Lambton County Heritage Forest, Port Franks, ON, Saturday, May 25, 2024 (9:50 AM)
Leader: Pat Deacon
The Lambton County Heritage Forest is an undulating complex of oak and oak-pine forest that makes up the eastern portion of the Port Franks Wetlands and Forested Dunes Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. The site contains 15-20m high dunes, areas of oak savanna and barrens and riparian forest along Mud Creek. We will see a variety of common spring ephemeral wildflowers along with species associated with drier and more open habitat such as Golden Puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense), Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis), and an assortment of interesting grasses and sedges. Both Dwarf Chinquapin Oak (Quercus prinoides) and Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) are found at LCHF and we'll likely see other distinctly Carolinian tree species like Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). Listening to Hooded Warblers, we will hike a portion of the approximately 8km trail system which is mostly flat with some rises along the way. Although there is plenty to see at LCHF, we may venture over to the Karner Blue Sanctuary to see the swaths of Lupine in bloom. There are lots of options for staying locally if you would like to make a weekend of it.