Soaring Towards 10,000!

Pathway Explorers have been busy logging Landmarks and we’ve reached a record number, soaring towards our goal of 10,000 Landmarks!  The winter provided so many new and exciting activities for our community and photos have warmed our hearts.  We’re already at 3,216 – incredible work!

We’ve had some super ideas from families and other groups this winter proving – rain, snow or shine – it’s great to be outdoors.  Some of our favourites include:

• The Chickadees celebrated the winter season and made garlands out of edible items for their wintering friends in the woods. They decorated with Cheerios, raisins, raisins, peanuts, air-popped popcorn, oranges, and pomegranate peel shaped with cookie cutters. Such a creative way to explore Landmark 11 – Celebrate Each Season
• The Myles Family took advantage of a cold snap and when Rogers Cove was transformed into a giant outdoor rink. They went skating on the open ice, feeling the effects of the wind and listening to the deep sounds of the ice. It was so much fun they went back the next day!
• Children at the Compass Early Learning and Care-Home Childcare Program built a snowman this season! They used snowballs, stacked them, and added a face and a “unicorn horn”. They wondering if any animals might come nibble on the carrot nose and horn.
• After a beautiful dump of perfect snow early in the week, the grade 5s and 6s from Mrs. Monti and Mrs. Belk’s classes from Millbrook South Cavan Public School explored Medd’sMountain on snowshoes as part of the Think Outside program with Nature Nancy. The snow was deep enough to see how effective snowshoes really are. The Millbrook trail system is a close walk from the school and has amazing trees to walk through, marvel at, and use for hiding during a game of “Reggie the Squirrel”.
• Camp Kawartha worked with the Grade 8s at Highland Heights! They engaged in a variety of team-building activities that the students absolutely loved! They completed activities aimed at working together to balance a ball while traveling. They amped up the challenge by placing the stand that the ball had to sit on, on top of a snowbank!
• Immaculate Conception made suncatchers from collected materials and positioned them in the pan. Despite a warm spell, they were so happy when the temperature dropped and they saw their sun catchers come to life!

Home Sweet Home:

Build or install a nest box this spring!

Here’s a great spring activity to try at home or at school.  Nest boxes provide wonderful habitat for many kinds of birds, and having avian families in your yard gives hours of enjoyment watching these feathered miracles.

In nature, holes in trees are prime real estate for wildlife.  In fact, many kinds of birds need these holes, called ‘cavities’ for building their nests and raising their young.  Especially in urban areas, dead or dying trees are usually removed, leaving a scarcity of nesting sites for our bird neighbours.

Luckily, nest boxes are quite easy to build with a few simple tools and some understanding of what birds need for protection from weather and predators.  While there are many specialized types of nest boxes for specific species, a good basic design is suitable for many small birds such as chickadees, wrens, and nuthatches.

Here are some basic guidelines:

• nest boxes need enough space for a nest full of baby birds and access for parents
• the correct size of the entrance hole is important; it should be near the top of the box;
• nest boxes must be cleaned out every year, so make sure you can open up the box, and reseal it safely
• don’t put a perch on your box; birds don’t need it, but perches can help predators reach the young birds
• don’t paint or put a finish on your box; birds prefer untreated, natural wood
• provide ventilation and drainage; a few small holes near the top provide ventilation, and small holes in the floor allow moisture to drain

• use a predator guard to protect the entrance hole from being chewed by squirrels or other mammals who would destroy the eggs or young birds; a metal plate or piece of thick wood are effective (see examples)
• install securely at least 6 feet from the ground; avoid nailing into trees – a pole or post are ideal

Cornell Ornithology Lab has great illustrated guidelines

Here are some plans for a simple nest box you can build from a 4 ft. piece of 1 X 6″ lumber

Chickadee Nest Box Plans from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Note:  Entrance hold diameter is 1″ for House Wrens; Use 1 1/8″ diameter for Black-Capped Chickadees; 1 1/4″ for White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatches

Winter Bingo

Looking for a fun winter activity for all ages? Here is a free winter Bingo game cards from the Pathway!

Visit a special place, explore your senses, discover winter themed words and most of all, have fun!

This winter bingo helps with Landmarks 1,3,4 and 7.

Landmark 1. Explore outdoors together at least an hour a wee.

Landmark 3. Exercise the senses daily.

Landmark 4. Visit a favourite outdoor place each week throughout all seasons.

Landmark 7Share a nature-based picture book, song, poem or game each week.

Winter Wonderland: The Night Sky

Winter is a perfect season for an often overlooked family activity – exploring the sky at night.  With winter’s early darkness and often crisp, clear weather, the stars take on a special brightness that is nothing short of breathtaking.

January and February are perfect months to view one of the most striking and unforgettable of all the constellations – Orion, the Hunter.  Rising in the southeastern sky in early evening, Orion travels (like the sun) from east to west across the winter sky as the earth turns and night progresses, to finally set in the west before morning.  Orion is easy to find, by facing south and looking for the three stars in a row that make up his belt.  His shoulder and knee are two of our brightest stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel.  Just below and beside him is Sirius, the dog star – Orion’s faithful friend.

Indigenous storytellers also saw a human-like figure in this unique combination of stars.  The Ojibwe know him as Biboonkeonini – the Wintermaker.  Wintermaker stretches out his long arms to beckon the cold and winds of winter.  He also ushers in the traditional storytelling season of winter.

Early on a crisp, cloudless winter night, pack up the family, bring a thermos of hot chocolate and go out stargazing.  Turn out the house and yard lights for better viewing, or travel to a park or open area with few lights. Look for patterns in the stars and make your own stories.  If you’re lucky, you may even see a shooting star!  What an awesome reminder of the wonders around us every day.

Star watching connects with Landmarks 1, 3, 6, 11, 14, 17, 25.