glossy buckthorn - april 30

map

walked to wye marsh to clear out glossy buckthorn, an invasive species of european ornamental tree. i cut down dozens of trees 2 to 10 cm in diameter and dragged them out of the bush. on the map, the red line is the path to and fro home and the wye marsh centre, and the blue line is the path to and from the wye marsh centre and the muskrat loop where i was clearing the buckthorn. i walked the blue path 6 times.

apart from the good feeling of volunteering, i enjoyed the time alone to think -- i like reflecting while doing tedious manual labour. i came within a metre of trumpeter swans, canada geese, blac capped chickadees, squirrels and chippies, and saw turtles and many other birds.

what do i think about cutting down living trees? the tree is a living thing and has its own right to exist. i accept that the wye marsh is a managed wildlife centre, and its environment is very much controlled. the aims of that control are stewardship of the original wildlife and education of humans.

it's hard work, handsawing even these little trees. the junior naturalist i was working with wished we could use a chainsaw. i said i don't want one. why? because it pollutes. speaking of which, years ago the swankeepers used to ride an atv with the swan food in buckets, but today i saw a volunteer pulling a child's wooden wagon with high sides and two galvanized buckets of feed. i wonder if the marsh is reducing the use of inteernal combustion engines? i didn't ask the junior naturalist; however, he thought about what i said about chainsaws and wondered if maybe we could use lasers.

bp

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