Grove Rove Review: October 2026

Discovering little creatures with little humans led by Emma Higgins

A thick layer of golden leaves carpeted the entrance to Gillies Grove old-growth forest this Saturday morning. Some of the bright foliage still clung to the soaring tree branches above, and the brilliant sunlight created a warm and inviting glow.

This Grove Rove was specifically designed to inspire and engage young adventurers. Our guide was Emma Higgins, an outdoor educator and program coordinator at the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. She attended school for Outdoor Adventure and Business, starting her career as a wilderness expedition guide. Emma now enjoys leading conservation-based day programs, sharing her passion of stewardship and nature connection with young minds.

At the entrance to the Hemlock Loop trail, each youngster received a bingo card of things to spot in the forest. We learned about two ways that animals prepare for winter: Hibernation and Migration. We searched for signs of burrowing critters along the trail; Emma gently explored under leaves, moving peels of bark and looking under stones. We noticed lots of small insects, and some burrowing holes. The overnight frost had encouraged bugs, worms and salamanders a little deeper. They will go far enough down so that they are below the freezing line. As winter approaches, they will seek refuge further and further under the forest floor.

We also noticed several holes created by squirrels and chipmunks, who boldly hopped between the trees and logs around us. They were on a mission to prepare themselves for winter, too, by storing food in underground caches.

One family approached the group with something cool to show-and-tell: a beech tree leaf with several wooly aphids. It was so densely covered with the fluffy creatures that the leaf resembled a feather.

Then, under the edge of a log which had fallen near the path, an inquisitive youth discovered an eastern red-back salamander. Emma warned us that their skin is extremely delicate and sensitive, so we were careful to get a glimpse at a safe distance, and tucked our amphibious friend back into the moist hummus of the forest floor. Salamanders breathe through their skin, so they live in cool, moist environments. Like frogs, they spend the first part of their life in water and the remaining part on land. Salamanders are quite active this time of year because they migrate back to their hibernation grounds, which are different from their breeding grounds.

As we reconnected to the White Pine Loop and passed Ontario’s tallest trees, the group remarked on the changing water in the forest. Hemlock Loop used to be so wet in the spring that there were bridges over seasonal creeks. And the large lowlands area near Gillies House used to be submerged in water, and is now an unreliable vernal pool. The residential and commercial development around what remains of the forest has greatly altered its hydrology. We hope Gillies Grove will remain a home for amphibians, but that is very uncertain.

As we passed the meadow and re-entered the forest, Emma had one more game for the group. She had previously placed print-outs of some animals that live in Great Lakes-St.-Lawrence forests. The keen eyed naturalists would find 6 in total - the wolf was especially elusive, as they often are in real life.

This Grove Rove was fun, collaborative, and absolutely stunning. It was a powerful reminder that much of a forest’s diversity is invisible because it is underground. We can reflect on how we will prepare ourselves for the cold and snowy months ahead, and appreciate why sometimes humans like to hibernate in the winter, too.

Thank you so much to Emma Higgins for her passion and preparation. Inspiring curiosity and compassion for nature in the next generation is a noble and worthwhile vocation, and we were lucky to learn from her and from the forest.

Thank you to everyone who joined this Grove Rove, and any other from this year. We thank the Nature Conservancy of Canada for their stewardship of Gillies Grove forest. The Grove Roves will resume in spring, 2027.

Together we can find a better way!