Fall 2015 NEWSLETTER - Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre

FRIENDS OF THE FERGUSON FOREST CENTRE
Fall 2015
NEWSLETTER
Birding in Ferguson
Chair’s Comments
I have a confession to make. I didn’t want the “job” of chair
of the Friends of the Ferguson Centre board of directors. I’d
only been active on the board for a year. I didn’t know the
who’s who in the domain of the Friends. I was delinquent
in going to most Friends events. I didn’t understand the
organization’s goals or know the history. But I do love
Ferguson Forest Centre. I’m passionate about it. It’s a big
part of my life. The Friends are a big part of Ferguson Forest
Centre. In fact, it’s in our constitution to protect and foster
its overall wellbeing. And that’s why I’m chair. To be
involved; to give back; to engage with people who care, like
my colleagues on the board. I’m still figuring out how to be
chair. It’s a busier role than anticipated. It’s not only about
overseeing board meetings and supporting recruitment, but
also about molding the board’s culture, impact and work.
It’s all about trust, respect, and a willingness to rely on each
other’s strengths. We’re volunteers. In being elected we
made a commitment to stakeholders to operate under the
guiding principle of what is best for the organization. We’re
a successful, mission-driven nonprofit and I’m proud to be
a part of it. See you at the AGM! – Liza Duhaime
A Day’s Haul: 9 tires, 30 bags of trash
A dozen volunteers turned out May 16 for a much needed
grounds cleanup of high-traffic areas in Ferguson Forest
Centre. The group spent almost three hours bagging trash
and removing tires and even some odd items like clothes
and furniture. It’s amazing what you can find when you’re
looking. Thank you to all of the participants who
volunteered their time and energy to help clean and to the
Municipality of North Grenville for providing the bags.
We kicked off our 2015 event
season with a Birding Walk on
May 9, to coincide with
International Migratory Bird
Day. Expert walk leaders Dave
Moore and Bev McBride from
the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’
Club guided almost 20
enthusiasts down the narrow,
winding pathway of Turtle
Trail in Ferguson Forest
Centre on a fantastic Saturday
morning field trip of diligent
searching for local and
migrating species. There was much activity along most of
the route with avian species sounding off and flying about.
Because of the abundant greenery it was a struggle to
photograph the birds sighted in the dense foliage, but some
posed for us. A pileated woodpecker gave us a fly-past and
common species like the Black-capped Chickadees kept us
interested during quiet times. Dave and Bev did an
outstanding job identifying the fleeting and audible
varieties and also pointed out and described expertly much
of the flora on the forest floor, including this bizarre plant
sometimes called the Stink(y) Lily because of its very
unpleasant smell reminiscent of rotting meat to attract flies
when the flower is ready for pollination. Its official name is
“Dracunculus vulgaris.” Pretty to look at, but one you may
not want to plant in your house garden! The Ferguson
Forest Centre is host to numerous interesting birds and
plants. If you missed out on this event, don’t miss out on its
return in spring 2016.
By Karen Nash, member of the board of directors, Friends
of the Ferguson Forest Centre
2015 Annual General Meeting – Oct. 21
The Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre’s 2015 Annual
General Meeting will be held Wednesday, October 21, in the
Spencerville Room located at the Grenville Mutual
Insurance Company, 380 Colonnade Drive, Kemptville.
Doors open at 7PM. Join us for a social evening of fun, food,
refreshments, door prizes and our photo competition
judging, following the business portion of the AGM. We’re
10 years old and we’re celebrating! Members will also be
asked to vote on issues that are presented in the agenda,
and may renew their annual membership at the AGM.
Maple Trailhead – May 16 - Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre
board of directors, from left, Monica Wallace, Karen Nash, Jane
Hunt & Liza Duhaime with some of the rubbish collected.
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Citizen Foresters
Adventures in Eating
Our tree identification events in June and August were a
crash course in geology, geography, history and forest
marvels. Veteran forester Alf Campbell, who’s had a long
association with Ferguson Forest Centre and the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, was a natural choice to lead
the event, and he didn’t disappoint. He took us on the first
segment of the Forest Management Trail on June 13 and the
second on August 29. We followed him down the trail at a
nice relaxed pace, stopping often as he pointed out the
fabulous tree collection in the forest like blue beech, walnut,
ironwood, black cherry and basswood, among the more
common species of maple and oak, and shared insights
about the history of the hickory clumps, the cedar swamps
and the origins of the red pines. Alf is an expert and very
entertaining. It was a veritable TreeFest. It was light-hearted
fun and serious science. We listened, we looked, we
touched and we laughed. Alf is passionate about Ferguson
Forest Centre and was the visionary and designer of many
of the trails on the property. He’s keen to do Part III in
spring 2016, and we can’t wait!
By Liza Duhaime, chair of the board of directors, Friends
of the Ferguson Forest Centre
Alf showing us the differences between maple leaves
(photo: Ivan Russell)
Nature Walk Celebrates Butterflies
A small group enjoyed ideal weather conditions on the
morning of July 25 exploring the trails and open fields of
the forest centre. Highlights were a family of three pileated
woodpeckers near the Turtle Trail, and several beautiful
butterflies in the wildflower field. Our thanks go to Gordon
Robertson of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club who
guided the walk. Gordon was a very knowledgeable and
enthusiastic speaker, and provided reference notes and
descriptions of which butterflies we were likely to see and
where to look for them. The manageable size of the group
allowed plenty of opportunity for interaction, and a wide
variety of flora and fauna were observed and discussed.
By Bill Wallace, secretary of the board of directors,
Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre
(a)
(b)
(c)
Peter Fischl and Derek Steele of the Lanark Wild Food Club
led a walk on 6 June to identify edible plants in the
Ferguson Forest Centre, and there were many to sample,
including wild ginger and the lower inner stems of bull
rushes that taste like mild cucumber. Jack in the Pulpit (a)
was found and if properly dried or cooked it can be eaten as
a root vegetable. Free eats, but be careful what you pick as
there were also many highly poisonous plants found
including Baneberry (b), one of the most poisonous in
North America, and Wood Anemone (c).
Gazing Up at the Galaxies
Even with limited viewing opportunities, retired wildlife
biologist and astronomy buff Steve Wendt and colleague
James Quinn, both doers of the North Gower Science Club,
kept the crowd entertained June 20 at the Friends annual
astronomy night. While waiting for Saturn — the big ticket
item — to move into view, Steve gave a fine introduction to
the Summer Solstice and seasonal daylight variations, as
well as physical descriptions of the variety of objects visible
in the night sky like the Moon, Venus and Jupiter. Each
person had a chance to take a peek of the celestial view
through the impressive telescopes and check out some
lunar craters. The mosquitoes were plentiful, but in spite of
this we still had a rapt group of participants at well past our
planned end time. Saturn turned out to be a dud, but the
night suddenly got a bit more dramatic when we aroused
the suspicions of an OPP officer patrolling the area, who
wanted to know if those ‘scopes’ were firing stuff into
space. As always it was an educational and entertaining
event and our thanks to Steve and James for sharing their
time and knowledge.
By Ivan Russell, member of the board of directors, Friends
of the Ferguson Forest Centre
Steve points out Venus, and James adjusts the telescope at the
beginning of the event (photo: Ivan Russel)
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Sustainability Fair a Success
Up the Creek with a Paddle
The Friends’ board of directors was out in force for North
Grenville’s 8th annual Sustainability Fair on April 26 to
engage with the public, advertise our 2015 events and seek
out new members. The fair was well attended with more
than twice as many visitors as in previous years and we
were kept busy meeting people, signing up new members
and handing out almost the entire stock of white spruce
seedlings donated by the Ferguson Forest Centre nursery.
Our Canoe the Creek event August 1 attracted a small, but
keen group of canoeists and kayakers who spent a
wonderful morning on the water of the South Branch in
perfect sunny weather. Part of the magic of quietly
paddling the water is the unique views of wildlife and the
forest it affords. Our event this year gave us this lovely
sighting of a majestic Blue Heron, standing motionless on a
fallen tree, with waterlilies blooming in the foreground. The
Ferguson Forest Centre is truly an idyllic place.
By Monica Wallace, vice-chair of the board of directors,
Friends of the Ferguson Forest Centre
Director-at-large Jeslyn Thibedeau “manning the booth”April 26,
during a lull in the exhibit traffic.
Healing with Plants
For the fourth consecutive year, Shawn Yakimovich, a
naturopathic doctor practicing in Kemptville, led our
introduction to natural therapies event July 11. Shawn
shared his vast knowledge of botanical medicine and
answered questions as we learned about the medicinal
plants found along the paths and roadways of the Ferguson
Forest Centre, and growing right in our backyard. Ferguson
has an array of perennial herbs and plants you can chew,
boil, or apply topically as a poultice. Yarrow is plentiful and
is used to treat a variety of conditions. Red clover can be
dried for therapeutic use. And Plantain, the weed that
grows everywhere, is probably more nutritious than most
of the leafy greens we tend to eat. There you have it. So
many things these otherwise common plants and weeds
have to offer us. Happy Gathering!
Shawn (at right) discusses the various uses of Red Clover
(photo: Ivan Russell)
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Looking Ahead: Building the Arboretum
New gravel pathways and raised stone flower beds are
appearing in the 25-acre area north of Anniversary
Park…the dream of the future Arboretum is underway. The
field of ryegrass has a cut through path bordered with
perennial wildflowers rich with colour; there’s a raised
shrub garden and a sugar maple grove; new trees are being
added; and there’s a plan to create a Native Garden. Kudos
to the Ferguson Forest Centre Corporation for the foresight
and determination to build a place for and of our region —
a place where all lovers of the outdoors can stroll and enjoy
the diversity of nature in the midst of native meadows,
wetlands and woodlands.
The arboretum’s new pathways and rock-walled flower beds
(photo: Ivan Russell)
www.friendsofthefergusonforest.ca/
New Trails to Explore
The 45th Parallel
(photo: Ivan Russell)
The Beech and Chickadee trails at the north end of
Ferguson Forest Centre have reopened. The 1.36km
Chickadee loop is marked with red bird symbols and the
less than 1 km Beech Trail is marked with yellow leaf
symbols. These trails, and the new Settler’s Trail, are part of
the North Grenville trail system. Detailed trail maps are
available on our web site: http://bit.ly/1NDIn3P.
The Canadian band The Tragically Hip sings about the
100th meridian, but Kemptville has the 45th parallel!
And what, exactly, is the 45th parallel? It is the mid-point
between the Equator and the North Pole. If you stand at a
point that is 45 degrees and zero minutes north (N45’0”),
you are exactly half-way from the middle of our planet
Earth and Santa’s workshop. The 45th parallel is an
imaginary line that circumscribes the entire planet — we
are only one community that exists on it. But let’s celebrate
it! The 45th parallel (north) is just outside the Ferguson
Forest Centre, but you can find it at some publiclyaccessible points in the area. If you have a GPS, you want it
to display N45’000” or as close as possible.
Corporate Sponsors
The Friends would like to acknowledge the
support of our corporate sponsors.
The Friends newsletter is
Adam Shewchuk, 1932-2015
Adam Shewchuk, a founding father of the Ferguson Forest
Centre, and a longtime supporter of the Friends of the
Ferguson Forest Centre, passed away July 25.Trees and
wood of all kinds were part of who he was. His legacy lives
on in the Adam Shewchuk Sugar Maple Grove, a part of the
recreation area being developed in FFC.
Printed Locally by Classic Graphics
Special thanks to TD Graham + Associates for
helping with the creation of our new trail map and
brochure.
EcoGen Energy Inc, Kemptville
(photo: Liza Duhaime)
New Payment Options!
The Friends are proud to announce that there are now new
payment options for donations or new and renewing
memberships! We now offer email transfers and accept
credit cards as method of payment.
Leeds-Grenville
Stewardship
Council, Brockville
Flower Buds
Professional Gardening,
Osgoode
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