Citizen Scientists plan to meet in Timmins, Ontario.

We are all

Citizen Scientists 

and 

Wildlife Photographers

The Timmins Naturalists are asking for the help of the public in their data collection efforts.

To that end we are having a workshop on 

Sunday May 05, 2013 2:00pm - 4:00pm 

at the Timmins Public Library 

in the Tembec Room.

The entire agenda can be found here

The short agenda is:
Welcome
Sturgeon restoration
Trail systems and Canoe Routes
Duck Boxes
5 minute break
Turtles, Snapping, Painted, Blanding's, Turtle Tally
Bats, and their Future
Citizen Science
Wrap up. Thanks you.

A note on Wildlife Photography. Everyone, well almost everyone, now carries a gizo that will take a digital picture. I carry a flip phone that will take a picture, but I have never used the camera. I also carry a small digital camera with me always and a digital video camera with me most of the time. My first reaction when I see something is to get a camera out.

One exception last fall. The dog and I are walking in the thick bush. I am being careful and watching my step. Suddenly I hear a low grunting sound and look up to almost face to face with a moose. It grunted while it's head swayed back and forth. It took a step towards me, I took a step back. Nose to nose ~5 meters. I was not thinking about my camera. When the dog finally joined me the moose moved off, only then did I think of the camera. Got a shot of the backside in the thick brush.

What we need is all of you photographers to take a picture and send me a note of where you took the picture. When I get a picture or a phone call I put the sighting on the Observations Naturally page and forward the observation to the information keepers. (Turtles to the Turtle  Tally etc.) I have kept this page up since 1994.


Previous Oxygen Grows on Trees entries for Citizen Science

111th Christmas Bird Count Results. read post
You are a Scientist - Citizen Science. read post
Timmins Checklist of the Birds. read post
You are a Scientist. read post
Butterflies in Timmins. read post
What We Do Citizen Science, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. read post

Timmins Checklist of the Birds

IT'S A POSTER

IT'S A CHECKLIST

IT'S ART

IT'S CITIZEN SCIENCE

http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3117363

Oxygen Grows On Trees

Great Bird Resource Online

Bird Pictures

Bird Sounds

Online pictures and sounds of birds. What a great resource.

If you want to learn the songs and calls you can use this tool. there has been a lot of work put into this site - I suggest you check it out.

DENDROICA

An aid to identifying North American birds

Thank Melanie at Timmins MNR for reminding me of the site. I also have the program on my computer so I can carry it with me everywhere. Now if I could just learn more!

Long Weekend Observations

This weekend again finds me on Ste Joe's Island, near Sault Ste Marie. It has been a very warm and wonderful weekend so far.

My first little 12 km walk on Saturday morning I came across these little flowers I figured they were Lilac, but the smell is not right and they were a little way in the bush from any property. The branch looks like willow, it is a woody stock. Correct me if I am wrong. Maybe the strong Lilac smell was not present yet so early in the morning.

This morning I went for a little bit longer walk. I traveled along the snow machine trail. In past years on easter weekend I have walked on the snow on the snow machine trails, but not this year. The snow is long gone from the trials in this area. intersection map

I reached the top part of the loop I was walking and should have turned for home. My side kick Roll'n was not looking tired at all so instead of turning for home we continued toward the sound of the sand hill cranes.

Another km and I knew we were getting very close. The noise was just on the other side of some alder swamp. A little further up and a path opened into a field. Stepping into the open I could clearly see the cranes.

I wondered if Roll'n might want to go chase them, but he was much more interested in the trails of deer and rabbits he had been following. Birds do not interest him any more. Even grouse do not get chased anymore - they just fly away.

These are my first sandhill cranes I see on the ground this year.

I try the video setting on the little camera to see how the sound will come out. Sounds pretty good.

Pictures Birds Survival

The Timmins Public Library has let me know that they are posting information on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology photo contest.

All of you with a camera can participate.

Put Timmins on the map by submitting your winning photo.

Survival Challenge - Photo - Video - Art Challenge

How do birds survive winter

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.

Spring in the bush

I got to go to the bush this week. !!!!!

That makes me happy. I was out to look at the roads and harvest area. Lots of water. All the snow is gone in the cut over area, but there are still pockets of snow under the trees.

A pair of sandhill cranes flies up as I come over a hill walking on the road. I had my camera and my camera-binoculars, but I was not fast enough to get a picture of them flying away. 

Starlings were super loud. There was a big flock of them moving across the cut over, jumping from standing water puddle to the next. Mixed in with the group were chickadees and sparrows.

A couple of ratty looking butterflies came lofting along the muddy road. They would land, I would chase, they would not let me get very close. I think they are Mourning Cloak

It is good to be out walking in the sunshine again.

The dog is covered in mud up to his belly and my boots are covered in mud. the side of the road is soft at the puddles and my boots sink 25cm, not deep enough to go over the top.

Birds Back to Timmins

Spring is in the air! Just look up!

Standing in the driveway yesterday chatting with a friend, when suddenly "wait, quite, listen". Being a little bit of weird bird Ivan thought nothing strange in the way my gaze reached to the cloudless sky after I silenced him.

Sandhill cranes. Sandhill cranes in my backyard, ok in the airspace above my backyard, but that counts.

This is the earliest I have seen them here by about 3 weeks. Summer is going to come fast and be hot!

Earlier in the morning a pair of robins were playing on my side patio. They are early by at least a week or more. Summer is coming fast and is going to be hot!

(if I say it one more time do you think it will come true?)

You can read more about the sandhill crane at Environment Canada.

You can hear the call on the site too, or go there now.

Read more about the Robin or listen now.

Muddy Mark
Learn more

Little creatures prepare for winter - Cone Cache

I was not out to collect cones today, lucky for some little creature
of the woods. I suspect it is a red squirrel that made this little cache of black spruce cones.

The squirrel will climb up a tree and bite off all the branches that have cones on them. It is a smart way of getting the maximum number of cones to the ground with the least amount of energy.

The clumps of cones are then removed one at a time and put into a neat little pile. Much like a beaver that will store food under water for winter a red squirrel will store cones that will be under the snow to be retrieved later.

Each cone can contain between 15 to 30 tiny seeds.

At the bottom of the trees in the area are many little chopped off branches with the cones removed.

While I was taking the picture of the cone cache another creature let me know they were getting ready for winter. I could hear a flock of Sandhill cranes overhead. They are starting to fly together as they prepare to fly south. Their chevron flight may look like Canada geese when they are far away, but the low croaking sounds give them away.

A small creek I walked beside was frozen over with very thin ice.