Tuesday 2 April 2013

Marlborough Forest in Montague

A lovely place for a walk when the snow melts!
I bet there were people who snowshoed here in winter.
There is a lovely walk around Roger's Pond.
A warm spring day, the water rushes along the rivers. We were on a morning drive to see which birds had returned to Ontario. In the Harris government's grand scheme, they amalgamated many cities and towns. On the edge of Ottawa, miles from the 'city' per se, we went into the Marlborough Forest.
It's part of Cedar Grove Trail (PDF). We have so many wonderful places to walk and view nature.

We didn't see any animals. They know to keep away from cars!

This forest has many interesting plants, according to a 1986 study, all sleeping, of course. 
  • Mountain Blue Moss or Club Moss (Lycopodium selago)
  • Whorled Milkwort (Polygala verticillata)
  • Ginseng - (rare in Ontario) (Panax quinquefolium)
  • Speedwell (Veronica catenata)
  • Heath Aster  (Aster ericoides)
Over the past few years 60 deer have been captured in Marlborough Forest and fitted with a
mixture of GPS and radio tracking collars. Using the collars, information on deer
movements, daily activity and cause of death is being collected. (Read more here, PDF)
Keith Munro (@thedeerproject) has just finished his trapping and tagging for the winter. His last traps are pulled.

"The goal of this project is to learn how the actions of hunters, predators and landowners affect
deer behaviour. This information will be used to explore management practices that influence deer behaviour to reduce negative deer-human interactions."
I say, just slow the heck down on our roads! The road kill is extraordinary and unnecessary in many cases. Speed kills!

An old homestead
Cedar forest, shallow soil
This area was settled after 1816

Downstream A river runs through it

If you like the sound of rushing water, I made a video!


Is there anything better than listening to the rushing of a stream or river in spring?

Just before we got there, we spotted a strange flag. It is a Confederate flag, with a skull and crossbones on it. (?)

3 comments:

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Beautiful place to go for a drive or walk --- except for that flag (I would avoid the people who flew it like the plague. I see them sometimes on our travels, sadly).

Always enjoy the snippets of history.

Karen said...

My friends grandparents homesteaded in what is now called Marlborough Forest. They have wonderful stories passed through the family about the early days there. The grandfather used to walk the railway lines out of the bush. We keep planning to take a trek back to their old homestead. Maybe this year we will finally get to it!

Red said...

After the winter we've had it's very pleasant to see the spring run off.