Monthly Archives: April 2018

Across Canada: A geographical journey

Story and photos by Inga Hinnerichsen Author's note: My apologies for the fuzzy quality of the photos. The train wouldn't slow down for photo ops. A couple of years ago, during one of our trips to Australia, we traveled by the "Ghan" (called so, because of the Afghan camel drovers imported to access the interior), a famous train leaving Adelaide in the south and arriving in Darwin in the north 4 days later. We caught the train half way through the journey, in Alice Springs in the Red Centre. I have always liked train travel. Both Dave and I have travelled by rail in Europe a fair amount in the past. The Ghan is a notch or two up from your typical passenger train with comfortable private compartments including a small bathroom. The dining car menu and service is definitely…
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Fisherville Christmas Bird Count

Compiled by Linda Thrower Thursday, December 28th, 2017. Wind chill around midnight was -30oC with a N.E wind of 15 km. By around 9:00 am, the temperature had risen to -19oC, but if you were dressed right, it was a nice day for looking for birds. But, you had to look for them, which gives this count a few more new lows than new highs. The day looked like this: Sandhill Cranes are back on the count but seem to be losing in numbers — 2011 – 10; 2017 – 2 (number the same as 2016). Lowest number of Canada Geese since 1999 when there were 1,967; now their number is 2,246. Lowest number of Tundra Swans since 1999 when 1 was also found. Last year’s number was 79, 2015 – 172, 2014 – 260. Gadwalls also have their lowest…
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Results from 31st Woodhouse CBC

These are the results of the 31st Woodhouse CBC held on Sunday, December 17, 2017. 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. Weather: The weather this year was better than the freezing rain of last year. Overnight and during the day it was dry and mostly cloudy. Temperatures overnight went from -5C at midnight down to -7C at dawn; daytime high was -4. The wind was mostly calm or light easterly. Total Species: 90 with no additional Count Week species (average for the last 30 years = 79; average for the last 10 years = 85) Total Individuals: 18,972 (average for the last 30 years =…
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