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Page Friday MarthO 1KT Outlook op Lifestyle Telltale signs of spring in nature watch As February gives way to March winterweary Canadians look for of spring One early harbinger la the familiar robin a mostly migrant bird that moves into this area strongly in late March It may surprise some people however that not all robins are migratory A tiny proportion of the huge summer population stays with us throughout the year It Is to locate this hardy thrush even In the dead of winter by seeking out their food sources The robins that serenade us on spring mornings are well fed on worms extracted from suburban lawns In winter of course this regular robin fare hi inaccessible The few stalwart for foolish birds that remain subsist almost wholly on berries So to find winter robins look in the berry patch One area that almost always bar a few winter robins can be found along the Credit Valley trail near the Upper Canada College pro perty north of Norval Here on the slopes of the valley a shrub called ttw Common Buckthorn grows in profusion This shrub huge numbers of sour purpleblack Denies that serve as an important winter food source for robins and other birds Introduced from Europe Backyard Naturalist years ago the Common Buckthorn has proved to be a very successful Immigrant It Is now naturalized across southern Ontario its seed having been effectively dispersed In Ihe droppings of birds that dine on Its fruit A bird that the robin associates with through the winter Is the Cedar Waxwingi an an ex tanbuff color which Is best winter offer excellent viewing The Waxwing is much more inclined to tolerate our winters than is Ihe robin While one or two roblnii may be encountered on a winter walk scores of Cedar Waxwtngs can be found The call of ihe Waxwing as described by Roger Tory Peterson author of a Field Guide to the high thin lisp or yell eated call allows keen- act location Two other berry producing plants that help ensure the survival of winter birds In our area are the wild grape and the shrub Wild Saps running Sap running were once magical words to the country boy and girl It meant warm bright sun days with melting snow and puddles followed by cold freezing nights Out would come the sap buckets made from stoves the spouts fashioned during the long winter evenings from sumac stems and the large iron cauldron kettle All the necessary equipment as well as many children as could find room were loaded onto the stoneboat or sleigh and drawn by horse or oxen to family sugar bush The sap was collected In pails and usually with the help of the neck yoke brought to the kctitc or boil or down This was simply boiling away most water of the sap it nee it takes bet ween 30 and 40 gallons sap to make one gallon syrup can imagine the amount of this thai threatened to boil method produced its share of ashes and smoke that found its into pot and affected both the syrups flavor and color Sugaring off meant pouring boiled thick syrup hot upon the snow and making the most delicious of all sweets Maple wax In another method the hot syrup was stirred until it grained ami maple sugar cakes were then made by pouring No one knows exactly who first discovered how lo make maple syrup from maple sap The story begins with the Indians who lived along the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes They collected the sap in containers and boiled it in log troughs healed by hot stones Until after Confederation when cane sugar become available the maple crop was the common source of sugar lor Hie early settlers JEWELLERY GIFTS 99 Main St S grapes abundant throughout the valleys of the Credit River and Black Creek The sweet fruit of this vine usually persists into winter and serves as food for a varlely of birds including Robins and Cardinals The a native species of deciduous holly bears striking red fruit In the fall that is Irresistible to SAME DAY TAX RETURNS Guelph Si 8772217 winter resident birds Found in moist situations this shrub is a bun danl In poorly drained land south of Acton on the east side of Highway Spring Watch Though many Crows stay with us during the winter their numbers are now being weed seeds and grit they can easily be observed from your car Look for returning Grackles and RedWlrged Blackbirds over the coming week PROCLAMATION Tho Council for Town of Matron Hilts proclaims tho month 1987 as MONTH In the Town Hallon Hits DENTURE THERAPY CLINIC 18 CHURCH STHEET GEORGETOWN 8772359 The Future Looks Bright F0CUS A can make the difference between darkqess andbeing able to see Like the electricity that powers the so too does progress power our community and brighten our future Any community large or small would dim and die without a bright future a future sustained by the power of progress Look For Our F0CUS Edition car Ske m March 8772201 Advertising Space Being Reserved Now