Over the weekend we hosted our Wild Weekend workshop “Butterflies & Bees: How to Pollinate Your Backyard” in collaboration with Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI). Celeste Kieran, a summer research intern at MTRI, whom you may have seen around our grounds (and blogs!) facilitated a workshop focused on creating hospitable places for pollinators! We were incredibly lucky to witness a monarch caterpillar pupate into its chrysalis right in front of us! The workshop included lots of hands-on activities, such as making seed bombs and take-home pollinator houses!
Seed bombs are a fun and easy way to make your garden explode with plants and flowers of your choosing. Using dirt and water to make clay, you can roll seeds (ideally of plants native to your area and attractive to butterflies and bees) into small balls. Once finished, set them out in the sun to dry (to avoid the seeds germinating and dying in the ball before you can throw it!). After that, you can throw them in your garden, along the side of the road, anywhere that could use a little pollinator habitat! We also made pollinator houses, which are inviting, safe spaces for species like bumble bees to lay their eggs. A huge thank you to Celeste for leading us in this immersive, hands-on workshop and thank you to everyone that came out and enjoyed the sun (and thunder!) with us!
Watching the caterpillars transform!
Learning about pollinator-friendly plant species
Mackenzie, our Program Assistant (and blog author!) getting excited about using a drill to build a pollinator house!
Milkweed seed for seed bombs
It’s hard to believe that there are only 4 weeks left of Wild Weekends! Worry not, we are packing a lot in over the next few weeks! This Sunday we will be at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park for a Migratory Shorebird Hike with Dr. Soren Bondrup-Nielson. We will be taking a walk along the coastline to learn all about these impressive shorebird species as they begin their migration down south! It will begin at 11:00am down at the parking lot nearest to the beach. To register please email info@harrisonlewiscentre.org.
We would like to make note that our August 24th Wild Weekend “Project Wet” with Sue Penny has been moved to Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. We will be meeting in the guest parking lot at 11am to learn all about water issues through interactive activities! This program is part of Project WET Canada, a national program that educates about water/water issues and targets school aged children. To register, email info@harrisonlewiscentre.org.
Tomorrow, Saturday August 17, we are hosting a Big Spruce Taproom talk on Wild Atlantic Salmon as part of the Tag! You’re It! 2019 series in collaboration with the Ocean Tracking Network! Eddy Halfyard will be taking us on a journey into the mysterious lives of Wild Atlantic Salmon. The event is 19+ and Big Spruce will be providing free samples. It will take place here at the HLC from 3:30pm-5:30pm. While this is a free event, seating is limited, and tickets are currently sold out! Click here for more information about the event. We are very excited to be hosting a Taproom Talk at the HLC!
As for our animal of the week, we have our beautiful monarch chrysalises. Last week we placed five caterpillars in a terrarium, where they could safely munch on milkweed (a caterpillar’s favourite meal) and eventually pupate. Monarchs stay in their chrysalises for 10-14 days, meaning they should be completing their transformation any day now. If you want to see a caterpillar pupating, check out our Instagram @harrisonlewiscentre where we were lucky enough to snag a video! The whole process only takes a minute or two, so its sometimes hard to catch sight of their transformation.
Make sure to follow our social medias at Facebook: @HarrisonLewisCoastalDiscoveryCentre, and on Instagram @harrisonlewiscentre for all the activities coming up this August, and to keep up with all the happenings around the property! See you guys next week!
Written by: Mackenzie Blanchard
Edited by: Shauna Doll