One of the invasive trees is Glossy Buckthorn. I thought we had one on our property, so I took a photo of it and submitted it to iNaturalist, and it came back as Alder Buckthorn Frangula Alnus. In the booklet I described in the last Trail Talk, Glossy Buckthorn was named Rhamnus frangula. This confused me until I discovered that originally Glossy Buckthorn was put in the Rhamnus family until it was discovered that it fit into a separate family called Frangula. So, I discovered that even Latin names are not cast in stone. In this part of Canada, most people refer to Glossy Buckthorn rather than Alder Buckthorn, and note that it is thornless, despite its name.
On the Sunday hike at Auburn, four of us were not discouraged by the heat. I was surprised to see a group of 10 Yuccas flowering in the grassy patch not far from the end of the trail. I had never noticed them before.
On the hike, another Hackberry Emperor butterfly posed for a photo. It was much lighter than the one seen on June 19th, so I assume it was a female. After the hike, I went to check on the Purple Loosestrife on the G2G near the end of Hardwood Line. I was pleased to see that the loosestrife did not look healthy, and I was equally pleased to see my first sighting this year of two Monarch butterflies there.
You never know what you might find on a trail. On Sunday, I found J. Bird’s bank card on the Sifto Trail which I later returned to the TD bank.
On Tuesday July 9th the Trompers were on the Bayfield Woodland Trail. The group stopped on the bridge for a photo and later went to the Bayfield Berry Farm for drinks and treats.
On Wednesday July 10th we had a long awaited day of rain which I thought might prevent me from seeing any butterflies. However, there was a break in the rain and short sunny spells when I managed to see two Cabbage Whites.
Notes:
MAITLAND TRAIL CLOSURE from Cherrydale Road (20km marker) to Nature Conservancy property (25km marker) due to coyote problem
Saturday July 27th 10 a.m. a Stop and Look Walk on the Sawmill Trail. Leader Ralph Blasting 519-525-3205 or rjblastingjr@gmail.com
Saturday August 10th 9 a.m-11.30 a.m. Hike from River Line to Sharpes Creek Line on the Maitland.
Meet at 80918 Sharpes Creek Line and carpool to River Line – some large hills. For more information and to confirm your attendance, please contact Jonah Melville at Jonah.melville@gmail.com or George Cantin at
streamsideinc@gmail.com. This is a Level 3, moderate pace, 2.5 hours.
Maitland Trail Association ‘s El Camino on Saturday September 21st and 22nd is sold out.
All participants taking part in the Maitland Trail events should sign the waiver for 2024, preferably the online version.
Tuesday Trompers meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday to hike for about an hour. If you wish to be on this email list, send an email to mta@maitlandtrail.ca.
Midweek Hikers hike for 1 ½ to 2 hours on Wednesdays or Thursdays, contact Patrick Capper.
Both groups meet at 9 a.m. and are open to non-members provided they sign the MTA Online waiver.
If you have questions or something of interest for Trail Talk email me Patrick Capper at pcapper99@gmail.com.
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