This Edition:
Pied Leucism

Arboretum Survey Draw Winner

Make a Donation

Talks: Well Grounded and Heritage Trees

Group Tours

Workshops

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What to See Currently at The Arboretum

American Robin with pied leucism - What a gorgeous shot! You can see the dark patches in the wings and some of the rusty red in the breast feathers. Photo by Karl Egressy.

For comparison, here is a "normal" American Robin. Common, but still beautiful, too!!! Photo by Karl Egressy.

It may look different, but it certainly likes the juniper berries as much as the other robins! Photo by Karl Egressy.

Karl and Marienna found the robin in the snow near the Arboretum Centre on January 17. Photo by Karl Egressy.

The white American Robin really stands out, even at a distance. Photo by Chris Earley. For a larger photo please see our January Sightings page on our website.

Pied Leucism

While everything in nature is special to us here in The Arboretum, every once in a while you see something that definitely stands out. On January 20, a large flock of American Robins turned up in the Gosling Wildlife Gardens. There were at least 50 of them and they were attracted to the juniper berries in Garden 1. On January 11, Alan Watson and I (Chris Earley) had a glimpse of a white robin near the Arboretum Centre, so I looked through the flock and instantly found the white one perched in a distant tree. It really stood out! Then Karl and Marienna Egressy showed up and while we were talking the white robin flew down to the junipers in front of us and started feeding. What a pretty bird! This condition is called pied leucism (once called partial albinism) and is caused by pigments not being distributed evenly over the animal. Robins are one of the most common birds to have leucism and albinism (no melanin pigments). This individual shows some of the robin's normal colouration but is mostly white. So, keep an eye out for this one when you next see a flock of robins. It has also been seen by local birders near the Ontario Veterinary College (found by Ellen Jakubowski in December).

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Arboretum Survey Draw Winner

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey.  The information obtained will help us to serve you better. 

The winner of the draw for a free workshop was Anne Purkis of Guelph.

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Make a Donation

Be a part of the The BetterPlanet Project by donating on-line:
Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph The BetterPlanet Project site! Follow these easy steps:
o       Follow this link http://www.thebetterplanetproject.ca/bpp_donate_2.html
o       Choose your type of gift “-One-time gift-“, -“Sustaining gift”- or “-Tribute Giving-“
o       On the drop down menu “-Choose an Area-” select “University Wide”
o       On the drop down menu “-Choose a Program-“ select “Arboretum” and fill in the amount of your donation
o       Click Calculate
o       Fill in your personal information

It’s that easy!
If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax or in person:
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH
Attention Alumni Affairs
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934
Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934
Fax: 519-822-2670
Email: alumni@uoguelph.ca
If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:
Ross Butler
Director, Gift Planning
at (519) 824-4120 ext.56196 or by e-mail at rbutler@uoguelph.ca.

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Talks: Well Grounded and Heritage Trees

The Arboretum, in collaboration with GUFF, OPIRG and Healthy Landscapes, City of Guelph is pleased to host the following two events.

1.  Join us at 7:00 pm, Wednesday February 23 to hear Brenlee Robinson speak about being Well Grounded: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Close to Nature. Can being close to Nature reduce our stress levels and improve our health and personal lives?
2. Four (4) weeks later March 23rd Edith George will speak on Heritage Trees: Preserving Our Natural Roots. 
   
   For a poster with more information please click here.

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Group Tours

The Arboretum’s grounds are the perfect setting for group tours.  Our knowledgeable docents (trained volunteer guides) give pre-arranged 1 ½ hour tours of the Arboretum’s grounds, gardens, collections and other points of interest.  The tours can be focused on the areas that are seasonally appropriate and / or that are of interest to you and your group.  Tours should be booked a minimum of 2 weeks in advance.  The cost is $4 per person, with a minimum charge of $50.  Tours provide an excellent break for a meeting group.  For further information on tours or to make a reservation please contact Barb Watson – Ash at 519-824-4120 ext. 54110.

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Workshops

Below is a list of upcoming workshops at The Arboretum.  A detailed description of each course is available on our website.  Help us promote our programs … please forward this e-mail on to your friends and colleagues who may be interested.  The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

For further information and / or to register please call Bev Healy at 519-824-4120 ext. 52358.

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Problems Reading This Newsletter

We have had some comments that this newsletter doesn’t always come through in the format in which we sent it ie. sometimes the font changes throughout the newsletter.  We apologize if this has happened to you.  If you have had this problem or other problems with the newsletter then please see the very first paragraph which is above the header of the newsletter.  Within this paragraph there is both a link to an on-line version of the newsletter and the website address that you can cut and paste into your browser to take you to the on-line version.  The on-line version should be more standard and shouldn’t vary much from browser to browser.

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The ARBORETUM
Ontario Agricultural College
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON
N1G 2W1
Phone: 519-824-4120 ext. 52113
Fax: 519-763-9598
e-mail: arbor@uoguelph.ca
www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum