Hello Toronto Field Naturalists Juniors!
Welcome to the Toronto Field Naturalists Juniors weekly blog! A kid-friendly post will appear every week with a slideshow containing art, poems, photos and stories from Junior Naturalists. If you’d like to take part in the nature slideshow, please send us your contributions by Tuesday noon. You will also find a game and a video we thought you would enjoy. Hopefully all of this will encourage your nature-watching in Toronto!!
It is June, and what a splendid month June is. Here is a poem celebrating June:
Now is the high tide of the year –
. . .
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten.
(From The Vision of Sir Launfal, by James Russell Lowell)
Your challenge this week was to hunt for dragonflies–hunt the hunters! Please find some amazing drawings and helpful ID tips in this slideshow:
Here is a wordsearch of Ontario dragonflies — download and print the attached game, and see how many you can find.
For further help with Dragonfly identification, see this great guide from Ontario Nature.
To watch dragonfly metamorphosis, here is an amazing video.
Ever wonder what Monica Radovski does when she’s not helping out with the TFN Juniors? Check out this awesome video she made for ‘Exploring By the Seat Of Your Pants’:
Your challenge for this week: Find caterpillars–as many different ones as you can! Also see if you can ID the plants they are eating.
Answer Key: After you’ve tried the WordSearch game above, if you haven’t found all of the names, you can look at this answer sheet.