As the previous entry said, we walked a hiking trail at Longwood’s. Wendy and I enjoyed it so much, we decided to try to do more of this while the weather is good. In fact the weather is probably the best it will be for hiking. The bugs are not out in full force and the temperature is neither too cold nor too hot.. The temperatures mid to low 60’s F gives us the opportunity to try out various clothing as we anticipate the weather in Alaska in June and it fits right in to my weight loss plan.
Click on a picture to enlarge.
Wednesday we went to ‘the Ponds” but the trail was too muddy to progress very far. We covered less than a half a km but at least we got started on our plan.
At several sites the signs warn about hiding your valuables and locking your car to prevent the ‘sneak thief’ from breaking in. I think it would be better to leave it unlocked since the windows are around $500. I parked the Rendezvous out by the road and took a picture of the license plate on this car. Could the lady's panties hanging from the mirror indicate a certain caliber of person??? 
Thursday we drove out to Delaware and found a trail along the river. Although we trudged only a km or so, it was uphill and downhill and was really quite a workout.
Above, Wendy shows the invasive Buckthorn tree. This tree is a bad weed and it was brought to London from Europe in the 1800's. It all started here and it's spreading. The trees block out other plant growth and are very difficult to eradicate. Our back yard is full of them!.
Have you noticed this invasion yet?
by Tom Sheppard
An invasive plant has been taking root around our and other fields of late. You may have noticed it: this time of year it is laden with blackberries, stands much taller than a person and grows in thick profusion. If you don't keep your fields mowed, it quickly takes them over.
The plant is the Glossy Buckthorn. It has become a real worry not just to landowners but to Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, which is trying to have it removed the minute it appears. It got a jump on us, because we thought it was just more wild cherry trees growing and naively let them be. Now I am mowing and cutting the plants down.
McGill University's Canadian Biodiversity Project describes the Glossy Buckthorn as a native of Europe, imported to North America in the 1800s to be used for landscaping. Like many imported species, it has become naturalized and thrives, extending from Nova Scotia to Manitoba but concentrated in Ontario.
The plant was imported for hedgerows as early as 1850 in places like Wisconsin. It was first introduced in Canada in London, Ontario, in 1898; in Ottawa in 1899 and in Guelph in 1906, and spread from there. It was noticed growing wild in the St. Thomas area by 1950, in Toronto by 1953 and in the Georgian Bay area by 1968. By 1975 it was being recorded east of Ottawa, according to the McGill project.
It was first recorded at Kejimkujik National Park in 1980, possibly the fairly large plant that was identified again in 2004 near the entrance to the warden's compound. It began to spread. Efforts to eradicate it began seriously this year, with staff and volunteers cutting the plants, digging up the roots or pulling up the plants altogether. Darien Ure, Ecosystem Scientist at the park, told me that a couple of other Glossy Buckthorn plants had been identified in the park, and that they would be removed wherever they occur.
It grows in both wetland and upland habitats, inundating the edges of woodlands, fencerows, fields, prairies, swamps and bogs. You can recognize it by its shiny leaves and, at this time of year, its purplish-black berries.
Biologists consider the Glossy Buckthorn an aggressive and dangerous species. Because of the dense shade it produces, it kills off other species native to our woodlands. We've noticed, for example, that the alders we used to have at the bottom of our field are being squeezed out. The Glossy Buckthorn also plays host to a fungus that attacks oats and grasses.
It seems to be spread by starlings, robins and waxwings, which release the seeds through their droppings.
Controlling the Glossy Buckthorn is difficult. It won't survive on fields that are mowed regularly, but cutting them down around the edge of fields is problematic, because they sprout like mad when cut. Constant cutting tends to weaken the plant, but in a large area, that is not always possible.
Darien Ure has been dealing with the outbreak at the park. She said that one method of control is to pull the plants out of the soil using a device called the Weed Wrench, a tool that provides the leverage to pull the plant out (available from the Weed Wrench Company, in Oregon). She thought it had been used with some success by the Clean Annapolis River group.
The larger buckthorn plants require heavy equipment to remove them, or they can be cut off and the stumps treated with an herbicide.
Darien sent me a report from a group in London, Ontario, called ReForest London, which is a non-governmental organization working with trees and shrubs in the city. It sent a team of nine people to the city's parks to remove the plants and – to emphasize how difficult it is to remove it – set up a multi-year management plan.
In the first year, all seed-bearing plants are removed from the area being controlled. In the second and third year, all emerging seedlings are removed. Then native plants are reintroduced, to provide shade that retards the growth of the buckthorn. Thereafter, the area must be monitored to control immature plants.
The University of Maine suggests that cutting a ring through the bark of each plant will prevent resprouting, but that is impractical if there are thousands of plants. It also suggests mowing, repeated cutting, excavation or successive burning.
To me, that sounds like a major battle, and the reason I write this is to suggest that if the invasion is just beginning on a person's property, the owner should get to removing the plant right away. We, and many like us, have, on the other hand, our work cut out for us.
Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com
The plant is the Glossy Buckthorn. It has become a real worry not just to landowners but to Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, which is trying to have it removed the minute it appears. It got a jump on us, because we thought it was just more wild cherry trees growing and naively let them be. Now I am mowing and cutting the plants down.
McGill University's Canadian Biodiversity Project describes the Glossy Buckthorn as a native of Europe, imported to North America in the 1800s to be used for landscaping. Like many imported species, it has become naturalized and thrives, extending from Nova Scotia to Manitoba but concentrated in Ontario.
The plant was imported for hedgerows as early as 1850 in places like Wisconsin. It was first introduced in Canada in London, Ontario, in 1898; in Ottawa in 1899 and in Guelph in 1906, and spread from there. It was noticed growing wild in the St. Thomas area by 1950, in Toronto by 1953 and in the Georgian Bay area by 1968. By 1975 it was being recorded east of Ottawa, according to the McGill project.
It was first recorded at Kejimkujik National Park in 1980, possibly the fairly large plant that was identified again in 2004 near the entrance to the warden's compound. It began to spread. Efforts to eradicate it began seriously this year, with staff and volunteers cutting the plants, digging up the roots or pulling up the plants altogether. Darien Ure, Ecosystem Scientist at the park, told me that a couple of other Glossy Buckthorn plants had been identified in the park, and that they would be removed wherever they occur.
It grows in both wetland and upland habitats, inundating the edges of woodlands, fencerows, fields, prairies, swamps and bogs. You can recognize it by its shiny leaves and, at this time of year, its purplish-black berries.
Biologists consider the Glossy Buckthorn an aggressive and dangerous species. Because of the dense shade it produces, it kills off other species native to our woodlands. We've noticed, for example, that the alders we used to have at the bottom of our field are being squeezed out. The Glossy Buckthorn also plays host to a fungus that attacks oats and grasses.
It seems to be spread by starlings, robins and waxwings, which release the seeds through their droppings.
Controlling the Glossy Buckthorn is difficult. It won't survive on fields that are mowed regularly, but cutting them down around the edge of fields is problematic, because they sprout like mad when cut. Constant cutting tends to weaken the plant, but in a large area, that is not always possible.
Darien Ure has been dealing with the outbreak at the park. She said that one method of control is to pull the plants out of the soil using a device called the Weed Wrench, a tool that provides the leverage to pull the plant out (available from the Weed Wrench Company, in Oregon). She thought it had been used with some success by the Clean Annapolis River group.
The larger buckthorn plants require heavy equipment to remove them, or they can be cut off and the stumps treated with an herbicide.
Darien sent me a report from a group in London, Ontario, called ReForest London, which is a non-governmental organization working with trees and shrubs in the city. It sent a team of nine people to the city's parks to remove the plants and – to emphasize how difficult it is to remove it – set up a multi-year management plan.
In the first year, all seed-bearing plants are removed from the area being controlled. In the second and third year, all emerging seedlings are removed. Then native plants are reintroduced, to provide shade that retards the growth of the buckthorn. Thereafter, the area must be monitored to control immature plants.
The University of Maine suggests that cutting a ring through the bark of each plant will prevent resprouting, but that is impractical if there are thousands of plants. It also suggests mowing, repeated cutting, excavation or successive burning.
To me, that sounds like a major battle, and the reason I write this is to suggest that if the invasion is just beginning on a person's property, the owner should get to removing the plant right away. We, and many like us, have, on the other hand, our work cut out for us.
Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com
I don't know what this is, but it's pretty
The next day (Friday) it rained. That's hail too. So much for the program, but I did cut the lawn after it dried out a bit. Only trouble is, the riding lawnmower doesn’t really count for a good workout. 
Saturday we parked at Warbler Woods Trail and again this trail was quite strenuous with hills and valleys. The trilliums are in blossom everywhere and the forest is greening up beautifully. This hike was cut a little short by an impending thunderstorm. We just made it back to the car when a mini tempest hit.
The Trilliums are still blooming beautiful!
Sunday we started at Greenway Park and walked under the Wonderland bridge all the way to the pump house in Springbank Park. We know exactly how far we walked because there was a marathon run going on and we started just past the 25km mark and walked to the 29km marker and back. That’s nearly 8km or 5 miles. Maybe it gets easier with practice!
Now there's a knarly old specimen... Of course I mean the old willow BELOW!!!
The pumphouse in Springbank Park. That's the French Channel antenna in the background. Kind of spoils the scene eh?Monday we drove up to north London to Gibbon’s Park. We left the car at 1:30 and walked along the Parkway to the Thames Valley Trail. Then back to Gibbon’s Park. Not far enough yet, we walked through the park to the other end and back to the car by 2:30. I was still feeling the aches and blisters from Sunday’s marathon, but I figure we went 3 or 4 km.
Today, Tuesday we had a nice visit from John and Linda from Grand Bend. They stayed for lunch and we had a good talk. We haven’t seen John for a few months as they just returned from Florida. After they left Wendy needed to pick up some eyeglasses out by Meadowlily Drive so we took the opportunity to explore the trails at the end of the road, down near the Thames River. I think it was one of the nicest walks so far. (and I forgot my camera) I’m sure we’ll be back here though. We did get a good one hour hike, so I feel thinner.
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