Trees are amazing.

These Black spruce trees are tenacious!

Black Spruce reaching for the sky.

This black spruce got a twist somehow maybe 50 years ago.
Some may say this is a Culturally Modified Tree, but this is in the middle of nowhere.
I am thinking snow made this one.



 :)

3rd annual TD Tree Plant

TD Friends of the Environment

3rd Annual Tree Plant

Yes, I am a little late posting, what ya go'na do?

A great turn out this year considering the weather.

All the pictures I took can be seen on the Millson Forestry Service FB page, take a look.

TD Tree Days a National event, read more
99.3 kiss FM report
Timmins Times, tree plant will happen, read more
Timmins Times, tree plant did happen, read more

02 G.O.T.

This Week in the Forest

Between the rain days

Great walking days

This week had a couple of really nice days to be in the bush. These days are the days that blur work and recreation. I just love to be able to walk and talk my day away in the forests.

Talk? Yes. I talk to the birds that fly close chirping me. I talk to the squirrel that screams at me 'cause I am too close to it's trees.

Today a stood still as I could hear an animal trotting on the forest floor, not running, just moving a good pace. It was a rabbit just making it's way along the forest floor. I stood still, soon a martin followed in the tracks. 

He lost the scent, I think the rabbit went past me too close and my scent covered the track. The martin circled a tree next to me. It climb the tree and nattered at me. I did take some pictures, but my little camera did not produce for me.

This week in pictures:

Very big Cedar must have burn years ago

only the very big stumps are left in this young (~90 year old) stand

Where is the martin?
Maybe you can see him, the camera I carry with me everywhere is small and light,
but it is not the greatest wildlife camera.

I got here just after it started to burn. Buddy told me the engine lost power,
started to smoke and within minute the whole motorhome was up in flames.
No one hurt. He did save his guitar!
Turned around and the thing was up in flames.

Roll'n still comes to the bush, but only on days where I do not walk.
He has wore himself out and can not come on the 1km + walks, his legs can't take it.

Road building. My truck is the first on the new bush road.

Class trip to the Millson Complex on Dalton Road.
I am looking fat in my jump suit,
I think it is the jump suit and the way I am standing - ya, ya that's it.

What will next week bring?

It was a good week.

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

Day after Early Earth Day 2012

Green House turns green 

early in the new year. 

CTV Jill Colton (@CTVJillColton ) and Mark check out the greenhouse before they leave for Sudbury after spending yesterday at Timmins Honda for Early Earth Day.

It is early April and already the green house is full of green conifer seedlings.

I just love coming in here when it is -30C outside and it is +25C inside. To watch the benches turn to green in a matter of days is just incredible!

Yes Jill, there are millions of tree seedlings here - and every one has a home!
These trees are the forests of tomorrow.

Most of the millions of trees do have a home, but some are still looking. If you want to buy a tree seedling, forestry size (small) or home owner size ( 6" pots) contact Millson Forestry Service and they can let you know what is available.

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.

First Flower on the Floor of the Forest

First Bloom in the Boreal

Finally, a colour other than white snow and green trees, now the subtle pink and purple of a flower. The first flower I have seen this season in the forest.

I took a picture, as you can see, but it is not great. The camera I use, Sony DSC-W350, is not the greatest camera I have ever used, but it is the smallest camera that can come with me everywhere. It is in my pocket in the rain, the snow, the 40 below.

The camera will fit in a plastic peanut butter jar. When we go kayaking the camera is in the jar, sealed and water proof. Need to take a picture? Let me just throw it at you. Soft landing in the water, you retrieve the camera and get a wonderful picture of me with the loon in the foreground.

Nice compact camera, but one day I would like to be able to afford a digital camera similar to the SLR I used to have.

This little flower, I am not sure what it is. My guess is Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), but if you have another suggest I am interested.

See more information at

eNature

Ontario Wildflowers

I'm looking Good!!

oxygen grows on trees Oxygen G.O.T.

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

Earth Day 2011 Planning Started

.
Muddy Mark and Forester Moe 
Talking Earth Day 2011

It looks like again we will be doing our travelling road show for Earth Day.  At Millson Forestry Service - Earth Day is everyday!

CTV came to the greenhouse to get some film to make the 2011 commercial spots. The greenhouse is an excellent spot to film with tree seedlings as a background. The green house has some seedlings, but it is mostly full of tiny sprouting tree seedlings.

We will be in Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins giving away free tree seedlings. Last year we gave away thousands of tree seedlings that increased the oxygen in Northern Ontario.  You can read more about last years events and see pictures in this blog.

You can see the Timmins Commercial go now or the Regional Commercial go now on youtube.

You can see last years PR and my other videos on my Youtube goforg channel

The 2 trees I have beside me came on the road with us last year. They will come with again. You can see behind me the greenhouse is just starting to turn green. Behind me are thousands of little tree seedlings just getting started.

Stay tuned for more information.

.

Road to Winter Wonderland

A Road Less Traveled

I have driven down each of these roads over the years.  Each road was built to access forest stands  to be harvested. I drove these roads when looking at the plantations to assess the health and survival.

Look at the plantations from the air in Google Maps shows how great the plantations are coming along.  New forest growing with vigour.  Great examples to look at for International YEAR of the FOREST.

See in Google Maps

See in Google Maps

Hiking Day in Timmins

What a great day.

Great turn out too!

Hiking Day at Hersey lake Conservation Area.

The trails offer smooth walking trails and signs to make sure you do not get lost. Distance at each sign means you can plan the distance you want to walk.

Great event, hope you can come out next year.

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!!

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

Feel like summer in the swamp.

What another great summer day in the forest! Yes I know it is fall, but it has been so wonderful the last couple of weeks.

I had the opportunity to walk up to a little pond this afternoon. I think I saw the biggest Northern Pitcher-plant I have ever seen.

One plant I looked into had a dead fly floating in the water inside the pitcher. You can see the fly in one of the pictures.

Is is actually fall, the tamarack is already turning yellow.

Northern Ontario Plant Database

eNature

Tree Atlas

Ontario Trees and Shrubs

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?

Is Potting Tree Planting

The last couple of days I have been working in the greenhouse potting tree seedlings. I like to think of it as tree planting! I am just planting them first, before some else will plant them.

I was planting black spruce and jack pine. In a little more then a month the seedling should be pot bound enough to be planted outside. One day one of these trees may end up on the Timmins Honour Role of Trees as the largest example in the area.

"Pot bound" is when the roots take up enough of the pot that it holds all the soil into a compact ball of roots. When you flip the pot over and remove the pot you can see healthy white root tips, the tree is ready for planting.

White pine were also potted recently, but I was not the one doing it. They look great. Who

ever buys these white pine will be buying the Provincial tree on Ontario. The Arboreal Emblemof Ontario.

Another activity going on in the greenhouse, while I was tree planting, is thinning. In the picture below Annie is thinning. When the seeding machine drops seed into the container sometimes more then one seed lands and germinates. It is important that every container only has one tree seedling. The doubles are removed while the seedlings are still tiny. It is easier to do it before the roots get tangled.

The seedling will grow and become root bound in the container, same as a potted plant only on a smaller scale. The seedling will be removed from the container, with soil encased in roots, to later be planted. In some cases the entire container will go to the field and the tree planter will remove the trees, pack them into their bags and plant them.

Tree Planting Today

A perfect day for a tree plant.  It was raining, but warm.

The Delta Class from THVS set up  a tour with Goldcorp to see some of the reclamation that has been going on. Part of the our included planting a tree. This was a great opportunity for me to finish the tour I had started at the greenhouse. We did not get to plant a tree during that visit. More on the greenhouse visit.

The rain stopped long enough for us to plant. Each student planted a tree. The area they were planting in had been tailings covered with a biosolid, a waste product produced at the Iroquois Falls paper mill. It grows grass great.

The seedling had some sawdust placed around the tree to help keep the weeds down while they establish. 

The seedlings were also a bigger stock with good root growth filling the 6inch pot they have been growing in. 

This summer Goldcorp expects to plant over 200 jack pine and white spruce seedlings with the help of those taking the tours arranged by the Chamber of Commerce.  

You can buy your own local seed source trees now, or wait for the the Arbor Week special at Millson Forestry Service.

The best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago, the second best time is now!  Get into the habit of planting a tree every year. If you do not have a place to plant your tree I am sure I can point you in the right direction where trees are needed.

Oh yes. One lad asked about the foot print in the mud. What had made the print.  While we were all talking at a story board I could see far in the distance the animal that had made the mark coming closer. The class was distracted from the discussion while the large sandhill crane flew over the group.

Today in the Greenhouse

Seedlings that had been started early in the new year have been moved out of the greenhouse and into a shadehouse.

This means there is more room in the greenhouse to start some more seedlings. I am told we are now starting black spruce.

In the picture is the seeding machine with Mindy, again. If you have been following this blog you will have seen her near the seeding machine a number of times.

What is going on in the picture?  The sheet (insert) of jiffy pellets is placed on the conveyor. A template is place on top before the inserts continues under the seeder. A "cruchunk" of the machine drops seeds into a tube which travels down to the jiffy pellet under the insert. It continues down the converyor where it gets watered before traveling another conveyor to the greenhouse bench.

The jiffy pellets will expand once watered to provide plenty of rome for roots.

Mindy - did I get it right? Dan you are looking good!!

Spring in the Greenhouse

Just a quick post to let everyone know the temperature has been turned up and soon you will see pictures of green as the tree seeds start to sprout.

The greenhouse is washed and neat waiting for the hassle of the seeding machine pumping out tray after tray of seeded containers.

Got to love it when spring comes early, even if it is just under a huge section of plastic.

Watch for it!!


Muddys' Emporium

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.