I find spending tranquil time in nature allows me to connect and reflect, reducing the stresses of modern life. Last spring, I visited four of Ontario Nature’s properties to experience the healing qualities and the beauty of nature. Read on for highlights from each of the nature reserves that I visited.
April
I had the chance to visit Petrel Point Nature Reserve during the early spring bird migration. I enjoyed seeing a great blue heron, gulls, cormorants and turkey vultures in flight over the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula. Closer afoot were windswept white pines and springtime vegetation emerging above the cold waters of the coastal wetland.
Next, I visited the Lorraine Brown boardwalk at the Oliphant Fen where I saw dozens of turkey vultures flying northwards, in addition to gulls, ducks, cormorants and great blue herons. A great egret landed ahead of me along the boardwalk, dazzling me with its breeding plumage in the spring sunlight.
Common raven, Petrel Point Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Great blue heron, Petrel Point Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Turkey vulture, Petrel Point Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Accessible boardwalk, Petrel Point Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
May
I took the day off work to visit the Long Point – Walsingham forest that was recently mentioned in the Summer issue ON Nature magazine. There I saw jack-in-the-pulpit, trilliums, a rose-breasted grosbeak and tulip tree saplings. Among the interior wetlands in mature Carolinian forest habitat, I also saw red admiral, mourning cloak and duskywing butterflies. Located within the Long Point World Biosphere and near Lake Erie and Long Point Provincial Park, the area provides important habitat for a broad diversity of wildlife.
After, I headed to Ontario Nature’s Lawson Nature Reserve, where I explored the Bucknell Wetland Trail and saw more jack-in-the-pulpits, trilliums, comma butterflies, a solitary sandpiper, spotted pink lady beetles, tamaracks and willows. The Lawson property is a beautiful Carolinian – Great Lakes forest woodlot in an increasingly busy agricultural area near Highway 401. The Ingersoll Field Naturalists and Ontario Nature created and stabilized the wetland to help renaturalize the woodlot property.
Great white trilliums, Lawson Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Solitary sandpiper, Lawson Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Red-winged blackbird, Lawson Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Bucknell Wetland, Lawson Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
June
I visited Willoughby Nature Reserve, located along Silver Creek near Caledon, just north of the proposed Highway 413 route. As I arrived, there was mist throughout the area and I felt greeted by the melodic songs of bobolinks and goldfinches.
A minute after I arrived, a broad-winged hawk landed in a tree just metres from where I stood. My camera wouldn’t function for ten minutes from the humidity, yet I enjoyed this chance to observe the hawk in the tree boughs, as it surveyed forest edges and fields for prey.
During a stroll along the Cedar Grove trail while listening to the babbling Silver Creek and along the Horse and Buggy trail I saw Canada mayflower and an eastern bluebird, as well as some trees on the nature reserve that are around 200 years old.
Canada mayflower, Willoughby Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Eastern bluebird, Willoughby Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Ferns along Silver Creek, Willoughby Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Broad-winged hawk, Willoughby Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
At Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary, I was impressed by the vast mature forest and elaborate trail system. I admired ferns, club mosses, large white pines, hemlocks and the sounds of vireos, flycatchers and warblers.
Near a tall grove of mature hemlock trees, deep in the woods, I marvelled at a large vernal pool and noticed a green frog basking at its edge. Along the Altberg Wilderness Trail, I peered into the upper canopy and recorded footage of an eastern pewee flycatcher. The canopy provides shade, cooler temperatures and moisture for forest habitat below during the warm summer months. Near the trailhead, I saw several dragonflies including a belted meadowhawk.
Eastern pewee, Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Belted whiteface dragonfly, Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Vernal pool, Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Club mosses, Altberg Wildlife Sanctuary Nature Reserve © Noah Cole
Visiting Ontario Nature’s protected and ecologically intact properties helped me reduce stress and gave me periods of serenity. Finding healthy ways to relieve anxiety – including exploring natural environments, observing wildlife and nature journaling – is especially important during times of environmental degradation.
Resources
The post Healing Through Nature appeared first on Ontario Nature.