1 To Go

So, as I recover from my injury, I had a friend of mine check the last 2 nest boxes for me. He was able to check the one and happy to report it was empty. Everyone fledged. Now we have one to go.

He observed the remaining nest box from a distance and saw no activity. Unfortunately he was not properly dressed to go into that section of the field and inspect it. Never mind the ticks, there are some harmful plants we have to be wary of. In "Area One" the plant in particular is wild parsnip. A helpful article can be viewed here.

I dress the best I can, long pants that are tucked into my socks, long sleeve shirt, disposable gloves, and usually I do not experience this harmful weed when in bloom. I admit there are times I don't think too hard about the plants I may come across and really I should. Wild parsnip can cause permanent blindness in worst case scenarios but even the skin rash and burning should be enough to ensure not coming into contact with it, even covered up. It's just not worth it. It's bad enough we have had to worry about poison ivy for as long as I can remember. Now there's others like this parsnip plant and Giant Hogweed. I borrowed this image from a Google search to give you an idea why it is called "Giant Hogweed".

I've only ever seen this plant when on a bird walk in Riverwood Park, in Mississauga. It was massive! I recall they were working on a plan to remove the plant but am not sure if they did. There was a large patch of it just off one of the paths near the river north of Burnhamthorpe. Might as well add a little visual scare factor for impact.

And it can harm animals too.

I had intentions on sharing about these things we all must think about when out in the field and figured with what would have otherwise been a very short blog, it was a good time to bring it up. It's another reason that it's best to stay on the paths when out enjoying nature. But yes, 1 box remaining to be checked, and it will be a little while yet before I (or my friend) will get to it. It was not my intention to drag this nest blog out so long. Believe me, I'd rather have my health, be working and finally kicking my feet up until next Spring regarding nest box checks.