The Summer Flies By

August 6, 2020 2:57 pm Published by Leave your thoughts

Wow less than a month left at my summer position here at Mercer Peace River.  Although I enjoy winter (30 degrees Celsius below zero beats 30 degrees above any day, in my opinion), and I am looking forward to my next semester of university, it is sad to see the summer and my time here go by so fast.  With every season that comes and goes, I always seem to end it wishing I had done more to take advantage of the weather while it lasted. I plan to make the most of August though and I am hopeful my next blog will feature pictures and stories from weekends spent camping and canoeing. 

Since my last blog, I have spent a lot of time working on cutover updates on a 3D computer, using imagery to draw boundaries of where trees have been harvested.  I also spent a day last week quading to blocks to dig soil pits and check ground conditions to see if the blocks will be accessible for machinery. My supervisor Peggy and I spent some time working with the Junior Forest Rangers to widen and clear the Leddy Lake Interpretive Trail, to make it more accessible for campers and visitors to the lake, it was really interesting to talk to the Rangers and learn about the program.  Plus, how can you beat a day outside in beautiful weather cleaning up such a nice little trail.  Unfortunately, the area was hit with a big storm this weekend and it is likely full of fallen trees again… On Wednesday Peggy and I went to the start-up meeting for tree planting and I will probably be spending more time with the tree planters later this week.

Well that’s it for a brief update on what I’ve been up to, the rest of this blog will feature pictures from the last few weeks.  Although I know not everyone shares the same interest in understory plants, frogs and deer as me, I share pictures like these because observing, learning and interacting with nature is one of the best parts about forestry and this position for me.  Understanding protected species like swans and caribou, knowing how to be prepared for bears, and learning to identify species and read what the different plants tell you about moisture and site quality are all important to the job, and there is always more to learn. 

The pictures below feature some interesting orchids, huge wild strawberries, other understory plants, some small critters as well as some pictures I took from the quad.

Orchids, huge wild strawberries, other understory plants

Small critters as well as some pictures Arianna took from the quad.

Photos of some of the trails within the forest.

A photo of a caterpillar and tree frog.

Photo of a baby deer.

That’s all for today! Feel free to leave questions orcomments! 

NOTE: I try my best not to disturb habitat or scare the creatures I photograph. This fawn I happened across while working on the farm the other weekend, we did our best to finish the job in a way that gave the mom lots of space to come back until we knew he was gone.  It is important that if we find a fawn we avoid touching or moving them and don’t linger, the deer are masters at keeping track of their babies even when they have twins and will come back to them. 

Two of the plants above are wild orchids I found at work, some orchids seldom flower and I felt lucky to have spotted them. Just another reason to get outside.   

Happy August everyone!

-Arianna

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