August went quickly. It was a month of day camps in the bog. What a superb team we had running them. I couldn't believe how amazing the counsellors were and the volunteers were fantastic too! The camps covered a number of different themes, but the children had fun and they learnt so much about the bog, and just enjoyed being in there.But the summer also held some disappointments. Several times we had to pull benches out of the bog, it seems that there are people who just don't respect other people or the bog itself. This is such a shame. The trails are quite long and many people, young and old, need to rest before carrying on. And it's not that easy to pull a bench out of peat.
Another disappointment was when one of the day camp counsellors' bike was stolen. This seemed so targeted. The criminal had used a city garbage can to climb over the fence into the locked enclosure. He or she had taken one of three bikes and had left most of the counsellor's belongings in a pile.
But despite this, the bog itself never failed to thrill. In a little 'appendix' of Davies Creek, frogs would sit and sun themselves, waiting for bugs to fly close enough to catch. I once saw a Red-sided Garter Snake swimming around and around in this little spot, most likely looking for fattened-up frogs to devour.
Beavers had built a dam across the creek, and it remained there, changing slightly as sticks were added or floated away. The water level went up, but mostly down as August progressed with very little rain.
Birds became quieter as their chicks were fledged and the breeding cycle took a breather.
Sundew appeared along the boardwalk - I was pleased to see this, I feared it may have been trampled out of existence.
And the sphagnum slowly became drier.
And Wally's team of volunteers quietly kept on repairing the boardwalk so that everything that we take for granted in the bog can carry on as usual.