Grand Bend, Ontario community newspaper and entertainment events guide. Also serves Zurich, Dashwood, Port Franks, Exeter, Parkhill. Casey Lessard photos.
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Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Robins, cardinals, and red-winged blackbirds are all singing at the tops of their lungs. The high-pitched screech of the killdeer is another sign that spring has sprung.The killdeer, Charadrius vociferous, a member of the plover family, is named for its piercing call. I recently heard the familiar “killdee!” and noted [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Bird songs tell of springWe find ourselves in that lovely transition between late winter and early spring, when the sun feels strong yet the nights remain frigid. Stepping outside in the morning yields a diversity of bird songs, whose performers are more actively communicating in response to the imminent spring.A [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Balanced literacy for Ontario students The latest and most unremitting thrust from the Ontario Ministry of Education is indeed the ‘balanced literacy’ movement. In a nutshell, balanced literacy in the elementary grades must provide opportunities for daily reading including: independent, guided, and shared reading, along with read-alouds. I won’t even [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton A kind gesture, word or deed can truly make a difference in someone’s day. It takes very little effort to be kind, and in turn, you may be rewarded by how it makes you feel. Positive thoughts and actions are part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Gesture of goodwillIt is [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Most of us envision our Christmas dinner with the usual domestic turkey, browned to perfection, steaming on the platter. Other options may be roast duck, goose, chicken, or even a ham. However, my friend Dwight Hughes from around the country corner prefers his turkey to be ‘wild.’ According to Dwight, [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Mid 1960s: a typical February morning in Bracebridge, Muskoka at my house. Minus thirty degrees Fahrenheit. My pajama-clad father with winter coat over-top, armed with a bucket of striped sunflower seed, boots crunching over the backyard snow. His goal was to satisfy the voracious appetites of at least a hundred [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton The term ‘wise owl’ dates back centuries. Owls are often used as symbols for higher education, even being depicted sporting a mortar board. Is the owl really wise, or is this simply how it appears to humans? The owl is the only bird whose eyes are placed adjacent to each [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Imagine having the ability to maneuver head-first down the trunk of a tree; or better yet, to walk ably on the underside of a limb like a housefly on the ceiling. Such is the talent of the nuthatch. Upon close inspection of these little birds – they are relatively tame [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton The luminous yellow plumage of the American Goldfinch has begun to wane to a dusky gold. Rose-breasted grosbeaks have long since taken off to their southern climes, and no longer are we pestered by the voracious, greedy grackles at the feeders. These developments are sure signs that autumn is upon [...]
The impact of litter on wildlife Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Forty years ago I chanced upon a grim scene. It was while exploring with a school friend on a wooded peninsula at the eastern end of Three Mile Lake in Muskoka. Above us something large was swinging from the limb of a poplar tree. [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Camping isn’t for everyone, but my family has embraced it since our children were very small. Now that they are adults, our sons (and significant others) still share the enthusiasm. The annual sojourn to Algonquin Provincial Park is now an essential part of our well-being as a family. Tapping into [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton How would you like to dramatically decrease the mosquito and insect population flying about your yard? You could erect a bat house (not popular with those who believe the critters’ll end up in your hair), or…you could try to attract the insect-voracious purple martin to your home.The purple martin is [...]
The monogamous birds like to rub bills during courtship Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton The rose-breasted grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus is one of the most stunning birds you will see in southwestern Ontario. They seem to be even more plentiful in our back yard than they were last year at this time. Grosbeak FamiliesGrowing up with [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton My husband and I are ‘dog people’ and part of our balanced lifestyle is to own a dog. Since we have lived on our country property in Ailsa Craig, we have always had a Labrador Retriever. Molson, a shiny, sleek, black lab, was one of these beloved pets. Even when [...]
Nature’s sanitary engineer may remind you of someone you know Living in Balanceby Jenipher Appleton What has a naked, red-skinned head, a hooked beak, and is possibly one of the ugliest things you have ever seen? No, it is not someone’s mother-in-law. It is the turkey vulture; the under-appreciated, road-kill-loving turkey vulture.Ailsa Craig local and [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton The bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus boasts a wingspan of 183-244 cm. That translates into about seven feet! It weighs approximately 4.1 kg (10 lbs). The snow-white head and neck are distinctive. However, unlike the mature eagle, the juvenile sports a brown head and grayish eyes and could be mistaken for [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton Meadows can be beautiful A meadow is a natural expanse of grassland supporting wildflowers, grasses, shrubbery and fodder (not to be confused with a pasture which is planted by humans). Our property, just north of Ailsa Craig, is a long, narrow, three-acre tract of land. The back acre is essentially [...]
Our bird expert talks about the bees Living in BalanceBy Jenipher Appleton An unexplained phenomenon has been affecting some of the North American honeybee population. Colony Collapse Disorder is the term being used by scientists to generally describe the dying off of honeybees. Producers in the Ottawa area lost over 50% of their hives over [...]
Living in BalanceBy Jenipher AppletonLiving in balance can be enhanced by our connections with nature. The way in which we are brought up can have a great impact on our view of natural surroundings. I am just a country girl, having lived in rural
