Discover wilderness in a small urban creek

Posted on April 6, 2022May 24, 2022 by Van Waffle

This scene rests only steps from my front door. I’m grateful to have this hint of wilderness in an urban park. In 2019…

Three beech trunks to the left on the left show white fluff indicating the onset of beech bark disease.

Two diseases invade Ontario beech forests

Posted on March 9, 2022March 17, 2022 by Van Waffle

Walking on a sunny winter day in Twin Oaks Woods, I was struck as always by the glow of the beech leaves that…

Enchanter’s nightshade

Posted on July 10, 2019March 16, 2022 by Van Waffle

Macro photography reveals obscure beauty of an Ontario wildflower.

A golden mystery: Chrysopilus thoracicus

Posted on June 10, 2019October 20, 2021 by Van Waffle

Golden-backed snipe fly, Chrysopilus thoracicus, an eye-catching mystery.

Leatherwood a subtle but useful native shrub

Posted on April 25, 2019March 15, 2022 by Van Waffle

One of my favourite native plants is leatherwood, Dirca palustris. It’s a modest shrub, easily overlooked in the shadowy understory of mature woodlands….

Tracking the elusive muskrat

Posted on January 29, 2019April 6, 2022 by Van Waffle

A muskrat lives in the creek under the bridge where I cross into the woods every day. Ondatra zibethicus are particularly reclusive, so it…

Festival of frost

Posted on January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 by Van Waffle

The cold weather has kept me more housebound than usual, but it also provides some fantastic frost formations. This morning I bundled up and went to the creek.