Environment
Our deep connection to the bay is rooted in sparkling blue waters, granite shorelines, windswept pines and various other flora and fauna indigenous to our region. Our job is to sustain this connection for future generations through mindful stewardship of our natural environment.
Gypsy Moth Infestation 2020
We had quite an infestation of Gypsy Moth in Pointe au Baril in 2020. Luckily, most healthy trees that experience defoliation (even for 1-2 years) will withstand and survive as long as other stressors (pests, lack of rain) are not present. The attached Information...
is Georgian Bay TOO BLUE?
Bear witness Have you noticed the numerous collected pieces of mainly blue dock foam (although it comes in other colours) floating along your shoreline? You’ll see it washed up into crevices, not only at your cottage but on the outer islands where you picnic. It is...
River Otters
by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA Education Committee A day trip to the Key Harbour area this past Saturday resulted in my first sighting of a North American River Otter. With my dogs and the rest of my party forging ahead on a walkabout of the outer island on which we had...
Marvelous Mergansers
by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA's Education Committee How many mergansers do you see in this photo? Three dozen or so? Mother mergansers have their work cut out for them- with the crisply colored green and white males departing shortly after breeding in the spring, the females...
Channel Cat
by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA's Education Committee This amazing photo above of a lynx (or bobcat?) was taken just west of Steamboat Channel last week. A family was out fishing just west of the narrows about 8 p.m. and noticed the cat 50 feet further to their west, swimming...
Stormy Weather…
by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA Education Committee Fine weather in Georgian Bay is always enjoyable, but most Pointe au Baril residents also thrill to the kind of storms that we had last Saturday night and Sunday morning. It is exciting to watch the rapid approach of slate...
Owls in the…Peacock Family?
by Trudy Irvine, Education Committee Barry Peacock and Elizabeth Anderson-Peacock and their grandchildren were able to take a few pages out of Farley Mowat’s Canadian classic Owls in the Family earlier this season by watching a nest of Great Horned Owl owlets on...
Baby Turtle Nests
Jane Wilkins shared these photos and comments: "There are always so many turtles in Leisure Bay's back bay and often we see them laying their eggs in the gravel around the docks.(The top photo shows a black hole is the nest the turtle digs, then lays her eggs and then...
Here Be Dragons
Squadrons of dragonflies have appeared in the skies of Georgian Bay. The sky in the lee of the closest cedars looks like the busiest airfield imaginable, with masses of them hovering, zigzagging, climbing and diving as they feed and mate on the wing. Like sharks,...
What’s Up (and Down) with Our Water Levels?
by Janet Irving, PaBIA Education Committee In the summer of 2013, just seven years ago, we were alarmed by extreme low water levels in Pointe au Baril---forcing us to build new dock ramps, avoid shoals we never noticed before, and take long detours to our cottages...