Gorgeous day for a WWF Nature Walk

WWF


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Setting off towards Happy Valley Forest, in Ontario’s King Township. © Maya Ahmad / WWF-Canada

There’s only one thing that’s more fulfilling than spending a sunny, warm Saturday morning walking through the woods: spending a sunny, warm Saturday morning walking through the woods with WWF supporters. In June, Maya, Monte and I met up with a wonderful group of people at Happy Valley Forest, in Ontario’s King Township, for a walk in this deciduous forest—one of the largest remaining intact forests on the Oak Ridges Moraine.
Our guides were David and Ann Love, who live next to the Happy Valley forest and recently donated 90 acres to create the Love Mountain Nature Reserve. David is a former WWF vice-president; Ann is an educator and author. She’s also an extraordinary birder, which meant that when we heard bird calls, we found out we were hearing hooded warblers, ovenbirds and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Happy Valley Forest is home to more than 110 bird species, including a few threatened species, such as the hooded warblers and red-shouldered hawks.
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Ann Love pulled out her iPhone to show us images of the birds we were hearing—such as this wood thrush, which has a flute-like call. © Maya Ahmad / WWF-Canada

David helped us find frogs, newts and salamanders, especially around Happy Valley Forest’s vernal pools, which are temporary bodies of water that form in woodland hollows. The pools are excellent breeding grounds for amphibians and bugs; and they’re excellent feeding grounds for birds, mammals and reptiles. Since they dry up, vernal pools don’t have fish—so species that are typically eaten by fish are able to grow and thrive. The endangered Jefferson salamander is one native species that can’t live without these pools: They reproduce by laying eggs on submerged branches.
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This little guy—a juvenile Red Eft—will grow into an adult red-spotted newt. © Maya Ahmad / WWF-Canada

Monte also did his part: Trained in forestry, WWF’s president emeritus pointed out different tree species, including red oaks, eastern hemlock, trembling aspens and black cherry trees. (The latter has bark “like burnt potato chips,” as observed by one walker whose naturalist knowledge also impressed the group!)
Besides being home for lots of fascinating wildlife, Happy Valley Forest is also part of an important headwater region that helps provide safe drinking water to residents from King City all the way to Toronto. It’s a place where you can really see how supporting conservation—through WWF and other great organizations—is truly about protecting the future of nature and people. Maya’s job at WWF is to help supporters leave a charitable gift for nature in their Wills—a way of giving to nature that doesn’t cost anything now and that still means you can leave a legacy to your loved ones and other causes dear to your heart. And that might be one more thing that’s more fulfilling than spending a sunny, warm Saturday morning walking through the woods.
Thanks to David and Ann Love for generously hosting and guiding our Nature Walk through Happy Valley Forest.
If you’d like to hear about WWF’s next Nature Walk, get in touch with Maya Ahmad through our Legacy Giving page.