Nature At Tucker House

Tucker House is a unique facility with exciting natural and geological features. Tucker runs nature walks year-round. At the side of this page you can read the notes from past nature walks.

To get to know each of these features, the habitat should be visited in winter, spring, summer and fall.  Winter is the time to appreciate the contours of the landscape, to explore habitats inaccessible at other times, and to appreciate bark and bud.  Spring is the time for woodland wildflowers.  Summer features meadow flowers and butterflies.  Fall is a time to enjoy fall flowers, the succession of coloured leaves, and the harvest of wild seeds, nuts and fruit.

Landscape

For a small area (31 acres), the Tucker House property presents a remarkably varied landscape.  A limestone plain borders the west side of the property, the escarpment of a sandy plain the east side.  Between the two is a clay plain dominated by knolls, probably of glacial till.  A small stream runs through the clay plain and leads to a marsh at the north end of the property.

The limestone plain served as a source of building stone for Tucker House.  For a naturalist, however, it is the fossils imbedded in the 450 million year old sedimentary rock formation that are of interest.  Those interested in minerals will be attracted by the billion year old igneous boulders (erratics) from the Canadian Shield across the river that were dropped on the property by the most recent glacier.

Habitats

Such a varied landscape results in a remarkable variety of habitats where distinct communities of plants and animals live out their lives.

The grounds around Tucker House reflect European settlement.  In addition to the species  brought from Europe for food, fodder or decoration are an even greater number of species that arrived unintentionally.  In fact, alien plants dominate this habitat.  Whereas the vegetables in the gardens and the timothy in the meadow were introduced intentionally, the dandelions and Creeping Charlie were not.

For a naturalist, the limestone plain presents a community of its own.  Called an alvar, this kind of habitat is rare world wide.
Close by is a wetland forest, dominated by ash trees and carpeted by sensitive ferns.

The ridge east of the wetland forest is the jewel of the property - an old growth forest dominated by pines, some of which must be at least 200 years old.   It has all the characteristics of an old growth forest: mature trees, standing dead trees riddled with nest holes, fallen trees decomposing and thereby creating a micro habitat for a great variety of organisms.  In the spring the forest floor is carpeted by wild flowers, white trilliums being particularly striking.

East of the ridge is a regenerating forest, the trees of an age about 50 years. 

The clay plain is dominated by a meadow that has been cultivated for hay.  Sometimes one gets a surprise like the colony of “ragged robin” that was discovered there recently.  This is a plant common in Britain but a first record  for the Ottawa area.

Across the steam, leading up to the low escarpment, is a regenerating pasture.  Such shrubs as hawthorne are beginning to get established here.  The stream itself is a whole field of study.  It is bordered by blue flags and has its own community of aquatic creatures.  The stream leads to a cattail marsh with its muskrat house and evidence of beavers.  In the spring the marsh marigolds present a great display of yellow blossom.

 
Nature walks provide the opportunity to explore and discover.  Some people may just enjoy a good walk in the fresh air, others might like to sketch or take photos, but the real reward comes from getting to know what creatures make up each community, how they live their lives and how they relate to one another.  It can be addictive.