2026 FBO Field Trips

To our membership:

The trip list is here! Our many excellent trip leaders have once again pulled through with an amazing roster of trips for you this year. As always, we are so grateful to them for sharing their passion and favourite places with us. In order to keep trips and trail impact manageable, trip capacity is set at 20 participants, unless the leader requests lower numbers.

We can add attendee information to a waitlist if a trip sells out. For those that register online, we have allowed a refund period of up to one day before the trip. That means you may still sign up for trips ahead of time even if you aren’t sure of your plans and as long as you request a refund through Eventbrite before that time, you will receive your full amount back (minus a small fee from Eventbrite). But please cancel as soon as you know you won’t be attending. Cancelling your Eventbrite ticket allows us to open your spot on the trip to people who have added themselves to the wait list. If an event is listed as SOLD OUT, you can still register to put yourself on the wait list, and if someone else gives up their spot, we will contact the waitlist to offer the spot(s).

If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact the Field Trip Coordination Team at: fbo.trips@gmail.com (Sarah Mainguy), and Gwyneth.Govers@fieldbotanistsofontario.com.

Additional trips may be added as we shore up details with leaders, so be sure to check your email, our website, and/or our facebook group for future announcements. We can also announce a sneak peek at the AGM agenda it this time – it will be held in the weekend of September 26-27th in Lindsay, Ontario. Trips will include an alvar, a Mnoomin (wild rice) festival, a Kawartha Land Trust property, and one more (yet undetermined).

Here’s to another great field season. Check back in case we finalize any additional trips! Happy Botanizing!

Sat. May 9th – 9:50am - Spring Ephemerals & Invasives of RBG

Leaders: Nadia Cavellin & Mallory Pierce

Join Nadia Cavellin, Mallory Pierce (Ecologist), Julia Minaji (Herbarium Intern), and Gianna Bazinet (Curator of Horticulture and Plant Records) to explore the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. Particular focus will be paid to spring ephemerals and recent invasives on the RBG grounds.

Meeting place is the RBG Centre – participants will carpool to specific areas from there to avoid parking congestion.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-SpringatRBG

Sun. May 10th – 9:50am - Mother’s Day on the Escarpment - Campbellville

Leaders: Sarah Mainguy & Mia Ni

Sarah Mainguy and Mia Ni will start off Mother’s Day by leading a trip to celebrate spring flora in the rocky forests near Campbellville. We will refresh our spring brains with trilliums and other wildflowers, ferns, some of the earliest sedges and grasses, and the delicate unfolding of the earliest trees. Be sure to invite your Mom!

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-MothersDay

Sun. May 24th – 9:50am Fletcher Creek Alvar – Puslinch

Leader: Sarah Piett

Join Hamilton Conservation Authority’s Terrestrial Ecologist, Sarah Piett, in a tour of an alvar at Fletcher’s Creek Ecological Preserve in Puslinch, Ontario. The alvar is located at a former quarry and has undergone scientific research, ecological monitoring and restoration to achieve the current state. Lakeside daisy, dwarf lake iris, nodding wild onion and little bluestem are just a few of the alvar associated species present on site which will be viewed during the field trip. There is paid parking on site located at 3921 Concession Road 7, Puslinch. Parking is $8.50/day. From the parking lot, there is a 30-minute walk into the alvar, and a 30-minute walk back out to the vehicles after the tour.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-FletcherCreekAlvar

Sat. May 30th – 9:50am - Upland Sedges & Grasses, York Region

Leader: Steve Varga

The fantastic graminoid guru Steve Varga is once again offering his expertise to lead this workshop on sedge and grass identification in Hollidge Tract, north of Ballantrae. Annotated keys for upland sedges and grasses will be provided ahead of the trip. As this workshop requires the group to examine very small parts of the plant, this trip is limited to 10 participants.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-UplandSedgesGrasses2026

Sun. June 7th – 9:50am - Grand River & Whiteman’s Creek flats, Brantford

Leader: Gwyneth Govers

An off-shoot trail of the SC Johnson Trail leads down to the flats where Whiteman’s Creek joins the Grand River. Along the way, we’ll have the opportunity to explore a perched fen.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-WhitemansCreek

Sat. June 20th – 9:50am - Mystery Toronto area Waterfront Tour of a remnant prairie

Leader: Gavin Miller

Exact location to be announced soon!

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-MysteryGTA

Sat. June 27th – 9:50am - Wetland Sedges, Grasses and Rushes, Durham Region

Leader: Steve Varga

The fantastic graminoid guru Steve Varga is once again offering his expertise to lead this workshop on sedge and grass identification in the Durham Region, near Port Perry. In the morning, we will explore the wetlands of the Nonquon River, while in the afternoon we will move to the Durham Environmental Education Centre. Its time permits, we may visit more wetlands to the northeast on Old Scugog Road. Annotated keys for wetland sedges and grasses will be provided ahead of the trip. As this workshop requires the group to examine very small parts of the plant, this trip is limited to 10 participants.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-WetlandSedgesGrasses2026

Wed. July 1st – 9:50am - Canada Lily on Canada Day - Cooper Marsh, Cornwall area

Leader: Jakob Mueller

Cooper Marsh, east of Cornwall, is a very diverse wetland on the St. Lawrence River. Despite being highly accessible with a trail network and boardwalks, it is surprisingly under-documented. The site also features a couple of the botanical highlights of "extreme eastern" Ontario. Canada Lily (Lilium canadense) should be flowering; it is provincially S1, and is only found at a couple other sites in the area. Another plant of interest is Smooth Alder (Alnus serrulata), which was only first recorded in Ontario in 2024, again only at some "extreme east" sites. Beyond these, there will be much to see, as the site is very rich.

Please note that this trip is scheduled for Canada Day which is a Wednesday this year.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-CooperMarsh2026

Sat. July 4th – 9:50am - Mystery Tour Botanical Inventory – Rice Lake Plains Part 1

Leader: Steve Varga

Join Steve Varga for Part 1 of this Mystery Tour Botanical Inventory of a newly acquired property of the Nature Conservancy Canada. Oak Ridges Moraine – Rice Lake Plains area of Northumberland County. Both Parts will be for the same property but focused on different vegetative communities. This session focused on the wetland portion of the property so bring old shoes and old pants that you don’t mind getting wet.

You get to help do a botanical inventory of a critical natural area that has been poorly botanized. You will be given the location particulars at least a month before the visit date. Please bring a clipboard, pencil, lunch, water and mosquito repellent.

This trip will be limited to 14 participants.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-RLPmystery1

Sun. July 5th – 9:50am - Oxley Poison Sumac Swamp

Leader: Pat Deacon

Come explore the Oxley Poison Sumac Swamp! After we have familiarized ourselves with the identification of poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), the small group will navigate swaths of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) to search for interesting wetland species like swamp birch (Betula pumila) and stiff cowbane (Oxypolis rigidior). Some time will be spent checking peripheral areas of sandy upland forest for two-flowered dwarf-dandelion (Krigia biflora), Virginia flax (Linum virginianum) and eastern flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). We will put the keys to work for Carex and Smilax as the site contains a good diversity of both including some rarities observed by botanists here in the 1980s. Through the day the group will compile a species list to contribute to ongoing management of this Carolinian Canada Signature Site that is being undertaken by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. There are no trails, it is likely to be buggy, and this trip will involve some hiking through soft organic substrate.

Maximum attendees: 7

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-OxleySwamp

Sat. July 18th – 9:50am - “Between a rock and a Vertical Place: Geology and Bryophyte Greenery of a Crevice Cave” – Grey County

Leaders: Andy Fyon & Cassandra Robillard

Specific sites to be provided closer to the scheduled date, pending site conditions check, but the options are in the Grey County area. Due to the constrained trail conditions in the cave systems, as well as limited parking, participation will be capped at 15 people. However, if there is enough interest, Andy is willing to add a second date the following day, so be sure to put yourself on the waitlist if this entry is full.

Introduce the three cave types found on the Bruce Peninsula and area (crevice, solution karst, lake cut); detailed focus on the crevice cave habitat: a) geology; b) formation; c) habitat physical and chemical highlights (rock chemistry, light, temperature); d) relevance to bryophytes. Likely to see other flora on the trail into the cave. Additional educational materials to be provided. Please note: crevice caves may not suitable for those who cannot scramble for a short distance or who are claustrophobic.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-CreviceCave

Sat. July 25th – 9:50am - Westmeath Provincial Park - near Pembroke

Leader: Eleanor Thomson

Westmeath Provincial Park is a wonderfully wild, non-operating park on the Ottawa River with a rich array of unusual and significant species on its active sand dunes and long beach as well as in its wetlands and woodlands. Its pristine beauty combined with the scarcity of invasives makes it a delight to visit. We will hike to the Ottawa River shoreline (about 2 km along a woodland lane) to explore first the interesting flora of the beach and open dunes. Some specialties we may encounter along the dunes include Woolly Beach Heather, Three-toothed Cinquefoil, Beach Wormwood, Sand Dune Willow, Beach Pea, Coastal Jointweed, Dry Land Sedge, and the alien but uncommon Jerusalem Oak. Beach species to expect include Densetuft Hairsedge, Slender Fimbry, White Bog Violet, Spoonleaf Sundew, Pale St. John’s-wort, Pipewort, Floating Heart, Horned Bladderwort, Thread Rush and Golden Hedge-hyssop. As we wend our way back, we will examine the great diversity of plants in the upland and lowland woods and wetlands through which the lane passes, with species such as Checkered Rattlesnake Plantain, Trailing Arbutus, Nodding Trillium, Early Lowbush Blueberry and Hobblebush.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-WestmeathPP

Sat. Aug. 8th – 12-5pm & Sun. Aug 9th – 9am-1pm - Sudbury Regreening – Bringing plant diversity back to a devastated landscape.

Leader: Peter Beckett

The program is split into 2 sections. On Saturday afternoon we will visit several sites to look at the plant diversity that now occurs in the Sudbury landscape with over 45 years of The Sudbury Regreening Program.

We will meet at the Living with Lakes Centre (Ramsay Lake Road) for a short introduction about the world-famous regreening Program. We then make a tour of the city stopping for short botanical walks into the recovering forest at sites from no intervention through to a site treated 45 years ago. We will consider how the plant diversity informs us about the completeness of the recovery and what other interventions, if any, should be considered.

For those staying overnight there will be an optional visit to the Wolf Lake Old Growth Red Pine Forest Preserve on Sunday morning (9am to 1pm).

The optional visit to the Wolf Lake Old Growth Red Pine Forest on Sunday morning will visit the world’s largest known contiguous ancient red pine forest with trees as old as 275 years old. Situated in the NE corner of the City of Greater Sudbury the area is a model for the Sudbury Regreening Program. Many of the Red Pines and other tree species grow on the rocky quartzite hills and shallow soils are prevalent. Due to poor nutrients, the trees grow very slowly. On site we will discuss the ongoing challenges stopping full protection of this unique forest.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-Sudbury

Sun. Aug. 23rd – 9:50am - Black Ash Creek PSW – Blue Mountain

Leader: Corey Stinson

Come explore the upland & wetland communities of the Black Ash Creek PSW on Blue Mountain, within and adjacent to the Petun Conservation Area. We can walk the Bruce Trail and the upland sugar maple forests and swamps of the narrow valley below.

More details to come.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-BlueMountain

Sat. Aug. 29th – 9:50am - Mystery Tour Botanical Inventory – Rice Lake Plains Part 2

Leader: Steve Varga

Join Steve Varga for Part 2 of this Mystery Tour Botanical Inventory of a newly acquired property of the Nature Conservancy Canada. Oak Ridges Moraine – Rice Lake Plains area of Northumberland County. Both Parts will be for the same property but focused on different vegetative communities. This session focused on the upland portion of the property.

This trip will be limited to 14 participants.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-RLPmystery2

Sat. Sept. 12th – 9:50am - Hidden Gem of the GTA (North Vaughn / Pickering)

Leader: Brian Ford

Join Brian Ford, ecologist with the TRCA, to explore a hidden gem of the GTA. Specific location to be shared with registered participants closer to the date.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-GTAhiddengem

Sat. Sept. 19th – 9:00am - Rare and localized flora in Eastern Ontario - Leaders: Paul Catling & Brenda Kostiuk & John Adams & Owen Clarkin

Meet at Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary parking lot at 44.9686, -75.0248 on Morrisons Road south off Hwy 2 at 9:00 AM. We plan to visit two or three other sites as well where we will search for a variety of plants with Appalachian affinity that have not yet been recorded in Ontario or are very localized here.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-SDGcounty

Sun. Sept. 20th – 10am - Fall Moss Meander – Northumberland County

Leader: Jennifer Doubt

Autumn is one of the best times of year for exploring bryophytes! Most of our time on this trip will involve meandering slowly to take in tiny details with hand-held magnifiers. With moss and liverwort communities changing from one rock, log or hummock to the next, everyone will also have lots of chances to share unique finds with others in the group. Definitive identification often requires a microscope, but we’ll do the best we can in the field, and talk about the kinds of measures that boost our chances of finding and documenting bryophytes wherever we may be.

Limit of 10 participants. This field trip will take place near Castleton Ontario, in collaboration with the Northumberland Land Trust. More details for registrants to follow.

Plan to wear sturdy footwear, and dress for the conditions. Bring a lunch and, if you have one, a hand lens. There will be lenses available to borrow as well.

Eventbrite Link: https://tinyurl.com/FBO-MossWalk2026