Home sweet home

Large wasp or bee's nest hanging over Spruce Street near Booth.

Green green grass of Dalhousie

This little patch of lawn on Balsam caught my eye. It is greener than its neighbours, and obviously recently raked as it is so clean compared to the foreground bit of turf. A closer inspection revealed its secret. It is synthetic. Fake. Manufactured.

I wonder how many times I have gone past it and not noticed; it did not look recently laid. It stood out now because it doesn't change with the seasons. It is an effective bit of private streetscaping along the public boulevard.

First spring bloom

Taken in my back yard, Monday, 15 March 2010. Spring at last!

On the Path

This tiny mole (vole?) was trying to cross the Ottawa River bike path. Which goes to show that bike paths can be dangerous in their own way when the creatures are very small. The tiny puddle may have indicated it was hurt, and it wasn't scurrying off to safety. I stopped. It seemed to be unhurt, so I picked it up and put it in the bushes a few yards off the path.

Twilight on the Aquaduct and the ... come out to play

A number of earlier posts show damage caused to large trees in the LeBreton Flats area. The Dalhousie neighborhood hosts a surprising number of animals and birds.

These two twilights shots show the local vampires, err, beaver out to prey on unsuspecting urbanites. In the photo with a fine stone-arch bridge in the background, the beaver can be jut seen in the right foreground. Click picture to enlarge. The second picture shows him up close ... he was about 20 feet away from me and curious about the flash on my camera. After several shots, he dove leaving only a trail of bubbles.

Just Resting

Chair put out on garbage day in Little Italy.

Getting the last nap.

Last traces of former rail line

What may at first glance seem to be a jersey barrier*  in the woods is really one abutment of a culvert crossing on the former CPR (?) tracks that ran west along the Ottawa River where the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway is now.

The rail right of way was expanded and converted into a car road allowance in the early 1960's following Greber's plans for scenic drives throughout Ottawa. Many of these drives were never completed, but the NCC still holds numerous rights of way undeveloped, waiting for LRT, other transit, or a serious non-recreational cycling network. Toronto, not blessed with the NCC holding open rights of way, is examining if it can convert hydro-electric rights of way into a commuter cycling network.

The right most abutment in the above photos shows up well because it has been painted cream, probably to cover grafitti. The left abutment is au naturel.

Also missing is the creek it crossed. It has long since been redirected into a storm sewer, to the detriment of birds and other natural life systems it should be supporting.

*a jersey barrier is one of those portable concrete barriers used to block off lanes during construction. they can be linked together and provide physical safety to workers and successfully intimidate car drivers. They help ensure cyclists have no room between cars and the side of the road. Popularized by the NJ Dept of Transport.

What Blight is This?

I had occasion to cycle along the canal several times this weekend, from Dows Lake to the NAC end, using the NCC bike paths.

I was really struck by how many trees have dried up, brown, crunchy leaves. First noticed on the south side of the canal, from Bronson to east of Bank, whole swaths of tree branches, entire sides of trees, exhibit dried branches. I presume it is not from lack of water.

Then some became apparent on the north side of the canal too, along the Golden Triangle area. Once looking, they were frequent. Usually on mature trees.

This week, I cut down one of my back yard peonies right to the ground, and threw out the leaves and stems which had, seemingly overnight, gone spotted and brown. A virus, a friend and better gardener told me, put them in your regular garbage and not leaf collection or composting.

Anyone know what blight this is, and whether the trees and shrubs will come back next year or are permanently dead?

Bird sightings along the Ottawa River

The first photo shows a black cormorant ( I think ... I googled the name and it seems to me to match) on the Ottawa River near Lemieux Island. If I recall correctly, cormorants are rapidly becomming an invasive species and are moving en masse into the Ottawa area having already over run the Great Lakes. It seems bird populations have bubbles just like our economy. Back in university, didnt they call it the boom/bust cycle? I first saw these birds about 3 years ago, there were a lot more last year, and this year I see them by the dozen, especially on the islands frequented by gulls between Parkdale and Lemieux Island.

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The second picture shows another type of comorant, the mechanical yellow one, on search and rescue mission along the Ottawa River.

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Unfortunately I do not have a photo of the birds that excited me the most. Whilst taking the 95 to College Square along the Ottawa River Commuter Expressway, I saw two wild turkeys. Just west of Dominion Station, they were in the median feeding, and were simply huge. Much larger bodies than the Canada Geese so common along the paths. Upon seeing them my mind went through the quick ID list: crows? too big. Geese? too black, too big. Then I saw the wattles, and in profile the birds look just like the ones drawn on kids' colouring sheets at Thanksgiving time. Now, if I had been on my bike instead of the bus, I would have had time to get out the camera and take a picture, instead of talking of them.

Blue Herons along the bike path

It is probably necessary to double-click on these pictures to enlarge them. There is a large blue heron under the overhanging willow tree, and a second one sitting on the rocky point. A third one is out of view on the other side of the tree.

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The NCC most conveniently provided an interpretation plaque at this very site to educate the viewer on the habits of the blue heron. This is along the NCC bike path just west of the Carleton St underpass... and east of the Island Park parking lot.

Nanny Goat Fish

A dangling fish recently appeared in the shrubs in the little parkette at the top of the Primrose staircase, which ascends Nanny Goat Hill. This is directly behind the Dominican Priory, the large stone castle on the cliff.

DCA garden on Somerset at Empress

There is a delightful abundant flower garden on the north side of Somerset at Empress street, right in front of the Dalhousie Community Centre. It is a great spot for a garden, in full sun, and raised up several feet above the sidewalk. It was planted by community members and is maintained by DCA volunteers. In the centre of the garden is a yucca plant. The cactus-like plant is blooming now with a magnificent spire of blooms. It blooms once a year.

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The Somerset Heights BIA - now the Somerset Chinatown BIA - has donated funds for another garden a few doors west at Manphrong store, at the corner of Upper Lorne Place. Lillies were planted this spring, and red mulch recently appeared around the plants, which will help them root and may reduce the foot traffic that sometimes extends beyond the sidewalk limits. The garden space was cleared and planted by the DCA and the Chinese youth group from the Christian Alliance Church on Empress.

Multipurpose Paths for Everyone / Every creature

In addition to the cylists, pedestrians, joggers, wheelchairs, walkers, and geese (and their poop) on the multipurpose pathways along the Ottawa River, I have met turtles, rabbits, chipmunks, skunks, beaver, foxes, and snakes. This snake was near Mud Lake, travelling west in the correct lane of the path.

Spring Time, Tulip Time in Ottawa

It's May, the Tulip Festival has begun. I rejoice at how many private gardens celebrate spring with displays of bulbs and early perennials. The above shot is in my backyard.

Along the Ottawa River bike path

There were hundreds of these plants in bloom along the Ottawa River bike path on Monday, with thousands more about to bloom. These plants, about 6" tall, grew in the undergrowth of shrubs. I suspect they are orchids. Anyone have a name?

Royal lunch

click on photo to enlarge & read inscription

Along the path on the north side of the War Museum on LeBreton Flats is a tiny plaque commemorating the planting of some trees by Canadian royalty. The tree bark has become lunch over the winter for the inhabitants of the area.

Turtles on the Ottawa River

More on Roofs, greening, homeowners

Chris asked me if I had considered a white roof. Yes, I did. But first, consider that there are two subjects here: one is replacing the existing roof covering when it is past its prime, the other is adding something like plant sedums in trays on top of the existing flat roof.

The 100,000 sq ft warehouse I view from my 3rd floor windows was redone two years ago in white. Very reflective. I know white shingles on a sloped roof have a drastically shorter life than black shingles, I dont know if a white flat roof is any shorter lived. If I have to redo my flat roof (coming up in the next year or two, or so I have been saying for a few years ....) I will certainly do it in white or green (better to look at). However, sedum in shallow pots has way more benefits ... its very cooling, its green, absorbs rainfall, and it shades the tar roof itself and effectively doubles or triples its life because sun exposure is the principle cause of roof deterioration.

I am also getting an evaluation of my roofs done for PV solar, unfortunately the best sloped roof already has a big dormer on it and a bank of six skylights, thus reducing the area available to put roof PV up; but I could also put them on the flat roof, even though it has a less ideal exposure (SE rather than SW) but it would be best to redo the flat roof at the same time which adds about 7k to the cost.

The roof is well able to carry the weight of the sedum trays etc as they weigh less than winter snow, so IF i took them all down each fall and laid them on the patio, the roof will hold the snow weight, but will it hold both the sedum and the snow if I leave the sedum up there? Unknown; and high risk too! Plus there is the logistics of putting up and down the trays twice a year.

The base of the municipal water runoff problem is that businesses or homeowners that increase runoff pay the same water /sewer charges as do firms that moderate the flow, like MEC or IKEA, ie there is no reward for the virtuous or punishment (cost) to the extravagant. So, Council should tinker with the pricing mechanism of sewers, not go imposing a green roof "solution" onto those classes of payers they feel are the least able to notice or object to being victimized by a discriminatory tax.

Regardless of municipal policies, my green roof interests are motivated both by environmental concern and my pocketbook: trade off the cost vs the benefits.

Greenroofs

Today's paper had a major front page story on green roofs (www.nationalpost.com). Apparently Mayor Millar in Toronto is trying to position Toronto as a green sweepstakes winner. Green roofs have a number of widely recognized benefits (and less widely recognized costs) so Council is considering mandating them on new buildings.

Curiously, they propose to exempt themselves from the rule: their new municipal housing would be exempt, as would schools and, curiouser and curiouser: large commercial buildings. The buildings that would be targeted (ie, forced to install green roofs) include condos and retail malls. Note that both of these types of buildings divide up the cost amongst a myriad of smaller space users. Could it be that the Council is trying to conceal the cost from the payers? This slight of hand trys to hide costs from voters, it's akin to opposing the oil sands out west while Ontario burns coal ... or imposing costs upstream on the producer hoping that the consumer won't realize the cost increase was due to taxes.

It seems to me that large sprawling buildings are a better target: wal marts, factories, and schools (which seem to me to be major polluters, but they go largely uncriticized).

And I find it objectionable that Council is trying to achieve policy ends by forcing other people to pay for Council's wishes. A better course would be to charge each new development for its projected runoff. In Victoria, a large condo project with zero run off was exempted from contributing to storm sewer development fees. This puts the onus on the developer to minimize his costs, which may include green roofs, or things like storm ponds, gray water recycling, storm sewer flow capacity regulators, green walls, waterless toilets, meadows, permeable pavements, green parking lots, etc.

And I would like such charges to apply to existing buildings as well. There is no good reason for an older building to be exempted from its environmental costs. I would rather the city decide the cost of dealing with rainwater runoff is $x per cu.meter and charge for the runoff from a site. If the householder or landlord can reduce his costs, they'll go for it.

I spent some time last summer looking at the cost of green roof planting trays, as I have two sections of flat roof on my home. Partly I want to aid water conservation and improve the urban air environment and reduce the heat island effect, but partly I want to reduce summer heat gain on my flat roofs, and by shading them, prolong the life of the roofing material, ie I am motivated. But I found the cost much higher than I expected, and its difficult to calculate the payback.

The key problem as I see it, is that Cities give away or fail to charge correctly for storm sewer capacity. I would rather the City itemize its costs, charge individual users accordingly, and let each homeowner and landlord use their imagination to come up with the most cost effective solution. But as long as sewer capacity is given away or charged arbitrarily based on some criteria other than useage, the sewers will be abused, green solutions will go unimplemented, and heavy-handled politicans will try to garner votes by forcing a select few into an ordained "solution" that is only superficially green.

Woodpecker on Primrose

Saw the pictured woodpecker on Primrose St in front of St Vincent Hospital around 1pm on March 17th. He had created a significant litter of woodchips on the lawn and sidewalk, which is how I spotted him, since his pecking was silent. It was bigger than a robbin, smaller than a crow; much larger than the woodpeckers I normally see in this neighborhood.