UCC event a success; Marilyn MacKellar nature walk part 2; TTC entrance left open.

Community walk and talk this Saturday 6th June 2 pm Heath St

UCC event a success

On Thursday 21st May, 23 Upper Canada College (UCC) students and 2 teachers walked over to the park and spent 2 hours removing invasive plants and trees under our supervision. They learned about two invasive species: European buckthorn and garlic mustard. They also learned that these species displace native trees and plants, if not removed.

This year, the event was organized by Nicole Hercules of Toronto Nature Stewards. She also took charge on the day. Here is the whole group on the ramp up from the carpark to the dog park:

Nicole divided the students into 6 groups, each with roughly 4 students. We had selected 4 fixed sites in advance, 2 with buckthorn trees and 2 with garlic mustard; and rotated the student groups around them. In addition there were 2 floating groups, who were taken on a mini park tour by me and did some burdock removal. Here is part of the group at the start:

This is one group pulling up buckthorn trees with an extractigator:

We had 2 lead stewards from Cedarvale (Ivor Simmons and myself) and Nicole “borrowed” 4 lead stewards from 4 other parks (James Abbott, Tom Connell Mark Takeffman and Henny Markus) for a total of 6. In the photo below, Nicole is on the left, followed by me, James, Tom, Ivor, Mark and Henny:

One plus for the 6 lead stewards was meeting each other and exchanging views on practices in different parks.

This group have adopted a dog:

This is James addressing his group, who have 3 extractigators:

This is Henny and a teacher with one of her groups:

We left behind 2 large piles of extracted buckthorn trees, which I arranged with the acting park supervisor to be picked up (so far they have not been, however).

All in all, we decided we can count the day as a success. We will most likely repeat it and may also approach other schools in the area, to find out if they are interested in a similar event.

Marilyn MacKellar nature walk part 2

In my last post, I promised to complete my account of Marilyn’s walk on 10th May. Even this will only contain a fraction of all the plants and bushes she pointed out Here is Marilyn (in red on right) some way into the walk:

At the start in the area behind the subway entrance, Marilyn observed that the removal of garlic mustard by Toronto Nature Stewards teams has allowed other, native, plants to survive, including zigzag goldenrod (Solidaro flexicaulis):

She also noticed what she surmised was a redcurrant (Ribes rubrum) bush on the slope down from Heath St:

In the area near where the path to Suydam Park takes off, she brought our attention to jumpseed, which had appropriately lived up to its name by jumping across the path from where it had been the previous year:

Here she is with the group, nearing the Bathurst St bridge:

Somewhere near this point, Marilyn pointed out comfrey (symphytum officinale):

It is non-native. It has various medicinal uses to relieve joint and muscle pain, reduce inflammation, heal bruises or sprains and for skin healing. It should not be ingested. It has bell-like flowers, white and purple.

Here is some of the group near the Bathurst St bridge:

This plant is called field or common horsetail (Equisetum arvense}. The brown stem is spore-producing. It is the only family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. It is an ancient plant, related to ferns and dating back to the period when dinosaurs roamed the earth (photo Rona MacDonald):

Marilyn pointed out this thistle, known as bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare); it is non-native.

We finished near the dog park. Many thanks once again to Marilyn for another informative nature walk.

TTC entrance left open

On our stewarding event on Saturday 30th May, Esther mentioned that she had seen some boys emerging from the TTC entrance in between the Bathurst St and Glen Cedar bridges. We looked and found that the padlock that should secure the trapdoor was missing:

It should close the two metal pieces you can see are open; once they are closed, the trapdoor cannot open. Below the trapdoor, there is a metal ladder, leading down towards the subway tracks below. If someone got in, they could fall. I reported this to the acting park supervisor, who passed it on to the TTC. As of 2nd June, however, the padlock had not been replaced. Let’s hope they get to it soon!

Community walk this Saturday

A reminder that our community walk and picnic is this Saturday 6th June, starting 2 pm from Heath St. There will be various speakers along the way. I will be one of them.

Items in upcoming post

In my next post, I will report on Councillor Josh Matlow’s community celebration on Sunday 31st May. I also have a list of the more unusual birds seen so far this year.

John