Art of Fire - Forest Fire Leaves Art

ART

in the eye of the beholder

Walking in the smoke all day, may make my photographic eye a bit foggy.

No, blame the camera, it just could not catch the interesting forms left after the fire moved through the area.

I also did not have time to stand around thinking about the shape, the background, the lighting.

Branch of the birch tree burned well into the truck of the tree.

This stump in the cutover was hollowed out, leaving the burned roots exposed.

This white pine seems to be well protected by the thick bark. This may be the white pines first fire, and it may not be the last one it sees. 

Usually the white cedar swamps do not burn. This fire the wind was high, the temperature was high and the relative humidity was low.  This swamp burned in the trees and the ground remained untouched in some places.

Looks like the fire burned fast over the ground. Some areas were missed and  it did not burn very deep.   Ferns continue grow, some even had the tips burn off and then just re-shoot.

This location was burned maybe a week before  I took this picture.  The little yellow needles on the ground are the dried needles off the tamarack.  When you walk the needles continuous fall.

 Fire a natural part of the forest ecosystem.

Ecole Secondaire Theriault Class come to Learn

Future Environmentalist 

Learn the IMPORTANCE of our Forest Resources

The grade 12 class from Ecole Secondaire Theriault came for a tour at the greenhouse complex to learn what we do at Millson Forestry Service.   

Map of school location and street view of the entrance

École Secondaire Theriault

oxygengrowsontrees

Nature Deficit Disorder - have you been touched?

Are you Suffering?

Have you hugged a tree this week?

While driving into the forest the other day a story on CBC radio suggested we suffer from nature deficit disorder. We are are doing well as a species being taken out of the forests. They cited a study that proved young people did better if they were exposed to pine trees. I was driving past a Jack pine plantation with the window open at the time. Lucky me.

We are losing touch with nature, but more important we are losing contact. The smells and fell of the forest is important to human growth. The smell from the pines triggers something in our brains that just makes us more in-touch with our surroundings.

You need to plant a tree close to you, one every year. Why not plant a bonsai, then you can have a tree in your living space year-round. It is not hard. You can order a tree from Millson Forestry Service store in Timmins.

Nature Deficit Disorder links

Nature Canada - blog entry from 2008 describing the disorder
Best Health - What is nature deficit disorder?
PhD in Parenting - Cures for Nature Deficit Disorder? Help for our Planet?
Canadian Living - Quiz: Is your family suffering from nature deficit disorder?
Human Well Being and the Natural World - Just some facts
Canadian Institute of Forestry - Summer Outdoor Camps:  The best remedy for nature deficit disorder
Child and Nature Alliance - Get outside!!
Evergreen.ca -  they need contact with nature
Psychology Today - Exploring the natural world's psychological effects on human beings.
Education.com - The Critical Role of Environmental Education for your Child’s Future
An Interview with Robert Bateman - increasingly popular term among educators

Frogs are Green - definitely what the doctor ordered.

National Environment Week - Take the Nature-Deficit Disorder Survey Here

Trees we see plenty. It is green grass we do not get to see or smell for many months. So every year we grow our own grass in the house. A different container every year. When the kids were smaller we grow a big tray of grass to hide easter eggs in. It is wonderful to smell the grass after a trim with scissors. Looks like my grass is due for a trim this weekend.

Oxygen Grows On Trees

Tamarack in the alder

BIG WOLF TREE

Can a tree be a wolf? Yes, when it is a wolf tree!

Ontario Extension Note on terms talks about a tree that has a large crown.

I noticed this Tamarack that I have been looking at for a month from a distance. I finally went for the short walk through alder and raspberries to the base of the tree.

What a large, narly tree. It is a wolf tree! It stands by itself, towering over all the shrubs and plants that grow in low wet areas.

The tree is 201.2 cm circumference and 64.0 cm diameter. There is another Tamarack in the list but this tree is bigger. I think we will keep the top 2 of each species as the list grows.

We still require a couple of representatives, keep your eyes open for us.

Timmins Honour Role of Trees

More pictures of this tree and other can be seen here.

Spring is just around the corner

Spring is just around the corner.

I am thinking about all the new life I am going to be seeing very soon. Also thinking of visiting some old friends too, namely the biggest White Pine in the area.

We have some trees on the Timmins Homour Roll of Trees, but we still need you to find us find some giants of other species.

We have

Eastern White Cedar

Eastern White Pine

Red Pine

Jack Pine

Tamarack

White Spruce

Black Ash

Aspen

Yellow Birch

We need examples of

Black Spruce

Balsam Fir

Red Maple

Balsam Poplar

White Birch

A very big Burr Oak was pointed out to me this winter during the Christmas Bird Count. I will get the diameter this spring. A big blue spruce was also pointed out to me on the front lawn of a house.

I will get a picture with the owner of the tree this spring and post it here.

keep on the look out for honour trees, and let me know when you find one!

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

Timmins Naturalists

Foresters in the Forest

Today I walked a little over 4km in the bush.

Much of that was slogging through cedar and alder. You must walk gently, so when you step into the black hole of muck you do not go deeper then your knee.

I always enjoy watching Roll'n walk in the deep muck of the swamp. I am sure he enjoys the coolness on his paws. It turned out to be a very nice day.

Today we were looking at drainage. The company and OMNR are very serious about protecting the water that moves through the forest.

What I learned today was one of the lads better half saw a snapping turtle the other day! Wow that is 4 snapping turtle sightings in the last 2 years, 3 of them this year. I will follow up when I have the exact location and I will try to look around the area so I can get a picture. My other entry about snapping turtles.

One of our discussion was around the bark coming off the cedar trees.

I wonder if anyone know why this happens. We were about 500 meters from the last group of peeling bark cedar I wondered about before in a previous entry.

The suggest I like is it happens in the spring, or fall. The tree has lots of moisture in it when a very cold night happens. The tree expands with the cold and causes the bark to split all around the tree. Best explaination I have heard so far.

If you can tell me more - I would like that!

We also were very close to a little hawk screaming in the forest. The blue jays I think were bugging the bird. Using the Dendronica bird identification program I am pretty sure we were hearing the broadwinged hawk.

A wonderful day in the forest!!

Care to comment boys?

New Addition to Timmins Honour Role of Trees

Don Buck from OMNR has found the biggest Aspen and Tamarack trees. They have been added to the Honour Roll. These trees are the first of each species to be added, but Don and I agree the record will not stand for long.
I am sure this summer a bigger Aspen will be found.
Just a note about Poplar and Aspen. Typically, in this area, Aspen (specifically Trembling Aspen) is called Poplar, while Balsam poplar is also called Poplar (sometimes called black poplar or just Bam).

Timmins Honour Role of Trees