Our first ever bioblitz (June 22-23) was a big hit! We found many different species including quite a few new records for The Arboretum. We still have many records coming in, but currently our total is 466 species identified. Nice! We will update this list as the records come in. Here are the preliminary totals for a few groups:
She’s no fan of centipedes, but Skye Earley loves butterflies. She loves finding caterpillars and watching them turn into winged marvels. Now the 11-year-old hopes to turn other kids onto insects through a new book she’s published with her dad.
That’s Chris Earley, interpretive biologist and education co-ordinator at the U of G Arboretum. This spring, he has released not one but two nature books for kids and families – one called Caterpillars, the other called Dragonflies.
A new director has been appointed to the University of Guelph Arboretum. The largest and most comprehensive sanctuary of its kind in Ontario, it's home to more than 18,000 specimens in more than 30 plant collections as well as gardens, wetlands, nature trails and forests.
On January 5, 2013 seven intrepid birders headed into the wilds of the Arboretum to count birds...and there were a lot to count! A total of 535 individuals easily breaks the previous record of 434 set in 2006. Why so many birds this year? Well, we had a flock of over 100 American Robins, two Bohemian Waxwing flocks of approximately 50 each and multiple flocks of Common Redpolls totalling 169 birds. These three species are what made 2013 such an abundant bird year. We also added 3 new species to the count list which is quite a feat as the survey has been done yearly since 1980.
The Emerald Ash Borer, a highly destructive insect that targets and kills exclusively ash trees (Fraxinus sp.), has been positively found and identified on the southern outskirts of Guelph, only a few kilometers from the University of Guelph Arboretum.