Forest Bathing

Story and photo by Inga Hinnerichsen Forest bathing . . . Forest what? Though the pairing of those two words may seem strange at first, forest bathing is a term used for the intentional practice of connecting with nature and surrounding yourself with the energy of the natural world. It is the Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku, or taking a slow walk in the woods and absorbing the forest atmosphere with all your senses. The Japanese word shinrin means forest and yoku means bath. Never have we humans been so far from merging with the natural world and so divorced from nature. According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (USA), the average American spends 93% of his/her time indoors. Canadians are not far behind. The good news is that even a small amount of time in nature can…
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Fisherville Christmas Bird Count (December 2019)

Report by Linda Thrower, Compiler December 28th, 2019 certainly didn’t bring the weather of 2017, but who needs wind chills of -30 C while trying to count birds? Instead it was on the plus side with the temperature of +2 C at midnight and no winds to speak of until later in the day. And who could complain about having open water—not the waterfowl. But even with the weather co-operating, the birds were well hidden. Did they know all of us were looking for them? Thankfully, there were a bunch of keen eyes out there and some really good species popped out here and there. So, the new high and low numbers look like this: Horned Grebes were found in their lowest numbers since 2001 when 197 were counted. This year, 76 were seen. American Wigeons are back on the…
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Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count (December 2019)

Report by Adam Timpf   These are the results of the 33rd Woodhouse CBC held on Sunday, December 15th, 2019. The Woodhouse CBC is centred seven kilometres east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton in Norfolk County and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis. First of all, let me thank all 45 participants for spending their time and energy and contributing important data to this count. It wouldn’t be possible without you and I hope I can count on you all again next December. Also, let me thank the NFN for sponsoring the count and to my mom Tresa for putting on a delicious wrap-up dinner at her house. Nourishment is always needed after a full day in the field! Weather: The weather…
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Ontario Nature Carolinian East — Fall Meeting

Report by Jan Grincevicius Twice a year the member clubs under the umbrella of Ontario Nature, Carolinian East Region, meet to update their activities and discuss other current issues. The member clubs take turns hosting these meetings. This time, the Fall Meeting was hosted by the Norfolk Field Naturalists in the Walsingham Community Centre. Ontario Nature was represented by Lisa Richardson, Nature Network and Communications Coordinator. Representatives from eight groups were present: Niagara Falls Nature Club, Halton/North Peel Naturalist Club, Hamilton Naturalists’ Club, Peninsula Field Naturalists, South Peel Naturalists’ Club, Norfolk Field Naturalists, The Long Point Biosphere, and Nature’s Calling Environmental Education. Discussion highlights include: Halton/North Peel Naturalists Club The Bees and Beyond — A Pollinator and Biodiversity Workshop was well attended. Participants learned about the importance of pollinators and native plants. Each participant received six native plants. Members participate…
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An Alaska Cruise Adventure

By Jan and Len Grincevicius We had talked about going on an Alaska Cruise since we retired almost 10 years ago. This year, we decided it was time. Since we had never been on a cruise before, we decided to just do one that was seven days. The cruise left from Vancouver, so we arrived a few days before and hit some spots such as Granville Island, Stanley Park (English Bay, Siwash Rock, Prospect Point and the Lions Gate Bridge), and a beautiful classical Chinese garden created by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Unfortunately, the rain and heavy cloud cover didn’t allow a visit to Grouse Mountain or Vancouver Lookout. Our cruise took us from Vancouver to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and back to Vancouver. Alaska’s Inside Passage is a protected network of waterways that wind through glacier-cut fjords and lush temperate…
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2019 Long Point Butterfly Count Results

By Adam Timpf, NFN Member and Event Organizer (feature photo, above: Painted Lady, photo by Len Grincevicius) The 28th annual Long Point butterfly count took place this year on Saturday July 6th, 2019, with 36 observers in various groups surveying different areas in an attempt to identify and count each butterfly encountered. The forecast the night before was calling for a lot of rain, but I was hoping there would be breaks in the weather. My optimism was short lived when most of Saturday was dominated by rain. Some groups packed it in early, while others were able to fit in a few hours in the late afternoon. This was by far the wettest count in our 28-year history, and we could have cancelled the event all together. However, despite the fact most groups could only count for a couple hours,…
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Christmas Bird Count: Fisherville

Report by Linda Thrower, Compiler The Fisherville Christmas Bird Count was held on Friday December 28th, 2018. Thanks so much for all the effort that was put out that day to count birds. Fisherville CBC has seven new records. Unfortunately, these records are all for the lowest number since the count began—but that’s what the day held. The weather was not what might be expected for late December, but it was a nice day for a walk. The temperature was +11C with no snow and open water visibility of about 10 km. As the afternoon arrived, so did the clouds and light drizzle. The winds picked up to about 20 to 25 km/hour from the south. Even then the birds hid. Highlights: So first, a new high number record Sandhill Cranes. First time seen in Square 8 and in their largest…
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Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count Report

Report by Adam Timpf The 32nd Woodhouse Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place Sunday, December 16, 2018. The Woodhouse CBC is centred seven kilometers east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton in Norfolk County and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis. Weather: The weather this year was relatively warm, being on the plus side of 0. The lack of precipitation made for comfortable birding conditions, but the lack of snow cover made it tricky to find the birds since they were not concentrated. The wind was mostly calm or light from the northeast. Total Species: 82 with 1 additional Count Week species (average for the last 31 years = 80; average for the last 10 years = 86) Total Individuals: 16,635 (average for the last…
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Herbicide Treatment of Norfolk’s Phragmites: An Update

A Report on a Public Information Session — August 20, 2018 Written by Inga Hinnerichsen What's been done: After three years of treating phragmites in Rondeau Provincial Park, Long Point Bay nearshore, Crown Marsh, Turkey Point Marsh plus adjacent areas, the results are very encouraging. Only small pockets of phragmites remain, as well as some re-growth where it was missed. Any areas treated will require "mop-up" work. Norfolk County is on board and is eradicating phragmites in the ditches along public roads. In a Simcoe Reformer article of July 28, 2018, Toby Barrett, MPP, indicated that “One only need stop at the Joe Csubak lookout on the Front Road in Norfolk to see the effectiveness of spraying. Where there used to be a sea of phragmites, there is now open water, native marsh vegetation and broad areas of the dead invasive.” Mr.…
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“Marvellous Milkweed” Seed Collection: Participant Report

Article by Lisa Timpf, NFN Director. Photos by Laura Robson When I saw the notice about the "Marvelous Milkweed Seed Collection" event circulated to Norfolk Field Naturalist members, I was intrigued. Sponsored by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the event was scheduled for Friday, October 5th. The purpose was to collect milkweed seeds that would be used for meadow restoration in the Backus Block. It was pitched as a three-hour commitment, which didn't seem like a lot, so I thought I'd take the plunge. I had my first pleasant surprise of the day when I joined the circle of volunteers as the coordinators did their pre-event sign-in. Two of my former Simcoe Composite School classmates whom I hadn’t seen in forty years had also volunteered to help out that day, and it was great to see them. Right on time,…
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