Winter Magic

Busy Woodpecker

In winter it often joins roving mixed flocks of chickadees, nuthatches, and other birds in the woods.

Giant Basswood Leaf

Bees love basswood flowers because they bloom in midsummer, when few other trees are in bloom.

Spring Beauty Wildflower

Curious Nuthatch

Famous for perching upside down.

Nearly Sundown

Monarch on the Edge of the Woods

Species of special concern.

High Bush Cranberry

While the berries are not a favourite of many birds, they are a very important survival food in late winter.

Umbrella Stroll

Ancient Maple

Goldfinches Nest in the East End

Goldfinches feed on small seeds of trees such as elm and birch. They also eat buds, the bark of young twigs and maple sap.

Fall Woods Reflection

East End Shadows

Brown Thrasher in East End

Brown thrashers live in dense regenerating woods, and forest edges. They rarely venture far from thick undergrowth where they can easily retreat.

Treehouse Fall

Chippy in the Fall

Chipmunks spread seeds and important mycorrhizal fungi that live around tree roots, ensuring they thrive.

Through the Sumac

Mourning Cloak

During winter migration, it flies as far south as northern South America.

Between the Branches

Blue Jay in a Tree

Blue jays 'jay' call warns other birds of predators.

Round-lobed Hepatica

Pileated Woodpecker

A spectacular crow-sized giant that is not abundant, even in Algonquin Park, because it has specialized requirements. It eats carpenter ants and excavates deep inside dead trees.

Winter Woods

Large Sugar Maple

Sugar maples are deeper-rooted than most maples. They draw water from lower soil layers and release it into upper, drier soil layers. This not only benefits the tree itself, but also many other plants growing around it.

Spring in the East End

Northern Flicker in East End

Recent surveys indicate declines in population over much of the range since the 1960s. Habitat open forests and woodlots.

Chickadee Gathering Seeds From Sumac

Along with chickadees, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, robins, catbirds, European starlings, Northern flickers, and downy woodpeckers eat the red berry clusters.

Fall Snake Portrait

Snakes in Ontario are quickly heading toward a population collapse because they're long-lived, meaning they take long to breed. Also, they often get killed on the road, because pavement is warm and they linger.

Ironwood Seeds in the Fall

Ironwood has the densest, hardest wood of any native tree species

Treehouse up High

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in East End

The Ruby-crown's song is jumbled and loud, out of proportion to the size of the bird.

One Snowy Day

Giant Maples

Yellow Trout Lily

Spring on the Trail

Squirrel with snowbeard

Broken Tree

Old and Young Trees

Chippy on a Log

Nuthatch

Pretty Maple Leaves

Black Squirrel

Hiking in the East End

Trillium

If a trillium survives disruption, it takes many years for it to regrow and produce seeds, slowing down the population growth.

Dog Tooth Violet

Some wild colonies can be as old as the trees around them — two or three hundred years!

Black Cherry Blossoms

Aromatic tree; crushed foliage and bark have distinctive cherry-like odor.

Sleepy Barred Owl

The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you?” is often heard in old forest.

Grey Squirrel

Chickadee

Prefers deciduous forests with birches and alders.

Staghorn Sumac

Spring Buds

Garter Snake

A population decline in snakes would mean more rodents and pests in our community.

Cute Dog on the Trail

Icy Trail

Birch Trees

Birch trees are lighter-coloured, broad-leafed trees that reflect more sunlight back into space.

Winter Birches

Aspen/birch ecosystems are extremely important to wildlife, providing habitat for over a hundred species of mammals and birds.

Old Maple

Treehouse

White Ash in Early Fall

Emerald Ash Borer threatens white ash throughout its range

Trilliums

Downy Woodpecker Closeup

Woodland Serenity

Chipmunk with Full Pouches

They will move into your yard if you take away their home.

Squirrel gathering Seeds

Squirrels are important ecosystem engineers. They take seeds and plant them elsewhere, which may germinate into new trees.

Fall Leaves

Rocks and Trilliums

Curious Fall Squirrel

Trout Lily Field

Barred Owl Portrait

Barred Owls don’t migrate, and they don’t even move around very much. They usually don't move more than 6 miles away.

Staghorn Sumac in the Fall

Eastern Comma

Older caterpillars make daytime shelters by pulling leaf edges together with silk.