Notes From Junior Naturalists Event On July 13th

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out to our Beewatch Event on the Meadoway July 13th. We enjoyed a wonderful sunny, and windy morning, and saw a variety of insects including butterflies, beetles and grasshoppers, as well as bees.

A special thanks to the TRCA for hosting us and to the Meadoway Interpreters Sumaira and Evelyn who taught us about the Meadoway. The area where we worked was planted as a pilot four years ago and is full of beautiful wildflowers–milkweed, sunflowers, coreopsis, thistles, clover etc. It was explained that the meadow must be cut every few years or it will grow into a forest. When a piece of the Meadoway is to be re-planted, it is sown in Oats first, which keeps down invasive species and prepares the ground for meadow plants.

Evelyn and Sumaira also taught us how to safely catch bees using a net, cool them down so we could have a good look at them and identify them. Among the bees we captured were the Two-spotted, Red-belted, Wool Carder bees, and Honey bees. Congratulations to all the kids who caught bees, and thanks to Koreena for picking mulberries, and cherries for us to enjoy!

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.