Orono Crown Lands

Have you ever driven by a forest that is an old pine plantation with row upon row of Scots pine? Usually there is nothing in the undergrowth and the plantation is basically a monoculture. It is as interesting to walk through as a corn field. There may be a parking area and a sign indicating some facility or other. You drive by without another glance or thought. Such is the case on Taunton Rd. just west of Orono, ON. I see a sign for an Outdoor Education Center and for the Orono Crown Lands, but the trees around it are the monoculture of pine. I have driven by these lands a hundred times and never stopped. However a few weeks back while hiking at Stephen's Gulch a man I met suggested it would be worth visiting. Today I did just that. It was well worth it. I entered the area from the parking lot at the corner of Station St and Ochanski Rd just west of Orono. I walked a couple of hundred feet straight into the forest to the head of the trails. Here were some birdfeeders, and today, there were numerous chickadees, a few siskins, goldfinches, and at least one of each, red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches. In the immediate vicinity I heard blue jays and saw crows as well.

Chickadees at feeder

The trails are quite extensive and have obviously been used for cross country skiing in recent days. With gently rolling topography I can see it would be a very nice place to ski and will definitely be back out in the near future with my skiis. Farther in to the area I saw tracks of a variety of animals including coyotes and deer. Red squirrels chattered at me. The sun was shining bright on the snow and there was very litle wind. All in all it was a beautiful winter afternoon.

Deer Track through the forest

The forested areas are a mix of plantation conifers and deciduous second growth with rolling hills and small streams cutting through the area. This is all part of the Wilmot Creek watershed.



To look at the map at the entrance the area generally runs north south along the creek and is quite extensive with links across a few of the roads. It is large enough so that if you got turned around you might walk for an hour or two before coming out to a road. The main entrance sign had a pocket for trail maps but it was empty today. I would suggest you print one before leaving home. The map is one of the pages in the website run by the Orono Crown Lands trust.


This area looks to be great for mountain biking, hiking, and birding and in the winter skiing and snowshoeing. As it is only ten minutes from my house I will definitely be back!

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Best job in the world

OK so this is shameless self promotion, but here goes! About a month ago Tourism Queensland in Australia advertised for the "best job in the world". Basically they want someone to go and live on the Great Barrier reef and blog about it. I have entered the competition. Here is the link to the site

http://www.islandreefjob.com/applicants/watch/Pl9EQHa2A8Y

Go there and rate me 5 stars
Thanx

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Whitewater Canoe and Kayak Festival

For those readers into whitewater canoeing and kayaking one of the first events of the spring is coming up. M.A.C.K. Fest or the Marmora Area Canoe and Kayak festival is being held this year on April 18 and 19. The Marmora area is blessed with a half dozen rivers, which during the spring runoff provide some exciting whitewater. MACKfest has no competition or anything like that. Basically it is a gathering of whitewater enthusiasts spending the days on the rivers and the evening in entertainment. All the details of the entertainment are not worked out yet, but the website has details about a variety of runs in the area as well as camping info. If you are into whitewater or would like to watch some kayaking check it out. Marmora is about a half hour drive east of Peterborough on Highway 7.

Float your Fanny down the Ganny

On a different but similar vein, another whitewater event that is coming up sooner is this years Float your Fanny down the Ganny. The date for this years run is April 4th. This annual race is a float trip down the Ganaraska river in full spring flood. Canoes, kayaks, bathtubs, anything that floats is welcome. There is a whole class for Crazycraft. After the race check out the town of Port Hope for shopping or dinner. For details on this "race" see the website.

A Snowy Winter

Yes, the snow is deep outside right now and as I write this more of it is coming down. I have to say that I cannnot remember a winter in recent memory when we accumulated as much snow as we have this year and January isn't even finished yet. The snow bank at the end of my driveway is seven feet tall. I know because I am throwing shovelfuls of snow over it two or three times a day lately. The snow is so deep in our yard we had the snowshoes on just to walk around the house!!!

Lianna on snowshoes in our yard in Bowmanville

Every season brings treats to us in Ontario and winter birds are one of the things we look forward to. Siskins, redpolls, crossbills and grosbeaks are a few of the visitors that we don't see except in the dead of winter when they will come south and visit feeders. From the tundra we get Rough Legged Hawks in varying numbers most winters and every few years we will get irruptions of owls. A couple of years ago Great Gray Owls were turning up over much of southern Ontario. Cranberry Marsh in Whitby had some and a few kilometers east in Ajax there were as many as six. Usually this kind of influx is the result of food shortages in the normal wintering grounds of the owls. That was the case with the Great Grays 2 years ago.

This year the owl that is everywhere is the Snowy Owl. Reports of Snowy owls on the Niagara frontier, Burlington bay, the Leslie street spit in Toronto and Holland Marsh to name a few have been common. Farther afield there has been a Snowy owl seen in Tenessee, the first in 22 years. These owls are rare south of Ohio but his year there have been reports in Kansas as well as Missouri. One also showed up in Virginia.

Most influxes of snowies are the result of population crashes of Lemmings, the owls main food source. Lemmings tend to have cyclical populations. Apparently this influx is not due to a crash, but the opposite. This summer the lemming population was very high and as a result the number of snowy owls successfully fledged was very high. Because Snowy owls have their own hunting territories, the large numbers have resulted in an influx into southern Ontario this winter. So if you would like to see one where do you go? Probably the best spot to see Snowy Owls this winter (or most winters) is Amherst island. Amherst island is in Lake Ontario just south of Millhaven, which is about 20 miles west of Kingston. You need to catch a ferry over to the island, so check the schedule. Also there are no gas stations on the island. Driving the roads and keeping your eyes open should get you a few sightings. The counts have varied from 5 to 15 owls seen this winter.
Another good spot is the area around the Holland marsh, where 4 were seen yesterday with a fifth known to be in the area.

You might get lucky and see one closer to home. There was one in the GM plant grounds in Oshawa earlier this winter. My mother in law spotted one between her home in Newtonville and Port Hope, along Highway 2, just after Christmas. So as you are out and about this winter, keep your eyes peeled for these majestic visitors from the arctic tundra.