These items were discussed at the January 2023 meeting of the High Park Natural Environment Committee: A prescribed burn tour in November with TRCA, city staff and members of the committee assessed the condition of different of burn sites in…
Author: High Park Nature (page 2)
High Park Christmas Bird Count December 18, 2022
by Bob Yukich The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, a mild but windy day with almost no snow-cover. Our route recorded a total of 49 species and 2,988 individuals. Our best bird was…
Spraying for LDD/Spongy Moth Caterpillars Spring 2022 with Late Summer Update
High Park was sprayed for LDD Moth caterpillars (also known as Spongy Moth, previously called Gypsy Moth) in spring 2022. The first application took place on Saturday, May 28, the second one on Tuesday, May 31 and the final one…
Call for a Ban on Fishing at High Park’s Grenadier Pond Time to put nature first
For at least a decade the High Park Natural Environment Committee (NEC) has been urging the City of Toronto to put an end to fishing at Grenadier Pond. The committee’s concerns are well documented in a series of letters to…
Where there’s smoke, there’s renewal Article in Toronto Star, May 14, 2022
The High Park Stewards and the prescribed burn that took place on April 29, 2022 are both featured in an article by Emily Waugh in the Toronto Star. Read the article as it first appeared online or the Pressreader version…
Prescribed Burn Returns on April 29, 2022
Urban Forestry will undertake a prescribed burn in 4 locations in High Park on Friday, April 29. Be aware that the park will be closed to vehicles on burn day. See notice below for details and map. Indigenous people, the…
Grenadier Pond Wetland Complex declared a Provincially Significant Wetland
We are pleased to announce that the Grenadier Pond Wetland Complex has been given “Provincially Significant Wetland” status by the Ontario government. The evaluation summary, conducted by Toronto Region Conservation for the Ministry of Northern Development, Natural Resources, and Forestry, …
Now available – the latest issue of our UPDATE newsletter
Please see the April 2022 issue of our UPDATE newsletter for a summary of news and activities involving the High Park Natural Environment Committee, High Park Stewards and our City partners. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks recently…
High Park Christmas Bird Count 2021 Results
by Bob Yukich The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 (a mostly sunny day with light snow-cover). Our route recorded a total of 46 species and 3,961 individuals. No unexpected species were found…
Natural Environment Survey Results
The High Park Natural Environment Committee recently conducted a survey of members and supporters. The results are now available here. It’s heartening to see how much support there is for better protection of High Park’s natural environment, and in particular…
High Park Movement Study and Survey Your Opportunity to Speak Up for High Park
The City is launching the High Park Movement Strategy: “a study to improve the travel network for High Park and better serve park users and the community.” The first step is an online survey. More information can be found on…
LDD (Gypsy) Moth Caterpillars Lymnatria dispar dispari - The "LDD Moth"
If you’ve been walking through wooded areas in the park recently, you may have heard what looks like a gentle rain pitter pattering around you. Not rain, but the munching of hundreds of Gypsy Moth caterpillars! They have been feeding…
TRCA’s 2019 Terrestrial Biological Inventory of High Park View virtual presentation
Presentation Link and Follow-Up Q&As now available! Learn about the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority’s methodology, findings and observations as presented in the final High Park Terrestrial Biological Inventory Report, 2019. A question and answer opportunity followed the presentation. Urban…
Purple Martins and Other Bird News
The Purple Martin house at the south end of Grenadier Pond was cleaned out on April 14 by volunteers led by David Creelman, in preparation for this year’s arrivals. Last year there were several successful nests, and hopefully this year…
Harvesting Ice at Grenadier Pond
In the days before artificial refrigeration Torontonians harvested ice from local natural sources—including Grenadier Pond. To learn more about ice-cutting at Grenadier Pond, read this article in Torontoist.com by David Wencer. Those days are long past! In more recent winters…
High Park Christmas Bird Count 2020 Results
by Bob Yukich. The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020 (a mild cloudy day with no snow-cover). Our route ended up with 51 species including some great finds, making it one of our…
Welcome to Our New Website!
Since the High Park Nature website was first launched in 2010, it has provided a wealth of information about the natural features of High Park. Now we are pleased to present our new WordPress site – designed to perform well…
New Treatment for Buckthorn Demonstration Trial Summer 2020
This summer Urban Forestry is partnering in a demonstration trial with BioForest, a forest pest management company, to manage invasive buckthorn shrubs using the bioherbicide Chontrol Peat Paste. The active ingredient Chondrostereum purpureum is a naturally occurring fungi in forest…
Toronto Star article, January 13, 2020 by Kate Allen
“We love High Park for its natural beauty. Will that love be the death of it?” Read the article or The Star Pressreader version
High Park Christmas Bird Count Results 2019
The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019 (a very windy day). The High Park route ended up with 43 species, our lowest since 2007. Dark-eyed Junco and Rock Pigeon numbers were the lowest…
