What’s going on out on the land?
Common Galls of Southern Ontario
I wanted to compile a list of some of the common galls one might encounter here in Guelph, Ontario. I have been spotting a few lately and wanted to build a little database for myself and for others who may encounter them and want to know a little more. The galls are named by the inducer, and what I mean by that is the insect as all galls below induced by insects. I hope to make a series of posts over time.
Field Botanists of Ontario Trip Report for Main Tract Mushroom I.D. workshop
Pulling in to the parking area at Main Tract, the biggest of the tracts of the Dufferin County Forest (coming in at 607 hectares or 1,501 acres), my first thought was that I was way too early.
We were supposed to meet for 9:50am, and I was arriving early for 9:30. It was going to be my first outing with the FBO and I really wanted to arrive on time. Luckily I did arrive early as the parking lot was sandy which meant some good time looking for bird and invertibrate tracks while waiting for my fellow fungal nerds.
Fungi on Black Walnut
I was out with the Learn The Land class at Arkell Springs the other day where we were looking at some trees and shrubs in their winter attire, when we came across a Black Walnut with a strange looking growth coming out of one of the twigs. We wondered about it for a while and then moved on. My partner and I ended up going back the following day to investigate some more.
Learn The Land at Bishop Mac
On a recent Sunday I was out behind Bishop Mac High School with one of the classes I facilitate with my colleague Annie. The program is called Learn The Land, and it’s a ton of fun. Together we have been exploring three different locations around Guelph over the past year and getting to know the local ecology (and so much more). When it comes to Bishop Mac, or the South End Community Park, we had been there a couple of times in the past year, though both previous times were in the warmer months. We’ve observed the Osprey nests, and went on a birding adventure but this was our first time out in the Winter months. Sadly there was no snow, but that didn’t mean we didn’t find anything to really dig into.
Deadly Galerina Study
One of the mushrooms I found today at work was the Deadly Galerina. I decided that I wanted to learn as much as I could about this species as they were a hazardous species which I may encounter on the daily with my students. I feel like if I know all of the poisonous species right off the bat, then if I make mistakes with benign/harmless species, then it won’t be as big a deal than if I made that same mistake with the poisonous ones. Make sense? Know the things that will kill you, and then you can take the time to learn more comfortably, and more forgivingly, with the harmless ones.
Tracking the Smith Loop, 2022.09.05
hello,
i'd like to go tracking today. I'm going to head out this afternoon, maybe to smith trail because i just need to wander. want to come? i know it's last minute, so no pressure, but it would be fun to track with you.
carolyn
I was just thinking that I wanted to get out for a little and see what I could find, but I couldn’t decide where to go and I was in the midst of researching. I needed a push and when Carolyn’s email arrived, I was stoked. I was most definitely down to go.
Boyne Valley Tracking Journal, 11.12.2021
Once the two of our crew had returned from bringing a car to the next road over, we began our journey through the Boyne Valley, North of Orangeville. I had been there before. The last time was 2019 with my second year of the apprenticeship. It was a great place for trailing White Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and was the first place I had ever seen Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis) tracks. I was stoked to be back.
The Season of Fungi pt. 3
The last couple of entries on Fungi were mostly about Mushrooms in their conventional forms. I wanted to focus on some cool fungi which don’t take on the shapes many of us are familiar with, but vary in presentation and form. Here are some brief introductions to three which have caught my eye in the past year.
The Season of Fungi pt. 2
Since it is the peak season for finding fungi, I had enough photos and enough interest that I decided to make another post detailing some of the species I have been finding. I also wanted to note that there have been dozens of species which I cannot identify, which have totally stumped me. In no way am I a master mycologist or do I know a lot about fungi, but instead these posts are just my process of learning, and hopefully retaining the information.
So here we go.
The Season of Fungi pt. 1
‘Tis the season to be on the look out for mushrooms. They are so abundant right now that I can honestly smell them on the wind while I walk just outside the wooded riparian trail by my house.
I don’t know very much at all about mushrooms, or polypores, or fungi in general. I want to learn more.
Parasitic Zombie Fungus Infecting Cyanide Secreting Milipedes
I went out with the tracking club on the weekend and while out we kept coming across these yellow and dark brown/black millipedes hanging out on the top of narrow stumps about a meter (~3 feet) off the ground.
Tracking Journal Jan 01, 2021
There were familiarities and mysteries while out tracking with Carolyn. She asked if I wanted to go check out a some Hemlocks she knew and I, as per usual, was down. She picked me up and on route she asked if we should go look at the Beavers she’d been visiting with her family. Again, I was down.
Who are you? Fungal Edition
There are many beautiful things in the forest. But sometimes the small things catch your eye. This post is all about two beautiful Blue Fungi I’ve seen recently. I am trying to write up what I learn so I can share it and keep it handy for the future. The more of us know, the better off we are.