Signs of spring

I went for a walk along the berm on Tuesday the 15th. It was a nice warm and sunny day with the snow quickly melting underfoot. All the plants are still asleep but the birds knew spring is coming. The crows, sparrows, chickadees, and cardinals and starlings that have been our wintertime companions were all active but I also noticed some Redwing blackbirds up at the top of the populars lustily announcing their claims. There was also a single Robin waiting for the snow to melt away perched in a crabapple tree.



I learned today the school's application to plant more trees this spring was approved. So if all goes well the tree planting area will be extended to a new area to the south of the end of Newhaven this spring.

A late summer field

Well the goldenrod is out with a few clumps planting their yellow flags in the square. The yarrow and trefoil are still in bloom with the occasional fleabane, and purple vetch still out. The grass has mostly toppled over to form a messy mat over which you can walk. The insect life has grown numerous with plenty of truly large yellow and black orb spiders hanging out at the centre of their webs. The grasshoppers are quite large though not numerous. I saw yesterday a clump of large metalic japanese beetles mating all over a rasberry bush. There is a wasps nest in the square. The wasps are living in the ground and the only evidence of their nest is a small patch of disturbed earth in front of their wasp sized hole in the ground. The wasps were entering the hole every couple of seconds so it must be a fairly large colony.

As for mammal predators, I have seen a couple of different cats hanging out in the area in the past week. I didn't see any active hunting but one was spending time in the tall grass of the square. Yesterday I also saw a young coyote less than a kilometer away at the intersection of huntclub and woodroffe, it was broad daylight and he didn't seem to mind too much being watched. He eventually lopped away down the road.

Trees of the 1995 planting

I took some time in the past week looking at trees planted in 1994 and 1995.

Silver maples: These are quite a few fast growing silver maples. They have multiple trunks, but typically only one or two survive. The others as well as the lower branches die off and are easily broken off. The tree cuts off circulation to the branch at the trunk and after a year or two the branch is completely dry. The bark breaks apart and the branch will snap cleanly off with only a slight tap.

White Ash: These are also a common part of the overstory of the forest. They are more often a single trunk with multiple branches sweeping up. Their branches do not cleanly break off unless they have dried out completely after several years, otherwise the dead branches will remain flexible and on the tree. The bark on the tree trunks are only begining to become mature crevised bark. The bark on the branches is smooth redish brown.

Trembling Aspen: This short lived tree is already dying except at the edges of the forest. They spread by suckers and are expanding into the 2010 planting area through suckers.

Eastern Cottonwood: These fast growing trees are about 50% taller than the rest of the trees. They are already large trees, with one or two thick trunks. The branches of this tree are upsweeping, the bark readily falls off the dead branches but they don't break cleanly off until they have rotted out. Some of these trees have already died but the ones that remain have thick substantial trunks. These trees are already suckering into the new planting area.

White willow: This sickly bushy trees is growing on the forest edge but has died out in the interior.

Staghorn Sumac: The far south-east corner of the berm area is a sumac bush that is vigorously suckering into the grass area. The mower keeps it in check but it has also come up in the new bush area.

White spruce: There a few of these trees from the original planting. They are overshadowed by the deciduous trees except where they are on the edge of the forest.

White pine: A few of these straggly trees remain from the original planting, but they haven't been able to keep up with the other trees and are slowly being crowded out by the taller trees.

Red Oak: A couple of these trees are poking out from the edge of the forest.

Hawthorne: The hawthorne is on the east side north of the sumac bush. There are a couple of different hawthornes growing there.

Serviceberry: a few of these are on the eastern side by the Hawthorne. Most of the leaves seem to fall off in high summer.

European buckthorn: This is growing vigorously in the understory all over, especially on the north side.

Honeysuckle: This is also growing in the understory but grows best at the forest edge.

elderberry: a single elderberry (probably from the original planting is growing iin the northeast corner.

Sugar maple: There seems to be a few sugar maples growing although it is not as common as the silver maple

New resident? Groundhog

I think this is a new groundhog who has taken up residence in the holes on the east side of the berm. The holes had seemed disused for some time but this little guy was out there the other day making himself at home.

I saw some scat the other day that looked like it was perhaps from a coyote. It was black and full of fur and about the size of a dog's scat. I saw a coyote a couple of weeks ago not a mile west along Huntclub so they are certainly about. Hopefully they come by and take a few of the meadow voles. I have caught glimpses of the voles too often to not be sure that they are plentiful. I don't often get a good view of them though , I just see the little brown ball streaking across a bit of ground before it disappears into the grass. I learned though that the voles can be vocal. They make a high pitched squeek when they are disturbed by something. The other day I heard this high pitched squeek in the grass as I was walking through the square, when I came back to investigate I found a ball of grass about the size of my palm that turned out to be a nest of mice. There were 5 mostly hairless blind voles in the nest. Three of them came away in the covering when I removed the roof of the nest. I put them back and they seemed to be ok. 3 of them squiggled into the grass and the remaining 2 seemed to be asleep. When I came back a few hours later they were all gone. hopefully the mother had made a new nest for them.

Are deer visiting the area?

I was taking the tags off the newly planted trees this past week when I noticed that many of the serviceberry plants (Amelanchier arborea) have had some of their twigs cut. The cut was quite a distinctive cut. About a foot off the ground at a 45 degree angle, cleanly cut through with some damage to the bark on one side. The twig can be found by the plant with some of the leaves still on the twig. After consulting the internet I think it is unlikely that it was deer. Downy serviceberry is listed as one of the trees unlikely to be damaged by deer. Also browse evidence is supposed to be a ragged broken end not a clean cut.

I think it is much more likely it is a rodent cutting down the twig in order to get at the tasty leaves higher up. This fits with the 45 degree cut. Supposing the rodent cocked its head to the side to reach up and use its incissors to cut the twig. The damage to the bark on one side of the cut could be the mark of the lower teath. So which rodent is the culprit and why is the damage occuring all of a sudden? In the triangle cottontail rabbits are a common sight. I know meadow voles are around ( The other day I suprised one as I was pulling the grass away from the base of a tree. I practically grabbed it when I went to grab a handfull of grass, it then scurried away between my legs disappearing down one of its runways), squirrels are common, there is a chipmunk living on the east slope by the path as is a groundhog.

I have never seen a squirrel eat leaves and a meadow vole or chipmunk wouldn't chop down a twig a foot up from the base. No the most likely culprits are groundhogs or rabbits. Of the two I believe a groundhog is more likely because rabbits are too common a sight on the south side of the berm where the damage occured. If it was rabbits surely there would have been more damage all along. No I think it was a wandering groundhog looking for a new home that came by and opportunistically took some time feeding on his favorites.

Heat wave at the end of May

This past week has been a heat wave of record breaking temperatures for Ottawa. Lawns are already turning brown and the garden plants are suffering. Out on the berm the wildflowers don't seem to mind the heat too much although the newly planted trees and bushes are struggling. Today the second mowing of the season went around with a large mower leaving a double wide path around the trees on the south side. They seem to have done a pretty good job of avoiding hitting the trees.

The other day I took a closer look at the differences in the plants around the 2009 and 2010 plantings. Some plants found in the newly planted area are not present i nthe area left uncut for over a year and vice versa. In the 2010 planting area there is little grassleaved stitchwort and no vetch while in the 2009 area (the square) there is little white clover or chickweed but a lot of vetch and stitchwort. The area along the forest edge is even more diverse with buttercup daisies, wild carrot, goldenrod, canada thistle, philadelphia fleabane and yellow mustard all common while practically absent from the square or the bush area.

In the regularly cut over lawn area the common plants are: grass, dandelion, white clover, round leaved plantain, chickweed, black medick, yarrow, crab grass, silvery cinquefoil with patches of devils paint brush, hawkweed, birdfoot trefoil

In the newly planted bush area that has not been cut this year the common plants are: grass,dandelion, white clover red clover, chickweed, stitchwort, yarrow, black medick

In the square that was planted last year the common plants are: grass, crabgrass, birdfoot treefoil, red clover, vetch, grass leaved stitchwort, yarrow, dandelion, bull thistle. There are also isolated patches of other plants (wild carrot, chickory)

In the area that gets irregularly cut along the forest edge the common plants are: grass, goldenrod, wild carrot, yarrow, dandelion, stitchwort, blackmedick, birdfoot trefoil, honeysuckle, cinquefoil, philadelphia fleabane, canada thistle, purple vetch, buttercup, goldenrod, mustard, daisy.

In Bloom:
dandelion mostly finished,
chickweed
stitchwort
buttercup,
philadelphia fleabane
daisy just starting
creeping charlie
white clover
lilac mostly finished
honeysuckly mostly finished
red osier dogwood
ajuga 2 patches along fence
common speedwell
thyme leaved speedwell one patch
devils paint brush 2 patches
yellow hawkweed 1 patch
purple vetch
blue eyed grass under forest edge
columbine (pink escapee one patch)
yellow mustard (wormseed?)
garlic mustard (mostly finished)
Unidentified Escapee along fence yellow flower single pistle multiple yellow petals over laping about 2-3 cm wide in a small head of 3-4 flowers. leaves pinnately compound alternate on stem grows to 2 feet high, seems to like moist shady area and can compete with the grass on the north side

Summer is here

Summer is here with some really hot days. It was supposed to get up to 30C today. There hasn't been a proper rain since the weekend the trees were planted. Today and yesterday the city worker came by and watered the new trees. The trees desperately needed it since they hadn't had time to spread out their roots. Some of the maple trees that had frost damage are starting to recover and are producing new leaves. A few of the pine trees that were planted don't look like they have any life in them. I suspect they may not live.

This heat is bringing out the flowers. On the south side of the berm where the grass was commonly mown and where it is a bit drier the speedwell is all over the place in the short grass. Speedwell seems to be past the prime of its bloom period. Chickweed another small white flower that does well in short grass areas is starting to become more common. On the north side of the berm the common low flower is the purple creeping charlie. It is spread out all over and it doesn't seem to be bothered by competition with tall grass as it is all through the area where the tall grass is growing. It is really quite pretty.

One interesting looking plant that has been a mystery all spring finally reaveled itself to be the devil's paint brush. it grows in several large clumps in a sunny dry area on the south side of the trees where the mower goes once a year. They have been large mats of individual small plants. Until now the plants have stayed low to the ground and have just put out some very hairy leaves from a central base. With the hot weather a flowering head has jumped up and opened up to reveal the bright orange head of a devil's paint brush hawkweed.

In Bloom:
dandelion (going to seed)
speedwell,
creeping charlie,
chickweed
devil's paint brush
fleabane, (pink just coming on)
forget-me-not
blue eyed grass ( one location)
yellow rocket
garlic mustard (past prime)