Spring has Sprung

White Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum

It was a beautiful day for walk in the woods and I even took my camera with me. For me the Trillium is one of the highlights of spring in Ontario. There are five or six different species of trilliums in Ontario but only two that are widespread and common. The white trillium is the one we all know and it is is the one that will carpet the hillsides in deciduous forests. I had passed this woodlot a couple of times lately, and saw the splash of white on the hills. I decided it was time to explore the woodlot and these are a few of the photos!

A hillside of trilliums

A "flock" of trilliums!

Red trilliums and white trilliums

Red Trillium, Trillium erectum

Early Meador Rue, Thalictrum dioicum

Large Flowered Bellwort, Uvularia grandiflora

The woodlot had a variety of other spring flora with good showings of Wild Ginger, lots of May-Apple, and some Jack in the Pulpit. This lot was right in the city of Oshawa, beside a major road. The next few weeks will bring lots of other spring flora out for your viewing pleasure. There is nothing on TV!! Go for a walk in the woods!

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Orono Crown Lands

A couple of months ago I visited the Orono Crown Lands and posted here about the visit and about the area. Today I recieved an email from the chair of the Orono Crown Lands Trust advising me of a couple of upcoming events regarding the Crown Lands.

On May 7 they are holding their Annual General Meeting, featuring a silent auction and an interactive raptor presentation. There will be owls and hawks from the University of Guelph.

On August 29 there will be a corn roast and BBQ at the Ochonski Rd parking lot.
For details on either of these events check the website

Feedback is a wonderful thing when blogging! If you have comments or suggestions regarding any of the posts on this blog please email me!!

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Float your Fanny

April 11, 2009 and thousands of people and hundreds of dogs are enjoying the beautiful spring day along the banks of the Ganaraska River in Port Hope, Ontario. There is entertainment for the kids, and music to enjoy, but the main event is this years' Float Your Fanny down the Ganny. This yearly river race is open to every type of non-motorized craft. Depending on the river levels, there is a lot of whitewater and this years' race was delayed a week due to high water. It was still to quote one participant “whitewater from start to finish”. At the finish line the first to arrive were canoes and kayaks.

Some even had people in them. Onlookers held their breath and helped the unlucky but undaunted.

The crowd cheered every one on as the craft got crazier and crazier. I will post a video of the race in the next couple of days showing some of the other crafts.

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OK, so it is Monday at noon, 2 days after the race, and here is the aforementioned video pared down to meet the 100 mb limit imposed by Blogger. If you see yourself or someone you know in this video and want some video, I may or may not have more of that particular clip that got left on the "cutting room floor". Email me if interested.

Port Hope is about an hours drive east of Toronto, it is a fun day for the whole family and today was enjoyed heartily by the participants and the thousands of spectators. This is one of Ontarios outdoor activities that you want to mark on your calendar for next year. This is outdoor dad signing off

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Rivers of Rainbows: Part 2

Part 1 of this subject left me with a mystery on my hands. I had gone down to see the trout climb the fish ladder at the Goodyear dam a week ago and they had disappeared. Well I still haven't solved it. I was back down with Jake and Isaiah this morning and did see quite a few fish jumping. There was no where near the volume that we had seen ten days before. I did manage to remember my camera and got some video.

As you can see the water level is quite high and in fact is much higher than it was on the thursday of my original post. However the time of day was the same as the friday when I saw nothing. We have had substantial rain in the last few days and that might be a factor. With the high water the only fish visible today were the big ones at least two feet in length. If there is anyone reading this who knows something about what makes them climb the ladders some days and not the others please post a comment or email me.
On the fence at the fish ladder is a bunch of poster boards informing the public about the ladder and the dam and how they are in the process of studying improving the fish ladder. Thats all great but it sort of begs the question; Since Goodyear no longer uses the dam for its industrial purpose, why keep it there at all? A stick of dynamite would take care of the dam and eliminate the need for the ladder completely. Just a thought. There are probably good reasons for not doing it. Again comments or emails are welcome.

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