Milfoil Weed Boat

The City of Pickering has joined forces with the Pickering Harbour Company to wage war on Eurasian water-milfoil weed on Frenchman’s Bay. The spread of the non-native aquatic plant in the lakes is a continuing problem.

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The weed also known as the ‘Zombie Plant’ can reduce biodiversity and water quality and poses a hazard to those using the Bay. To date, PHC has completed cutting around its docks, as well as a channel within Frenchman’s Bay to the harbour entrance breakwaters.

European Common Reed

It is a beautiful plant to photograph but it is invasive and is causing damage to Ontario’s biodiversity, wetlands and beaches. Invasive Phragmites is a perennial grass that has been damaging ecosystems in Ontario for decades. It is not clear how it was transported to North America from its native home in Eurasia. It releases toxins from its roots into the soil to hinder the growth of and kill surrounding plants. While it prefers areas of standing water, its roots can grow to extreme lengths, allowing it to survive in relatively dry areas.

Nature's Bio Filter

Bulrushes can remove oil, bacteria and other organics from water. Thanks to its extensive network of roots and large quantity of biomass, bulrushes have a large living surface for bacteria and other micro-organisms. These are responsible for a sizable part of the purification effect.

Grass

As I post this, outside it is pouring rain with lots of thunder and lightning. but it really has been a hot dry summer.

Fungi Are Not Plants

Since 1969 Fungi were first officially recognized as a distinct group. Scientist more recently, using DNA sequences and comparisons of cell structure, have learned that Fungi are in fact more closely related to animals than they are to plants. Superficially, they remind us more of plants than animals because they don’t move, but scratch the biological surface just a little and that’s just about the only thing they have in common.

Seeds On The Move

Prickly thistle blowing in the wind.

Holy Macro!

I don't have a macro lens. I took this shot of a insect on a Queen Anne's Lace with my Canon EFS 18-200 mm lens.

Wild Baby Grapes

They are wild and growing at the side of the road. Come back in the fall and they will be fully grown.