Canoe/Kayak day trips – Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists

Dalhousie Lake Paddle 2019

Join us for a paddle on Dalhousie Lake and Downriver

#8 on the MVFN Canoeing/Kayak Guide Sunday, August 25, 2019

Leader: Cliff Bennett 613-798-6295

Car Pooling:
East Lanark: Meet at Union Hall 8:30 A.M.
West Lanark: Meet at Hopetown across from the store 9:A.M.
Launch site: By the bridge at Dalhousie Lake 9:30 A.M. (park at restaurant )

Bring: lunch, bathing suit, bug juice, binoculars, sunscreen, etc.

Ensure you are equipped with life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc.

MVFN membership must be up-to-date (check your membership card). You can update and pay for your membership on the MVFN website. You may bring a friend or two, subject to the approval of the trip leader.

You must pre-register for this event by completing the form found here. If you need to partner up with someone, please contact the leader and he may be able to accommodate you.

In case of possible severe weather on the day of the paddle, check your email before 8:00 a.m. for a confirmation. Please inform the leader if you sign up, and then cannot go.

Also please indicate on registration form where you plan to meet the group.
For further information, contact the leader.

MVFN Mississippi Paddle downriver from Appleton

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Join MVFN for a paddle on the Mississippi River downstream from Appleton.

Please note NEW departure time of 10 A.M.

Photo Simon Lunn

Leader: John Willis

Location: meet at the departure point, Appleton Bay Park (510 River Rd, Almonte) for departure at 10:00 A.M. Appleton Bay Park is on River Road just below the dam in Appleton.

Bring: lots of water, bathing suit, insect repellent, binoculars, sunscreen, etc. Ensure you are equipped with life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc

Lunch: We will be going to the Barley Mow for lunch.

MVFN membership must be up-to-date (check your membership card). You can update and pay for your membership on the MVFN website. You may bring a friend or two, subject to the approval of the trip leader.

Pre-registration: You must pre-register for this event by completing the form found here. If you need to partner up with someone, please contact the leader who may be able to accommodate you.

In case of possible severe weather on the day of the paddle, check your email before 8:00 A.M. for a confirmation. Please inform the leader if you sign up, and are not able to attend.

MVFN summer paddle, Smiths Falls Marshlands to Poonamalie Lockstation

Sunday, July 28, 2019

See nature from the waters’ edge on this easy (weather permitting), roughly 2 hour-long river paddle from Smiths Falls Detached Lockstation, under the old CPR Bascule Bridge, and in and around the Swale wetland bay, before rejoining the main channel and paddling roughly 3 km upstream to Poonamalie Lock.

Along the way you will be immersed in a unique and important natural area on the doorstep of a rural town. Simon will introduce you to some of the more interesting flora, fauna and local canal history along the way. It should be fun!

Leader: Simon Lunn, Biologist (retired), Naturalist & Landscape/Wildlife Photographer

Car Pooling: meet at the Almonte Arena for departure at 8:30 a.m. or Upper Reach Park, Abbott Street, Smiths Falls by the canal for 9:15 a.m. (see photo below)

Bring: lots of water, lunch, bathing suit, insect repellent, binoculars, sunscreen, etc.

Ensure you are equipped with life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc.

Your MVFN membership must be up-to-date (check your membership card). You can update and pay for your membership on the MVFN website. You may bring a friend or two, subject to the approval of the trip leader.

You must pre-register for this event by completing the form found here. If you need to partner with someone, please contact the trip leader who may be able to accommodate you.

In case of possible severe weather on the day of the paddle, please check your email before 8:00 a.m. for a confirmation. Please inform the leader if you have signed up, but are unable to attend.

Birds report, MVFN Canonto Lake Paddle

NOTE: Watch the website and MVFN’s Facebook page for details of our next MVFN paddle, July 28, 2019.

Submitted by Howard Robinson, MVFN Birding Committee

On June 23, 2019 we canoed/kayaked Canonto Lake and birded by sight and sound from the water on a Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists’ outing, led by Cliff Bennett. There were 8 vessels, and 12 people in the party, but not all our time was spent birding.

Below is a list of bird species, and respective counts, that were seen or heard. The list has been submitted to eBird and shared with our MVFN birding account as an historical record.

Canonto Lake Paddle, June 23, 2019 photo H. Robinson

A faulty/deadly loon platform, Canonto Lake, observed on June 23 paddle. photo H. Robinson

eBird Checklist – 23 Jun 2019 – Canonto Lake, – 23 Species

8 Wood Duck

6 Mallard (4 of the 6 mallards were ducklings)

2 Sandhill Crane (seen flying over the lake)

3 Ring-billed Gull

4 Common Loon

7 Great Blue Heron

4 Turkey Vulture

2 Belted Kingfisher

1 Northern Flicker

4 Red-eyed Vireo

3 Tree Swallow

3 Barn Swallow

2 Black-capped Chickadee

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

2 Hermit Thrush

3 American Robin

2 Chipping Sparrow

6 Song Sparrow

40 Red-winged Blackbird

6 Common Grackle

4 Ovenbird

1 Yellow Warbler

2 Scarlet Tanager

Robertson Lake Paddle Sunday May 26th

Join MVFN for a paddle on Robertson Lake, Sunday, May 26, 2019 (#13 on the MVFN Canoeing/Kayak Guide)

Robertson Lake, on County Road 16, is situated at the village of Lavant in Lanark Highlands. It is a small, round lake that can be circumnavigated in three hours. There is a neat park and beach on the lakeshore where you can launch your canoe, poke around the islands and the shoreline and be back at the beach for lunch and a swim (but not on this particular trip!). Watch for marsh birds at the far end of the lake.

photo Sheldon Scrivens

Leader: Stan Holloway

Date: Sunday, May 26, 2019

Location: Robertson Lake: route #13 in MVFN’s Canoe & Kayak Journeys paddling guide

Car Pooling: East Lanark: meet at Union Hall for departure at 8:30 a.m. West Lanark: meet in Hopetown at 9:00 a.m., across from the store/gas station on Hwy 511, on the shoulder of the road.

Bring: lunch, water, insect repellent, binoculars, sunscreen, etc.

Ensure you are equipped with life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc.