Dispatch from Petrie #158, April 2025 With the quickening pace of spring’s arrival I visited Petrie twice in the first  […]

Dispatch from Petrie #157, March 2025 It was a solid cloud sky in the mid-afternoon but I heard the water levels

Went for a walk around the Islands the day before a large snowfall. Being mid-week, I seemed to be the only one there, except for the ice fishermen.

The picnic tables were welcoming; some covered in snow, others swept clear.

It was -15°C with a windchill of -25°C, but if you are dressed for it, it’s not cold. But dressing for it means you miss some photos while fumbling with mitts etc…..

It was a grey, low cloudy day. I wasn’t expecting to see much as things always quieten down in winter.

Coming down Al Tweddle Road, the marsh on the west side was frozen solid with brown bull rushes lining the shoreline.

Dispatch from Petrie #153, November 2024 Busy beavers, and muskrats ! With the unseasonably warm weather  at mid-November it seemed

Dispatch from Petrie Island #152, October 2024 An unusually warm late October morning brought out a good number of trail

Starting last year, a handful of volunteers and scientists began a yearly ritual of collecting turtle eggs on Petrie Island, a conservation area off the shore of Orléans, a suburban neighbourhood in east Ottawa.

The area is home to several at-risk species that might otherwise get gobbled up by predators due in part to increased urbanization.

The turtle guardians lovingly watch over the hatchlings in a lab, finally releasing the tiny vulnerable creatures back onto the island a couple months later. 

The hope — a huge gamble, really — is that some will make it into the one per cent of area turtles that reach adulthood, therefore helping the population thrive.

La tête en l’air, humant toutes ces odeurs nouvelles, la petite tortue ne bouge presque pas. Elle semble apprécier le moment. La rivière des Outaouais devant elle doit lui paraître immense, et pourtant, l’eau l’attire. Elle avance d’un pas, puis s’arrête. Elle hésite encore un peu avant de s’élancer complètement. Elle est de retour à la maison. Une petite tortue qui nage vers un poisson.

We have had a full and rewarding summer with the key word being “turtles”. We were able to secure funding

The sky was overcast, the temperatures had cooled down, and so it seems had the activity at Petrie the morning

We dropped by Petrie in the last week of August. 

Coming down Tweddle Road we spotted an egret, then a second egret and then a great blue heron  in the marsh on the west side of the road

With all the rain and heat in the last few weeks Petrie Islands, along with other areas in Ottawa, are very green and lush. Some trails are growing in. A number of plants seem ahead of themselves compared to other years.

Summer 2024 Dispatch (Le français suite) As summer begins, we want to thank our members. Your support has enabled to

Every year it snows in early June at Petrie. This year was no exception….

Birds, one in particular, beavers, muskrats, turtles, new growth….  It’s spring time at Petrie

It had been a busy month but hearing about the active beavers at Petrie I had to make a point of getting down. I arrived about 90 minutes before sunset and started looking for the beavers. 

Early afternoon, mid-week, and late February combined to present a very quiet visit. One ice fisherman on Muskrat Bay, two walkers and three chickadees who dropped by to say hello once.  The only noise was the quiet rustling of the ice flowing down the river rubbing against the grounded ice.

After the snow and rain of a few days ago I expected the river to be up a bit, but I found the Bill Holland Trail impassable with open, flowing water. I checked the River levels website and discovered it was some three plus feet over the normal summer levels.

I spent two hours in a winter wonderland at Petrie the day after freezing rain and some 4-5″ of snow. The trails and trees were all coated with snow. It would only have been better had it be a clear sunny day.

I didn’t get down to Petrie until the last week of the month, and it was the middle of the day when things are quieter. I noticed right away one sign that winter is coming…. the ice fishing huts were being lined up, and the muskie “lodge” was already in the water.

DISPATCH FROM PETRIE #141, SEPTEMBER, 2023 We visited Petrie Island late in the afternoon mid-month. The light was wonderful for

DISPATCH FROM PETRIE #140 A brief walk on August 24, 2023 produced some flowers, and other things, not seen on August 15th

DISPATCH FROM PETRIE #139 Dropped into Petrie Island this morning (August 15, 2023) for a brief walkabout and then watch

(Le français suit) Summer dispatch – August 2023 Hope everyone is having a good summer. We have been very productive

I started doing “dispatches” from Petrie 22 years ago. The dispatches, a summary of what I saw on visits,  were

(Le français suit l’anglais) This newsletter comes to you to share some of the challenges of our current period of

Al Tweddle was a great man. We became friends about a year after the Kennedy family first moved into Orléans.

Petrie Island once again experienced significant flooding this spring. See a drone video of the island from 5 May 2023.

April 17 2023. Photos taken 10:50. River is at 43.2 meters above sea level. About ten inches of water before

(Le français suit l’anglais) Dispatch #2 – July-August 2022 As the summer comes to an end our students are leaving;

(Le français suit l’anglais) June was unusual this year as the river was so high that most of the trails

Turtle research study at Petrie Island The turtle season is right around the corner and turtles should start basking in

Happy Spring to all our members! As the Island emerges from hibernation, conversations turn to the 2022 season. And it

As we close out summer, it is a great time to reflect on the progress to date and think about

For all of our new members since May, we would like to extend a big thank you for supporting the

Quiet Morning on the Water It has been 3 weeks since last paddling down at Petrie Island, and yesterday there

Canoe Paddle at Petrie Island This morning was my first opportunity to go canoe paddling within the inlets and bays

Thank you for supporting the Friends of Petrie Island. While programming ended last fall after the Turtle Release, our volunteers

By Paul Le Fort The Friends of Petrie Island have submitted comments on the proposed development at Trim Road &

Petrie Island: Then vs Now Article by Atirah Ally, FOPI summer employee 2020 Everyone has been affected by the COVID-19

July is nearing its end and our last summer month, August, is finally here! We have been seeing the attendance

Paddle before the heat of the day…….While putting my canoe atop my car and tying down the last strap at

As the summer goes forward, many new developments have been made. Provincial laws have now allowed groups to maintain a

Our last dispatch of 2019 looks back at what a productive year ithas been.  The big theme is the power

By Teyana Aviles Molina Things are starting to wind down at Petrie Island as summer is coming to an end.

Thank you everyone for another month of support! This month the Friends of Petrie Island staff, along with the help

We would like to thank you for all of your support in 2018! With your help, we were able to

I saw twin bolts of lightning during the first storm, obviously hitting somewhere near Jean D’Arc (North Service). It caught