RESTORE COOTES

No need to leave town to see beautiful butterflies and magnificent moths. Free, outdoor, and close to home at the Dundas, Ontario Urquhart Butterfly Garden.  It is easy to get to without a car, you can ride your bike down the Cootes Drive multi-use path or take transit (HSR Dundas #52, Head Street) and get off by the Canadian Tire/Beer Store.

A lovely butterfly garden is the perfect setting for this annual speaker series. August 4, 2018, Guest speaker: Doreen Nicoll You cannot have Monarch Butterflies without milkweed.  Doreen Nicoll has recently become a heroine for monarch butterflies, by insisting on her rights to grow milkweed in her naturalized garden in Burlington. Doreen  Nicoll has long understood that garden with nature and not against her is the best thing for our planet. She also knows that native plants are great at attracting butterflies and bees of all species. Doreen will be the first presenter in the Summer Series at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden and her topic will be Monarchs and Their Milkweed and naturalized gardening. She has wealth of information and is fun as well! The session will begin at 11 am Saturday on August 4 and last approximately one hour.  Please bring a chair. If it rains the session will be cancelled. For more information about the Urquhart Butterfly Garden p...

Butterfly and Bird Identification is fun, and something that can be enjoyed by young and old.  Learn all about it on a guided walk led by experienced naturalist Matt Mills on Saturday, July 29th from 11 am to  12 noon at the  Urquhart Butterfly Garden , Centennial Park, Dundas.  The walk will be cancelled if it rains. On the last guided walk participants were lucky enough to see the Buckeye Butterfly which is uncommon in Ontario and a rare visitor to this area.  Lots of other butterflies were nectaring in the sunshine as well. The recent rain has brought out the birds who are nesting in the foliage, and can be seem flitting back and forth to feed their young.  Matt knows them all and will point them out. You are requested to wear a hat and bring a chair. Lots of free parking available, transit stop nearby, and adjacent to the Cootes Drive bicycle path. The Summer Series will be held every Saturday until September 2.  For more informatio...

The free Summer series at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden kicks off on Saturday July 15 with Matt Mills leading a Guided Butterfly & Bird Identification Walk. Matt is an experienced naturalist, with a vast store of knowledge and an engaging manner. Photo: http://bit.ly/2sgeA9G The Garden is humming with life, “I am never disappointed by what I see at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden”, Matt said recently. If there are rare butterflies to be seen Matt will find them, as well as locating all the bird life hiding in the bushes or flitting among the trees. The Guided Walk takes about an hour and begins at 11 am on Saturday, July 15. You are requested to wear a sun hat and bring a chair. “I am never disappointed by what I see at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden” - Matt Mills If it rains the walk will be cancelled. The Summer Programme will be held every Saturday until September 2. The Urquhart Butterfly Garden is located at the end of Centennial Park in Dundas. All ages are...

Pollinators Great & Small: Making the Community a Pollinator Haven: Dr. Peter Kevan & Dr. Vernon Thomas, Saturday Aug 29, 11am The Urquhart Butterfly Garden is excited to announce a free workshop held in the Garden, “Pollinators Great & Small: Making the Community a Pollinator Haven” led by pollinator and pollination biology experts Dr. Peter Kevan and Dr. Vernon Thomas. The workshop will take place on Saturday August 29 at 11am. Peter Kevan and Vernon Thomas, accomplished professors from the University of Guelph, will share valuable information about the essential work of pollinators. They will discuss the numerous types of pollinators, their contribution to agriculture, the threats they face, and more. Learn why it is important for the whole community to be committed to pollinator projects, and find out what an individual can do, without even owning a window box! The garden is bustling with pollinators, flyin...

Urquhart Butterfly Garden,                                  Centennial Park, Dundas Ontario Dragonflies and Their Kin: Masters of Air and Water: Brenda Van Ryswyk Saturday, Aug 15, 11:00am The Urquhart Butterfly Garden is hosting a free workshop by Dragonfly and Damselfly expert Brenda Van Ryswyk. “ Dragonflies & Their Kin: Masters of Air & Water ” will take place on Saturday August 15 at 11am. Dragonflies and Damselflies are exciting to watch, with their extraordinary displays of speed and agility in the air. However, don't be deceived by their beauty, because they are also very powerful hunters and gobble up scores of smaller insects as they zip through the air.   Brenda Van Ryswyk is known for her ability to spot and identify dragonflies. She is also an excellent teacher and holds workshops across Ontario.  The workshop is suitable for young and old, and e...

Urquhart Butterfly Garden, Centennial Park, Dundas Ontario. Urquhart Butterfly Garden Photo Contest 2015 Are you able to spot the  stunning  Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly? Chickadee in bush at Butterfly Garden, Dundas Ontario Or see a common bird like the Chickadee in an entirely new light?  Can you detect the smallest spider or insect hiding in the petals of a flower? If so test your photographic skills at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden during our annual Photo Contest. Photographers ages 10 and up are eligible for both cash and certificate awards in the following four adult and youth categories: Butterflies and Moths; Insects, Spiders & Bugs; Birds and other Wildlife; Plants & Flowers. The Photo Contest runs from Saturday July 11th until Sunday August 30th. The Urquhart Butterfly Garden is located in Centennial Park at the corner of Cootes Drive and Street. Parking is available on King Street East. The Photo Contest is funded by generous don...

Restore Cootes is honoured to be the inaugural workshop in this new outdoor educational series. Join us Sunday, August 11 at 2pm at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden in beautiful Dundas Ontario. Randy Kay of Restore Cootes, and McMaster Biology Professor Jim Quinn will discuss the history and the future of this area, including Desjardins' Canal, Spencer Creek, Cootes Drive and McMaster's parking lot M. The series is free and open to all!