next door" seem to have survived well and are just thinking about budding.

Damage to a berry cane inflicted by a ... rabbit? Deer? Very tall mouse?

Exploded cattail. Maybe something will line its nest with that fluff?

It's always interesting to see what's living in the equipment box. This time I found a whack of grey spiders right where there was an interesting cocoon last fall:

Coincidence?

Mostly things are still brown and dull, but there's some lurid colour to be found in the ditches!

The river is running a little high but nothing serious. Still, please keep an eye on your children:

Spring at last! It's really astonishing how quickly things start growing when the weather warms up a little and the snow disappears. Some of the usual plants and flowers are showing up at Beechwood already:

The creatures are out and about too, and if you get there early in the morning and stand quietly for a while you can often catch a glimpse of them:

(Don't get too close to that last one.)






April Fool!

We've been getting a healthy dose of winter this year. I took a walk to Beechwood the other day to see how it looks under all the snow.

The path is a little harder to negotiate, but the skiers have been enjoying the conditions.

Tracking critters is a lot easier right now.

Look, no sign of garlic mustard anywhere!

But oops, we missed some Queen's Anne's Lace.

Bird report: for most of my walk I was surprised at the lack of bird activity. Finally, when I was nearly back to the road again, a redtailed hawk flew away. Immediately the chickadees started chirping all around me and this downy woodpecker worked over a tree a few feet away. I also saw a mockingbird and a kingfisher that was diving repeatedly for something in the river.

What a difference a week makes. After days of rain and mild temperatures all our pretty snow is gone and everything is brown and grey.

Sea urchin? No, just some grass poking up through a puddle.

Those oaks sure are stubborn about hanging onto their leaves.

Anyone lose their specs?

Oops, pretend I posted this yesterday. Here's the list of birds I saw in the Beechwood area during 2007:

• black-crowned night heron



• double-crested cormorant



• cardinal



• seagull



• Canada goose (and a Canada/domestic goose hybrid)



• mallard duck



• red-winged blackbird



• goldfinch



• black-throated blue warbler



• robin



• black-capped chickadee



• belted kingfisher



• downy woodpecker



• hairy woodpecker



• song sparrow



• house sparrow



• red-tailed hawk



• mourning dove



• blue jay



• American redstart



• common yellowthroat warbler



• tree swallow



• mockingbird



• catbird



• brown-headed cowbird



• great egret



• cedar waxwing



• bittern (seen by Don Watcher)

Happy New Year and welcome to any faithful readers who are checking in after my long hiatus. I'm back with a wintry report from Beechwood Wetland.

We had a heavy, wet snowfall yesterday that turned everything white. Do not adjust your set: the world really was as monochromatic as these pictures. When the snow stopped I seized my camera and hurried down to the valley.

Things are pretty quiet around the ol' wetland:

Here's the pond:

As I fully expected, I ran into Don Watcher and Cup Plant:

Don Valley stewards: we never sleep.

See the mockingbird?

Let's get a bit closer:

Ah, there it is! I also saw a kingfisher, a gull or two, and the usual clusters of mallards. That reminds me, I haven't yet published my bird list from 2007. Tune in tomorrow!

"Six days after Deborah Dale gave a city-sponsored seminar on growing natural gardens filled with native species, the garden that is her front lawn in Scarborough was razed – clipped to the stem by the city after neighbours complained the plants were weeds. "

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/250460

Last week we busied ourselves cutting flower heads off the phragmites. (The flowers are called panicles. According to that article, the pesky reeds also have ligules, glumes and culms. Wikipedians are so hardcore.)

It's an interesting experience to make your way into the phragmites patch, as the stalks are about twelve feet tall (even taller in metric) and you can't see much else. It feels like some kind of tropical forest. Bamboo?

Look down:

Look up:

Look straight ahead:

Turns out, a phragmites flower is a gorgeous thing, all subtle colours and flowing tresses. (Phragmites was the Greek god of really nice hair.)

Here's a little bunch of them:

If they weren't full of viable seeds they'd be a lovely thing for a flower arrangement. The reeds were also chock-full of snails and katydids.

Elderberries ripening:

A beetle checks out the great height of the goldenrod:

I've been out of town and haven't attended a Beechwood stewardship evening for weeks. I offer instead these lovely photos of beach wood.

I played hooky from stewardship last night. With an extreme heat alert and the humidex approaching (or reaching?) 40, this delicate flower recognizes her limits and stays inside. Hats off to anyone who showed up. No, wait, keep your hats on if you're in the sun!

Last week we found a gypsy moth in our equipment box. No surprise, as this is where I found a lot of gypsy moth caterpillars several weeks ago. This is a male:

Dude is a bit menacing up close:

Some of our plantings from earlier in the season, coming along nicely:

Joe Pye weed brings a welcome change of colour amidst all the green and yellow:

Meadowsweet: