Last week marked National Volunteer Week and we would like to thank all the volunteers who have given their time and talents in support of the Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) and our mission to preserve a ribbon of wilderness, for everyone, forever. Without your help, dedication and unwavering support the Bruce Trail would not be where it is today.
This month's post is brought to you by one of the BTC's talented volunteers, Toronto Bruce Trail Club Trail Captain and Hike Leader, Monica Pasquali :
I was introduced to the Bruce Trail Conservancy by a friend in 2021. While exploring the BTC website at the time, I saw that I could volunteer as a “citizen scientist” by joining the BTC iNaturalist project, and that is how I began to use iNaturalist to document my findings as I hiked the Bruce Trail. One of my first exciting finds along the Bruce Trail was a Wood Thrush that I encountered within the Toronto section. I originally thought it was just a Hermit Thrush - a species that I see quite regularly in the suburban neighbourhood where I live. Thanks to iNaturalist, I discovered the true identity of this bird, and I also learned that it is a species of special concern in Ontario, which made my encounter all the more special to me.
Wood Thrush – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
That summer, my love of the Bruce Trail inspired me to look for ways that I could “give back” to the trail. At the time, the Toronto Bruce Trail Club was looking for trail captains and I jumped at the chance to become one! When I complete the seasonal inspections of my assigned section I am usually busy with trail captain duties, but I always take my camera so I can photograph anything interesting that I observe and then upload it to iNaturalist afterwards.
One exciting species that I have noticed by regularly hiking my section of trail is the Yellow Lady’s Slipper orchid. Prior to using iNaturalist, I never knew that we had beautiful native orchid species here in Ontario - I always assumed they were tropical plants, but I was obviously wrong!
Yellow Lady's Slipper – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
For me, a big part of the fun of hiking the Bruce Trail has been to plan out the hikes that I do on my own or with my family, so when the opportunity to become a hike leader with the Toronto Club became available in 2023, I immediately signed up! Last year I led an end-to-end hike series for the Toronto section, and two of the hikers in my group were keen to earn the Toronto Club’s “Biodiversity Naturalist” badge. Since I had already earned this badge earlier in the year, I was able to help them achieve their goal by pointing out interesting plants, animals, and fungi as we hiked the Bruce Trail together, and encouraging them to use iNaturalist to help them identify their findings.
Working on the Toronto Club’s “Biodiversity Naturalist” badge during a group hike – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
I love using iNaturalist because not only does it help me become better at identifying the flora and fauna around me, but it also helps me learn more about these organisms. For example, the organism that the hikers were photographing in the above photo was a Tomentose Burying Beetle. After locating a dead animal, a pair of these interesting insects will dig a shallow hole underneath the carcass and cover it with leaves. They will then mate and lay their eggs close to the carcass so their larvae will have a food source as soon as they hatch. How cool is that?!
Burying Beetle – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
During my hikes of the Bruce Trail, I’ve been using iNaturalist primarily as a tool to learn more about the native species that call the Bruce Trail home. My species count for the BTC iNaturalist project is currently over 400, with most being native to Ontario, including species like the Common Milkweed plant, which are critical to the survival of Monarch butterflies in Ontario.
Common Milkweed – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
While this has been a wonderful learning experience for me, I am interested in broadening my perspective to include non-native species as well. Some non-native species like Dog-strangling Vine are invasive and can be a real problem because they outcompete native species for resources, resulting in the decline of Ontario’s native species. Consequently, my goal moving forward is to keep an eye out for non-native invasive species and reporting these sightings to the BTC via their iNaturalist project so that action can be taken to control their spread in order to help our native species thrive.
Dog-strangling Vine – photo credit – Monica Pasquali
Bruce Trail Conservancy
