A Walk in the Woods

About trees that I live near - and a nice link to an article concerning notebooks and pencils and how "science is really done"

Oct 29, 2023

Solastalgia is a neologism, formed by the combination of the Latin words sōlācium and the Greek root -algia, that describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change. It is best described as the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change.

On which theme, please have a look at an article I link to at the end of this post. It’s about the balance between solving climate change and at the same time increasing biodiversity. The two are too often separated in the world’s thinking.

Now - Trees

Somewhat more than a quarter of a century ago, I landed in Montreal to start a new job and was holed up in an apartment-hotel while J sold the house in England and came to join me. I had a whole weekend to explore and a company-provided rental car to do it in. A look at a tourist map showed me that there was an arboretum maybe 15 minutes drive away, and I like arboretums. Rather a lot. Today I live even closer to it and visit regularly and often. But splendid as it is, and I have explored all its corners, it wasn’t, and never will be, quite the arboretum I was expecting when I first walked in – certainly not a Quebec version of Westonbirt, that’s for sure. But as I learned quite quickly - different is good and the Englishman newly abroad should not make assumptions.

The Morgan Arboretum is a pretty nice place. Owned by McGill University, it is said to be the largest arboretum in Canada. Perhaps it is? There are some 25 or so km of publicly accessible walking trails and winter skiing and snowshoe trails to make exploration fun. I was once the Chair of the Friends of the (Morgan) Arboretum, am on the board of the charity that is part of the operation and I know its corners pretty well. For the purposes of the mission of the 1001 Species Newsletter (this) it is a classic example of a biodiverse habitat that is definitely at least peri-urban and easily accessible by tens of thousands of suburbanites in need of recreation. In other words, it is a splendid place to go wandering at any age, with or without a guide. One thing I find a little sad is knowing from conversations that there are visitors who just go walking there, they sort of like the birds and the trees but have almost no knowledge of, or even interest in, what birds and trees they are coming into contact with. Now I may be a tad nerdish in these matters, but I do find it hard to see a plant or a creature and not have a need to know its name and to learn what make it what it is. It’s hard to understand those who just think, if they think at all, bird, weed, tree, bug, whatever and move on.

Anyway, I hope that you have a similarly species-rich place nearby where you can wander, notebook in hand. We will only meet our 1001 species if we wander and look around as we go … here is a brief introduction to the Morgan Arboretum. What’s your local walking like? Share your thoughts.

Morgan Arboretum

https://www.mcgill.ca/morganarboretum/

The collections of trees in today's arboretum are of widely different ages and species, depending on their date of planting and the various soil and drainage characteristics of different parts of the site. The arboretum was established on land that was partly forested and partly abandoned pasture but today, with the exception of a field between the two main car parks and a second field towards the northern end, the entire area is forested, with a mixture of coniferous and deciduous species of varying maturity. Under the trees, the arboretum provides some 25 km of diverse trails, some relatively heavily used and others rather less so. Some short and some long, providing opportunities for everyone to find a trail to suit their needs. In the winter, two of the main trails are groomed for cross country skiing and a moderately long snowshoe trail also exists, while the "main" trail is accessible to walkers all year around.

Although the arboretum is about flowers and trees, it is also rich indeed with birds (over 200 species recorded) and many insects.

The Arboretum Trails - Maps are available free from the arboretum office. You can get a map at the office when you arrive or download one from the website.

The Main (Orange) Trail

A circular, well-defined trail starting and ending at the Conservation Centre car park and easily accessible by most people, although good boots and/or clip-on spikes may be wise during the winter as it can get icy due to constant use. This trail is quite wide and in winter is ploughed after heavy snow falls. At a moderate pace, it might take you about 40 minutes to complete ... considerably longer if you pause to watch the wildlife or smell the flowers, while joggers can cover it twice in that period. Walkers who are a little infirm will find it fairly easy going, and there are a few benches along the way on which to pause and contemplate.

The Yellow Trail

Starts from the first car park beside the entrance. In winter, this trail is groomed for skiing. Of moderate length and takes the walker through a nicely mixed collection of trees with opportunities to encounter birds and other wildlife. It is narrower than the main trail, though wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Occasional sections may be wet in spring after the snow melts.

The Blue Trail

Starts from near the Conservation Centre and is the longest of all the trails. Also groomed for skiing in winter, this trail goes out to the far corners of the Arboretum and includes an open " forest ride" where trees were once cleared along the line of a well buried gas pipeline servitude. Dogs are (theoretically) not allowed on this trail, so if you want to be fairly sure of avoiding them, this is the trail for you. You should note that the Blue Trail is not much used in summer and so parts of it can become overgrown – be prepared for some possible bushwhacking in its further reaches.

The Red Trail

This trail is fairly short (and fairly wet – no, very wet – in the spring after the snows melt). It is relatively heavily used in the early mornings, in particular by dog walkers, which does have an effect on the number of birds that will show themselves at busy times – but don't let that put you off as, in fact, this trail has a really good reputation as a place to find some choice birds. It starts due west of the southern car park in the corner of the main field – the same place, in fact, as the start of the yellow trail. As you enter the forest, turn left and follow the markers going south towards the edge of the forest, where it parallels the open fields beyond for a short distance before turning north again and returning to the start. It passes through mostly coniferous woodland and is prime territory for Owls, assorted Raptors, Warblers in season and winter Finches.

The Snowshoe (Black) Trail

This beautiful and quite lengthy trail is (obviously) only open in winter. During the summer, walkers are not permitted access due to the presence of sensitive plants that would be affected by trampling if it were open when there is no protective snow cover. Naturally, you are only (only!) going to see resident winter species, but as that includes Winter Finches, Crossbills, Woodpeckers, assorted Raptors, Owls – and Chickadees, of course – what's to complain about. A delightful walk and generally speaking, you will have the most part of it to yourself – it also visits parts of the forest that normally you will never see. Allow a couple of hours to do it justice. The trail starts behind the Pines Cottage entrance building.

The Ecology (Green) Trail

Short and interesting – starts about a hundred yards into the forest along the Orange Trail due west of the Conservation Centre. You will see signs for the start of the trail on the south side – signed with a green salamander logo. Walking along here, you pass through an assortment of forest habitats with a variety of tree and shrub species, each attractive to different birds. Along the trail, there are also interpretative panels set up by the arboretum that will teach you about the features you pass. Briefly parallels the yellow and red trails in parts before returning to the Conservation Centre. You can easily walk it in less than an hour – longer, of course, if you find interesting things to stop and examine along the way. I recommend you to wear stout boots in the wetter seasons.

The Birding Trail

A moderately long, informal route suggested by me after leading some field trips. It links sections of several official trails and runs north from the Conservation Centre, via the Quarry and Blossom Corner to Pullin's Pasture and back again. It is by no means the only trail along which birds can be found, but if you have limited opportunities to walk here, it does maximize your likelihood of seeing a good selection of the 200 or so species of bird that can in theory be observed at different times of the year. It also takes you through some of the most attractive parts of the Arboretum so it's worth taking, even if you are not a birder. An extension of this trail goes off into the further reaches of the forest along the Blue Trail in a counterclockwise direction.

But what species are there?

Many, that’s for certain including slightly over 200 species of birds of which I have seen 137 according to eBird. For plant lovers, the spring ephemerals such as trilliums and Beauty of the Forest and Sanguinaria are stunning. I will be writing about quite a few of the arboretum birds, mammals, plants, fungi, and insects/spiders in future posts, meanwhile here’s one of my favourites who will be back in the spring.

Indigo Bunting

A beautiful little song bird that is mostly seen along forest edges where the trees border on fields. In the Arboretum try seeking them out around the “Bobolink” Field (which these days does not host Bobolinks) and the trees along the eastern trail leading south from it.

They eat small seeds, berries, buds, and insects. Spiders and insects are especially favoured in the summer when young are being raised. On arrival on breeding grounds in spring, they may feed on twigs, buds, and leaves of trees - in other words they feed on what they can find. They will seek seeds and insects from branches in low vegetation of on the ground Look for singing males tend to perch high in shrubs, trees, or on telephone lines.

Here they are close to the northern limits of their range - in winter they migrate to Central America.

The Buckthorn Buccaneers / Les boucaniers du nerprun

While talking about trees, my small town’s Facebook group has inadvertently started a thread about invasive buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). An alien pest that has plans for world domination. Very difficult to control and for all those who think it is the council’s responsibility to deal with it, in reality this sort of thing is low on the priority list when it comes to allocating resources and so it will have to be volunteers or nothing. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

On taking notes … Quote: “What are the most important words in science? In a science fiction movie, the “mad” scientist (actually just hyperfocused, mis-understood, and suffering a bad hair day) blurts out “Eureka! I have found it!” But in the real world, the most important words are more likely to be “WTF! That’s not what I expected!”. Expected results are nice (and publishable!), but often not that interesting, because they just confirm what we already knew. It is the unexpected result that really gets our attention, and can lead us down a rabbit hole, to spend the next ten years trying to determine what, how, and why something happened. That’s how science is really done.

And writing it down in my little yellow notebook gave me the key to unlock nature’s secrets. More so than any computer data file could ever do.”

https://substack.com/inbox/post/138355129

Here is a very thought-provoking, and I think important, piece. It speaks to NIMBYism and biodiversity. Much to ponder upon.

https://substack.com/inbox/post/138324102

Quote: But there’s more to reality than the climate. My sense is that not enough is being said to directly address the tension between the biodiversity and climate crises, and to ensure that all we’re doing for climate is shaped and guardrailed by the needs of biodiversity.

Lastly, what is the hard evidence for the wood-wide web? Quote: “A lot of what has been claimed has actually been inferred or intuited. Intuition is important in science, to guide scientists to new hypotheses and ideas. But it’s not the same as actual evidence.”

Wherever you stand on this question, the article linked to is worth reading. I am so glad that someone has written this at last.