Prairie Day at Aldverille Black Oak Savannah

Prairie Day took place this morning at Alderville Black Oak Savannah, and I was asked to take photos of the event.  It was an entertaining event although the poor weather (overcast with some rainy periods) seemed to deter people from coming.

Volunteers in front of the building welcoming guests.

Field course day 3 - Black Oak Savanna in Alderville

We went to Alderville Black Oak Savanna on the third day of the field course.  The different habitats (tall grass prairie, savanna, and woodland) support various types of flora and fauna.  Furthermore, the practices of prescribed burn and research on Karner Blue Butterfly and Wild Lupines offered the students different perspectives on the applications of their learned knowledge, such as ecological restoration, conservation, and pollination studies.

There were many Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) dragonflies flying around us.

International Migratory Bird Day

Today (May 5) is International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD), and one of the nearby events takes place in Alderville where I helped out with the managed burn last week.

Back at Alderville.  I wish I took a better photo of the burn last week, so that I can compare it with this photo.  But from afar, I think the burned ground is green now.

Alderville Black Oak Savanna - Control burning

Fire is a critical ecosystem process that has the ability to create new habitats for species and lead to the regeneration of forests and grasslands.  This process occurs both naturally and anthropogenically, and how it triggers the sprouting of dormant seeds is not very well understood (Edit: until just this Tuesday when another piece of knowledge is added to the puzzle.  Read this article and follow the link below for more information.).  Today, I volunteered to help out with managed burn of some sites at the Alderville Black Oak Savanna.  This area supports unique and important habitats (i.e., long-grass prairie and black oak savanna) here in Ontario, and you can find out more about this location at the official website. 

Before the actual burn took place, we went for a short walk around the site.