Timmins Temperature Records

7 days in a row :)

7 days of HOT weather :)

7 days of summer!

Then back to norms :(

I have not heard of any bears out looking around, but the birds are very early this year.

Normally Robin does not appear until April ~14th. This year the first Robin appears March 18th.  This is the first year that we have confirmed sightings of Bald eagle all winter. We had a pair during the Christmas Bird Count, and a single one spent the season at the dump. Another one was spotted along the Mattagami River all winter.

It was so warm on March 18th that the young ones washed the truck.

The Timmins Naturalists has a page called Observations Naturally that record sightings and observations. You see we had 7 days of record setting temperatures. The biggest record breaker was 27.9C breaks the 1979 11.2C record. We broke a record by over 16.5C.

Bear x2 and Bald bird

Early this morning I was on my way to near Foleyet traveling on highway 101. Trusty Roll'n is riding shotgun.

Just coming over the hill at boom lake I notice a big bird with a white head. My first Bald Eagle of the season. It was on the move and I did not get any pictures.

This is a map of where I saw the Bald eagle.

A little further down the road a small black bear ran across the road. Suddenly the one riding shogun was much more interested in watching the road then sleeping.

To finish off the day the trip home was made better with the sight of my favorite bird lumbering across the road. What is my favorite bird? You will have to read past entries.

Osprey Nest North West of Timmins

Big sticks and tree top is typical of an 

Osprey Nest

I went to visit this nest this week. It is not being used just yet, but spring is not too far away, I hope. I will have to watch this nest over the next month to see if a bird appears.

This is an Osprey nest, looks different then the nest I saw a couple of weeks ago - the black bear nest. 

read more about the black bear nest

The tree this bird has chosen is an old jackpine tree. When I walked to the base of the tree I could tell the tree was very dead, and was surprised the tree is standing so strong. I wonder how much longer the tree will stand. The plantation this tree is standing in looks to be 10 to 12 years old.




LINKS

Live nest cam waiting for the return of a pair of Osprey





When I see the bird return I will let you know, maybe I will get to use my video camera???


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Black Bear Stick Nest

It is a real thing!!

I got a picture this week of a classic Bear Stick Nest.  I was first introduced to the black bear stick nest during a stick nest workshop.  We were looking at many different types of stick nests and learning how to identify which bird had created the nest.

In the case of the bear stick nest - it is not a nest at all.  Rather it is a place where a bear sat and eat the buds off the branches of a tree. The mess that is left behind once the bear has broken many branches in the tree, can be confused with a real stick nest.

This is the second bear stick mess I have got a picture of.  Maybe one day I will get a picture of the bear in the tree while making the mess.

View in Google Maps

Bear Stick Mess (Nest)

Now the White pine seams Frosty!!

Today I drove past the large White pine with a seam from top to bottom, 


It was covered in frost.  The entire area is covered in frost. 

                                                                

It is so pretty to see the area covered in a white frosting covering everything.

I also stopped and took some closer pictures of a younger White pine that was covered in old man jack frost. 

 I bought a Sony digital video camera and I just can't wait to find something interesting in the forest to film. A 10 second video of the forest growing may  be a little boring, but maybe I will get to film a tree being used by a forest creature.

Thinking about Earth Day.  This year the Earth Day theme will work well with the UN International Year of Forests. Get a tree on Earth Day and plant it in the spring, a forest is created one tree at a time!


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Bear with Me

On Friday I was on my way to see the Bolduc brothers that are doing site preparation for tree planting. They are operating disc trenchers behind 748 John Deere skidders.

Disc trenchers expose mineral soil for tree planter. The furrows created also makes it easier for the tree planter to ensure all the ground is filled with tree seedlings.

Construction along the highway had a visit from 4 four legged forest friendlies. I stopped on the highway to take a picture. I rolled down the window so Roll'n and I could get a better look. Roll'n is so funny when it comes to bears. He kind-of talks to them, not a growl, not a bark.

This is where I took the picture. go to map

CBC Bear Den Live Webcam

Today on CBC radio there was an interview about bears and how mis-understood they are.

There is a site you can visit and read all about it.

He also has a live feed of the bear and cubs in the den.

It is worth exploring. I an not so sure I want to reach out and grab the fur of a bear, but I have come pretty close !

Read my black bear story and see pictures

Learning about Trees

It is wonderful to see so many people come out to learn about trees.

I spent the weekend at Kettle Lake Provincial Park and had the opportunity to invite campers on a hike to talk about trees and birds in the park. We did not see many birds, but we did stop and look at a large ant hill that had been disturbed by a bear.

Picture 1 : poster showing the areas planted and areas burned.

Picture 2 : I walk and talk with the group

Picture 3 : We had a little guy keep us on track with a GPS unit. Total walk 2.25km

Moose on Highway 101

Come up over a hill and right on the middle of the highway are 2 moose. One large cow and a smaller yearling got off the road faster then I could get my camera out.

I did have to slow down before reaching into the back for the camera. The cow went south and the little one went north. Roll'n really wanted to go and give a little chase. 

If we had been in the bush I would have let him out, he will only chase for a short time, or if the moose turns around.  If the moose stops he stops.

He likes to chase, but he knows better then to catch. Moose are a little bigger then he is.

He does like to attack, once they are down.  Look, here is a youtube video called

"Roll'n taking down a moose"

We also saw our first bear of the season. We pulled to the side of the road to watch the little bear. The window on Roll'n side was down and he has jumped out of the window before. Not to go after a bear, he knows about bears. He is funny in the bush - a bear is the only animal he will bark at. As the bear leaves the side of the road and enters the bush Roll'n lets out 2 little barks just to tell the bear he better get going.

Going to school

I am going to my daughters class on Tuesday. I expect they will all have looked at this and be able to ask interesting questions and be able to answer questions. Important questions about the forests of Northern Ontario.

While in class I might ask questions like :
1. What is the provincial trees of Ontario and why is it important?
2. What forest products are made here in Timmins?
3. What is a better construction material, wood or steal?
4. What tree species are found in and around Timmins.
5. What is the biggest tree in Timmins?
6. What is the oldest tree in Ontario?
7. Where can you buy a piece of hollow birch bark?

Questions that might get asked of me so that you sound smart might include:
1. Do you think it is working in the outdoors that keeps you looking so good!?
2. Who cuts your hair?
3. If I make a mark on a tree at 1 meter when I am 10, how high on the tree will the mark be when I am 20?
4. If I get lost in the bush how do I know which way to keep walking, which way is north?
5. Are you afraid of bears, do you get to see any?
6. How do you get seeds for growing trees?
7. How important are trees to the carbon footprint I am creating?

Hope the class is prepared. I will be there with as much 'hands on' stuff as my dog and I can carry.

How far do I have to travel to see a Polar Bear

Left Timmins as the sun was coming up. Had to drive to Cochrane for an "Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association" (OFSWA) meeting. We left Timmins heading north up hwy 655 as the sun began to peak over the tree tops.
The forest in the area along the highway is a mixture of black spruce and tamerack, with the occasional hump of poplar and birch. The sun made the tamerack look a nice bright yellow. The needles of the tamerack turn colour and drop off each fall.
After our meeting at the Tim Horton Center we went to the Polar Bear Exhibit.
Cochrane is in the north, but it is not that far north that polar bears would be wondering around the town. That is reserved for the black bears.
This was my first visit to the place, it looks like it is growing into a very interesting site. Old cars, snow machines and general store are all on site. Worth a visit I would say.

Please do not feed the bears

I did not get a chance to walk about at all, work got in the way. Sometimes that happens.

I thought I would reach into the past and post a picture I took a couple of years ago.

A black bear was working the highway 144. Every day he would hang around the side of the road waiting for people to feed him. Feed him they did. Within a couple of weeks just pulling over to see the pretty bear on the side of the road was an invitation for him to lumber on up to your window to see what you had.

I was parked on a side road about to enter the highway when I watched this little bear cross the road. I got out my camera and wondered how close he would come.

He would have climbed in I am sure if I did not close my window.

Bears and highway do not mix well, the bear was killed by a truck a few days after I took these pictures.