Nature
Overview
A big question to consider in developing our “nature” resource was how to be comprehensive enough to identify all the nature that you might encounter at Chandler Point but also limit the knowledge to facts that are meaningful to our purpose. So what is our purpose? Our aim on this website is to inform, educate and nurture a sense of stewardship among the cottage owners of Chandler Point. With this aim as our guide, we have organized this section as a catalogue of local species under headings suggested by the Tree of Life used by Canadian Wildlife Federation’s inaturalist app.
However, even the ten kingdoms identified in this tree of life are more than we require for our purpose – so we have developed a simplified list of categories that should cover off and identify most any living thing that you will encounter at Chandler Point:
Trees | Plants (other than trees) | Fungus | Land Animals | Birds | Fishes
Each entry is identified with one or more pictures taken at Chandler Point (with a few elusive exceptions – but we are working on that) as well as a listing of its common name, scientific name and a brief description of its particular characteristics and its significance to the local ecosystem. There is always a link to the inaturalist taxonomy database and often to sources of additional information.
For More Information: David Attenborough explains the tree of life
Trees
Eastern White Pine
![](https://chandlerpointcottages.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Eastern-White-Pine2-scaled-e1667239872534.jpg")
Common Name: Eastern white pine
Scientific Name: Pinus strobus
Sighted at CP: Throughout the property.
Description:
It has skinny needles that are 6 to 12 centimetres long. It’s easy to recognize the eastern white pine because its needles grow in bunches of five.
The eastern white pine cones are 8 to 20 cm long and they hang down from the branches. Good seed crops aren’t produced until trees are 20 or 30 years old, and then only every 3 to 5 years. Its bark is dark greyish brown with broad thick ridges that are 2 to five centimetres thick
For More Information:
inaturalist | Province of Ontario | Tree Canada | University of Guelph
White Cedar
![](https://chandlerpointcottages.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/White-Cedar.jpg")
Common Name: White Cedar
Scientific Name:Thuja occidentalis
Sighted at CP: Many locations on property, especially in wet lands between cottages and the road.
Description:
A small or medium-sizedconiferous tree, native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and northeastern United States). The bark is red-brown, furrowed and peels in narrow, longitudinal strips. It has fan-like branches and scaly leaves, the foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves 3-5 millimetres long. The seed cones areslender, yellow-green, ripening to brown, 9-14 millimetres long and 4-5 millimetres broad with six to eight overlapping scales.
For More Information:
White Birch
![](https://chandlerpointcottages.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paper-Birch2-e1666313677260.jpg"")
Common Name: White Birch
Scientific Name: Betula papyriera
Sighted at CP: Various locations, this specimen by fire pit.
Description:
A medium-sized deciduous tree typically reaching 20 metres (66 feet) tall with a trunk up to 75 centimetres (30 inches) in diameter. In older trees, the bark is white flaking in fine horizontal strips and often has small black marks and scars; younger trees have brown red bark. Leaves are dark green and smooth on the upper surface, alternately arranged on the stem, oval to triangular in shape.
For More Information:
Sugar Maple
![](https://chandlerpointcottages.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sugar-Maple-1-scaled.jpg")
Common Name: Sugar Maple
Scientific Name: Acer saccharum.
Sighted at CP: Beside cottage A.
Description:
Canada’s national tree. It is a deciduous native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Classic 5 pointed leaf, 15 cm long. Famous for brilliant reds, yellows and oranges that the leaves turn in the autumn. Main source of sap used in maple syrup production due to it’s higher sugar content than the other maple species
For More Information:
Smoke Tree
Common Name: Smoke Tree
Scientific Name: Cotinus coggygria
Sighted at CP: Beside the playing field.
Description:
A multiple-branching deciduous shrub growing to 5–7 metres (16–23 feet) tall with an open, spreading, irregular habit, only rarely forming a small tree. Most of the flowers in each inflorescence abort, elongating into yellowish-pink to pinkish-purple feathery plumes when viewed en masse these have a wispy ‘smoke-like’ appearance, hence the common name.
For More Information:
American Basswood
Common Name: American Basswood
Scientific Name: Tilla americana
Sighted at CP: Road side of cottage A, around raspberry canes.
Description:
Native to eastern North America, in Canada from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick. A medium-sized to large deciduous tree reaching a height of 18 to 37 m (60 to 120 ft) with a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft) at maturity, it grows faster than many North American hardwoods. Life expectancy is around 200 years.
For More Information:
Plants (other than trees)
Lupin
Common Name: Lupin
Scientific Name: Lupinus perennis
Sighted at CP: Driveway side of cottages A-D.
Description:
The species are mostly herbaceous perennial plants 0.3–1.5 m (0.98–4.92 ft) tall. Lupins have soft green to grey-green leaves which may be coated in silvery hairs, often densely so. The leaf blades are usually palmately divided into five to 28 leaflets. The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spike, each flower 1–2 cm long. The pea-like flowers have an upper standard, or banner, two lateral wings, and two lower petals fused into a keel.
For More Information:
Lowbush Blueberry
Common Name: Lowbush Blueberry
Scientific Name: Vaccinium angustifolium
Sighted at CP: In the wooded area along the shoreline.
Description:
A low spreading deciduous shrub growing 5 to 60 cm (2 to 24 in) tall. The leaves are glossy blue-green in summer, turning a variety of reds in the fall. The leaf shape is broad to elliptical. Buds are brownish red in stem axils. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 4 to 6 mm (0.16 to 0.24 in) long. The fruit is a small sweet dark blue to black berry, full of antioxidants and flavonoids.
For More Information:
Moss Campion
Common Name: Moss Campion
Scientific Name: Silene acaulis
Sighted at CP: Along the shoreline.
Description:
A ground-hugging wildflower. It may seem densely matted and moss-like. The dense cushions are up to a foot or more in diameter. The plants are usually about 2″ tall but may be as high as 6″. The bright green leaves are narrow, arising from the base of the plant. It usually has pink flowers borne singly on short stalks that may be up to 1″ long, though very rarely they may be white.
For More Information:
Common Greenshield Lichen
Common Name: Common Greenshield Lichen
Scientific Name: Flavoparmelia caperata
Sighted at CP: Rocks and trees along shoreline.
Description:
A medium to large foliose lichen that has a very distinctive pale yellow green upper cortex when dry. The rounded lobes, measuring 3–8 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide, usually have patches of granular soredia arising from pustules. The lobes of the thallus may be smooth, but quite often have a wrinkled appearance especially in older specimens.
For More Information:
Great Horsetail
Common Name: Great Horsetail
Scientific Name: Equisetum telmateiaa
Sighted at CP: Various locations, this specimen by porch of cottage C.
Description:
An herbaceous perennial plant, with separate green photosynthetic sterile stems, and pale yellowish non-photosynthetic spore-bearing fertile stems. The sterile stems, produced in late spring and dying down in late autumn, are 30–150 cm tall and 1 cm diameter, heavily branched, with whorls of 14–40 branches. It also spreads by rhizomes.
For More Information:
Rock Polypody
Common Name: Rock Polypody
Scientific Name: Polypodium virginianum
Sighted at CP: Ground cover between cottages and lakeshore.
Description:
A small evergreen species of fern native to the Eastern United States and Canada. It generally grows on rocks and occasionally on tree roots. Large, circular sori are prominently featured on the underside of fertile fronds in late summer and autumn. Sporangia are intermixed with long brown glandular hairs.
For More Information:
Water Forget-Me-Not
Common Name: Water Forget-Me-Not
Scientific Name: Myosotis scorpiodes
Sighted at CP: Ground cover, often in wet locations.
Description:
An annual or perennial herbaceous flowering plant with flowers with five sepals and petals. Flowers are typically 1 cm in diameter or less, flatly faced, coloured blue, pink, white or yellow with yellow centres. The foliage is alternate, and their roots are generally diffuse.
For More Information:
Creeping Buttercup
Common Name: Creeping Buttercup
Scientific Name: Ranunculus repens
Sighted at CP: Ground cover in various meadow lands and flower beds.
Description:
An herbaceous perennial plant growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall. It has both prostrate running stems, which produce roots and new plants at the nodes, and more or less erect flowering stems. The basal leaves are compound, borne on a long petiole and divided into three broad leaflets. The flowers are golden yellow, glossy, and 2–3 cm diameter, usually with five petals.
For More Information:
Panicled Aster
Common Name: Panicled Aster
Scientific Name: Symphyotrichum lanceolatum
Sighted at CP: In flower beds on driveway side of cottages.
Description:
A flowering plant of northern and eastern North America which reaches a height of 30–60 cm (12–24 in). In the spring the underground stems produce compound leaves that are large and finely toothed. Tiny white flowers bloom from May to July growing about the same height as the leaves and later develop into purple-black edible berries.
For More Information:
Wild Sarsaparilla
Common Name: Wild Sarsaparilla
Scientific Name: Aralia nudicaulis
Sighted at CP: Ground cover between cottages and lakeshore.
Description:
A flowering plant of northern and eastern North America which reaches a height of 30–60 cm (12–24 in). In the spring the underground stems produce compound leaves that are large and finely toothed. Tiny white flowers bloom from May to July growing about the same height as the leaves and later develop into purple-black edible berries.
For More Information:
Canadian Goldenrod
Common Name: Canadian Goldenrod
Scientific Name: Solidago canadensis
Sighted at CP: In various locations, especially flower beds.
Description:
An herbaceous perennial plant with stems that grow 2-4 feet and sometimes to 6 feet (30–200) cm) tall. It is native to northeastern and north-central North America and often forms colonies of upright growing plants, with many small yellow flowers in a branching inflorescence held above the foliage. It has a rhizomatous growth habit, which can produce large colonies of clones.
For More Information:
Silvergrass
Common Name: Silvergrass
Scientific Name: Miscanthus sinensis
Sighted at CP: Side of Cottage D.
Description:
Widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, it is considered an iconic plant of late summer and early autumn. Of all the species, Silvergrass has the best known cold tolerance and excellent fiber properties for papermaking. Considered an invasive species in Ontario; it is commonly spread by underground roots and sometimes by seed.
For More Information:
Blackeyed Susan
Common Name: Blackeyed Susan
Scientific Name: Rudbeckia hirta
Sighted at CP: Various locations, this specimen by driveway of cottage F.
Description:
Found in all 10 Canadian provinces, an upright flowering plant growing 30–100 cm (12–39 in) tall by 30–45 cm (12–18 in) wide. It has alternate, mostly basal leaves 10–18 cm long, covered by coarse hair, with stout branching stems and daisy-like, composite flower heads appearing in late summer and early autumn.
For More Information:
Dame's Rockets
Common Name: Dame’s Rockets
Scientific Name: Hesperis matronalia
Sighted at CP: In flower beds on driveway side of cottages.
Description:
Flowering plant 100 cm or taller, with multiple upright, hairy stems. Typically, the first year of growth produces a mound of foliage, and flowering occurs the second year; the plants are normally biennials, but a number of races can be short-lived perennials. The plants have showy blooms in early to mid-spring. The leaves are alternately arranged on upright stems. Often confused with native Phlox species that also have similar large showy flower clusters.
For More Information:
Bramble Vetch
![](https://chandlerpointcottages.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Bramble-Vetch-scaled-e1666311503209.jpg")
Common Name: Bramble Vetch
Scientific Name: Vicia tenufolia
Sighted at CP:Various locations, especially around flower beds.
Description:
An herbaceous and perennial legume, it can reach from 30-150 cm. in height as an upright-growing and spread out vetch. It is pollinated by bees and insects. It grows in many parts of the world and is edible by both humans and farm animals in some countries. We don’t like it because it grows voraciously and strangles our desirable plants.
For More Information:
Oxeye Daisy
Common Name: Oxeye Daisy
Scientific Name: Leucanthemum
Sighted at CP: In the wild flower beds between cottages D & E.
Description:
A perennial herb that grows to a height of 80 centimetres (31 inches) and has a creeping underground rhizome. The lower parts of the stem are hairybut not in the upper parts. The largest leaves are at the base of the plant and are 4–15 cm (1+1⁄2–6 in) long, about 5 cm (2 in) wide. The plant bears up to three “flowers” like those of a typical daisy.
For More Information:
Gout Weed
Common Name: Gout Weed
Scientific Name: Aegopodium podagraria
Sighted at CP: Steps beside cottage E.
Description:
An herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the carrot family grows to a height of 100 cm (39 in) from underground rhizomes. It is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced around the world as an ornamental plant, where it poses an ecological threat as an invasive exotic plant. Also called ground elder and bishop’s weed.
For More Information:
Lily of the Valley
Common Name: Lily of the Valley
Scientific Name: Convallaria majalis
Sighted at CP: Steps beside cottage E.
Description:
A woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. The flowers have six white tepals (rarely pink), fused at the base to form a bell shape, 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) diameter, and sweetly scented; flowering in spring. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) diameter. An herbaceous perennial plant that often forms extensive colonies by spreading rhizomes.
For More Information:
Marginal Wood Fern
Common Name: Marginal Wood Fern
Scientific Name: Dryopteeris marginalis
Sighted at CP: Various locations, sample near cottage E.
Description:
A perennial species of fern found in damp shady areas throughout eastern North America. Growing from a clump with a prominent central rootstock, the rootstock may be exposed and give this fern the appearance of being like a small tree fern. Its name derives from the fact that the sori are located on the margins, or edges of the leaflets.
For More Information:
Common Wood Sorrel
Common Name: Common Wood Sorrel
Scientific Name: Oxalis acetosella
Sighted at CP: Low grassy areas.
Description:
A rhizomatous flowering plant with trifoliate compound leaves, the leaflets heart-shaped and folded through the middle that occur in groups of three on petioles up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long – sometimes referred to as a shamrock,. It flowers from spring to midsummer with small white flowers with pink streaks.
For More Information:
Sensitive Fern
Common Name: Sensitive Fern
Scientific Name: Onoclea sensibiliis
Sighted at CP: Various locations.
Description:
A coarse-textured, medium to large-sized deciduous perennial fern. The name comes from its sensitivity to frost, the fronds dying quickly when first touched by it. The sterile and fertile fronds have independent stalks originating from the same rhizome, quite different from other ferns.
For More Information:
Field Pussytoes
Common Name: Field Pussytoes
Scientific Name: Antennaria neglecta
Sighted at CP: Various ground cover locations, prolific between cottages and shoreline.
Description:
An herb up to 25 cm (10 inches) tall with as many as 8 flowering heads per plant. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, some populations being composed entirely of female plants. It is widespread across much of Canada.
For More Information:
Canada Mayflower
Common Name: Canada Mayflower
Scientific Name: Maianthemum canadese
Sighted at CP:Various ground cover locations, prolific between cottages and shoreline.
Description:
A 10–25 cm (4–10 in) tall perennial flowering plant, native to Canada and the north-eastern United States. Flowers are produced from spring to midsummer. Seed is produced infrequently and most plants in a location are vegetative clones, the plants spreading by their shallow, trailing, white rhizomes
For More Information:
Selfheal
Common Name: Selfheal
Scientific Name: Prunella vulgaris
Sighted at CP: Various ground cover locations, prolific between cottages and shoreline.
Description:
An edible herbaceous plant in the mint family. It grows 5-30 cm (2.0–11.8 in) high, with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at the leaf axes. The leaves are lance-shaped, serrated and reddish at the tip. It propagates both by seed and vegetatively by creeping stems that root at the nodes.
For More Information:
Ribbon Grass
Common Name: Ribbon Grass
Scientific Name: Phalaris arundinacea
Sighted at CP:Various locations, usually in gravel or sandy soil.
Description:
A tall, perennial bunchgrass, the stems can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height. The leaf blades are usually green, but may be variegated. The spikelets are light green, often streaked with darker green or purple. It spreads mostly by means of runners, but the seeds are viable and can establish new populations.
For More Information:
Hungarian Iris
Common Name: Hungarian Iris
Scientific Name: Iris variegata
Sighted at CP: Various locations in the gardens and around the grounds.
Description:
A rhizomatous perennial from eastern Europe. It has dark green, ribbed leaves. The branched flowering stems can be as tall as the leaves, they can hold 2–3 flowers in summer. They are yellowish-white, with brown-purple veins on the drooping falls. Very hardy and commonly cultivated as an ornamental plant.
For More Information:
Northern Blue Flag
Common Name: Northern Blue Flag
Scientific Name: Iris versicolor
Sighted at CP: Various locations in the gardens and around the grounds.
Description:
A flowering herbaceous perennial plant, growing 10–80 cm (4–31 in) high. It tends to form large clumps from thick, creeping rhizomes. Leaves are folded on the midribs so that they form an overlapping flat fan. The blue flower has six petals and sepals spread out nearly flat.
For More Information:
Chives
Common Name: Chives
Scientific Name: Allium schoenoprasm
Sighted at CP:In the flower beds and meadows on driveway side of cottages A-D.
Description:
Chives are a bulb-forming herbaceous perennial flowering plant that produces edible leaves and flowers. The scapes (or stems) are hollow and tubular as are the shorter grass-like leaves. The flowers are pale purple, and star-shaped with six petals. Although chives are repulsive to insects in general, due to their sulfur compounds, their flowers attract bees.
For More Information:
Chinese Mugwort
Common Name: Chinese Mugwort
Scientific Name: Artemisia verlotiorum
Sighted at CP: By the driveway of cottage C.
Description:
A species of plant in the sunflower family, it is named for Jean Baptiste Verlot, who first distinguished the plant from Artemisia vulgaris in 1877, and is sometimes referred to as Verlot’s Mugwort. It has oblong reddish to brown capitula, its stems are green and the leaves broader, lighter colored and denser on the stem. The plant is more strongly and pleasantly aromatic than Artemisia vulgaris. It flowers very late in the summer. Artemisia verlotiorum is often confused with Artemisia vulgaris, which is closely related – and it is possible we are have identified our species incorrectly.
For More Information:
Lesser Stitchwort
Common Name: Lesser Stitchwort
Scientific Name: Stellaria graminea
Sighted at CP: By the driveway in front of cottage A & B
Description:
A rhizomatous perennial herb producing branching stems which are prostrate, sprawling, trailing, or erect, and reach up to about 90 centimeters long. The leaves are smooth-edged and hairless except for some hairs lining the bases. The flower has five pointed green sepals and five white petals, each so deeply lobed it appears to be two. It is native to Eurasia but it is widespread around other parts of the temperate world as an introduced species and a common weed.
For More Information:
Black Raspberry
Common Name: Black Raspberry
Scientific Name: Rubus occidentalis
Sighted at CP:Various locations, look especially between cottages A&B and the back of cottage F.
Description:
A deciduous shrub growing to 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft) tall. The leaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves, strong-growing stems in their first year, and three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets. The round-shaped fruit is a 12-to-15-millimetre (0.47 to 0.59 in) diameter aggregation of drupelets; it is edible, and has a high content of anthocyanins and ellagic acid. Long stems also called canes grow up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in length, usually forming an arch shape, but sometimes upright. Canes have curved, sharp thorns, while immature canes are unbranched and have a whitish bloom.
For More Information:
Staghorn Sumac
Common Name: Staghorn Sumac
Scientific Name: Rhus typhina
Sighted at CP: Side of playing field + other locations.
Description:
This large shrub has compound leaves, meaning each leaf is composed of several leaflets. These leaflets hang down, have serrations (teeth) along the edges and turn a radiant red or orange in the fall. The thick branches are hairy and resemble the velvety antlers of a male deer (stag), hence the common name of “staghorn.” Clusters of small greenish flowers form an upright cone that yields crimson red berries covered in fine hairs.
For More Information:
Mullein
Common Name: Mullein
Scientific Name: Verbascum thapsus
Sighted at CP: Foundation wall of F cottage.
Description:
A hairy biennial plant that can grow to 2 m tall or more, its small, yellow flowers are densely grouped on a tall stem, which grows from a large rosette of leaves. It is a common weedy plant that spreads by prolifically producing seeds, and has become invasive in temperate world regions. Commonly used in traditional medicine and can be used to make dyes and torches.
For More Information:
Wild Strawberry
Common Name: Wild Strawberry
Scientific Name: Fragaria vesca
Sighted at CP: Various locations, usually in gravel or sandy soil.
Description:
Five to eleven soft, hairy white flowers are borne on a green, soft fresh-hairy 3–15 centimetres (1.2–5.9 in) stalk that usually lifts them above the leaves. The light-green leaves are trifoliate (in threes) with toothed margins. The plant spreads mostly by means of runners (stolons), but the seeds are viable and can establish new populations.
For More Information:
Fungus
Oyster Mushroom
Common Name: Oyster Mushroom
Scientific Name: Pleurotus ostreatus
Sighted at CP: Throughout the property, often under the pine trees.
Description:
The mushroom has a broad, fan or oyster-shaped cap spanning 2–30 cm (3⁄4–11+3⁄4 in); natural specimens range from white to gray or tan to dark-brown; the margin is inrolled when young, and is smooth and often somewhat lobed or wavy. The flesh is white, firm, and varies in thickness due to stipe arrangement. The gills of the mushroom is white to cream and descend on the stalk if present. If so, the stipe is off-centre with a lateral attachment to wood. The spore print of the mushroom is white to lilac-gray, and best viewed on dark background. The mushroom’s stipe is often absent. When present, it is short and thick.
For More Information: inaturalist
Yellow Morel
Common Name: Yellow Morel
Scientific Name: Morchella esculenta
Sighted at CP: Various locations at Chandler Point and in regional forests.
Description:
These are Yellow Morels found in the Haliburton area and in our woods at Chandler Point in the spring of 2020. They are an excellent edible found only in the spring usually late May to early June.
ALTHOUGH IDENTIFIED AS EDIBLE MUSHROOMS, DO NOT EAT THEM UNLESS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY A KNOWLEDGEABLE EXPERT.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contibuted by: Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Milk Mushroom
Common Name: Milk Mushroom
Scientific Name: Lactarius indogo
Sighted at CP: Various locations throughout the property.
Description:
These delicious Lactarius are commonly called milk mushrooms because they bleed a latex like fluid when cut. The fluid can be clear, white, yellow, blue and in this case orange. These are really good edibles and usually grow on our property.
ALTHOUGH IDENTIFIED AS EDIBLE MUSHROOMS, DO NOT EAT THEM UNLESS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY A KNOWLEDGEABLE EXPERT.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contibuted by: Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Rosy Russula
Common Name: Rosy Russula
Scientific Name: Russula silvicola
Sighted at CP: Various locations.
Description:
Russulas are a huge family of common mushrooms and come in all colours from bright red orange and yellow to boring beige brown and whites. One thing they all have in common is that they are very brittle and the stem, when bent, will snap like a piece of chalk,
For More Information: inaturalist
Contributed by Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Scarlet Hood
Common Name: Scarlet Hood
Scientific Name: Hygrocybe cochinea
Sighted at CP: Various locations.
Description:
The Hygrocybe family are called wax caps because when you crush them between your fingers you get a slippery waxy feeling. They are usually beautiful mushrooms with bright red, orange, yellow and even green colouring. You can usually find them all summer in our woods.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contributed by Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Honey Mushroom
Common Name: Honey Mushroom
Scientific Name: Armillaria mellea
Sighted at CP: Various locations on the property and throughout Haliburton region.
This is a good edible, the nice thing being that when you find them there are usually quite a lot – for example, on one occasion about 2 lbs were gathered from just one spot in the Chandler Point woods. They are usually found from mid September on; 2021 was a bumper crop all around Haliburton.
ALTHOUGH IDENTIFIED AS EDIBLE MUSHROOMS, DO NOT EAT THEM UNLESS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY A KNOWLEDGEABLE EXPERT.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contibuted by: Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Shaggy Mane
Common Name: Shaggy Mane
Scientific Name: Coprinus comatose
Sighted at CP: Throughout the property, often under the pine trees.
Description:
These come up every year at Chandler usually in the late fall. The Coprinus family are called inky caps because as they mature the cap turns into a black inky gooey mess. They are an edible mushroom when they are fresh like these in the photo
For More Information: inaturalist
ALTHOUGH IDENTIFIED AS EDIBLE MUSHROOMS, DO NOT EAT THEM UNLESS POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY A KNOWLEDGEABLE EXPERT.
Contibuted by: Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Fly Agaric
Common Name: Fly Agaric
Scientific Name: Amanita muscaria
Sighted at CP: Various locations.
Description:
This is the mushroom you see in fairy tale books usually with a little elf sitting on top. It is bright red to orange red with cottony white patches and is quite poisonous to us but the squirrels seem to like them. They can usually be found at Chandler Point all summer long.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contibuted by: Ken Burlakoff (C-7)
Land Animals
This section includes mammals, reptiles, amphibians, arachnids and insects.
White-tailed Deer
Common Name: White-tailed Deer
Scientific Name: Odocoileus virginianus
Sighted at CP: Frequent visitors throughout the year
Description:
The graceful white-tailed deer is well known to most North Americans. Hunters and nonhunters alike recognize the animal by its habit of flourishing its tail over its back, revealing a stark white underside and white buttocks. This “flag” of the white-tailed deer is often glimpsed as the high-spirited animal dashes away from people. The tail has a broad base and is almost a foot long. When lowered, it is brown with a white fringe. In summer, the white-tailed deer has a reddish pelage, or fur, on its back and sides and is whitish beneath. In winter the upper parts turn greyish. Full-grown male deer frequently exceed 1 m at shoulder height and 110 kg in weight, with exceptional individuals weighing up to 200 kg in the northern part of their range.
For More Information:
Red Squirrel
Common Name: Red Squirrel
Scientific Name: Gomphus spicatus
Sighted at CP: Often lakeside and around cottages.
Description:
The squirrel is a small, 200-250 g, active in the daytime, mammal that defends a year-round exclusive territory. It feeds primarily on the seeds of conifer cones. Red squirrels can be easily distinguished from other North American tree squirrels by their smaller size, 28-35 cm total length (including tail), territorial behavior, and reddish fur with a white underbelly. They are larger than their other noisy tree companion – the chipmunk.
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Common Name: Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Scientific Name: Papillo canadensis
Sighted at CP: Spotted in the flower beds.
Description:
A species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It was once classified as a subspecies of Papilio glaucus and is often confused with the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail but the Canadian has a noticeably smaller wingspan. Found in most provinces and territories in Canada, it is one of the most popular puddling species and often hundreds will gather at a single puddle.
For More Information:
Dusky Clubtail
Common Name: Dusky Clubtail
Scientific Name: Gomphus spicatus
Sighted at CP: Lake side of cottage F.
Description:
Fairly slender dragonfly, blue eyes, thorax with black and yellow stripes, abdomen mostly black with yellowish, rear-pointed markings, overall greyish (females may be brown as well).
For More Information:
inaturalist | ONnaturemagazine
Birds
The Kashagawigamog Lake Report lists 118 probable and confirmed bird observations within the Kashagawigamog Lake basin. That list is available as a downloadable PDF
Common Merganser
Common Name: Common Mercanser
Scientific Name: Mergus mecanser
Sighted at CP: Frequent visitor on the lakeshore
Description:
Large duck with a sleek body and thin red bill. Breeding males have a dark green head and mostly white body with a peachy blush on underparts. Females and immature males have rusty brown heads and gray bodies with a cleanly demarcated white throats. Feeds in rivers, lakes and large ponds by diving to catch fish. Hardy in winter, often staying as far north as open water permits.
For More Information:
Wild Turkey
Common Name: Wild Turkey
Scientific Name: Meleaagris gallopavo
Sighted at CP: Picture is a flock sighted behind cottage F in the early winter.
Description:
A species of bird native to North America related to pheasants, chickens and quails. Males are called toms or gobblers. Their naked heads are coloured in hues of red, blue and white, and their body feathers include shades of dark brown, bronze, copper, chestnut, purple and iridescent green. Females, called hens, have fantails, and although they may have the same spectrum of colours as toms, the colours are more muted. After a century of extinction, they were reintroduced to Ontario in 1984.
For More Information:
Common Loon
Common Name: Common Loon
Scientific Name: Gavia immer
Sighted at CP: On the lake.
Description:
Adult breeding plumage consists of a broad black head and neck with greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen. It has a black bill sometimes with a pale tip, and red eyes. The neck is encircled with a characteristic black ring and has two white necklaces of eight to ten short streaks on the upper foreneck, and a noticeable collar of white, parallel lines forming a large oval on the neck-side. Adult non-breeding plumage is brownish with a dark neck and head marked with dark grey-brown. Loons are monogamous, a single female and male often together defend a territory and may breed together for a decade or more. The common loon is the provincial bird of Ontario
For More Information:
Fishes
This section also includes mollusks.
Lake Kashagawigamog is a favourite for sport fishing and experiences high angling pressure compared to other larger lakes in the county. Fishing is mostly by trolling in open water. Anglers venture to the southwest basin in pursuit of lake trout, perch and whitefish, while the northern basin is favoured for walleye and bass.
According to the Kashagawigamog Lake Report, Lake trout (stocked Haliburton Gold and North Bay Strain), Walleye, Largemouth bass, Smallmouth bass, Yellow pickerel, Pumpkinseed, Yellow perch, White sucker, Lake whitefish, Lake herring, Bluntnose minnow and Brown bullhead are all fished in our lake.
Lake Trout
Common Name: Lake Trout
Scientific Name: Salmo trutta
Sighted at CP:
Description:
The brown trout is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. The fish is not considered to be endangered, although some individual stocks are under various degrees of stress mainly through habitat degradation, overfishing, and artificial propagation leading to introgression. Increased frequency of excessively warm water temperatures in high summer causes a reduction in dissolved oxygen levels which can cause “summer kills” of local populations if temperatures remain high for sufficient duration and deeper/cooler or fast, turbulent more oxygenated water is not accessible to the fish. Overfishing is a problem where anglers fail to identify and return mature female fish into the lake or stream. Each large female removed can result in thousands of fewer eggs released back into the system when the remaining fish spawn.
For More Information: inaturalist
Contact Us
The “Nature” section is a work-in-progress and your help is needed to make it as complete as possible. We are asking cottagers to take pictures and identify any examples of nature that you encounter at Chandler Point.
Send an email to webkeeper@chandlerpointcottages.ca with any or all of the following:
· A picture of the species – as you found it at Chandler Point, including date and location.
· Common and/or scientific name – there are lots of apps that can help you identify the species – we recommend inaturalist or Google lens but you may know of other resources.
· A description of its particular characteristics and its significance to the local ecosystem – about 150 words.
We will format your entries, add them to the website and acknowledge your contribution.