Author: New Admin

Weather Report

This year, London is living up to its “snow belt” reputation. Although last week’s snow had disappeared, more lake-effect snow descended from Lake Huron on November 16th and 17th.

At least, stormy skies bring colourful sunsets.

Lake-effect snow is produced when a cold air mass passes over warmer lake water. The lower layer of air picks up water vapour that rises through the cold air, freezes and is deposited as the cold air mass moves downwind of the lake. London was directly in the path of the air mass as it moved south from Lake Huron.

The weather radar map shows the extent of the storm that passed over us all night.

Columbia Lake

In late October, before the snow and before the leaves fell, we spent a few days in Waterloo. While we were there, a friend took us to walk some nearby trails around Columbia Lake. The “lake” is part of an environmental reserve on the University of Waterloo campus. The man-made reservoir has undergone alterations over the years to create a wetland and allow Laurel Creek to run through it.

We did not have high expectations of seeing many birds at that time of year. As we were exiting our vehicle, however, our sharp-eyed friend spotted two Bald Eagles, one perched in a tree across the lake. As we watched, a second eagle flew in and landed in the tree with a fish dangling from its talons.

Two adult eagles are just visible in the bare branches of the tree across Columbia Lake.

After several minutes, the pair left with the fish.

The lake hosted a few Canada Geese and several female Common Mergansers.

Among the Mallards dozing on the shore, we spotted a handsome male Wood Duck.

A Mallard drake was accompanied by a female with very unusual plumage. Mallards hybridize with other duck species and with domestic ducks, producing many combinations of traits. We hadn’t encountered one quite like this before.

The trail leads through meadowland and woods.

A stream runs through the woods. It attracts migrating and resident birds through the spring and summer. The only song birds in evidence this day were a Northern Cardinal, an elusive Dark-eyed Junco, and a raucous Blue Jay.

Many trees were still in leaf.

Below is a London Plane tree. The London Plane tree can be easily mistaken for a native American Sycamore/Plane tree. Plane trees are thought to be hybrids of American and Oriental Plane trees. The hybrids are often planted in cities as they are more tolerant of urban pollution than Sycamores. There are several differences between American Sycamores and London Plane trees. For example, the seed heads of Plane trees grow in groups of two or three, whereas Sycamores have one seed head per stalk.

Sugar Maples blazed red, even without the sun.

Dogwood and Guelder-Rose bushes added more colour.

Seeds emerging from Milkweed pods were ready to fly.

Eastern Gray Squirrels (that come in black, gray and white variants) were busy foraging.

Brubacher House

The Brubacher farmhouse sits just off the path around Columbia Lake.

The University of Waterloo was built on farmland previously owned by Pennsylvania Deutsch (German) Mennonites. The farmhouse was built in 1850. Magdalena and John E. Brubacher raised fourteen children there. The house was restored with the help of Mennonite craftsmen and now serves as a museum to interpret Mennonite history and culture.

Music of the Bee Gees

We saw the Bee Gees while we were students in Waterloo. They were featuring songs from Saturday Night Fever. I enjoyed the quiet songs where I could hear the vocal harmonies and the lyrics.

I had forgotten just how big the Bee Gees were. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997;[13] the Hall’s citation stating at the time, “Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees.”

On November 9th, we woke up to a dusting of snow. Then, it snowed some more.

In the cold and wind, more leaves fell.

On November 11th, it snowed again, making nightmare conditions for the early morning traffic. After some rainy days, the Friday forecast is for sun and 8° Celsius.

This is how fall view evolved. What a difference one month makes!

Fall Flowers

No flowers from Wandering Bee, but here are some late season blooms at the Civic Garden Complex taken on September 19th.

Also, Glenn got a clip-on macro lens for Susan’s iPhone. These are dried flowers. Just wait until the spring!

Emmylou Harris Opened a Door for Me

Here is a short playlist of songs that starts with three old country songs by Emmylou. She opened the door for me to enjoy many versions of the next two songs by the Carter Family. The list ends with one of my favourite Dolly Parton songs.

One of our favourite fall walks is the 3.3 km loop trail around the Mill Pond in Dorchester. Because the leaves have started to fall and the trees will soon be bare, we found time to make a quick circuit of the pond to take in the colours.

We started near the south end of the pond. The trail leads to a boardwalk through the marsh. So late in the season, the only birds we heard in the woods were Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees.

The only birds on the water were Mallards and Canada Geese.

An Autumn Meadowhawk landed on the railing of the boardwalk, warming itself in the sun.

The narrow trail continues around the pond,

Much, but not all of the colour is provided by the scarlet, russet and bronze of oak leaves.

The trail widens as it move through woods populated by Eastern White Pines.

Views from the dam at the north end of the pond and from the path along the western shore.

The path travels through local park space before reentering the woods and past final views across the pond.

Correction

In a recent post, we identified these as the leaves of a Silver Maple. On reflection, we can see that they are the leaves of a Freeman’s Maple. This is a hybrid between Silver and Red Maple trees and is commonly planted in parks and on city streets. The leaves of the Freeman’s Maple resemble those of the Silver Maple, but are not as deeply cut. Silver Maples do sometime turn red in the fall, but are more likely to turn yellow. Freeman’s, like Red Maples more reliably turn red in the fall.

Academy Award Nominations 1980s

While trying to build a playlist of songs from the 1980s, I found that many of them were used in movies. So why not just feature movie songs that won or were nominated?

Civic Garden Complex, October 24, 2025

We’ve been out and about enjoying the fall weather. There hasn’t been time to make a proper post. Here, instead, are some more fall colours, this time from London’s Civic Garden Complex.

Civic Garden Complex

The Civic Garden Complex serves as a venue for community events, workshops, and recreational activities. The facility includes greenhouses where plants for city properties and programs, including those that support low-income housing tenants and food banks, are grown. It is surrounded by gardens with walkways, arbours, ponds, and acres of green space.

Nature London rents meeting space at the complex. Here are a few photos taken before the club’s meeting on October 24th.

There are more formal gardens and manicured lawns.

Many tree species populate the grounds.

The park overlooks the Thames River. Wooded paths lead down to the river.

Colour closer to home…

Happy Halloween

Who doesn’t like a Praying Mantis joke?

A few songs from 1981

I could find only a few songs that I still like from 1981. There were mores songs that I liked in 1983 an 1984.

We had a few outings in the extended summer temperatures, but no time to write them up. The weather has now “turned”, bringing much rain, overcast skies, and even a rainbow.

Until we have time to catch up, here are some of the autumn colours in London.

The view from our balcony is ever changing.

The rainbow showed up after the Jays had won the American League Campionship. Maybe a good omen?

Here are some of the shades of colour in the trees around London.

We passed Kettle Creek on our way along a country road. The trees around it were all aflame.

Audubon 2025 Photography Awards: Honourable Mentions

Click on the photo to link to the website:

Fall Flowers

Pumpkin arrangement and Icelandic Poppies from Wandering Bee

The Music I Still Like from 1980

There was music that I heard a lot in 1980 that I no longer enjoy. Here are songs that are still great to hear. You can always jump to the next song to skip the ones you don’t enjoy.

We continued to have unseasonably warm and sunny weather until this week. Early in the week, rain finally arrived, accompanied by a drop in temperatures. Daytime temperatures will be in the high teens (Centigrade) and in the single digits overnight.

The canopy is gradually showing more colour.

Two Parks

On a weekend visit in the east end of Toronto, we had time for brief visits to two parks.

Cathedral Bluffs Park

Scarborough Bluffs Park is composed of 11 interconnected parks that span 15 kilometers along the Lake Ontario shoreline. We only had time for a brief visit to Cathedral Bluffs Park. Cathedral Bluffs refer to the fragile sandstone cliffs that tower over the shoreline. The bluffs are rapidly eroding due to wave action, water runoff and seepage, and the freeze-thaw cycle. The City of Toronto and the regional conservation authority work together to create and maintain the greenspaces of the park system.

On Lake Ontario, there are always Ring-billed Gulls…

Sharp eyes spotted this Rock Pigeon high on the bluff and a Green Heron on the railing of a distant settlement pond.

Black Saddlebags are large, skimmer dragonflies. The black blotches on the wings make them look as though they are wearing saddlebags.

At this time of year, there are many species of asters in bloom.

Biidaagise Park

A century ago, the mouth of the Don River was diverted into a channel and the marshland along the Lake Ontario shore was turned into an industrial site. The channelling of the river has resulted in frequent extensive flooding and closure of the Don Valley Parkway. With the advent of climate change, even more destructive flooding was predicted. The project to reconstruct the mouth of the river was begun in 2017. The plan was to transform the industrial area into a 60-acre park, walking trails, a children’s play area, the Lassonde Art Trail, marshes, bridges and streams, and a new housing community. Much of that work, except the housing, is now largely complete.

In consultation with the Indigenous community, the park was named Biidaasige Park (pronounced Bee-daw-sih-geh), meaning “sunlight shining toward us” in Anishinaabemowin. 

We had time to explore the playground and trails only briefly. Both had recently opened to the public and were already a popular destination.

The development is situated on an island that is accessed by colourful bridges.

There is a launch pad in the park for canoes and kayaks to navigate the channels through the streams and marshlands.

The paths were overflowing with native flowers.

The blooms attracted many bees and other pollinators, including this spectacular American Lady.

There were separate areas for large and small dogs.

The most popular area was the extensive playground that featured beautifully crafted swings and climbing structures. Of these, the Snowy Owl attracted the most attention.

We were happy to be heading out of Toronto before the second playoff game between the Blue Jays and Yankees began!

Some colour along the highway on the trip home…

Dwayne Gretzky Music Videos

The band’s self-description is “Dwayne Gretzky is Canada’s greatest party band and a can’t-miss live music experience celebrating classic hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.” If all they did was cover Queen songs, I would still be featuring them.

Here are some of my favourite songs from their large number of YouTube videos.

We had mostly warmer than expected temperatures and clear skies through September. The shorter days and cooler nights remind us that it is fall. The canopy is still green for the most part, but, from early September, there have been a few outstanding Red Maple and Silver Maple trees already turning brilliant shades of red.

With clear skies, our sunsets have been mostly muted.

Despite ongoing projects, we made it out a few times in September.

Kilally Meadows, September 9, 2025

The paths at Kilally Meadows provide sun and shade and a variety of habitats.

We can usually count on finding a Song Sparrow at Kilally. Otherwise, there were few birds in evidence.

At this time of year, it is the insects that are most abundant and interesting.

Two kinds of grasshoppers:

Carolina Grasshopper and Red-legged Grasshopper

Because there is so much overlap in the features of the crescent butterflies, it was impossible to identify the specific type of crescent – Pearl or Northern.

The next photos should come with a warning, such as “butterfly Kama Sutra”. It took us time to see that the crescents were mating as they changed positions in the grass.

Other pollinators: Western Honey Bee, Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee, Pure Green Sweat Bee, Common Aerial Yellowjacket, Small Carpenter Bee

Some wildflowers: White Snakeroot (2 photos) Cut-leaved Coneflower, Brown-eyed Susan, Smooth Blue Aster, Fleabane.

Fungus: Violet-toothed Polypore.

It’s easy to see why these berry-producing vines and bushes have become invasive.

Virginia Creeper, Common Buckthorn, Autumn Olive

Wandering Bee Flowers

My New Favourite Band – Blue Rodeo

CBC Gem (available for free, small monthly charge to skip commercials) has a new documentary called Blue Rodeo: Lost Together. Somehow I missed a lot of what was going on in Canadian music since 1980. I was distracted by work and a few superstars and overlooked so many great musicians.

Susan noticed that some of the early songs sounded much better live. Fortunately, Blue Rodeo did not lose their voices or their fan base with age. With Blue Rodeo performing in London on November 15, I am very tempted to attend.

Here is a playlist of great versions of songs I like.

I added some lyrics for each of the songs in the playlist that now grab me every time I hear these songs.

Try

Every time you walk in the room
I couldn’t ever be sure of a smile
You were never the same way twice
I’m falling in love
Oh, night after night
Oh, it’s crazy

Til I Am Myself Again

Well, I don’t need a doctor
To figure it out
I know what’s passing me by
When I look in the mirror
Sometimes I see
Traces of some other guy

Five Days in May

They met in a hurricane
Standing in the shelter, out of the rain
She tucked a note into his hand
Later on, they took his car
Drove on down where the beaches are
He wrote her name in the sand
Never even let go of her hand

Bad Timing

I never meant to make you cry
And though I know I shouldn’t call
It just reminds us of the cost of everything we’ve lost
Bad timing, that’s all
And maybe soon there’ll come a day
When no more tears will fall
We each forgive a little bit, and we both look back on it
It’s just bad timing, that’s all

Hasn’t Hit Me Yet

Never thought this could happen
But somehow the feeling’s gone
You got sick of the pattern
And I got lost in this song

Lost Together (often sung at the end of each concert with other performers)

Strange and beautiful
Are the stars tonight
That dance around your head
In your eyes I see that perfect world
I hope that doesn’t sound too weird

And I want all the world to know
That your love’s all I need
All that I need
And if we’re lost
Then we are lost together
Yeah if we’re lost
We are lost together

We desperately needed rain, but it had not materialized. There had been endless days of sun and summer temperatures without too much humidity and with cooler temperatures at night. It was best to make the most of such weather while we could!

We did a circuit of the Coves. Although we only had 12 species of birds, there was a nice variety and a few photo opportunities.

In one of the ponds, we found a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron fishing with great success.

There were Mallards dabbling in the pond. On the far side of the pond, we spotted an immature Wood Duck and two adults in eclipse plumage perched in the shade.

We heard a Kingfisher in flight along the pond. The female landed in the open, surveying the pond for prey. The bird was far away, but recognizable.

Red-eared Sliders, released pets, now populate the pond.

Along the wooded path, we heard chickadees and a Gray Catbird. Then we saw a bird moving rapidly high in a tree. We thought it had to be either a kinglet or a warbler. With difficulty, Glenn was able to get some photos to identify a Bay-breasted Warbler (in fall plumage).

The path leads through fields of goldenrod at this time of year. It was here that we found a variety of pollinators busy on the blossoms.

Below: Western Honey Bee, a member of Ground Yellowjackets, Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Western Honey Bee, Aster Cellophane Bee, Fraternal Potter Wasp, Northern Paper Wasp (2 photos), Locust Borer.

A new butterfly for us! A Common Checkered-Skipper. There was also a Crescent that was in poor shape…

Snail, Asian Lady Beetle, Common Whitetail dragonfly

There were other plants in bloom, in addition to goldenrod, and some plants that were going to seed:

Pale-leaved Woodland Sunflower, Sweet Everlasting, Tall Thimbleweed (seedhead), Queen Anne’s Lace in seed, Arrow-leaved Aster.

Flower Farm Flowers

On the streets of London…

Osprey Nest Update

We had not seen the Osprey for a few days. We knew that he must have started his migration south when we saw a Red-tailed Hawk perched on the Osprey nest on September 7th.

Nice Surprise

Because I have listened to several versions of White Rabbit on YouTube, the first song was recommended automatically to me. I found several other songs by the same duo recorded over a few years. Here is a playlist of seven songs I continue to enjoy.

We took ourselves to see Annie! Yes, it lived up to its rave reviews.

It was a perfect summer day – warm temperatures with a breeze and little humidity. We had time for a stoll through the Festival Theatre grounds and the Arthur Meighen perennial garden. Of course, we had to take a few photos…

Our male Osprey was still around at the beginning of the week…

We’ll be back!

The intense heat has finally receded. We are enjoying much cooler temperatures during the day and overnight, and we have had some much-needed rain.

Chimney Swifts

Over the past week or so, we have been preoccupied with our duties as the coordinators of Nature London’s Chimney Swift Monitoring Program. This has involved a number of late nights and time orchestrating willing volunteers to count the number of swifts entering chimneys at sunset.

Our program was recently contacted by Le Nichoir, a wildlife rehabilition centre in Hudson, Quebec. They were raising nine orphaned swifts that needed to join a large flock of Chimney Swifts on their migration to South America. All of the Chimney Swifts in the Montreal area had left for the season, but London, located farther south than Montreal, still had large roosts of migrating swifts. Nature London’s is the only program that monitors swift numbers through the whole season until they migrate south.

Last week, we helped a rehabilitation specialist from Destined to Fly near Kingston release one swift into a flock. After that, we needed to continue to track where there were roosts large enough to receive the nine young swifts. Waves of migrating swifts travel through London, but it is hard to predict where they will congregate or how long they will stay.

We monitor in all kinds of weather and sometimes see hundreds of swifts swirling in the sky before they cascade down a chimney for the night. On Tuesday night, the chimney we chose turned out to be perfect for the release of the nine swifts plus one bonus adult swift.

Birds on our neighbourhood walks

Throughout the year, we see the odd gull on the river. These are likely some of the gulls that reside near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario year round. In August, we more regularly see flocks of 30 to 40 Ring-billed Gulls on the river. These are migrating gulls that breed farther north and migrate to the southern United States for the winter.

Most of the gulls we have seen are adults with white heads and undersides, grey backs, black-tipped grey wings, yellow legs and yellow bills with black rings. There have been only a few juveniles with their mottled white and brown plumage and black bills that slowly transition to the yellow with black ring as they age.

Killdeer are medium-range migrants that breed throughout Canada and the northern United States, then move farther south for the winter.

Each summer, there has been at least one pair of Killdeers that nest along the Thames River in Harris Park. We often hear their urgent “killdeer-killdeer” cries from our balcony. In August, we’ve counted up to 10 Killdeers foraging in the river. These are likely the local Killdeer families as well as some migrants passing through. Soon, they all will be on their way south.

Greater Yellowlegs are shorebirds that breed across Canada north of the Great Lakes. Although they migrate through the London area, we do not expect to see them in the centre of the city. We were happy to find a pair of Greater Yellowlegs foraging in the Thames for several days in late July.

Great Egrets breed in a few spots in southern Canada, but spend the winter farther south. They nest in trees or bushes, often in colonies. We occasionally see Great Egrets along the river during the summer. Most often, we only see them in late summer or fall as they migrate. This handsome bird spent a couple of days along the river in Harris Park. It was unfazed by people walking the path along the river, unlike most egrets that take off when approached.

From the park, we saw the male Osprey perched on a light tower across the river. It then flew along the river, checking for fish. We have not seen the male as regularly over the past week, but still see it occasionally, sometimes consuming a fish on its usual light tower.

In early August, there were still very young robins in the park. Adult and juvenile starlings have started to gather in flocks in preparation for migration. The geese will remain for the winter, having lost their need to migrate from the urban environment.

We’re always on the lookout for pollinators: Western Honey Bee, Common Eastern Bumble Bee, and Cabbage White butterflies are the most common.

Sometimes, we have visitors to our balcony!

Northern Dog-day Cicada. These are also known as heatbugs for the loud buzzing sound they make in the hot weather. They acquired the “dog-day” name because they are associated with the hot, humid weather of the dog days of summer. Virginian

Tiger Moth. This is the moth that develops from the yellow woolly bear caterpillar. Its name comes from the orange and black markings on the moth’s body that are not visible in this photo.

We are always interested in what is growing and blooming in the park. Kentucky Coffeetrees are native to Southwestern Ontario. Fruit pods are now hanging from the branches of this tree. Himalayan Balsam (introduced), Dwarf Mallow (introduced), Redstem Stork’s-Bill (introduced).

This week’s flowers

Dahlias are now in bloom!

Sadly, there was no time to add music this week.