Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve is a hidden gem located at the northern edge of the Hamilton watershed. With temperatures cooling off this time of year, it is the perfect time to walk, run or bike through the trails at the Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve. The old quarry offers a unique piece of history that is tucked away amongst the trees and plants. The picturesque back drop of the quarry and crystal clear quarry ponds is fabulous for those who enjoy photography.
Once you hit the trails and start to explore you soon realize Fletcher Creek has more to offer then just trails. Fletcher Creek is the home to Hamilton’s’ only Fen. This one of a kind Eco System produces some really special plants. Two interesting carnivorous plants I happen to come across while I was exploring were: the Pitcher plant – (Sarracenia purpurea) and the round leaved Sundew - (Drosera rotundifolia)
Pitcher plant – (Sarracenia purpurea)
Round leaved Sundew - (Drosera rotundifolia
Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve is a precious property that needs to be enjoyed, cherished and protected for many generations to come. Grab your sweater, hiking shoes and come enjoy a cool place on a cool day.
If you are
looking for a way to cool off during the summer, HCA has many great places for
you to beat the heat!
Christie
Lake and Valens Lake Conservation Areas offer beautiful natural settings for
you and your family to relax and enjoy the summer heat. Spend the day relaxing
on the beach or if you are feeling adventurous, go for a paddle on the lake and
enjoy the time spent on the water. Christie Lake and Valens Lake both offer boat rentals.
HCA also offers
two beach locations on Lake Ontario. Visit Fifty Point Conservation Area for
one of the warmest and cleanest beaches on the lake, or head to Confederation
Park and enjoy the refreshing lake water. Confederation Park also offers an
outdoor pool and splash pad at the Lakeland Centre.
If you are
looking for a more heart pumping experience, visit Wild Waterworks in
Confederation Park and ride the two body slides and four tube slides, catch a
wave in one of Canada’s largest outdoor wave pools or relax in the eazy river.
Little ones
will love Little Squirt Works, our fun wading pool with slides, mists and
fountains.
No matter
how you want to beat the heat, HCA has something for everyone.
The natural areas inventory project is
quickly gearing up for our final field season. This year we will be checking
out many of the natural areas on the Hamilton/Halton border in Waterdown and
East Flamborough. There are quite a few wetlands, valleys, escarpment talus,
and deciduous upland sites in this area which we are excited to survey. Most of
the spring flowers are now in bloom, so it won’t be long until our ecological
land classification crew is out surveying the forests, thickets, meadows, and
wetlands. But for now, check out your local natural areas for these spring
ephemerals!
Bloodroot
Squirrel Corn
A spring ephemeral is a perennial forest
wildflower that blooms in early spring and produces seeds before summer. These
flowers take advantage of the sunlight that hits the forest floor before the
trees produce their leaves
You may
have heard that many birds are back from their wintering grounds down south.
Keep an eye out for chimney swifts, red-bellied woodpeckers, and orioles which
have all been heard and seen this spring.
Juvenile Brown Snake
Our frog
and toad monitoring program has had a quick start. With the warm temperatures
lately, these amphibians have been calling all over the City of Hamilton. Spring peepers, wood frogs,
chorus frogs, and American toads are common at this time of the year. Keep your
ears open and you may start to hear leopard frogs, green frogs, and grey tree
frogs.
And don’t forget that this is the time of
the year that snakes are on the move too! Here is a juvenile brown snake that I
saw on a walk through the Dundas Valley.
Next week the calendar tells us that spring
has finally arrived. The ground hog may have mentioned it about five weeks ago (in
case you missed the announcement).
Unlike the last few years where migrating
birds returned in January and gardens sprouted in February, this past winter
took us back to when winters had snow and Jack Frost occasionally did take a nibble at your nose. The
arrival of spring this year also bodes well for a healthy season. As we speak
the vernal pools are active with amphibian activity and the endangered
Jefferson Salamanders are on the move! It is breeding season for Jeffy and that
comes with road closures in some areas to protect the paths they take to reach
their breeding grounds.
Now, Jefferson Salamanders don’t make much
noise and, while their movement heralds the arrival of spring, they are not the
most commonly-noticed of creatures. One creature you will notice is the Red-Winged Blackbird. Traditionally, another
first sign of spring is their migratory return from the Southern States. Keep a look out near wet areas such as
wetlands and shorelines populated by tall grasses or cattails and bulrushes. They’ll
start looking for dance partners as soon as they return, so their calls will be
frequent and easily heard. Just watch out once they start nesting because they
defend their nests vigorously!
It’s not just the little ones we watch for
this month. Along the north shores of Lake Erie from Windsor to Point Pelee,
mass migrations of raptors are a birder’s delight. Closer to home, the Niagara Peninsula Hawk Watch is underway with the big day coming up at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area
in the Niagara Region on Good Friday. But really, anywhere along the Niagara
Escarpment and the lake shores this time of year is an excellent opportunity to
see large birds such as bald eagles, swans, herons, falcons and hawks on their
way back to Ontario.
A few weeks from now you might even get
lucky enough to see the “clouds” of Broad-winged hawks and my friends the Turkey
Vultures as they migrate en masse. Last year’s count of Turkey Vultures
estimated more than 20,000 traveling through Niagara and more than 100,000
through Western Ontario!
So if you’re waiting for the flowery signs
of spring… they’re coming, but it’s the feathery signs that come first!
People say you’re either an early bird, or a night owl, and
some just need a little motivation for either. I have no motivation for a late
night; but I may be able to convince you of an early morning trek. I would
recommend the following as I am learning natural beauty may warm the heart, but
the body still gets cold.
Layers of warm clothing ( especially in the
winter months)
Warm boots
Mittens that can enable you to still snap a
picture
A camera
Access to lake Ontario waterfront
And my favorite, an oversized travel mug filled
to the brim with caffeine
Now
the convincing...
Lake Ontario in itself is breath taking; a
fresh water ocean; but to witness the day waking up and the sun reflecting off its
water, and sometimes sprawling out onto the sandy or snowy covered shores is beautiful.
Confederation Park or Fifty Point C.A. are excellent for this activity offering
trails, parking, ample photo opportunities, and kilometers of prime real estate
on the waterfront for the morning show. I find it’s a great way to start; we
rush all day cherishing the moments we find to ourselves, to collect, and go
again. Why not start the day with a moment to yourself, while enjoying a
grand view?
If this is your first early morning trek down to the lake, don’t be
surprised at how many of us are out there walking and watching the world wake
up with full mugs, and a “Morning!” for passerbys’
The delightful hours I have passed in
your society have left an impression on my mind that is altogether indelible,
and cannot be effaced even by time itself.
The frequent opportunities I have possessed, of observing the thousand
acts of amiability and kindness which mark the daily tenor of your life, have
ripened my feelings of affectionate regard into a passion at once ardent and
sincere, until I have at length associated my hope of future happiness with the
idea of you as a life partner, in them.
Believe me, dearest Etta, this is no puerile fancy, but the matured
results of a long and warmly cherished admiration of your many charms of person
and mind. It is love - pure devoted love,
and I feel confident that your knowledge of my character will lead you to
ascribe my motives to their true source.
Might I then implore you to consult your own heart, and should this
avowal of my fervent and honourable passion for you be crowned with your
acceptance and approval, to grant me permission to refer the matter to your
parents. Anxiously awaiting your answer,
I am, dearest Etta, Your Sincere and Faithful Lover, George Courtright. Wednesday October 20th, 1894.
Poor George. He must have agonized over that letter for
days, carefully crafting a marriage proposal that would convince his darling
Etta of his love, commitment and suitability as a husband. We can imagine Etta, perhaps unfolding the
letter with trembling hands, reading it several times and weighing each word,
each phrase. She would likely not have
been surprised by this turn of events, as it would have unfolded as part of a
complex, but well understood, process for finding one's life partner. We do not know what her answer might have
been, but we can be sure that she would have measured George's proposal
carefully, taking into consideration not only her own hopes, dreams and
preferences, but those of her family and community.
Since Canada's earliest days of settlement,
the trials of finding a spouse has been a theme consistently chronicled in
diary accounts, letters and journals, providing a fascinating window into how
early Canadians met, courted and married.
They help us to understand what was considered acceptable behaviour, the
influence of parents and neighbours and the strategies that were necessary to
navigate the sometimes treacherous social terrain.
Just what were early Canadians looking for
in a mate? Prior to the 19th century,
economic considerations were a strong factor in the selection of a husband or
wife. Eventually, however, the concept
of marrying for love crept into the equation, and by the early to mid-19th
century, the idea of a spouse as a companion was widely accepted. Women were encouraged to look for a man with
not only good financial prospects, but also someone who would be kind,
temperate and hard-working. Men
typically sought women who were even-tempered, patient and capable of engaging
in intelligent conversation.
The importance of a spouse as friend is
reflected in the 1854 letter of Caroline Hewlett, who commented on the broken
engagement her niece Jane Price. "From
all I heard of Mr. Campbell he appeared to me from his youth, habits, and
insufficiency of means, to be wholly unworthy of Jane, who ought in her husband
to have have a man of equal talent with herself, a companion and friend..."
Meeting a life partner was a long process
that in many ways began in childhood.
Social gatherings that brought together people of all ages, such as religious
functions, skating parties, community picnics and work bees were all
opportunities for people get to know one another within their social
sphere. Parental and community approval
was extremely important, as couples would depend upon the assistance and
support of family and friends throughout their married lives.
Once a potential partner was identified,
parental consent secured and intentions clearly stated, courtship could begin
in earnest. This was an intense period
when a couple would really get to know one another, spending many hours
discussing a wide range of topics, to ensure compatibility. Engagements could last for many months, or
even longer if the man required time to settle debts, secure a property or
settle into reliable employment. Once a
pledge to marry was made, only very exceptional circumstances would allow the
engagement to be broken, a circumstance typically met with strong family and
community disapproval.
The long and considered courtship process
in nineteenth century Canada, grounded as it was in family and community
approval, seems to have greatly increased one's chances of a happy, or at least
workable, marriage. Someone who clearly
married for love and companionship, Susanna Moodie, wrote to her sister
Catherine in July 1856, after twenty-five years of marriage: "Time
lengthens while he is away. Will age
never diminish my love for this man?"
Lisa Hunter
Programme Co-ordinator
Westfield
Heritage Village
Come to Westfield Heritage Village on
Family Day, Monday, February 18 from 12:30 - 4:00 to help celebrate a winter
wedding and learn the fascinating stories of love, courtship and marriage in
Early Canada.
Prepared with information from: Noёl, Francoise, Family Life and
Sociability in Upper and Lower Canada, 1790-1870. McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. Young, John H. Our Deportment: Manners, Conduct and Dress
of the Most Refined Society, F. B. Dickerson and Co., Hamilton, Ontario,
1881. Azoulay, Dan. Hearts and Minds: Canadian Romance at the Dawn of the Modern Era
1900-1930, University of Calgary Press, 2011.
February 2nd isn’t just about groundhogs and
shadows. It’s also World Wetlands Day, the day the Convention on Wetlands was
adopted in 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian
Sea. To read more about Ramsar Convention of Wetlands, please click here.
World Wetlands Day 2013 focused on the relationship between
water and wetlands and reflected on the
interdependence between water and wetlands and the key role that wetlands play.
Wetlands - marshes, bogs, fens and swamps - are an essential part of the water
cycle and they play an important role in ensuring water quality. Wetlands are
places we want to protect as primary sources of vital drinking water.
Wetlands are also essential to our environment - they filter
pollutants from our water, help control floods, and provide habitat for
numerous wildlife species, including many on the endangered list. A total of 33
per cent of Ontario and 14 per cent of Canada is wetland. Unfortunately, as
much as 80 per cent of Ontario's wetlands have been lost to urbanization.
Here in Hamilton, we are fortunate to have one of the
largest – and relatively undisturbed - swamps in southwestern Ontario, the Beverly Swamp. Located in Flamborough, this
wetland is the source area for Spencer, Grindstone and Fairchild creeks and
features a rich diversity of plant and animal life, including some that are
rare to the Hamilton region.
We also are fortunate to have the Copetown Bog, a biologically
significant bog that contains plants representative of Arctic muskeg vegetation,
such as cranberries, pitcher plants, and sundew plants. "Summit Bog"
is a wetland containing an island of sphagnum moss floating atop a bed of peat.
Plants that prefer wet, acidic, and nutrient-poor conditions grow in and around
the area. Because of its sensitivity, public use is not encouraged. However,
the bog can be viewed from the Hamilton-to-Brantford Rail Trail, located just
east of Highway 52 at Copetown.
The Vinemount Swamp is the largest wetland in the east end
of the City of Hamilton and offers visitors a chance to see a wetland up close.
It encompasses the headwaters of both
Stoney Creek and Forty Mile Creek and provides a significant amount of
discharge to those streams. Although it does not rival the Beverly Swamp in
overall size, it does have many similar features. It’s definitely a place close to the City
where you can get away to the quiet and beauty of Nature in minutes.
So the next time you use water to brush your teeth, make
your coffee or shower in the morning, think about the wetland the water most
likely spent part of its life slowly filtering through. And imagine what your life would be like
without the abundance of water and wetlands that Hamilton has to offer.
Camping?In the
winter?Are you nuts?That’s what I hear when I talk about visiting
my local Conservation Area or Provincial Park to camp this time of year.To be honest, I would say it too before I
tried it.
It’s probably the best time to go camping.You get the pick of the litter when it comes
to campsites, and you don’t have to call a year in advance to book it!
It is so peaceful and beautiful this time of
year.The campsites aren’t packed and
you really only see the serious campers out, not the partiers like you get in
the summer months.The people that you
do come across are also some of the nicest campers you will meet.They’re also there camping because they enjoy
being outdoors and love the peaceful feeling of being in nature.I’ve actually made some great friendships
with families out at the parks.
We’ve
travelled with our new friends on camping trips throughout Southern
Ontario.We met at Valens LakeConservation Area and frequent there the most as it is the closest and a bias
favourite of mine.There actually aren’t
that many camping spots open this time of year and Valens Lake is the closest
in Southern Ontario.In the winter, you
still have most of the comforts of summer camping with laundry facilities, heated
washrooms with flush toilets and hot showers.Most of us have trailers now with heat and electricity, but you will see
a true “Winter Warriors” camping out in a tent or hammock on these winter
weekends.
It is always relaxing for me to come out and enjoy a
non-stressful weekend away (even if it only took me 30 minutes to get away)
after dealing with a very busy week.The
quiet winter days and nights at the park just let the stress melt away…and
hopefully that’s all that’s melting.
We
love that we’ve got to see some snow this year.We’ve had one good cross country ski day and we’re just itching to lace
up our ice skates.So, if you haven’t
given winter camping a try yet – don’t knock it till you do.Come prepared for the weather and you’ll have
an excellent time.We may even see you
next year as one of the Valens Lake Winter Camping Program participants.
If there
was ever an ice fisherman’s parody of a winter themed song – I’m sure it would
go something like this…Let it Freeze, Let it Freeze, Let it Freeze.
Here in
southern Ontario,
we all know that 2012 was not a great year for those
inflicted with the passion of angling through an 8 inch diameter holes cut in the
ice.I count myself among this peculiar
but adventurous group of people.We are
outdoor enthusiasts who love the challenge and the lure that comes with the
territory of ice fishing.
Yet here we
sit once again, gear that has been checked and re-checked again, while above
average temperatures, open waters abound, and a weather forecast that seems
intent on keeping us on the shoreline…it is enough to keep you awake at night just
hoping for Jack Frost to stick around for a while.
My home
go-to lake Valens Lake Conservation Area failed to make safe ice in 2012 for
the first time on record.Are these all
signs of things to come?How far north
will you have to travel to satisfy that primal urge to be one with nature and
wet a line all at the same time?Only
time will tell and we will be there, waiting with baited breath – so to speak.
With dreams
of panfish and northern pike swimming in our heads – 2013 just has to produce
the hard water we crave and need so we can once again be on top.The promise of freezing cold nights combined
with an official start to the NHL season, are two of the kinds of ice that this
Canadian is hoping for under his Christmas tree this year.
This fall/ early winter seems to be giving us some pretty
good hints about what will be around the bird feeders this winter.
Already, birders are seeing winter finches
making their appearance in southern Ontario and points south. The so-called
winter finches do not show up every winter, because their nomadic travel
patterns are determined by the seed crops available to them in northern forests.
Not only the seeds of pines and spruce, but also the seeds of hardwood trees,
are important winter foods to the winter finches in their normal northern
range. Some years, the food supplies in the north are lacking, so many of the
birds move south for the winter to find what they need.
Winter finches share a couple of common
behaviours. They generally are gregarious, hang out in groups and are nomadic
and follow the food. In years when food is lacking in the north, many move
south.
Pine Siskin - All About Birds
One of the most nomadic and unpredictable
of the winter finches is the Evening Grosbeak. It is also one of our most
beautiful birds. Its nesting range is generally from Algonquin Park and north,
and, for the last two decades, very few Evening Grosbeaks have been seen in Southern
Ontario.This winter may be a chance for
most people — especially Hamilton youths — to see their first ever EveningGrosbeak. The males sport bright yellows, whites and browns in their plumage.
The females and juveniles are more subdued.
The Evening Grosbeak is always calling,
which makes the lives of bird watchers much easier. We hear them flying over or
chattering to one another when they are feeding. To learn their song, go to http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=39.
Pine Grosbeak - All About Birds
Where will you find them? One of their
favourite foods after your feeder is the seeds of Manitoba Maples and ash
trees. They also enjoy the trees that hold onto their fruits, like Highbush
Cranberry , Mountain Ash and wild crab apples.
The Evening Grosbeak has been selected by
the American Birding Association as the Bird of the Year for 2012.And now it’s coming south to live up to its
name.
Once people start to know this bird is
around, the sales of bird feeders and sun flower seeds will surely increase.
They are just delightful to watch and to listen to. The Grosbeaks have heavy
beaks and are adept at eating seeds and breaking open the pits of Choke and Pin
Cherries. Few other birds have the strength in their bills to open these pits.
Common Redpoll - All About Birds
Bob Curry, author of Birds of Hamilton,
reports that in 1972 there was a major flight of Evening Grosbeaks through
Southern Ontario, but, since then, the bird has become rare in Hamilton and
surrounding areas. Between 2002 and 2005 only two of these fine birds were seen
in the Hamilton Bird Study Area.So far
this fall, birders are starting to report sightings from across the
northeastern United States and Southern Ontario. So we are well on our way to
seeing a strong showing.
Evening Grosbeak - All About Birds
The Evening Grosbeak is the easiest of the
winter finches to identify. This winter, keep a bird guide handy while watching
your backyard feeder, because there is an excellent chance that other winter
finches will be showing up along with the Grosbeaks. There are excellent
feeding areas for the winter finches throughout Hamilton conservation areas. As
we hear about them, we will try to let everyone know where to look.
Don’t be surprised if they show up in your
neighbourhood.
