What is Project 366? Read more here! Well, I don’t actually know if the beavers are back…, I do know, however, that at least one beaver is back at the Whitemud Creek. The last time I encountered beavers at the creek was over three months ago back in mid-April (See Post No. 020). At that…
What is Project 366? Read more here! So here is a bit of a stumper. I came across this waterfowl sitting on a log in the creek the other day. It was alone and the question that immediately came to my mind was “What is it?”. My hunch is that it was an immature Common…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Another Cedar Waxwing post (there was a previous one recently here). It is hard to resist these photogenic birds with their punky hairdo. They are easily found down in the Whitemud Ravine during the summer as they seem to like to hang out by streams and ponds. They…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Perched on a dead branch jutting out over the pond was an Eastern Phoebe with its distinct big-head and white “scarf” around its neck. Phoebes belong to the Tyrant Flycatcher family and with their short beaks they specialize in catching flies and other flying insects. The Tyrant Flycatchers…
What is Project 366? Read more here! I came across a stand of shrubs along the Whitemud Ravine trail that looked like Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta). It had the typical serrated leaves and the small catkins (the male flowers), but I did not find any female flowers or any nuts so I was a bit…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Another milestone! Post 122 out of 366 makes it one third of the way through my Project 366. Four months in and I think I can safely say that have the ropes figure out by now and that I am on the proverbial roll. I went for a…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Another pretty flower with an insidious secret. We came across the Creeping Thistle the other day just off the Whitemud Creek as we were on a nature bike ride. Just like other recent pretty flowers we have come across (for example, Cow Vetch, Red Clover and Meadow Buttercup)…
What is Project 366? Read more here! Right by the parking lot at the south side of Elk Island National Park there was an energetic Yellow-bellied Sapsucker hard at work trying to drill holes in the posts of a widening fence. Sapsuckers are known for creating symmetrical rows with large number of shallow holes on…
What is Project 366? Read more here! South of the 23 Avenue, as it crosses the Whitemud Ravine, the Whitemud Creek splits into two, the Whitemud and the Blackmud Creeks. Right along the confluence of the two creeks there is a large meadow covered in tall grass and purple Cow Vetch. Last time I was…
What is Project 366? Read more here! There’s is a strip of meadow between the parking lot at the Whitemud Creek and the MacTaggard Sanctuary. This time of year it’s all pretty with flowers in bloom, bumblebees zipping between the flowers and thousands upon thousands of grasshoppers jumping around in the hot afternoon sun. Last…