IN THIS ISSUE:
Think globally, garden locally
Thanks to all our volunteers
Nature notes and sightings
Featured native plant
New on our web site
Walnuts and butternuts
Wildflower study group
FWG needs BYG coordinator
What's Up is the newsletter of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. If you would like to be notified every time we "publish" a new issue on our web site, please let us know by e-mailing sgarland@magma.ca
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| What's Up
at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden
No. 7(1), fall 2002
Think globally, garden locally
by Sandy Garland
WITH WORK AT THE FWG winding down, this is a good time to take stock, look at what we've done over the last year, and think about where we're going next year. Part of forward planning involves "looking at the big picture," getting away from the hands-on work and meeting with other people engaged in similar projects.
We had two chances to do that recently: the Ottawa Forest Advisory Committee held a forum to explore ideas about our "urban forest" in the context of the draft official plan; and the Canadian Museum of Nature held a workshop on the subject of Best Stewardship Practices at the Community Level: Enhancing Native Plant Biodiversity. Here are just a very few highlights from these meetings.
Mike Rosen of the Tree Canada Foundation spoke at both meetings. At the OFAC meeting, he talked about the importance of trees in a community. They add value to our properties (15 to 20%), reduce heating and air condition-ing costs (10 to 40%), make us feel better, provide a place for wildlife to live, and screen noise. One tree can remove 6 kg of carbon from the atmosphere each year and provide enough oxygen every day for 4 people. A hectare of trees removes 32 tonnes of dust from the atmosphere in a year.
Some of the challenges Mike identified for OFAC and participants to address included
- Balancing protection, restoration, and management of our trees and forests
- Balancing planning and regulations with education and incentives, i.e., stewardship
- Respecting the objectives of individual land owners
- Looking at forest protection as a "people issue" and organizing in advance to protect specific areas (like Monfort Woods and Quarry Woods)
- Promoting wise use and skilled management
- Understanding the costs of management
- Engaging the private sector
- Developing an OFAC model for the future
The official planning exercise is a good time for all of us to voice our opinions. If you can't attend one of the public consultation meetings, at least read the draft official plan and get in touch with your councillor about the issues that concern you.
[Members of Ottawa city council with their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.]
The meeting at the Canadian Museum of Nature was a follow up to a workshop held last spring during the wildlife festival. The CMN's Centre for Biodiversity has undertaken an environmental stewardship initiative to increase understanding of native plant diversity and its loss, existing threats, and the impact of human activity. Museum staff are working with a group of local people who are involved in a stewardship project of some sort. In April 2002, these people got together for the first time to compare notes and to visit several local project sites. The main purpose of November's meeting was to identify needs and decide where to go from here.
Lorraine Johnson was the guest speaker at the CMN meeting. She described gardeners as potentially good land stewards because they share some basic principles.
- We are not in control! We are still learning as we garden and are continually surprised.
- Our time scale is long. "The best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago; the second best time is now."
- We know about cause and effect, about the interactions among organisms and their environment. (She remarked that more politicians should be gardeners.)
- We think globally, and act locally. Although she added the proviso that we need to know our locale.
Ms Johnson contrasted traditional gardening with native gardening or stewardship. The former is "gardening to forget," to get rid of what was here and fill up bare earth; the latter is "gardening to remember," healing the land, the community and ourselves.
What did we learn at these meetings? Well, the opportunity for networking was much appreciated. I spoke with Renate Sander-Regier about publicity for our annual plant sale next June; with Iola Price about cooperating on a tree brochure that OFAC is producing; with Barclay Cormack of the Urban Stewardship Council about the FWG's role in following up on a conference on invasives next spring; with Philip Fry because it's wonderful to compare notes with someone who is doing what FWG is trying to do (and doing it so well); and with Lorraine Johnson just because it was great to finally meet her.
It was wonderful to find out that there are many other people and groups in our area who are concerned about the environment in general and native species in particular. It was especially good to know that a national body like the CMN is promoting environmental stewardship and the preservation of native plants. And that one of the City of Ottawa's planning principles is "a green and environmentally sensitive city."
I also think that something will come of these meetings. For me the biggest challenge will be keeping in touch. One of the outcomes of the CMN project is a list of resources and expertise available at the community level. We are looking forward to contributing to that list and reading about what else is available locally. Maybe by cooperating and working together, we really can change the world — or at least our part of it.
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Thanks to all our volunteers
Centre staff: The people who kept the Interpretive Centre open on Sunday afternoons from May 19 to October 29 (with one rain-out) were (in order of appearance): Tony and Mabel Goldsmith, Betty Campbell, Marilyn Ward, Annette Murray, Daphne Griffiths, Jean McKinnon, Dave and Verna Smythe, Sara Jinha, Peggy Robinson, Gretchen Denton, Jim Buchanan and Cheryl Hanniman, Jean McKibbon, Suzanne Desmarais, Marilyn Hahn, David Hobden, Betty Ruda, Malcolm and Alison Leith.
Friday volunteers: Our Backyard Garden crew met every Friday morning from early April to late fall. Thanks very much for all the hard work done by (in alphabetical order): Robina Bennett, Claudia Burns, Betty Campbell, Charlie Clifford, Rod Craig, Dale Crook, Gretchen and Tony Denton, Sandy Garland, Carol German, Mabel and Tony Goldsmith, Daphne Griffiths, David Hobden, Sara Jinha, Jaya Krishnan, Jay Ladell, Allison and Malcolm Leith, Bonnie Mabee, Marilyn Meldrum, Annette Murray, Isobel Nicol, Marilyn Ward, and Neville Woodman.
Volunteer Dale Crook, hard at work in the "woodland walk" part of our Backyard Garden.
Sunday volunteers: We tried something new this year for those who wanted to volunteer at the FWG, but are unable to do that on Fridays. Although the new Sunday morning crew was considerably smaller than the Backyard Garden group, they were great workers and managed to dig swallowwort out of about a third of the Ash Woodlot. They also planted this year's nursery seedlings. Thanks to Mariel Dubois, Carrie Boulton, Gretchen Denton, Henry Steger, Erin Rankin, Anu Rao, Suzanne Desmarais, Sandy Garland, Jeff Blackadar, Jim Buchanan, Cheryl Hanniman.
Members of our management committee and others who attend our monthly meetings at the Interpretive Centre: David Hobden, Henry Steger, Charlie Clifford, Dianne Lepage, Jean Turner, Sandy Garland, Eric Moore, Penny Reed, Maria MacRae, Elizabeth Gammell.
Thanks also to Christine Hanrahan who writes Nature Notes for our newsletter, keeps records of birds and other creatures using the FWG, and posts interesting sightings on our bulletin boards, and always has good advice on any subject to do with wildlife. Frank Pope who represents the FWG very ably on the Central Experimental Farm Advisory Committee. And thanks to Dave Moore who is always willing to lead tours of the garden when we have visitors and guests.
Donors and visitors: Special thanks to those who visited our garden, signed the guest book, bought books, donated money for plants, and bought plants at our spring sale. Your feedback is invaluable to us and your encouragement keeps us going.
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Nature notes and sightings
by Christine Hanrahan
THE SECOND SNOW OF THE YEAR is falling as I write this — as a reminder of the long cold months ahead and the need to maintain through the winter any feeder you may set up. The last Nature Notes column was written in the full heat of summer when nesting activity was at its peak. Since then much has changed in the natural world: nesting is over, migration has happened, and preparation for winter continues with increased urgency.
Backtracking to late July, I see from my notes that fledged young birds seemed to be all over the place indicating another successful breeding season in the garden. There are some caveats to the term "successful," however, for tree swallows, here as across the region, suffered from the delayed spring which was mostly cool and very wet, and we had fewer than usual nesting this year. We also seemed to have had fewer yellow warblers, but other species were present in good numbers as noted in the previous Nature Notes column.
By early August "our" green herons had fledged and, along with the adults, were soon feeding further afield returning only sporadically after that. Here's hoping that they return to nest again in 2003.
During August birds were beginning to disperse (post-breeding dispersal) both into and out of the garden. On August 12 an immature northern harrier was seen hunting the farm fields across from the FWG. For a few weeks in late August, a peregrine falcon caused consternation amongst the rock dove population near the Neatby Building. The first I knew of the falcon's presence was when I saw a field of rock doves suddenly take off in what I can only describe as sheer panic. I looked around for the source and saw the falcon flying high and fast across the parking lot straight toward the field. Suddenly it wheeled around, soared upward, turned and dove into the midst of the flock. I have never seen a bird move so fast or so purposefully! It was a movement at once powerful and lethal, but beautiful. Quite literally breath-taking. The rock doves didn't stand a chance. We've now seen all four falcons at the FWG/farm: last winter a gyrfalcon stuck around for a short while, near the Interpretive Centre. Merlins nested for the second year in a row, choosing the conifer stand near the Carling Building this time, and of course the kestrels were back at the red barn.
Cooper's hawks nested on the farm and were, therefore, present all summer, and if the trend of recent years continues at the FWG, we should be seeing these graceful accipiters all winter too.
September is always the peak of migration. Although many people know about flocks of migrating geese, fewer realize that two of our common birds also form large, noisy single-species flocks in the fall and can present quite a sight: robins and blue jays. On warm days this fall, the robin numbers streaming across the garden were at times, quite impressive. If the winter is mild enough we could see some robins overwintering again as we did a few years ago. Large numbers were still present into early November.
Northern flickers also appear in some numbers in the fall, often found searching for ants on the ground. One day I noticed a flicker pulling really hard at something on the trunk of a tall tree in the Arboretum just below the FWG. Curious to see what was causing such concentration, I wandered over, getting there just as the head and wings of a cicada landed at my feet still, for the moment, moving frenziedly. Rather grisly, but at least I discovered what the flicker was so avidly going after. Cicadas are commonly heard from mid-summer on, but only uncommonly seen. In September, Sandy reported seeing one clutching the stalk of an evening primrose in the New Woods.
The usual assortment of sparrows arrived in September, with large flocks of white-throated sparrows and dark-eyed juncos present through October. Smaller numbers of white-crowned sparrows could be seen as well and in mid-October a few tree sparrows. Fox sparrows are so large that some people, not surprisingly, mistake them for thrushes. We always find a few at FWG and this year was no exception with one still present on November 7. The same day, a late-lingering song sparrow was lurking around the cattails by the pond, and it is entirely possible that one or two of these sparrows could survive the winter if the weather is mild and food is available. Scattered sightings of ruby-crowned kinglets, black-throated blue warblers, palm warblers and yellow-rumped warblers were also noted. Cardinals, chickadees, hairy woodpeckers, and other resident species could be found on most days, foraging in the woods, thickets and especially in the ravines along with many of the migrating passerines.
A new species for the FWG bird checklist was found on October 10 when four rusty blackbirds were observed, bringing our total to 119 species.
It is always worth a quick foray into the Arboretum and along the canal to see what might have turned up there. On October 22, within 5 minutes I found. about 30 hooded mergansers, a few common mergansers, several great black-backed gulls, a double-crested cormorant, and along the exposed shoreline (left when the water level was lowered this fall) a lapland longspur and two pectoral sandpipers.
During the balmy days of September when it seemed summer might go on forever (we wish!), one had only to look at the frantic activity of the local squirrel population to realize that endless summer was a myth. From morning to night they were busy food-gathering, running back and forth across the roads (not always making it, unfortunately), stocking up for the lean months ahead. Groundhogs always seem to retire before the end of September regardless of how warm the weather is, and so it was this year too. They are true hibernators unlike chipmunks, which retreat to their underground dens when the temperatures dip but continue to wake up and move around at intervals. A least weasel was noticed around the Interpretive Centre again in late summer, so it seems that while we may not be lucky enough to see these little guys too often, they are still in the garden somewhere. A few years ago we were excited to find a cottontail in the backyard garden, now they are plentiful, not only in the FWG but all around the farm which should keep the foxes happy.
 Monarch butterflies appeared in the garden in small numbers in late summer; my last sighting of one at FWG was on October 2, but possibly others saw them later than that. This was not a great butterfly year anywhere in the region including FWG. Not surprisingly the most commonly observed species was the clouded sulphur, and I saw my last one on October 29 near the Old Field. Black swallowtails were relatively common around the FWG this year and along with the above mentioned sulphur and the cabbage white, were the most frequently noted butterflies later in the season. Peter Hall, who found a new butterfly for the FWG list on Canada Day, tawny-edged skipper, also reported an exciting find on the Central Experimental Farm: fiery skippers, not previously recorded for the Ottawa checklist!
As always, if you have sightings you'd like to report, please contact me at 798-1620 or by e-mail at vanessa@magma.ca
Featured native plant
 photo by Irving Dardick
Turtlehead
Chelone glabra
White, tubular, 2-lipped flowers arranged in a compact, short terminal spike. Upper lip arched over the lower one producing a shape resembling a turtle's head. Leaves finely toothed, lance-shaped, opposite, 3" to 6" long. This flower blooms in late summer. Both the native white and the horticultural pink variety can be found at the FWG. They grow best is partial shade.
The leaves of this plant are the larval food for the Baltimore Checkspot butterfly.
For more about turtlehead, see the article by Diana Beresford-Kroeger in the fall 2002 issue of Nature Canada
[http://www.cnf.ca/naturecanada/fall02/garden.html]
Walnuts and butternuts
by Dale Crook
 FINDING SOME BLACK WALNUT TREES at the FWG loaded with nuts was exciting and aroused my curiosity about the walnut trees generally.
Six species are native to North America, but only two of these, the black walnut (Juglans nigra L) and the butternut (Juglans cinerea L) are found in eastern Canada. The black walnut is one of the most valuable hardwood species native to North America. The butternut is not an important commercial species, and is subject to a major fungal disease commonly called "butternut canker."
 The FWG contains a total of 48 walnut and 15 butternut trees. The trees range from seedlings under 5' tall to several that are over 20'.
Three walnut trees had fruit and each tree had an estimated crop of over 50 nuts. Although most of the nuts have now disappeared (hopefully to squirrels), some remain on one tree overlooking the pond which can be seen from the Bill Holland trail near the baseball field fence. No butternut trees had nuts this year.
Although walnuts and butternuts are similar, I found the following characteristics useful in identification:
| Butternut | Walnut |
| Leaflets opposite and nearly stalkless | Leaflets somewhat alternate with very short stalk |
| 11–17 leaflets | 14–23 leaflets |
| Leaves rough above | Leaves smooth above |
| Tip leaflet same size as adjacent leaves | Tip leaflet small or absent |
| Middle leaflet largest | Leaflets gradually smaller toward base |
| Leaflet edges rough - teeth hardly visible | Leaflet finely toothed |
| Leaf stalk hairy and somewhat sticky | Leaf stalk generally smooth |
All of the walnut trees appear healthy but some of the butternut show the telltale signs of the canker fungus. In
the early stages of infection, black sooty patches appear on the bark surface. Young cankers exude a black fluid that dries in the summer. The cankers can eventually girdle a tree causing death. On the whole, the butternut canker disease at the FWG appears to be in the early stages. Most trees appear healthy, but the fact that none produced fruit probably indicates they're infected. Diseased trees usually die within several years. There is no known cure for the disease. Hopefully, we might have some trees resistant to the disease.
Some other problems were found. Our notorious swallowwort and buckthorn are affecting some trees as well as Virginia creeper. The nut trees with their long compound leaves are particularly vulnerable to the strangling swallowwort. Some trees were being crowded by buckthorn and other trees were covered with Virginia creeper and grape vines.
Our plan is to leave any nuts for the squirrels who, besides eating and storing them, will inevitably plant some. We plan to tag the trees in some way and maintain an inventory. By so doing, we can monitor the status of the butternut canker and record the nut crops.
Work on buckthorn removal will continue and vines can be cut, but the only recourse for the swallowwort scourge is constant surveillance to cut or dig out the stuff, especially around young trees.
Excellent information on all nut trees can be found on the web site of the Eastern Chapter Ontario Society of Nut Growers (ECSONG) at http://www.ecsong.ca
Wildflower study group
 The FWG is planning a series of workshops to explore aspects of native plants in gardens and in the wild — identifying native plants, native plants in the garden, attracting birds and butterflies to your garden, propagating native plants. If there is sufficient interest in a Wildflower Study Group, field trips will be included during the growing season. Please e-mail (sgarland@magma.ca) or call (730-0714) Sandy if you are interested in joining such a group.
FWG needs BYG coordinator
Although we have a fine crew of volunteers who meet on Friday mornings to maintain our Backyard Garden, we need someone to coordinate our efforts and ensure that work is done at the right time. Please call David at 521-4145 or e-mail dhobden@achilles.net for more information and to volunteer.
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This page was revised on 7 December 2002.
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