What is Project 366? Read more here! As I was walking along the trail down at Whitemud Ravine a subtle rustle of leaves from a grove of High-bush Cranberries caught my attention. The bushes were laden with ripe berries and I assumed that the noise came from birds enjoying a snack. I tried to coax…
What is Project 366? Read more here! The age old idea that moss grows on the north side of trees seems to be true, at least on the older larger trees down at the Whitemud Ravine. The picture below shows the north side of an old growth deciduous tree, the south side of the trunk…
What is Project 366? Read more here! I came across these unique looking seed pods along the Whitemud Creek the other day. I have never seen anything like it so I was quite intrigued. The actual seeds were riddling around inside the sed pod so it was almost like a gigantic rattlesnake rattle. It turns…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Another pretty face and another invasive species. The striking Butter-and-egg plant (Linaria vulgaris) is native to Europe and Asia. It was introduced in North America as a decorative garden plant. It did not take long for it to escape and the rest is history. These days it is…
What is Project 366? Read more here! [Walking softly through the forest] BIRD: Fee-bee! Fee-bee! Fee-bee! Fee-bee! HUMAN: Who are you? BIRD: We are the Chickadees that say… Fee-bee! HUMAN: No! Not the Chickadees that say Fee-bee! BIRD: The same! HUMAN: Those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale! BIRD: The Chickadees Who…
What is Project 366? Read more here! So a mushroom walks into a party and the bouncer says, “Sorry we are full”. The mushroom replies: “But I don’t take up mushroom”. Now that we have that out of the way,… this is without question the funkiest looking fungus I have come across so far. Initially…
What is Project 366? Read more here! After seeing plenty of Wood Bison at a distance dotting pastures, fields and forest edges I imagined that the day I would get close and personal with the largest terrestrial animal in the americas would be along a remote trail far away from human civilization. Well I could…
What is Project 366? Read more here! The flowers of the Prickly Wilde Roses are long gone and have been replaced by green hips. As they ripen they will turn orange and then red. The hips are edible, something the First Nations and Swedes have known since the dawn of time. I’ll be keeping my…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Most mushrooms I have encountered are difficult to identify to say the least. When I came across this fungi growing out of a rotting log on the moist forest floor I figure that something this distinct looking should be easier to identify. I did nevertheless take me quite…
What is Project 366? Read more here! The Cooking-Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreational Are is a large nature reserve east of Edmonton. This reserve is characterized by rolling hills and a “knob and kettle” terrain, containing glacial moraines and depressions filled with small lakes. In one of those kettle lakes we came across a solitary American Beaver…