Canadian Tree Tours

Only in Toronto -Coming to Timmins?

I think we have had our tour longer, first tree in the tour added in 2008.

We do not have a specific trail, but we do have a fancy map. The Timmins tour is more based on large trees in the Timmins Area.

Visit the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees. click here

Or go straight to the map. click here

Oxygen Grows On Trees

Earth Day Timmins

2012 EARTHDAY TIMMINS

Karl Habla organized an Earth Day walk at Gillies lake this year.
It was a wonderful day and the great ball of fire in the sky provided heat!

While the walk was not well attended it is the thougsht that counts. My kids laying in their beds said they were thinking of me.

more info from the Daily Press

Half of my Earth Day was spent at the 65th annual Sportsman Show. Again more info.

I really love to chat with the people that come to the Wintergreen display to talk about sightings and trails and being outdoors.

Plenty of people bought the Bird poster, only a townie!

For the first 2 hours my wonderful daughter joined me. She really only came for the candy floss.

I enjoy talking to people about the trails, the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees, Observations Naturally and interesting sightings around the area.

Nice!

Successful Winter Hiking Day

Winter Hiking Day in Timmins

A great Success!

A long hike and a shorter hike was the option. 

Hot chocolate and juice was available to all after the hike. 

Some got to go home with the checklist of the birds poster and 

others left with the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees flash card 

or the Observations Naturally flash card. 

These are still available at the Wintergreen Fund for Conservation office.

The Daily Press was there to record the event.

You can read the story online at

The Daily Press

Richard Moore was also on hand 

to provide excellent and knowledgeable information 

about birds seen at the feeders and on the rest of the hike. 

Richard can identify well over 150 birds by sound! 

Fresh Air

New Friends

Buzz about the birds

The pines really spruce up the forest

Little critters under the snow, tracks in the snow too.

Balsam Fir added to the T.H.R.T.

Balsam Fir added to the

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

This is big for a balsam fir. I found this tree last year, but only stopped last week to measure, GPS and photograph.

Balsam fir usually do not get all that big, compared to the white and red pines. They simply do not last that long.

It is interesting that half of the trees currently on the Honour Roll are all within 1 kilometer.

Look at the map that has all the trees on it, many are grouped just 25 km down highway 144 south of highway 101.

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

Map of all the Trees

White Birch added to the T.H.R.T.

White Birch added to the

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees.

I do not think this is the biggest white birch I have seen on the Timmins area, but I figured I would just grab a tree to compare to others.

This tree should not be very hard to displace from the Honour Roll.

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

White Pine Past it's Prime.

White Pine stands strong

long after it has stopped

producing Oxygen

Trees produce oxygen for many years over their life span. While they produce oxygen they also store a great amount to carbon.

This tree has a large amount of carbon stored, which it is slowly releasing as it rots. Eventually this tree will fall and over many years return to the earth.

This tree was captured by the google street view camera a couple of summers ago.

I have been watching the contrast of dead branches on the skyline every time we travel the highway. I wonder if I will get a picture of it after it falls, or will it still be standing long after I am not?

map view

street view

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.

Biggest Balsam Poplar in Timmins Area

Balsam Poplar added to the Timmins Honour Role of Trees.

I have added a large, old Balsam poplar to the website that has all the large trees in the Timmins Area.

This tree is 210.3 cm circumference and 66.9 cm diameter measured at 1.3 meters above the ground (commonly known as breast height).

The Ontario Honour Roll of Trees is up again. Take a look. 2 trees on the Timmins list are bigger then the Ontario giant. I will need to get the height of the trees to see how they stack up points wise.

We are still looking for the biggest White birch, Black spruce, Balsam fir and Red maple. I will find a representative before the end of the summer. If you can help please let me know!

White Pine Falls in the Forest

My White pine has fallen, my White pine has fallen!!

This White pine was the first tree on the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees, and was the first geocache I had created.

I first met this tree a couple of years ago when we were working in the area. There were a few surprises in the area, like the 400 year old white ceder and the yellow birch stand.

Ontario Honour Roll of Trees

Ontario Honour Roll of Trees - Updated!

For the longest time the Ontario Honour Role of trees has been a broken link. The Ontario Forestry Association has updated their site and the honour roll is once again front and center.

Take a look at the Ontario Honour Roll.

Take a look at the Timmins Honour Roll.

The Timmins Honour Roll needs your help to be completed. If you can fill in a blank with a big tree please let me know. Maybe we even have the biggest in Ontario!!

Timmins Daily Press pictures Muddy Mark

That is it for this years Earth Day, which really is Earth Week.

Millson Forestry Service supplied almost 4000 tree seedlings in 4 different locations here in Northern Ontario.

More tree seedlings will be available this year during Arbour Day, presented by Wintergreen Fund for Conservation.

Now is spring. I want to hear about your sightings. I like to hear about unusual bird sightings, turtles and now I guess I really want to hear about your cougar sightings. When you contact me I keep records on the Timmins Naturalists Observations page.

Don't forget we still need to find some more trees for the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees.

What is the ediquette for petting a pig.

What is the etiquette for petting a pig.

Driving home from Sault Ste. Marie we made a little detour to look at some beautiful red pine plantations. The Kirkwood Forest. The Kirkwood forest measures about 50,000 acres. The largest White pine in the province use to stand here, but it fell 3 or 4 years ago.

The little detour turned into a very very longcut. 100km and 3 hours later we were back on track. I figured it would come back to the highway, map? ask for directions? not lost, just don't know where I are going.

Back to the pig. This pig was standing along the side of the road just waiting for someone to come by and pay some attention to it. We stopped the truck and got out to pet the little creature.

It snorted and grunted while it wagged its tail.

The nose was covered in - let's say it was - mud!

Where was the pig : map

Where the hell were we : map

Where is the biggest White pine suppose to be? : map

Soil Study in the Kirkwood Forest

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

Black Ash Blue Sky Frosty Morning

Black Ash Blue Sky Frosty Morning

February 05, 2010. The sky was so blue, more blue then a ripe blue berry on a sunny forest floor - that is pretty blue!

Everywhere the trees are covered in a coat of frost as the temperature dipped below -20C last night. As the sun comes up the dark conifer melt quickly, while the branches of the hardwood retain the frost.

Two big black ash in the swamp contrast with the sky.

You can take a picture, but you just can not capture the whole frosty setting.

These 2 black ash are very close the the largest black ash on the Timmins Honour Role of Trees.

These 2 are located about 24 km south of the 144 - 101 intersection. Here is a map of the location if you want to go look at them yourself.

Frozen Muddy Mark

Buy your own tree

Biggest Oak Tree in Timmins

During the Christmas Bird Count here in Timmins a very large oak tree was pointed out to me. I will have to go back and measure the tree this summer and add it to the Timmins Honour Role of Trees.

I really did not think an Oak tree would grow this large in the area.

We also came across a smaller Oak tree during the count. It is interesting that once you start looking and others are helping you look you can find all kinds of interesting things.

I think I also found the largest Blue spruce - to be confirmed this summer also.

Large Oak Mapped

Small Oak Mapped

A Guidebook to Ontario's old-growth

Ontario's old-growth forests: a guidebook complete with history,ecology, and maps (published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside) is now available in bookstores.

The book includes:
* Overviews of forest history and ecology
* An atlas of 59 old-growth sites throughout the province
* Box essays written by experts
* Over 180 colour photos and 55 colour maps

more details available at www.oldgrowth.ca

front and back covers

The Timmins Honour Roll of Trees is here

Timmins Memorial Trees

Have a tree planted to honour the memory of a loved one.

Your donation will go towards the support of wintergreen's many community conservation projects.

You can purchase a tree that is planted near a walking trail.

Buy a tree in the name of a loved one will last very long time!

Contribute buy a tree

New addition to the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

Jack Pine

and

Red Pine

Added to the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees. I have been promised pictures will follow.

Tenacious Tree and white pine stump

White pine stumps. Two different time zones.

The other day where I was walking I came across two very large stumps. I know one is a white pine and I am pretty sure the second one is too.

Both the stumps are a result of the trees being cut.

The first stump is very old and has two spruce trees growing on top of it. Rotting stumps can make a good seed bed, but for spruce as the stump rots the tree will not be successful. Spruce like to be a little more grounded.

The other stump is of a more recent vintage. The stump is high, which would suggest a cross cut saw was used, but I think it was cut by chain saw with no regard to safe and proper felling technique.

Give it another 20 years and seed will germinate on this stump too. What I find interesting is the size of these stumps. White pine, I believe were a lot more abundant then they are now.

The very large white pine were important to the building of Timmins.

Forest companies in the area are doing a really good job of getting white pine back on the landscape. I hope one day we will see the many white pine again scattered close to town.

The Honour Roll of Timmins Trees has the biggest trees of each species in the area. the biggest white pine in the area is only 24 km down pine street.

The best time to plant a tree was 100 years ago, the next best time is today! Get a native tree and plant it today.

Scotch Pine Provenance Test

I think this is the oldest trial ever installed in the Timmins District. The test is also just another wonderful story about trees in the park. Where is it - map

Much of Kettle Lakes Provincial Park was planted after being harvested and burned. A very unique method of tree planting was used for a large area - machine planting. A machine is pulled behind a tractor, a furrow is created, the tree is placed in the furrow while it is filled back in - the tree is planted!

One of the early tree planting efforts in the park was a scotch pine provenance test. A provenance test compares trees from different locations. In this case trees seedlings, or maybe the seeds and seedlings grown here, came from many different location in Europe.

The scotch pine, also known as scots pine, is doing just fine in the park. The trees are a little deformed, but are becoming spread thoughout the park. This makes me wonder - when a tree species that is not native begins to spread in a provincial park - when does it become an invasive species?

Everything you always waanted to know about scotch pine is here

I have been taking visitors to see the scotch pine for many years. I have had visitors from Finland and Sweden that have been very interested in seeing trees that came from their country.

Represented are: Cevennes, Auvergne, Adirondack, W. Europe, Finland, Sweden, L. Austria, E. Baltic, Haute Loire, S. Finland, and W. Baltic.

I am not sure where some of these places are, well except for Finland, I got that one.

Picture 1: A scotch pine

Picture 2: corner marker, made to last

Picture 3: corner marker, made to last