Hot night

The weather was hot tonight for the stewardship but 6 people showed up nevertheless. Cheryl suggested we only work for an hour and nobody argued with that. In addition to the pollination study (stay tuned for a post on that coming soon) and the watering, we went on a hunt for more DSV killing (we'll never get rid of that stuff but we sure keep trying).


A steward (who asked to remain anonymous) on the lookout for DSV


There is still quite a bit and it's getting harder to reach.


Still, I managed to get rid of some of it.


Another black crowned night heron (or maybe it's the same one
as a few weeks ago). It's still too far, I need Marnie's camera from
Beechwood Wetland.

At the beginning of the evening, we saw a juvenile night heron,
He was standing very close to the edge of the pond but he flew away
before I had a chance to take a picture. I haven't seen them coming
that close yet. We think that they are probably nesting nearby.

The New Enemy

Ok, I thought the worst invasive was Dog-strangling Vine but now, I know another one even worse. In addition, this one can also hurt you. If you brush against it, it burns like hell. In fact, one of its nickname is Devil's Claw. What is it? Any guesses? Why, stinging nettle of course. The Riverdale site has its fair share of this dangerous and even poisonous invasive.


Julia from the stewardship team works hard
on the stinging nettle.

Meanwhile, I was removing one my old favourites:
Canada Thistle

Now you see it...


Now you don't!

The best part of the evening was when we saw a night heron.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Duck sighting

This week we continued to attack the DSV slope. We're almost finished now so we should be able to focus on something else. At the beginning of the evening, I took some pictures of a couple of black ducks (or at least I was told that's what they are). If anybody knows different, please let me know.


Iris Versicolor

We also went to check on the planting we did last week. On the west side of the pond, there is a little island where some people planted irises and sedges. All the plants are doing quite well.




Sedges