Number 604 May 2014

Showy lady`s slipper, Cypridpedium reginae, photographed by Lynn Pady near Brampton

REGULARS FEATURES Coming Events 25 Summer Skies 15 Extracts from Outings Reports 14 For Reading 16 Wildflowers: Bellwort and Clintonia 17 Keeping in Touch 21 and Freshwater Mussels 18 3 Monthly Meetings Notice The Stinkhorns 19 Monthly Meeting Report 13 Monarchs and Bumblebees 20 President’s Report 12 TFN Grant Reports 22 TFN Outings 4 Nominating Committee Report 23 Weather – This Time Last Year 24 M E M B E R S H I P R E N E W A L 27 TFN 604-2 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

Toronto Field Naturalist is published by the Toronto Field BOARD OF DIRECTORS Naturalists, a charitable, non-profit organization, the aims of President & Outings Margaret McRae which are to stimulate public interest in natural history and Past President Bob Kortright to encourage the preservation of our natural heritage. Issued Vice President & monthly September to December and February to May. Monthly Lectures Nancy Dengler Views expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those Secretary-Treasurer Charles Crawford of the editor or Toronto Field Naturalists. The Newsletter is printed on 100% recycled paper. Communications Alexander Cappell Membership & Newsletter Judy Marshall ISSN 0820-636X Newsletter Vivienne Denton Monthly Lectures Lavinia Mohr IT’S YOUR NEWSLETTER! Nature Reserves & Outings Charles Bruce- We welcome contributions of original writing of observa- Thompson tions on nature in and around Toronto (up to 500 words). Outreach Stephen Kamnitzer We also welcome reports, reviews, poems, sketches, paint- Webmaster Lynn Miller ings and digital photographs. Please include “Newsletter” Anne Powell in the subject line when sending by email, or on the enve- lope if sent by mail. MEMBERSHIP FEES Please re-name digital photographs with the subject and $20 YOUTH (under 26) your name (abbreviations ok); scale your photos to less than $30 SENIOR SINGLE (65+) 200kB each. In the accompanying email include location, $40 SINGLE, SENIOR FAMILY (2 adults, 65+) date and any interesting story or other information associat- $50 FAMILY (2 adults – same address, children included) ed with the photograph.

Deadline for submissions for September issue, July 31 No HST. Tax receipts issued for donations. Send membership fees and address changes to the TFN office. NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE Jenny Bull (co-editor), Vivienne Denton, Karin Fawthrop, Toronto Field Naturalists 1519-2 Carlton St, Toronto M5B 1J3 Nancy Fredenburg, Elisabeth Gladstone, Judy Marshall, Ruth Munson, Toshi Oikawa, Wendy Rothwell (co-editor). Tel: 416-593-2656 Web: www.torontofieldnaturalists.org Printing and mailing: Perkins Services Inc. Email: [email protected]

This is the last issue of the newsletter before the summer break. The next issue will be in September.

The Editors would like to thank members of the Editorial Committee for all their hard work over the last year proof-reading the newsletter – especially the Outings!

Thanks as well to members and others who have contributed their words and pictures. Please continue to send your nature observations, opinions and adventures. While you are out enjoying nature during the summer, please remember to send us your photos or drawings.

See you on the trail!

Jenny Bull and Wendy Rothwell

Bee on sunflower in . Photo: Wendy Rothwell

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-3

TFN MEETING

Sunday, May 4, 2014

2:30 pm

Sand Dune Conservation Geoff Peach, co-founder of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, will explore sand dune ecology and management

VISITORS WELCOME!

SOCIAL: 2:00 – 2:30 pm

Room 003, Northrop Frye Hall, 73 Queen's Park Cres East

Immediately southeast of Emmanuel College, south of the Museum subway station exit on the east side of Queen’s Park. Enter on either the west or north side of the building. The west entrance is wheelchair accessible.

For information: call 416-593-2656 up to noon on the Friday preceding the lecture.

TFN Lectures 2014 - 2015

Sept 7 Migration in a Changing World: A Bird’s Eye View of Geolocator Tracking Bridget Stutchbury, Conservation Biology Professor, York U

Oct 5 Designing Toronto’s Open Spaces James Brown & Kim Storey, Brown & Storey Architects

Nov 2 Origin of Modern Ecosystems Jean-Bernard Caron, ROM Paleontologist

Dec 7 What is Happening with Monarch Butterflies? Donald Davis, Citizen Scientist

Feb 1 Mosses, Moose’s & Mycorrhizas Terry Carleton, Forest Ecology Professor, U of T

Mar 1 What the *#&! is a Bioblitz Shawn Blackburn, Programs Coordinator, Toronto Zoo

Apr 12 Climate Change, Bees & Flowering Plants James Thomson & Sheila Colla, Conservation Biologists, U of T

May 3 Toronto’s Urban Forests Janet McKay, Executive Director, LEAF

TFN 604-4 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

TFN OUTINGS

 TFN events are conducted by unpaid volunteers.  The club assumes no responsibility for injuries sustained by anyone participating in our activities.  Children and visitors are welcome at all TFN events. Children must be accompanied by an adult.  If you plan to bring children in a stroller, be aware that there may be steps or other unsuitable terrain.  Please do not bring pets.  To get to outings on time, check TTC routes and schedules (www.ttc.ca or 416-393-4636).  Outings go rain or shine: check the weather by calling 416-661-0123 so you will know what to wear.  Wear appropriate footwear for walking on trails which may be muddy, steep or uneven.

Sat , TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDENS – Spring Flowers – Nature Arts May 3 Leader: Audrey Campbell 10:00 am Meet near the parking lot entrance to Toronto Botanical Gardens. Bring what you need for sketching, writing or photography. You may choose to sketch in the TBG area as there are steep stairs in Edwards Gardens. Bring or buy lunch. Bring any work you wish to share with the group after lunch. + Sat WILKET CREEK PARK – Trilliums and Spring Nature May 3 Leader: Mary Taylor 1:30 pm Meet at the northwest corner of Eglinton Ave E and Leslie St. This area features an impressive population of white trilliums and other spring wildflowers, and is also an interesting area for migrating birds.

Sun LECTURE – Sand Dunes Conservation May 4 Speaker: Geoff Peach, co-founder of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation 2:30 pm Room 003, Northrop Frye Hall, 73 Queen’s Park Cres E. See page 3. + Sun EIGHTH ANNUAL JANE JACOBS WALK – Evening Ramble May 4 Leaders: Pleasance Crawford and Helen Juhola 6:45 pm Meet at the north end of Glencairn subway station on the south side of Glencairn Ave. Walk includes neighbour- hoods near Allen Rd, Ben Nobleman Park, Everden Rd and and Ravine. It ends at St Clair West subway station. Duration 2 hours. Bring binoculars.

Tues ROUGE PARK – Birds and Wildflowers May 6 Leader: Orval White 2:00 pm Meet at the east end of the parking lot at the Glen Rouge Campground, 7450 Kingston Rd, 1 km east of Port Union Rd and Sheppard Ave E for a 2-3 hour loop walk. Bring binoculars.

Sat EAST DON PARKLANDS – Spring Wildflower Walk May 10 Leader: Phil Goodwin 9:30 am Meet at the Second Cup on Steeles Ave E at Laureleaf Rd for a circular walk. Morning only.

Sun HIGH PARK – Walk for Wildlife May 11 Leader: Roger Powley 11:00 am Meet at the entrance to High Park at Bloor St W and High Park Ave for a walk to encourage everyone to get out and enjoy nature. + Sun AGGIE'S WILDFLOWER WALK – Nature Walk (Humber Heritage Committee) May 11 Leader: Madeleine McDowell 1:30 pm Meet at Lambton House, 4066 Old Dundas St. Rediscover the world of Agnes Dunbar Moodie Fitzgibbon, daughter of Susanna Moodie and illustrator of Canadian Wildflowers (published in 1867). All of Aggie's specimens were from the and Humber Valley area. Many of these flowers still survive in the Magwood Sanctuary. Approximately 2 hours ending at Lambton House for tea and a talk about Agnes.

Thurs HIGH PARK – Birds May 15 Leader: Wendy Rothwell 8:00 am Meet at the park entrance at Bloor St W and High Park Ave. Bring binoculars. About 2 hours.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-5

Sat – Birds, Insects and Plants May 17 Leader: Bob Kortright 10:00 am Meet at the park entrance at Leslie St and Unwin Ave. Bring binoculars and lunch. A joint outing with the Toronto Bruce Trail Club.

Sun LAVENDER AND BLACK CREEKS – Lost Rivers Walk May 18 Leaders: Richard Anderson and friends 2:00 pm Meet at the northwest corner of Weston Rd and Gunn's Rd. A joint outing with Toronto Green Community.

Mon – Nature Walk May 19 Leader: Margaret McRae 10:30 am Meet at the northeast corner of Beechwood Dr and O'Connor Dr for a circular walk to check out the spring wild- flowers in Crothers Woods. Some dirt trails and steep hills. No washrooms available.

Tues TORONTO WATERFRONT AND GARDENS – Evening Ramble May 20 Leader: Peter Iveson 6:45 pm Meet at the northwest corner of Bathurst St and Queen's Quay beside the war memorial in . Walk will conclude at the Music Garden.

Thurs OLD CITY OF TORONTO May 22 Leader: Linda McCaffrey 10:00 am Meet at St Lawrence Hall, southwest corner of Jarvis St and King St E for a 2-hour circular walk to see the post- industrial landscape, re-naturalized and reinvigorated; the and . Coffee at the Balzac coffee house.

Sat MORNINGSIDE PARK – Nature Walk May 24 Leader: Blair Campbell 10:00 am Meet at the first parking lot down the hill on the west side of Morningside Ave south of Ellesmere Rd. We will walk along Highland Creek to end at Lawrence Ave E. Lunch optional.

Sun TODMORDEN MILLS WILDFLOWER PRESERVE – Nature Walk May 25 Leader: Paula Davies 1:30 pm Meet at the entrance to the Wildflower Preserve at Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Rd. Come early to tour the historic site at . We will look for signs of active spring wildlife.

Wed WARDEN WOODS – Evening Ramble May 28 Leader: Betty McCulloch 6:45 pm Meet at the park entrance on the southwest corner of St Clair Ave E and Warden Ave for a circular walk.

Thurs CROTHERS WOODS – Physiography and Flora May 29 Leader: Ed Freeman 10:30 am Meet at the southwest corner of Moore Ave and Bayview Ave to walk through Crothers Woods. Dirt trails and some hills. Bring lunch. Walk will probably end at Loblaws Redway Rd.

Sat WILKET CREEK – Basic Nature Photography May 31 Leader: Lynn Miller 10:00 am Meet at the top of the road into Wilket Creek Park on Leslie St just north of Eglinton Ave E. Learn the basics of digital nature photography as we look for native wildflowers. Bring your own camera.

POLLINATORS of NATIVE PLANTS 2014 BIOBLITZ

by Heather Holm May 23, 24 and 25 published by Pollination Press, 320 pp This year’s bioblitz will be in the Humber watershed. Learn to identify, attract and plant for pollinators If you would like to participate or learn more, go to: and beneficial insects. www.ontariobioblitz.ca/ More information: www.PollinatorsNativePlants.com

TFN 604-6 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

Sun CENTENNIAL PARK – Nature Walk June 1 Leader: Claire Bergeron 1:30 pm Meet outside the LCBO at Burnhamthorpe Mall. From Islington subway station, take Burnhamthorpe bus #50 to Old Burnhamthorpe Rd and cross street to mall. This is a circular walk.

Tues GLENDON CAMPUS, YORK UNIVERSITY – Heritage and Trees – Evening Ramble June 3 Leader: Nancy Dengler 6:45 pm Meet at the southeast corner of Lawrence Ave E and Bayview Ave for a circular walk on flat terrain, focussing on Glendon's tree collection and human heritage.

Wed WILKET CREEK PARK – Trees June 4 Leader: Tom Atkinson 10:00 am Meet at the southwest corner of Lawrence Ave E and Leslie St (TTC #51 and #54 bus stop) for a 2 to 3-hour circular walk returning to the Toronto Botanical Gardens, or linear exiting at Eglinton. Bring binoculars, camera and a sunny disposition.

Thurs AND BEYOND – Evening Ramble June 5 Leader: Richard Partington 6:45 pm Meet at the bus stop at Cherry St and Commissioners St for a circular walk. Bus from Pape subway station or from King and York or King and Yonge Streets. Please check with TTC.

Sat TAYLOR CREEK – Nature Arts – Sketching at Pond and Picnic June 7 Leader: Gail Gregory 10:30 am Meet at the entrance to Taylor Creek on the east side of Dawes Rd just past the west side entrance at the traffic lights (#23 bus from Main subway station or parking on east side lot). We will take a short walk east to the pond and stay until noon, then walk west to our backyard picnic. Please bring your own sandwich. Salad, fruit and juice will be provided. Contact me if you have questions.

Sun HUMBER MARSHES – Nature Walk June 8 Leader: James Eckenwalder, Associate Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto 1:30 pm Meet at Old Mill subway station for an exploration of floodplain dynamics and riparian communities. Moderately steep slope down to and back up from the floodplain and no convenient washrooms. We recommend long sleeves and long pants.

Tues WOODBINE PARK – Evening Ramble June 10 Leader: Linda McCaffrey 7:00 pm Meet at the southwest corner of Queen St E and Woodbine Ave. We will make our way to the park through the prestige subdivision that replaced Greenwood Racetrack. There is a lovely pond in this park. Last year a delightful family of mute swans (parents and 3 cygnets) lived there. Hopefully they will return this year.

Thurs YORKVILLE – Heritage Walk June 12 Leader: Doug Paton 10:00 am Meet at west of Rosedale subway station. Morning only.

Sat ROUGE CAMPGROUND – Birds and Flowers June 14 Leader: Jim and Petra Grass 9:30 am Meet at the Rouge Campground parking lot on Kingston Rd east of Port Union Rd. Bring binoculars. Morning only.

Sun POETRY AND BUTTERFLIES ON LOST GARRISON CREEK – Lost rivers June 15 Leaders: Helen Mills and friends 2:00 pm Meet at Dundas St W and Crawford St. A joint outing with Toronto Green Community.

Tues GLEN STEWART RAVINE TO – Evening Ramble June 17 Leader: Bob Kortright 6:45 pm Meet at the park entrance 60 m south of Kingston Rd on Beech Ave. Bring binoculars. Walk ends on Queen St E.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-7

Thurs MORNINGSIDE PARK – Nature Walk June 19 Leader: Orval White 2:00 pm Meet by the washrooms west of the first parking lot. If the pedestrian bridge is closed, use the second parking lot around the corner. Entrance to the park is on the west side of Morningside Ave south of Ellesmere Rd and north of Kingston Rd. A 2 to 3 hour loop walk.

Sat L'AMOREAUX PARK – Plants and Nature Jun 21 Leader: Charles Chaffey 1:00 pm Meet at the main entrance of L’Amoreaux Community Recreation Centre, 2000 McNicoll Ave (parking available), which is 200 m west of Kennedy Rd (#43 Kennedy bus from Kennedy subway station or #42B Cummer bus from Finch subway station). A 3-hour circular walk on flat, well-maintained trails.

Sun BURKE BROOK AND – Nature Ramble Jun 22 Leader: Ed Freeman 10:30 am Meet at Lawrence subway station (northeast corner of Yonge St and Lawrence Ave). We will walk by Burke Brook to Sunnybrook Park on our way to the . Bring water and lunch.

Tues EGLINTON FLATS – Nature and History June 24 Leader: Madeleine McDowell 10:00 am Meet on the northeast corner of Scarlett Rd and Eglinton Ave W for a circular walk. We will see Simcoe's campsite and the site of Scarlett's Mill as well as plants, birds and butterflies. There is a restaurant near the end of the walk.

Wed ROSETTA MCCLAIN GARDENS – Evening Ramble June 25 Leader: Karin Fawthrop 6:45 pm Meet at the gardens (Kingston Rd east of Lakehurst Dr) in the parking lot near the washrooms for a circular walk.

Sat GLENDON RAVINE – Nature Walk June 28 Leader: Nancy Dengler 9:30 am Meet at the southeast corner of Lawrence Ave E and Bayview Ave. A circular walk through the Glendon ravine, Sunnybrook Park and Burke Brook ravine. Stairs into ravine, steep slope coming out. 2–5 hrs. Bring drink and snack. We hope to see Baltimore checkerspots.

Sun LESLIE STREET SPIT – Butterflies, Birds and Plants June 29 Leader: Bob Kortright 1:00 pm Meet at the entrance to the spit at the foot of Leslie St at Unwin Ave. Bring lunch, water and binoculars.

FOR ENJOYMENT OF OUTINGS

 Wide brimmed hat for protection from sun

 Long sleeves for protection from mosquitoes, poison ivy, thistles, nettles and ticks

 Long pants for protection from mosquitoes, poison ivy, thistles and ticks (tuck your shirt into your pants)

 Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to spot ticks

 Long socks to help protect you from ticks (tuck your pant legs into the socks)

 Hiking boots or running shoes

 Rainwear

 Sun glasses, sun screen and insect repellent

 Binoculars and camera

 Water or other beverage and a snack

 TTC Ride Guide (free), map, notebook and pen

Bring your family and/or friends, but ... NO pets allowed

TFN 604-8 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

Wed EASTERN BEACHES – Evening Ramble July 2 Leader: Bob Kortright 6:45 pm Meet at the southeast corner of Coxwell Ave and Eastern Ave to look at birds, insects and plants. Bring binoculars. Walk ends on Queen St E.

Thurs LAKE ONTARIO SHORELINE, EAST POINT AND GREY ABBEY PARKS – Nature Walk July 3 Leader: Orval White 2:00 pm Meet at the east end of the parking lot at the Guild Inn, 201 Pkwy for a 3-hour, 8-km loop walk along the sandy Lake Ontario shoreline with jetsam, then back along the .

Sat DRAWING WATERFOWL FROM LIFE – Nature Arts July 5 Leader: Joanne Doucette. 10:00 am Meet at the southeast corner of Coxwell Ave and Eastern Ave (Woodbine Park). Bring pencils, sketch pad and erasers, as well as a drink and lunch. This is an all-day workshop, ending approximately 3 pm. (Materials are not supplied.)

Sun ROUGE PARK – Nature Walk July 6 Leader: Vicki Bondy 1:00 pm Meet outside the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre (Pearse House), 1749 Meadowvale Rd for a 2-hour loop walk.

Tues EASTERN WATERFRONT TO CORKTOWN COMMON – Evening Ramble July 8 Leader: Phoebe Cleverley 6:45 pm Meet at the foot of Jarvis St on Queen's Quay, south side at Redpath Quay (Sherbourne bus), ending near a streetcar stop on Queen St E.

Thurs NORDHEIMER RAVINE – Heritage Walk July 10 Leader: Doug Paton 10:00 am Meet at the park across the street from St Clair West subway station. We will end in Ramsden Park.

Sat DAVID DUNLOP OBSERVATORY – Nature Walk July 12 Leader: John Bacher 2:00 pm Meet at Yonge St and Weldrick Rd in Richmond Hill. Take Richmond Hill Viva blue bus from Finch subway station before 1:30 pm. Bring water and binoculars. Approximately half of the 150-acre David Dunlap Forest in Richmond Hill remains threatened by urban development, the worst threat to forests in the greater Toronto region. The Richmond Hill Naturalists are still struggling to rescue it from the bulldozer. Come to witness this important ecosystem in the Don River headwaters.

Sun CHESTER SPRINGS MARSH AND – Nature Walk July 13 Leader: Margaret McRae 1:30 pm Meet at the entrance to the Dairy Queen on Broadview Ave at Pottery Rd for a circular walk, or end at Riverdale Farm if you wish.

Tues MORNINGSIDE PARK – Birds and Butterflies July 15 Leader: Carol Sellers 10:00 am Meet at the first parking lot on the west side of Morningside Ave south of Ellesmere Rd for a 3-hour circular walk. Bring lunch and binoculars.

Wed PROSPECT CEMETERY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD – Evening Ramble July 16 Leader: Alex Wellington 6:30 pm Meet at the northeast corner of St Clair Ave W and Caledonia Rd to view nature and trees. TTC #47 from Lansdowne subway station or #512 from St Clair West subway station.

Sat BEECHWOOD TO FORKS OF THE DON – Nature Walk July 19 Leader: Margaret McRae 10:00 am Meet at the corner of Beechwood Dr and O'Connor Dr for a circular walk to the Forks of the Don. Some narrow dirt trails. Bring lunch and water.

Sun SMALL'S CREEK – Lost Rivers July 20 Leaders: Helen Mills, John Wilson and Friends of Small's Creek Ravines 2:00 pm Meet at the southwest corner of East Lynn Ave and Danforth Ave, two blocks west of Woodbine Ave. A joint outing with Toronto Green Community.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-9

Tues LAMBTON PARK AND HUMBER – Nature & Heritage July 22 Leader: Madeleine McDowell 10:00 am Meet at Lambton House, 4066 Old Dundas St for a circular trip ending with tea at Lambton House. #55 Warren Park bus leaves Jane subway station at 9:45 am and stops at the door.

Thurs ST JOHN'S NORWAY CEMETERY – Evening Ramble July 24 Leader: Linda McCaffrey 7:00 pm Meet at the northeast corner of Kingston Rd and Woodbine Ave. Take the Woodbine bus from Woodbine subway station. This lovely historic cemetery has many graves of key people in the settlement of including the Ashbridge family, a lost river, a crypt, lovely trees and birds. A member of the Kew Beach owl family hunted in this area last summer.

Sat DON VALLEY BRICKWORKS – Pollinators July 26 Leaders: Dave and Norma Barr 1:00 pm Meet at the Brick Works, near the metal gates beside the low, curved brick wall just north of the main entrance off Bayview Ave. This 2-hour walk is an introduction to the importance of pollination in nature and some of the common insect pollinators active in an urbanized environment. As we observe them at work, we'll be talking about threats to pollinators and some responses to those threats, how to identify and photograph pollinators, and how to use citizen science to aid in pollinator monitoring.

Sun TAYLOR CREEK PARK – Nature Walk July 27 Leader: Margaret McRae 1:30 pm Meet outside the Victoria Park subway station for a circular walk.

Wed PORTLANDS – Weeds – Evening Ramble July 30 Leader: Joanne Doucette 6:45 pm Meet at the TTC stop (bus 72C but check with TTC) on the southeast corner of Cherry St and Commissioners St. Route is flat but much broken pavement, so wear appropriate footwear. Bring water. Walk ends at Queen St E and Carlaw Ave about 8:45 pm.

Thurs JIM BAILLIE NATURE RESERVE – Nature Walk July 31 Leader: Charles Chaffey 9:00 am Please contact the leader by July 28 to arrange car pooling to the Reserve north of Uxbridge. State your name, telephone number, whether you can offer rides and how many, or if you need a ride and where you will be coming from in order to choose locations convenient for pickup. Bring lunch, water, insect repellent and have footwear suitable for wet, muddy and uneven paths. We should arrive back in Toronto by 4 pm.

White-throated sparrow and blue skimmer dragonfly. Photos by June West

TFN 604-10 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

Sat RIVERDALE FARM – Nature Arts Aug 2 Leaders: Yoshie Nagata and Joe Bernaske 1:30 pm Meet at the farm entrance, 201 Winchester St. Bring what you need for sketching, photography or writing.

Mon CABBAGETOWN AND THE CEMETERIES – Heritage Aug 4 Leader: Janet Langdon 1:30 pm Meet at the southeast corner of Sumach and Winchester Sts. The walk ends on Parliament St. Some hills.

Wed HIGH PARK – Evening Ramble Aug 6 Leader: Wendy Rothwell 6:45 pm Meet at the park entrance on the south side of Bloor St W at High Park Ave for a circular walk.

Thurs GUILDWOOD PARK – Trees and Nature Aug 7 Leader: Charles Bruce-Thompson 10:00 am Meet at the parking lot at the Guild Inn entrance, 201 Guildwood Pkwy. Morningside bus #116. A chance to see the effect of mass removal of ash trees due to emerald ash borer. Bring binoculars. Morning only.

Sat CEDARVALE AND NORDHEIMER RAVINES – Nature Walk Aug 9 Leader: Kayoko Smith 10:30 am Meet at Ben Nobleman Park, across from Eglinton West subway station, and end at Dupont subway station about 2:30-3 pm. First dropout is St Clair Ave W and Bathurst St near St Clair West subway station. Bring lunch.

Sun CENTRAL WATERFRONT PARKS – Nature Walk Aug 10 Leader: Richard Partington 1:30 pm Meet at the Princes’ Gates at the south end of Strachan Ave to wander through Coronation Park, Little Norway Park and the Music Garden. If there is time we will visit Douglas Coupland’s canoe, north of the Gardiner.

Tues COTTONWOOD FLATS – Evening Ramble Aug 12 Leader: Scott Laver 6:30 pm Meet at the entrance to the Lower Don Trail at the bottom of Beechwood Dr next to the Police Dog Station. Walk or drive down the hill from O'Connor Dr, under the DVP. Parking available on Beechwood. Bring binoculars, sturdy foot- wear and water. A 90-minute circular walk along relatively flat paved and granular trails with no challenging terrain. An interpretive nature walk of a previous industrial and snow dump site in the Don Valley. Discussion of current and future restoration efforts in the area and identification of interesting natural heritage features.

Thurs MORNINGSIDE PARK – Nature Walk Aug 14 Leader: Orval White 2:00 pm Meet by the washrooms west of the first parking lot for a 2 to 3 hour loop walk. If the pedestrian bridge is closed use the second parking lot around the corner. Entrance to the park is on the west side of Morningside Ave south of Ellesmere Rd and north of Kingston Rd.

Sat LESLIE STREET SPIT – Birds Aug 16 Leader: Betty McCulloch 9:30 am Meet at the park entrance at the foot of Leslie St at Unwin Ave. Bring binoculars. Morning only.

Sun SKY AND WATER – Lost Rivers Aug 17 Leaders: Helen Mills and friends 2:00 pm Meet on the southwest corner of Dufferin St and Castlefield Ave. Including the story of an astronomical conservatory on the drumlin at the height of land between the Don and Humber watersheds. A joint outing with Toronto Green Community.

Tues CEDARVALE RAVINE – Evening Ramble Aug 19 Leader: Rachel Gottesman 6:30 pm Meet at the St Clair West subway station, Heath St exit, for a circular walk.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-11

Thurs TREES AND ARCHITECTURE – Nature and Heritage Aug 21 Leader: Richard Partington 1:00 pm Meet at the northeast corner of College St and Queen's Park Cres. We will explore the adjacent area and note the wealth of interest, arboreal and architectural, ending at Wellesley St and Queen’s Park Cres E.

Sat ALONG THE LAKESHORE – Nature Walk Aug 23 Leader: Ed Freeman 10:00 am Meet at Queen’s Quay Terminal building at the foot of York St next to the York St Slip. Bring lunch and water. We will end at .

Sun LOWER HUMBER – Nature Walk Aug 24 Leader: Mary Taylor 1:30 pm Meet at Old Mill subway station. We will walk north ending near the TTC in the Lambton area.

Tues MARITA PAYNE PARK – Birds and Butterflies Aug 26 Leader: Carol Sellers 10:00 am Meet at the northwest corner of Dufferin St and Glen Shields Ave just north of Steeles Ave W for a 3-hour circular walk. Bring lunch and binoculars.

Sat SMALL'S CREEK – Nature Walk Aug 30 Leader: Linda McCaffrey 10:00 am Meet at Woodbine subway station. We will trace the course of Small's Creek from its origin at East Lynn Park, along winding east end streets and through the delightful ravines that remain, concluding our walk at the site of Small's Pond, now Orchard Park. We may take a detour to Monarch Park and check out the historic Coxwell stables. Take the Coxwell bus back to the subway or pick up the Queen streetcar.

Sun HIGH PARK – Tales of the Familiar – Story Telling Aug 31 Leader: Joanne Doucette 11:00 am Meet at the entrance to High Park (southwest corner of High Park Ave and Bloor St W) for a circular walk. Bring lunch, binoculars, water and sun screen. Ends about 3 pm.

Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp) and northern pearly-eye butterfly. Photographs by Ken Sproule. See Ken’s website: toronto-wildlife.com

TFN 604-12 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

It has been a very busy time since the April report. Bruce In April, Charles Bruce-Thompson is attending several and I have been extremely busy putting together all the meetings with Toronto Parks about their trails. Todmorden walks for the summer season. We have a great variety of Mills is planning a restoration of the houses on the property leaders and destinations and we hope you will enjoy them. to represent different eras. The Terry House will be changed from the 1790's to the early 1940's and the Helliwell House I expect we will also be asked to lead a number of Outreach to the 1890's. On Tuesday, May 27, they will be presenting walks for outside groups this summer and we welcome new the plans and the reasons for the changes to the people to help with those. They are sometimes wanted in Historical Society. You are welcome to attend that meeting areas we don't know well and we would welcome people at the S Walter Stewart Library at 7:30 pm. There will be an who can lead a walk in their own neighbourhood or places outdoor art exhibit there this summer as the houses will be we don't go often. closed for the restoration work. They expect to re-open in We have three bird festivals that the Outreach Committee is the fall as they get a lot of visits from school classes. attending in May, a tree festival in June and a butterfly The Ministry of Natural Resources assures me that the festival in August. Please advise Stephen Kamnitzer if you approval of our application to raise butterflies should be would like to help with any of them. Please also advise me complete by May 1 when we are scheduled to begin. We if you are willing to phone members to remind them to have 13 people registered and are happy to have more. The renew their memberships. This is usually done in late July application process has been delayed because they are and early August. changing the process and it hasn't been finalized yet. I will Our board was concerned about the possible damage to communicate with all the registrants once the application is wildlife habitat on the waterfront if the Island Airport approved and will send all the information you will need. extends the runway and increases the number of flights. We We have been working on putting together a web page on supported NoJetsTO and I and several other TFN members dogs off leash in natural areas. I have collected about 300 have lobbied councillors to oppose the expansion. Council- photos of dogs off leash. We would like to get community lor Glenn De Baeremaeker proposed an amendment, which groups involved in watching the parks and reporting the was passed, directing: 1. that the Airport Master Plan and dogs off leash and hope to get the co-operation of city Environmental Assessment include a review and analysis officials in protecting the parks. I would like to hear from of: a. The impact that expansion of the airport may have on people who might be interested in participating in this effort the bird populations in the Inner Harbour and Tommy in their own neighbourhoods. It was suggested we could put Thompson Park; and b. The potential danger that existing information on flyers in pet stores and clinics etc. to try to bird populations and bird colonies may pose to air traffic convince dog owners to keep their dogs on leash. Please and air passengers and 2. That City Council also direct the contact me if you are willing to help in any way. Deputy City Manager to consult organizations including Bird Studies Canada, Animal Alliance of Canada, Toronto Have an eventful and happy summer and I hope you will and Region Conservation Authority and the Toronto Field join some of our walks or outreach events. Naturalists during the preparation of the Airport Master Plan and Environmental Assessment. So it looks like we will Please remember to renew your membership by June 30. have a continuing role to play and we welcome help from Margaret McRae our birders.

Photo Contest!

Have a great photo? Why not share it? This spring the Toronto Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology is hosting their first Nature & Wildlife Photography Contest with amazing prizes (including a TFN membership)!

Residents across the GTA are encouraged to get outside and explore with their camera. Contestants can submit photos in three categories, Flora, Fauna and Landscape, from April 14 to May 14.

Even if you’re not a shutterbug you can vote and share your favourite entries with friends online.

Visit www.scbtorontophotos.com to learn more.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-13 MONTHLY MEETING REPORT

The Reluctant Twitcher Sunday, April 6, Richard Pope

Longstanding member of the Toronto Ornithological Club, So Pope commits to seeing his 300 birds, thus becoming a Richard Pope, regaled a surprisingly large crowd for a purist and a nutter. But this also has pitfalls when your warm spring day with humorous readings from his 2009 eyesight isn’t what it used to be. book The Reluctant Twitcher: A Quite Truthful Account of He still needed two more jaegers late in the season, so he My Big Birding Year. headed early one fall day to Van Wagner’s Beach. “For a “Who am I to do a Big Year? People hate pretension.” long time, I see nothing... Suddenly, I see it. A big dark “I wonder what makes Pope think he should do a Big morph. Pomarine Jaeger. Funny no one else has seen it Year.” “Who cares what Pope sees?” “Pope’s a geek.” yet. I call it. ‘Big dark Pommie, coming in from the north, “Who the hell is Pope?” quite far out.’ I keep up the directions, as is expected. ‘Floating in about ten o’clock, up fairly high, a scope frame above the horizon, peeling off, starting to dive down toward the water in a slow floating arc, quite low now.’ It seems odd that no one else has seen it yet… ‘Right down on the water now, hovering, starting to go back up just the way it came, higher and higher, peeling left.’ It is at this moment I have a disheartening revelation. . . It’s a bloody floater. For the younger set (the under-eighties), floaters are those things that lazily drift across your eyes in larger sizes and ever increasing numbers as you age.”

In the end, he got his jaegers and 302 birds. And produced a witty and beautifully illustrated book that will surely be thoroughly enjoyed by all who search for wild things.

Lavinia Mohr If you are a casual birder, things are different when you are doing your Big Year. You feel exposed. The joy of birding is replaced by worrying about misidentification. One or two mistakes on the Internet and you’re dead meat.

Doing a Big Year requires rules. Pope’s was to see 300 birds in Ontario. He agrees with the American Birding Association that counting birds heard but not seen can cut down on harassment of birds. It’s also a lot easier on the neck. But he needed to see his birds because song identifi- cation can be tricky if your hearing isn't the best. And peo- ple hear bird song differently, complicating identification.

“One day I’m out with a novice and he says, ‘What made that weedly queedly?’ ‘What weedly queedly?’ I ask. ‘There, that weedly queedly,’ he says. ‘Oh, that. That’s a Blue Jay,’ I say. ‘I had no idea what you meant. It’s not Among the images shown following Richard’s saying weedly queedly, but queedly weedly.’ ‘It’s clearly readings were this female pine grosbeak (photo by saying weedly queedly,’ he says. ‘Queedly weedly’ Sam Barone), left, and Barrow's goldeneye (photo by ‘Weedly frigging queedly’. ’’ Only the arrival of some Jean Iron), above. other birders forestalls fisticuffs.

TFN 604-14 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

EXTRACTS FROM LEADERS’ OUTINGS REPORTS Trees, Prospect Cemetery, Feb 20. Leader: Jack Birds, West Don Valley, Mar 8. Leader: Ken Sproule. Radecki. We observed the arboretum trees, pioneer trees We observed red-breasted merganser, chickadee, cardinal, and the heritage bur oak. Birds noted included: black- robin, downy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, crow capped chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, downy and red-tailed hawk. A large section of the north E.T. woodpecker, northern cardinal and red-tailed hawk. Seton parking lot was being used as a temporary dump for

fallen branches from the December ice storm. Trucks were Winter Tree Identification, Crothers Woods, Feb 22. still arriving. Leader: Stephen Smith. Trees identified included: sugar maple, butternut, green ash, nannyberry, shagbark Trees, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Mar 15. Leader: D. hickory, bitternut hickory, hemlock, white pine, white Andrew White. We noted green ash, European ash, white elm, black cherry, red oak, white oak, bur oak, choke birch, white ash, dawn redwood, Douglas-fir, white fir, cherry, common buckthorn, alternate dogwood, and ginkgo, shagbark hickory, shell-bark hickory, hop-horn- balsam poplar. We saw a hairy woodpecker on a dying beam, horsechestnut, Japanese maple, red maple, sugar ash tree. maple, sycamore maple, Tatar maple, red oak, white oak, persimmon, Austrian pine, Corsican pine, Japanese red Nature Arts, Ashbridges Creek, Mar 1. Leader: pine (Pinus densiflora), Scots pine, white pine, London Joanne Doucette. We hoped it would be warm enough plane, Japanese sophora, Norway spruce and white spruce. to do some drawing, but the wind chill made taking gloves or mitts off impossible and it was too icy under foot to go off the paths, so I talked about the history of the route and the effects of the late ice storm on the old growth red and white oaks in Monarch Park, the remnant of the Ashbridge's woodlot, a favourite for naturalists before the area was developed around World War I. We looked for traces of the old ravine system and the ponds along the way, as well as the changes that the brick industry had inflicted on the landscape. Since over half the land surface in this area was brickyard, this is easy to do. A recent condo development excavated into the ground on the south side of Gerrard Street. The digging stopped when they hit the buried remnants of Ashbridges Creek and an ever-deepening pond has grown in the open hole. We may have ducks in the spring! We could hear the creek running at utility covers. Just as we ended the walk, Bob Kortright pointed out a large bird flying towards us Hop-hornbeam catkins. Photo by Baye Hunter. from the north east. At first we thought it was a great blue From canadiantreetours.org heron, but as it neared us it proved to be a bald eagle. Birds, Humber Bay Park East, Mar 19. Leader: Wendy Ed.: Though the walk lacked the planned sketching Rothwell. I enjoyed this group of young enthusiastic and art focus due to the cold, Joanne plans to lead naturalists, all relatively new to the TFN. It's exciting a workshop on how to draw waterfowl on July 5. when a birder sees something for the first time – a Members who want to find out more about northern mockingbird, an American wigeon or a pair of Ashbridges Creek or drawing birds can contact mallards displaying and mating. Joanne at Leslie Street Spit, Mar 22. Leader: Stephen Kamnitzer. Birds, Colonel Sam Smith Park, Mar 4. Leader: Anne Despite a gloomy weather forecast we had a very produc- Powell. We had good views of waterfowl along the east tive day. We saw 30 species of birds while exploring the shore of the park where we saw white-winged scoters and spit. We covered most of it in 5 hours. Lunch was at the a red-necked grebe as well as the other usual winter seldom-visited southeast tip where we saw a snowy owl. beauties. The inner bays were frozen and we avoided the After that we went over to the lighthouse where there were south shore where gusting winds made walking significant amounts of recently-dumped construction unpleasant. We were serenaded on the eastern point with debris. There was very good waterfowl viewing from the a symphony of tinkling ice - a special treat on a cold path between Cells One and Two. There were many red- winter day at the lakefront. Our walk concluded with Charles Bruce-Thompson spotting a coyote. Continued on next page.

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-15

SUMMER SKIES

By Aggrey Sambay, York University Astronomical Observatory

With the arrival of the Vernal Equinox on March 20, days are becoming longer and the nights shorter. I suggest we make the most of these condensed evening hours to explore the night sky. Amateur telescopes, binoculars, and even the naked eye have made it possible for us to explain what we see around us in the simplest way possible while enjoying the night's celestial events.

 May 10 Saturn will hover in the Eastern sky shortly after sunset at its closest distance to Earth, with its face fully illuminated by the Sun.

 May 24 An outburst of debris related to comet 209P/LINEAR is being predicted and it is very likely that this will be the strongest meteor shower display of 2014 seemingly emanating from the constellation Camelopardalis. With between 100 and 400 meteors per hour, this shower of shooting stars is definitely something worth watching. Look northwards about half way from the horizon to the zenith (straight up) and be sure to get comfortable and have no lights in your immediate field of view. Dress warmly!

 June 3 Beginning at 2:08 pm, which is (unfortunately) daytime here, Jupiter will experience a rare triple shadow transit lasting 95 minutes. Those lucky enough to be online to catch this event will see the shadows of three of Jupiter’s largest satellites move across the cloud tops of the planet. Try www.skyandtelescope.com or www.nasa.gov/.

 July 12 Mercury will reach its greatest elongation (W 21 degrees) and will be relatively bright in the dawn skies (eastern horizon).

 July 12-20 Mercury will lie within 7 degrees (east) of the very bright planet Venus.

 July 24 Jupiter will move into conjunction with the Sun, having been gradually vanishing into the evening twilight since early July.

 August 12 The peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

 August 29 An hour before sunrise in the lower part of the east-northeast sky, Venus and Jupiter will appear strikingly close together, making these planets an eye-catching sight.

York University has public viewing every Wednesday throughout the year. If you are not able to come to the campus observatory, log on to our Online Public Viewing page (yorkobservatory.com) any Monday evening. You are also welcome to email us at [email protected] to book a tour of our facility. Also, don't forget to check out the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Toronto website (www.rascto.ca) and the David Dunlap Observatory website (www.theddo.ca) for a wealth of other astronomical events.

Continued from previous page. breasted mergansers and long-tails on the outer shores of the spit. We saw a long-eared owl just south of the red painted metal bridge, pointed out to us by some other bird watchers. They said that it had been in the same tree for at least 3 days. As well as the many waterfowl, birds of interest included a killdeer, a short-eared owl, a goldfinch and many red-winged blackbirds. We also saw 4 mink and a beaver.

Birds, Toronto Island, Mar 25. Leader: Anne Powell. Ice lined the shores of the Inner Harbour and Wards Island Beach, and the Eastern Gap was still iced in. Waterfowl observed included long-tailed ducks, common goldeneye, white-winged scoter, bufflehead, common merganser and red-breasted merganser. Returning migrants observed American widgeon at Humber Bay Park, Mar 19, were red-winged blackbirds, common grackle and brown- photographed by Wendy Rothwell headed cowbirds.

TFN 604-16 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

FOR READING

The Once and Future Great Lakes Country: replenishing the grasslands, Riley protected the forest on An Ecological History his land which had previously been assaulted by grazing by John L. Riley, cattle. He fenced out cattle and buffered his forest with McGill-Queens University Press, 2013 tree plantings. As a result the “springs now flow as a stream again and downstream there are beaver,” while the John Riley has produced a great epic on one of the world’s “bush is now on the mend and has the feel of the wild.” most under-appreciated and abused bio-region. It is Riley shows how the pattern of ruin and recovery he astonishing that this land of such lost wonders as the witnessed in Mono is part of the epic story of the entire passenger pigeon, slaughtered and burnt out of its habitat Great Lakes region in the past century. While his scope is by the folly of Euro-American blindness and cupidity, has quite breathtaking, it is marred somewhat by quibbles not received such a comprehensive treatment until now. about how the conservationists of the past administered To write on the history of the Great Lakes region since the their healings. While mistakes were made, instead of last ice age is a daunting challenge. To Riley’s credit, his careful analysis, sometimes ridicule oversimplifies the most moving account of this saga is on the land where he challenges of past restoration efforts. had the wisdom to anchor himself. This is Mono Town- Riley’s worst mocking of the restoration efforts of the past ship, which he describes as “the high country between comes from a quotation gathered from the elitist confines Lake Ontario and Lake Huron, near the midpoint of the of the “invitation only” Brodie Club - an organization the Niagara Escarpment.” same age as the Toronto Field Naturalists, but without its Riley sets his own ecological restoration efforts in Mono outreach. From this closed circle immune from peer in the context of a community that has been healing itself reviewed debate, Riley mocks Edmund Zavitz’s since it hit a rock bottom of ninety percent deforestation in reforestation as the work of the “cult of the little pine.” 1910. At that time, he chronicles, “The wind began to The tragic consequences of not appreciating more carve blowouts and raise dunes in over-used fields.” seriously the conservation achievements of the past Aided by the work of provincial tree nurseries, Mono was emerge in Riley’s account of ecological restoration in able to recover through massive tree planting. In response, response to the construction of Hamilton’s Red Hill Creek he finds “Erosion was stopped on thousands of acres, and expressway. In his uncritical praise of this work, Riley forest now covers more than a third of Mono. The soils omits how there was soil collapse in parts of the Red Hill are healing, wildlife is returning, and the streams are valley creating barren badlands, conditions where no running clear again.” plants will grow. What is worse is that this disaster came Riley played his own role in the recovery of Mono. He about on lands which were reforested successfully by describes how his land had been plagued by an infestation Edmund Zavitz from barren rock conditions. While of “cemetery spurge, a sure sign of over-grazing.” He and originally in coniferous plantings, as intended, the valley his partner “eased up on the cattle, planting nitrogen-fixers had evolved eighty years later into a healthy mixed forest. to build up the soil, and grew windrows to hold the snow and water the ground. The spurge is now gone and the Review by John Bacher fields are a haven for grassland birds.” In addition to

The Birds of Thickson’s Woods Annotated Checklist Phill Holder and Margaret Bain Documenting the 313 species of birds seen so far in the reserve, with full colour photographs of each species, their status, and the specific dates of rarities seen. Phill Holder says: “When the Holder family arrived in Toronto in 1982, Thickson’s Woods gave us our introduction to birding in Canada. Thirty years ago a fund-raising board was organized to buy the woods and save them in perpetuity. Later the meadow to the north was included. Thickson’s Woods has become an important oasis for migrating and breeding birds – the only mature stand of white pines on the north shore of Lake Ontario. “This new publication marks the 30th anniversary of “Saving the Woods” and is dedicated to our son Matt who passed away suddenly in 2011. Matt loved birding the woods and, in his memory, all proceeds for the sale of this book will go towards the Matt Holder Environmental Education Fund.” For more information, email

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-17

TORONTO WILDFLOWERS: BELLWORT AND CLINTONIA

Many species once considered members of the lily family (Liliaceae) have, after molecular studies, been assigned to other families. According to The ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario, 2004, this places some Ontario species in six other families while bellworts (Uvularia) and Clintonia remain in Liliaceae. The Flora of North America (FNA) also lists Uvularia in the Liliaceae while the Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN) states the genus belongs to the Colchicaceae, a small family (about 18 genera, 225 species) better known for “autumn crocus” (which are not crocus). Both FNA and VASCAN place Clintonia in the Liliaceae.

Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) is up to 50cm tall with yellow drooping flowers as much as 5cm to 40cm tall bearing

long, generally single but also found in terminal pairs. clusters of three or Locally uncommon but widespread, it is found in Toronto more yellow-green in the spring in many forested areas from Creek nodding flowers to the Rouge. In eastern Ontario it occurs south from about 1.7cm long. Georgian Bay. It also occurs immediately north and west Although of Lake Superior. Its uncommon here it Canadian range is is widespread, from Quebec to occurring from the Manitoba and it is Humber to the found in the US in Rouge and in High most eastern and Park, in forested central states. areas, in late spring. The ROM Field Guide described its habitat as boreal forest in the north and coniferous swamps Bluebead lily in the south but the local habitat appears to be deciduous- (Clintonia borealis), a coniferous forests. It has been reported throughout most of slightly smaller plant, Ontario except the northwest. It also occurs from has flower stems up Newfoundland to Manitoba and in most of the eastern United States.

See if you can spot these two species as you enjoy our natural areas in the late spring. Peter Money

Left: Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) Right: Bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)

Photos by Peter Money

TFN 604-18 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

TORONTO ZOO AND FRESHWATER MUSSELS

By Mary-Kate Whibbs, Maude E.M. Tremblay, and Cynthia Lee, Great Lakes Program, Toronto Zoo

Native freshwater mussels in the Family Unionidae are found around the world, but are thought to be most diverse in North America (Williams et al. 1993). These mussels are also highly imperilled, which is distressing considering their important role as ecosystem indicators (Williams et al. 1993). Although extensive surveys have been conducted in southwestern Ontario, the inland waters of the Lake Ontario drainage basin remain a relatively understudied region. These surveys are crucial because they contribute to our knowledge of these important indicator species.

Very little of the Rouge River watershed had been formally surveyed for unionid mussels, despite the presence of at least one species at risk (SAR), eastern Rouge River pondmussel (Ligumia nasuta), where the river meets Lake and Duffin’s Creek in 2013 with the goal of cataloguing Ontario (DFO, 2013). Eastern pondmussel was assessed the species in the inland watersheds of the Lake Ontario by COSEWIC as Endangered, and subsequently listed basin. under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Fourteen of the 41 species of unionid mussel in Ontario have a A total of four species (including empty shells and live status of Endangered or Threatened under SARA, which animals) were found in the Rouge River: cylindrical provides them with legal protection that makes it illegal to papershell (Anodontoides ferussacianus), creek heelsplitter kill, harm, harass, or capture individuals of the species. (Lasmigona compressa), giant floater (Pyganodon Many species, including eastern pondmussel, are also grandis), and creeper (Strophitus undulatus). All of these listed under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act (ESA). are known to occur within this watershed and are Freshwater mussels are at risk for many reasons, including considered common in this region. After preliminary low water quality, threats from invasive species (e.g., investigation, no mussels were found at any of the six sites zebra mussels), and loss of their host fishes, which they searched in Duffin’s Creek. This presents a pronounced depend on to complete their complex parasitic life cycle contrast to the Sydenham River in Southwestern Ontario, (DFO, 2013). which boasts 34 species of freshwater mussel (Staton et al. 2003). The Toronto Zoo’s Great Lakes Program team began Continued on next page conducting freshwater mussel surveys in the Rouge River

Giant floater (Pyganodon grandis) Cylindrical papershell (Anodontoides ferussacianus)

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-19 THE STINKHORNS

Beware the stinkhorns! Their aroma is putrid. There are several stinkhorns on Toronto's trails. In the summer the phallic-shaped netted stinkhorn (Dictophora duplicata) emerges, usually in the morning, from a tennis ball-sized egg that soon splits allowing the mushroom to grow inches in hours revealing the net-shaped veil that hangs from the top of the stem. The head is covered with an olive-green stinky slime that contains the spores The flies love it and come from afar to consume it before fly- ing off and dispersing the spores wherever they wander. They leave behind an ivory, odorless head.

There is also a rosy-pink stinkhorn shaped like a large pitted crayon with the slime covering the top quarter. It is called Mutinus caninus or M. elegans or M. ravenelii, depending on which field guide you prefer.

Enjoy the stinkhorn experience. When you are trying to identify them, make sure it is fun, not frustrating.

Article and photos by Harvey Meland

Top left: Netted stinkhorn fruitbody and egg (bottom); Top right: Rosy-pink stinkhorn

MUSSELS continued Sources:

DFO (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) 2013. Draft In the Rouge River, density ranged from 0-0.9 mussels/ Recovery strategy and action plan for the Eastern 2 m . These densities are low compared to other areas; Pondmussel (Ligumia nasuta) in Canada [Proposed]. particularly the diverse and abundant mussel fauna of the Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Mississippi River drainage, where densities can be as high Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ottawa. vi + 54 pp. 2 as 118 mussels/m (Whitney et al.1996). Mackie, G.L., 1991. Biology of the exotic zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, in relation to native bivalves and Invasive dreissenid (zebra or quagga) mussels were not its potential impact in Lake St. Clair. Hydrobiologia 219: observed during sampling in either waterbody. This is not 251-268. surprising, given that invasive dreissenid mussels are Staton, S.K., A. Dextrase, J.L. Metcalfe-Smith, J. Di Maio, M. generally transported with the current (Mackie 1991) and Nelson, J. Parish, B. Kilgour, and E. Holm, 2003. Status and therefore tend to be less common in rivers, but it is good trends of Ontario’s Sydenham River ecosystem in relation to news, given the devastating effects that dreissenid mussels aquatic species at risk. Environmental Monitoring and can have on native mussels. Assessment 88: 283-310.

In addition to increasing our knowledge of our aquatic Whitney, S.D., K.D. Blodgett, R.E. Sparks, 1996. A environments, the results of these surveys have been comprehensive evaluation of three mussel beds in Reach 15 of the Upper Mississippi River. Center for Aquatic incorporated into the Toronto Zoo’s bilingual Great Lakes Ecology, Illinois Natural History Survey, August 1996. Outreach program, in which local aquatic species at risk are highlighted to raise awareness of key Great Lakes Williams, J.D., M.L. Warren Jr., K.S. Cummings, J.L. issues in schools. For more information on the Toronto Harris, and R.J. Neves. Conservation status of freshwater mussels of the United States and Canada. Fisheries 18 Zoo’s Great Lakes Program, please send an email to: (9): 6-22. [email protected].

TFN 604-20 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014 Monarch Butterfly Updates The Buzz about Bumble Bees

By Sheila Colla Help monarchs by planting milkweed Throughout April, the David Suzuki Foundation will be The decline of bees is increasingly recognized and an selling milkweed plants in Toronto for $5 each. Plants will important environmental, agricultural and now even be available for pick-up at on May 25. Or, political issue. As a result, interest in these fuzzy make a donation of $25 and 5 milkweed plants will be creatures has grown considerably in the past few planted along the route of the buried Garrison Creek. For years. Here are exciting new initiatives, research and information go to www.davidsuzuki.org/gotmilkweed or tools now available to help us understand the status of phone 647-456-9752 or email [email protected]. our native bumble bees:

Monarch breeding habitat in Ontario  The Bumble Bees of North America: Read more at Ontario Nature : ontarionature.org An Identification Guide Princeton University Press, 200+ pages The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is proposing that milkweed be removed from the Schedule of Noxious Weeds Identify both females and males using the most up-to- and that dog-strangling vine be added. Milkweed provides date taxonomic and molecular research. The guide an important habitat and a larval food source for the also compiles ecological and distribution information monarch butterfly, which is experiencing an alarming for each species. If you always wanted to learn how to confidently identify the bumble bees in your decline in numbers. Dog-strangling vine is an invasive plant backyard, this book should help you. Available on that can be difficult to control once established. It is also a Amazon.ca. hazard to monarch butterfly populations because, though monarch butterflies are attracted to it, any eggs they lay on  Bumble Bee Watch the plant will not survive. Wildlife Preservation Canada has teamed up with the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, the Monarch habitat along migration route Montreal Insectarium and the University of Ottawa to Read more at Monarch Watch: monarchwatch.org/ launch www.BumbleBeeWatch.org. This new citizen science initiative will help people like you To restore habitats for monarchs, pollinators, and other contribute to scientific research on the ecology and wildlife, Monarch Watch is initiating a nationwide conservation of native bumble bees. The site will landscape restoration program called “Bring Back The also allow more people to help us locate rare Monarchs.” The goals of this program are to restore 20 populations for species such as the Endangered milkweed species, used by monarch caterpillars as food, to Rusty-patched Bumble Bee. their native ranges throughout the United States and to  In 2014, Wildlife Preservation Canada and the encourage the planting of nectar-producing native flowers Thomson lab at University of Toronto will team up to that support adult monarchs and other pollinators. This continue work on native bumble bees. We will be program is an outgrowth of the Monarch Waystation investigating threats to native bees such as pesticide Program started by Monarch Watch in 2005. There are now use, introduced disease and climate change. Stay over 5,000 certified Monarch Waystations – mostly habitats tuned! created in home gardens, schoolyards, parks, and Ed: Sheila Colla and James Thomson will be commercial landscaping. presenting the TFN monthly lecture next April.

2014 migration Read more at Journey North: www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/

As we go to press in mid-April, the first monarchs to leave Mexico have travelled 1200 miles to Oklahoma. The migration follows the growth of milkweed. Check out the weekly updates of the butterflies’ journey and the emergence of milkweed on maps at the Journey North website: www.learner.org/north/monarch.

What is Happening with Monarch Butterflies? Hear Donald Davis speak at the TFN Dec 7 monthly meeting (see page 3).

Monarch caterpillar chomping on milkweed. Photo by Ken Sproule

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-21

KEEPING IN TOUCH

I am very concerned over the article published in the April TFN newsletter advocating the harvesting of wild mushrooms, including at Point Pelee. Southern Ontario in general and Toronto in particular have so little remaining natural habitat and so many people visiting those areas that they are under severe pressure. Such harvesting and the trampling it would entail are unsustainable. Furthermore it is illegal to pick anything in City of Toronto parks or in national parks such as Point Pelee and Rouge. The following quotation from the Rouge Park website (rougepark.com/explore/protect.php) explains the ecological impact of picking mushrooms.

“Removing plants or mushrooms from the Park is also Here is a photo of one of the fascinating and enigmatic prohibited. Many people do not realize that stopping to ravens that seem to be nesting at TTP – first time in collect some of their favorite wildflowers or edible decades so the nest is being ‘staked out’ and records are mushrooms while exploring the Park can have a significant being kept. Exciting!! negative effect on the ecological processes that occur in Lynn Pady the area. Every species, from deer to mushrooms, has an …………………………………………………………… important role to play in the ecosystem. For example, fungi I am in love with salamanders! I have quite a few in my act to decompose dead plant and animal matter returning garden, had a live one in the basement in the fall, and important nutrients to the soil. This in turn allows new have had a couple of ‘found’ dry ones in the crawl space, plant growth to flourish. If we harvest a species quicker which are now in my display case. They appear to be than it can be replenished, that species could become common in my east end garden, and I suspect my water- seriously depleted or even extinct, causing these ecological ing system helps them a lot. I found two between stacked processes to be altered.” plastic containers in which I was holding a couple of As one of the TFN's stated aims is “to encourage the small plants in the watering zone. I left the salamanders preservation of our natural heritage,” I believe TFN alone and want to think how to make more safe havens should encourage people to stay on trails, leave nothing for them this summer. but footprints and take nothing but pictures, regardless of I even had the luck to see a baby red back. About three how tasty some wild foods might be. years ago a box shape had been dug 10 inches into the Marilynn Murphy ground to hold the workings for the watering system. …………………………………………………………… When it was being checked in 2013 I asked the young NEWS FROM MADELEINE McDOWELL man to go carefully when he lifted the cover. We saw the Two hundred enthusiastic people with lanterns and adult and the perfect copy in miniature, the baby. I did candles attended Green 13’s 6th annual Earth Hour walk not know they happened and could not believe my eyes! on March 29. Madeleine led this walk along the Humber Then I re-read the article in the March 2013 issue about from Lambton House recounting the river’s historic and Salamanders in and around Toronto, status in 1982 and ecological importance. (Madeleine will be leading TFN paid attention to the fact that they do not have a larval outings on May 11 and June 27. stage. They were declared uncommon/rare and mostly Madeleine also reported, “There seems to be a return of seen in the west end. I wonder if anyone has done a the bald eagle to the Humber. Two people on separate follow up study or could write an article on their current occasions recently described sighting an eagle over the status. Maybe they are doing well in more areas now! Valley, north of Baby Point. One said that it was close Anne Leon enough to see the great yellow beak emerging from the See www.torontozoo.com/Adoptapond and Ontario white head feathers. This is exciting news. The last Nature’s website for more info on salamanders eagle's nest at Baby Point was in the fifties.” …………………………………………………………… The media reported recently on the closing of a road in ROSEMARY GAYMER Burlington from the end of March to mid-April so that Jefferson salamanders can cross during their migration We have heard that Rosemary Gaymer, TFN president back to the vernal pools where they were born. Conser- from 1972-74, died recently. As well as being a long- vation Halton reports that last year mortality of these time member of TFN, Rosemary was a member of South endangered salamanders was reduced to 0 and there Peel Naturalists Club. A celebration of her life was held was “lots of breeding.” on April 11.

TFN 604-22 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

TFN GRANTS REPORTS

High Park Happenings trees into a bird blind to help us better observe the birds at By Jon Hayes, Family Programs Coordinator, our feeders. Not only did the bird blind smell amazing, it High Park Nature Centre helped us observe the behaviour of nuthatches, chickadees, house finches and hairy woodpeckers at much closer range. Spring is slowly unfolding in High Park this year. As we notice the first signs of spring (salamanders, red-winged blackbirds, garter snakes and mourning cloak butterflies), we can’t help but reflect on that wicked winter we just emerged from. We faced many challenges: slippery ice, deep snow, whipping winds and frigid temperatures. The High Park Rangers (aged 12 - 16) braved it all to plan and lead their Family Nature Walk. On this icy hike, the Rangers showed off the hidden wonders of winter to an enthusiastic group of naturalists young and old. Highlights of the hike included seeing a bald-faced hornets’ nest, tasting white pine tea, learning about snowflake formations and learning to identify poison ivy in the winter. We even stopped to admire the clever ice crafts of the Nature Babies.

Rangers at the beginning stage of constructing a bird blind.

This spring the High Park Rangers are preparing for the Urban Bat Project. Bats are misunderstood animals and we hope to dispel some of the myths and fears by engaging the public in exciting citizen science. The High Park Nature Centre will be lending out hand-held bat detectors to the people of Toronto to survey their neighbourhoods for ultrasonic bat echolocation calls. This data will help the Ministry of Natural Resources better understand how bats use our city. Permanent song meters will record bat sounds in High Park to identify exactly which species of bats are A sun catcher made out of ice! We saw some like this using Toronto’s largest green space. The Rangers are eager on our Family Nature Walk. to teach participants how to use the hand-held bat detectors and help lead some of the bat night events we will host this Beside leading hikes for the public, the Rangers kept busy summer. cutting invasive Asiatic bittersweet vines that were shading out the native species in the woodlands. They scouted out It is encouraging to spend time with the High Park Rangers the great-horned owls and found several regurgitated (or any of the kids in our nature clubs) as they are able to pellets, discarded feathers and owl poop. They also made find the wonder in winter. These youth are becoming signage for our outdoor classroom and put up the environmental leaders in their community and we are very orienteering course signs. It was a busy winter for the proud of them. Rangers! We hope to see you at a Family Nature Walk this spring or This winter we also turned about 20 discarded Christmas summer!

The High Park Rangers have been in the news! See these links for articles about their work in High Park:

Family Nature Walk in Toronto Star : www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/03/07/wild_in_the_city_high_park_rangers_ re- veal_some_of_mother_natures_bestkept_secrets.html

Urban Bat Project in Toronto Star : www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/03/31/torontos_bat_population_in_spotlight_ at_nature_centre.html

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-23

TFN GRANTS REPORTS continued

Forests Ontario Toronto Envirothon Competition concepts in the areas of forestry, wildlife, aquatic By Kristina Quinlan Johnston, ecology and soil, together with a current environmental Ontario Envirothon Coordinator issue each year;  to provide opportunity for students to experience The 2013 -2014 Toronto Field Naturalist grant was used to differing views and concepts relative to environmental support the Toronto Envirothon Competition. The Toronto issues; Envirothon is where students “take the biodiversity  to provide opportunity for students to experience new challenge” and get outdoors to experience nature. Through ideas, geography and cultures throughout Ontario and workshops led by expert resource professionals, hands-on North America. field testing and presentations, Envirothon participants This year’s event saw students from various Toronto high learn about pressing environmental issues and solutions in schools participate in two days of hands-on workshops and the fields of forestry, wildlife, soils and aquatic ecology, a competition day. In one workshop, students learned about and their impacts on biodiversity. local sustainable agriculture, this year’s current issue, at For many students, the Ontario Envirothon is their first Farms’ Fresh City Farms and saw how a exposure to natural resources and the value of biodiversity. working farm operates in an urban centre. In a full day The skills and knowledge students gain through participa- workshop at Humber Arboretum, students took part in tion in these events empower them to make informed forestry, wildlife, soils and aquatics sessions led by responsible decisions in their everyday lives. Due to the resource professionals from the Toronto and Region immersive nature of the program, Ontario Envirothon Conservation Authority, City of Toronto and Ecospark. alumni become passionate stewards of our land. Some Students learned numerous field skills including benthic have even identified Envirothon as an informative sampling, looking for signs of wildlife, learning how to experience which helped direct them to an environmentally identify and measure trees and identify soils. -focused career or post-secondary program. The Toronto Competition will see the students put their Ontario Envirothon's goal is "to build environmental learning to the test as they compete at the Toronto awareness and leadership among young people through Envirothon Competition at the Ontario Science Centre. The practical, hands-on educational experiences, enabling them students will compete in four field tests and also make a to make informed, responsible decisions that benefit the presentation based on the current issue. The winning team earth and society." The objectives are: will then represent Toronto at the provincial Envirothon  to increase students' awareness of the natural balance and competition being held May 12-15 at Fleming College in complexity of environmental ecosystems; Lindsay.  to increase students' understanding of basic science

REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE

The Nominating Committee recommends the following slate of nominees to the Board for the year 2014-2015:

President: Nancy Dengler Vice-president: Charles Bruce-Thompson Past President: Margaret McRae Secretary-Treasurer: Charles Crawford Directors: due to retire in 2015: Lynn Miller, Lavinia Mohr, Charles Crawford due to retire in 2016: Alexander Cappell, Stephen Kamnitzer, Vivienne Denton due to retire in 2017: Anne Powell + 2

TFN by-law No. 1, Section 5(g) provides that “any three members may submit, in writing, to the Secretary-Treasurer by July 15 the name of a candidate accompanied by the written consent of the nominee. Such nominations shall be pub- lished in the September issue of the newsletter and the names of such nominees shall be added to the list of candidates submitted by the Nominating Committee.” Nominations should be sent to the TFN office, 2 Carlton Street, Unit 1519, Toronto, ON, M5B 1J3.

According to TFN by-law No.1, Section 5(b), “If an election is required it shall be by ballot mailed to all members. Ballots may be mailed to the auditor or deposited at the Annual General Meeting prior to the commencement of the meeting. The ballots will be tabulated by the auditor who shall announce the results.”

TFN 604-24 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

WEATHER (THIS TIME LAST YEAR)

May 2013 Though this statement needs to be made with a certain

This was a changeable month that had a bit of everything: caveat. The area covered by heavy rains in Hurricane sunny warm spring weather, rain both cold and warm, a Hazel was larger and covered a somewhat different piece couple of days of summer-like heat and humidity, and of land. Hazel brought up to 214 mm to areas west of even a bit of snow! Toronto (Snelgrove, the north part of Brampton). Pearson Airport had 137 mm with Hazel, but the one-day total on May began with a ridge of high pressure bringing a long October 15, 1954 was 121 mm. The July 8th storm was period of sunny and fairly warm conditions that marked a smaller in extent and focused a bit further east, extending distinct change from April. The first seven days of the into downtown, though it was still heavier in the west end. month were virtually cloudless, and daytime temperatures Pearson’s 126 mm on July 8th did indeed supersede rose into the low-to-mid twenties. Warm, but no 2012- , at that location. style freak heat-wave here. A more similar event for comparison is the storm of The middle part of May was much cooler and more August 19, 2005. That downpour focused on the city’s unsettled. There was actually a little bit of snow on May northern suburbs: there was a report from Thornhill of 12th, 0.4 cm at Pearson Airport. This was the first time 175 mm (Wikipedia). measurable snow fell in May since 1989. Daytime maximum temperatures stayed below 10° this period, but In the end, the July 8th storm was the more expensive we narrowly escaped frost. weather event in terms of damage, because it struck older, densely-built neighbourhoods that lacked the space or The pattern for the rest of the month was one of fairly infrastructure to cope with flooding rains. There was typical but wide-ranging temperatures, as cold and warm enormous damage to properties on the edges of ravines, fronts moved across Ontario. Pearson Airport just broke built before set-backs provided safe space, and to the the 30-degree mark on the last two days of May. ravines themselves. Vegetation got torn up wholesale and

In the end, temperatures and sunshine ended up being just the floodplains became, in places such as the Vale of Avoca, a series of braided channels with little vegetation. a bit above normal – because of the settled warm spell during the first week. Actually, sunshine at 291 hours was Yet this storm was not unusual in its formation or about 60 hours above normal and the most since 2007, violence. It was not a hurricane like Hazel or a tornadic while monthly mean temperatures were just about a supercell like the 2005 storm. Rather, it was an ordinary degree above normal (15.2° at Pearson, 15.6° downtown). summer thunderstorm that became rather large by Precipitation of 76 mm was almost exactly average. incorporating several cells, formed in an unusually saturated atmosphere and, most importantly, was very June 2013 slow-moving, which meant that it poured for two hours.

June was marked by seasonable conditions – actually a bit July then featured a notable spell of heat and humidity but cool by recent standards, and variable amounts of rainfall less extreme than in 2011 or 2012. It was still bad enough (typical of summer months). Changeable weather though, because of the huge amount of ambient moisture included overnight lows below 10° during the first week left over from the previous storms. The heat-wave lasted and peak heat on the 24th in the low thirties (typical from July 16 to19, with Pearson reaching 34.9° on the summer stuff). The mean temperature of 19.2° downtown 19th and downtown 35.4° on the 17th. Humidex values was actually 0.6° below the 30-year average, while were in the 50° range. Pearson’s 18.7° was just 0.1° below. Rainfall was near or slightly above normal – Pearson was missing a complete This heat broke with a squall line of storms which moved record, but downtown had 108.7 mm. very quickly so didn’t bring as much rain. They did, however, bring damaging straight-line winds. Pearson Overall, this was a pleasant month without excessive heat reported a gust of 104 km/h. Numerous trees and power and enough rain to keep things lush. lines were downed.

July 2013 After this, July settled down, and the remaining 11 days of the month were pleasant with somewhat below-normal The big story this month was the torrential downpour on temperatures. July 8th, which set records for the heaviest one-day rainfall ever at Pearson Airport, exceeding even Hurricane Hazel. Continued on next page

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-25 COMING EVENTS If you plan to attend any of these events, we recommend that you contact the organizing group beforehand to confirm time and place.

Jim Baillie Memorial Bird Walks – Toronto Ornithological Club Aimed at the intermediate birder, but beginners also welcome. Free to the public. Information: www.torontobirding.ca  Sun May 4, 8 am – noon. Lambton Woods – spring migrants. Leader: Don Burton. Meet at parking lot (access from Edenbridge Dr east of Royal York Rd, north of Dundas St W).  Sun May 11, 8 am – noon. High Park – Warblers, orioles, sparrows, hummingbirds. Leader: Pat Hodgson. Meet at the parking lot inside the Bloor St park entrance at High Park Ave.  Sun May 17, 8 am – noon. – later spring migrants. Leader: Kevin Seymour. Meet at Toronto Islands Ferry Docks at the foot of Bay St off Queen's Quay to catch the 8:15am ferry to Hanlan's Point ($6.50 ferry fee for adults; students/ seniors $4). Bring lunch.  Sun May 25, 7:30 am – noon. Colonel Samuel Smith Park – possible Whimbrel; other migrants. Leaders: Jim and Petra Grass. Meet in the southerly parking lot at the foot of Kipling Ave off Lake Shore Blvd W.

High Park Walking Tours 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, 10:30 am to noon. Meet at the benches across the road south of Grenadier Restaurant. Information: 416-392-6916 or [email protected] or www highpark.org. May 4. The Amazing Birds of the Park, Brian Bailey July 6. Shakespeare in the Park, Julia Bennett May 18. Grenadier Pond Awakes, Christine Tu-Parker July 20. Exploring Spring Creek Ravine, Stephen Smith June 1. Spring Babies at the Zoo, Sonya Dittskrist Aug 3. Caterpillars, Moths and Butterflies, Don Scallen June 15. Hidden Treasures Scavenger Hunt Aug 17. Native Wildflowers, Sharon Lovett

Tommy Thompson Spring Bird Festival Yellow Sat May 10, 8 am – 4 pm. Leslie Street Spit Warblers International Migration day at Leslie Sat May 10, 9 am – 3 pm. Toronto Zoo St. Spit Photo by Colonel Sam Smith Spring Bird Festival Ken Sat May 24, 9 am – 1 pm. Colonel Sam Smith Park. Sproule

NANPS Annual Native Plant Sale Sat May 10, 10 am – 3 pm. Markham Civic Centre, 101 Town Centre Blvd, Markham (Warden & Hwy 7) free parking. See plant list at www.nanps.org. Information: [email protected]

High Park Stewards Native Plant Sale Sun May 11, 11 am – 2 pm. In front of greenhouse (Greenhouse Rd off Centre Rd). Park in Grenadier Restaurant parking lot. Cash only. Large orders after 1 pm only. Information: www highparknature.org.

Coming Events continued on next page

WEATHER (THIS TIME LAST YEAR) continued The last ten days of the month saw a return to heat, The month as a whole was not the wettest on record. humidity and rain, though none of these were excessive. Pearson Airport’s 181.2 mm, although based on Pearson Airport’s hottest day was the 21st, with a high incomplete data, was exceeded as recently as July 2008 temperature of 31.5°, while downtown it actually was a (193.2 mm). (Even with complete data, it is unlikely to whisker below 30°. The severe heat stayed a few hundred exceed the 200+mm recorded in October 1954 and kilometres away over the US Midwest. Thunderstorms September 1986). It was marginally warmer than normal rolled along the boundary on the 25th to 28th. (22.3° at Pearson, normal is 21.7°) because the last third of Temperature and rainfall averaged out close to normal. the month brought the average down. Downtown’s mean of 21.4° was 0.4° below the long-term August 2013 normal, while Pearson’s 20.9° was 0.1° above. Rainfall

August was quite cool and dry for the first half of the downtown was 88.9 mm (slightly above normal) and at month, but this was reversed for the second half. The Pearson 69.2 mm (slightly below normal). lengthy cool spell was quite pleasant for certain outdoor Gavin Miller activities and helped to dry things out after July’s humidity and heavy rains.

TFN 604-26 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

COMING EVENTS continued

Celebrating 90 years of library service to the Gerrard East community. Thurs May 15, 6:30 – 8 pm. Speaker: Joanne Doucette. Photos and artifacts, light music and refreshments. Gerrard/Ashdale Library, 1432 Gerrard St E.

Lambton House HeritageTalk Thurs June 12, 7:30 pm. Up the Humber to the West: My Metis Voyageurs. Speaker: Joanne Doucette. 4066 Old Dundas St (#55 bus from Jane subway station). Tea and coffee served from 6:45 pm.

Leslieville Tree Festival Sat Jun 21, noon - 4 pm at Leslie Grove Park on East. More info at: www.yourleaf.org/leslieville-tree-festival

Annual Tommy Thompson Park Butterfly Festival Sat Aug 23. More info at: www.trca.on.ca/events/

Toronto Entomologists’ Association The TEA conducts a number of field trips over the summer. Everyone is welcome. Information: www.ontarioinsects.org

Rouge Park Weekly Guided Nature Walks Explore Rouge Park’s trails with a Hike Ontario certified volunteer leader. Information: visit www rougepark.com/hike, e-mail [email protected] or phone 905-713-3184, Monday thru Thursday.

Lost Rivers Walks Information: www.lostrivers.ca.  Sat May 3, 10 am. Jane’s Walk “Come PLAI With Us in the New .” Meet at Carlaw Ave and Lake Shore Blvd E. Facili- tators: Councilor Paula Fletcher, Alfredo Romano, David Stonehouse, Mark Wilson and John Wilson. Due to the Port Lands Acceler- ation Initiative (PLAI), a new reality is emerging in the Lower Don Lands. Neighbourhood community and business leaders invite you to explore with us and our partners from Waterfront Toronto, City Planning and Toronto & Region Conservation. Walk will end at Cherry St and Commissioners St.  Wed May 7, 6:45 pm. Pomona fruit tree orchards in Little Italy (Garrison Creek area). Leader: Ian Wheal. Meet at the northwest cor- ner of College St and Grace St. 5 km.  Wed May 14, 6:45 pm. Grog Lane to Whiskey Alley (Russell Creek and Taddle Creek areas). Leader: Ian Wheal. Meet at the north- east corner of Queen St W and John St. 7 km.  Sat May 17, 1 pm. Jewish Summer Camp Farm and Military Training area. Saul’s Creek, Long Branch Camp. Leader Ian Wheal. Meet at Long Branch TTC loop. 14 km.  Mon May 19, 2 pm. In Defence of Learning, University of Toronto. Military watersites, 1066 to today. Leaders: Ian Wheal and Ed Freeman. Meet at St. George subway station, Bedford Rd entrance.

Harbourfront Centre Through June 2014. Nine Rivers City. A large-scale outdoor photographic exploration of Toronto’s nine rivers. Information: harbourfrontcentre.com/visualarts.

Ontario Nature’s 2014 AGM June 20-22 YMCA Geneva Park on Lake Couchiching, north of Orillia.

 Celebrate 25 years of ON’s loon logo with a talk from Bird Studies Canada’s Dr. Doug Tozer on the natural history of the common loon and its future in Ontario.

 Participate in nature workshops and learn from the experts on gardening with native plants, nature photography, searching for salamanders, identifying dragonflies and much more!

 Explore ecological treasures on one of our guided field trips, including tours in the Carden Plain, a paddling trip in Minesing Wetlands, and an excursion at Ontario Nature’s 470-hectare Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary.

 Hear about the year’s highlights and celebrate achievements .

For more information and to register (by May 16) visit www.ontarionature.org/discover/annual_general_meeting.php

May 2014 Toronto Field Naturalist TFN 604-27

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Your TFN membership expires June 30, 2014. To renew for the year July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015, and ensure a September newsletter, either  cut out this form, which has your address printed on the back, or  photocopy both sides of this form, or  print the Membership application form from the TFN website (www.torontofieldnaturalists.org) and complete it, ensuring that the name appears exactly as printed on your newsletter, or  submit from TFN website using PayPal. If your name or address has changed, please indicate this so our records will be updated. Send the form with your payment by June 30 to: Toronto Field Naturalists, 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1519, Toronto, ON, M5B 1J3

Contact Information: (Note: We do not sell or swap our mailing list) Home phone: ______Work Phone: ______E-mail address: ______Please check your name and address on reverse of this page and modify if necessary.

Remittance enclosed __ $40 Single __ $50 Family (2 adults at same address, children included) __ $30 Senior Single (65+) __ $40 Senior Family (2 adults 65+) __ $20 Youth (under 26)

Plus a donation of $______(tax receipts issued for donations)

I/we might be willing to volunteer in the following areas:

Outings Outreach Office help Conservation Nature Reserves Newsletter Website Finance/Accounting Youth Other:______

Opossum at Ashbridge’s Bay, March, 2014. Photo: Lynn Pady

TFN 604-28 Toronto Field Naturalist May 2014

Toronto Field Naturalists Publications Mail 1519—2 Carlton St., Registration No. 40049590 Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1J3

“Woodlot in March,” inspired by a vernal pond on the , by Joanne Doucette.