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WRN Kids – Tree Planting

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On Sunday April 28, 2019, WRN Kids families planted trees at Laurel Creek Nature Centre. The trees (donated by WRN) were planted in a section of the forest which borders “the hole in the donut”. Loss of ash trees to borers had thinned out this part of the forest, and if the ill-advised proposed development goes ahead, this forest will see increased stress.

For lots more photos and a report on the event, visit the WRN Kids blog at: April 28, 2019 – Tree Planting

WRN Kids & Teens – SpruceHaven

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SpruceHaven Barn

On Saturday May 4, 2019, WRN Kids and WRN Teens were invited to SpruceHaven Farm to watch the bird-banding and see the Barn Swallow project with David Gascoigne. The Kids families then went with botanist Jenn McPhee to learn about wildflowers.

Dutchman's Breeches
Red Trillium

… and the Kids found salamanders!

Eastern Red-backed Salamander

WRN Teens went with Sandy Hill, one of the owners of the farm, to plant trees and then they picked up garbage beside the highway.

For a full report on the bird-banding with lots of photos, see David Gascoigne’s blog at: Bird Banding and Annual Visit of Waterloo Region Nature Kids and Teens to SpruceHaven

Great Canadian Birdathon Sponsorship 2019

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GCB Logo

Support Team WhimBurrell in the
2019 Great Canadian Birdathon

WhimBurrell Team
Our team from 2017

This will be our 22nd birdathon for Bird Studies Canada and Waterloo Region Nature. Over the course we have raised in excess of $35,000 to support bird conservation and bird related studies across Canada. We appreciate your past support and look forward to your continued support this year.

If you pledge support to this endeavor, all of the money raised will go to bird conservation in Canada; a portion goes to Bird Studies Canada and the rest to Waterloo Region Nature. Donate online at our Birdathon donation page or contact Jim Burrell directly at burrellsc@golden.net .

 

WRN Teens – Ecology Lab at UofW

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WRN Teens at UW

Tuesday March 12, 2019

WRN Teens’s outing to the Ecology Lab at UW was a success. The members and guests of WRN Teens received a tour of the UW Environment buildings and learned some environmentally-focused possibilities for our futures along the way.
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We looked at tooth and beak adaptations and used the information we learned to practise identifying the lab’s collections of skulls and stuffed birds, then relocated to Tim Hortons to discuss some options for future WRN activities.

Thanks to the UW Ecology Lab and to the students and workers who hosted us!
Megan

We went to the Ecology Lab to learn about the day’s activities.

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We took water samples from two places in the nearby Laurel Creek (before and after the reservoir) and snow samples from two different locations on-campus (an empty field and a salted stairway) before analysing them to find the differences in quality.
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Some criteria involved: turbidity (murkiness), conductivity (to measure ions like salt in the water) and pH. Surprising fact: the snow from the salted surface had the most salt. We discussed what our findings meant in practice, including the effects of the reservoir on the water quality of the creek.

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P.S.  THANKS to Megan Sloka, one of our awesome Teens and a grade 10 student, who was our reporter this time.  Thanks also to Bev Raimbault, coordinator of the Ecology Lab who organized our visit; to Marco, coop student who led our tour of the faculty; to Michelle Yu and Sarah Cui, lab assistants who led our experiment and data review; to Linda Dutka, WRN Teens volunteer; and to the Teens parents who provided transportation.  And finally, a shout-out to “Dean Jean” Andrey, dean of the faculty whom we met in the hall!  UW Environment Faculty looks like a fun place to be!
Marg Paré, WRN Teens coordinator

Field Trip to North Shore of Lake Ontario 2019

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On Saturday March 9, 2018, David Gascoigne led a group of 16 people on the WRN annual field trip to the north shore of Lake Ontario. As usual, David has provided a full report on his blog with lots of photos taken by Miriam Bauman, so here are just a few of those photos and a link to that report:

Waterloo Region Nature Annual Field Trip to North Shore of Lake Ontario 2019

Hooded Merganser
Hooded Merganser
Trumpeter Swan display
Trumpeter Swan display
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Common Goldeneyes
Common Goldeneyes
Bronte Harbour
Bronte Harbour

Larry Lamb honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

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Larry Lamb Award
Larry Lamb Award
Larry Lamb with Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Ontario Heritage Trust Chair, Harvey McCue. Photo Credit: The Ontario Heritage Trust

Waterloo Region Nature honorary life member Larry Lamb was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony at Toronto’s Queen’s Park on February 22, 2019.

From the Region of Waterloo media release:

Renowned botanist Larry Lamb honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Waterloo Region – Local botany and ecosystem restoration expert Lawrence (Larry) Lamb was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in a ceremony at Toronto’s Queen’s Park on February 22, 2019.

Larry Lamb, a well-known advocate for naturalizing gardens and landscapes, has been an active life-long supporter of natural heritage conservation within Waterloo Region, the province and beyond.

“Larry Lamb is one of those volunteers whose passion for his field of expertise is contagious. He is able to affect the people around him, especially the next generation of conservationists. Without people like Larry, the work to recognize and protect our local ecosystems would have been a lot more difficult to undertake,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman. “Regional Council and staff recognized the important role Larry has played by nominating him for this award, and we are pleased the Ontario Heritage Trust has recognized his contributions.”

Throughout his over forty-year career at the University of Waterloo, and into his retirement, Lamb has generously shared his expertise and connections, influencing the way natural heritage features have been identified, valued and protected.

Locally, Lamb drew on his extensive knowledge of the region’s flora and fauna, and natural areas to help identify what would be designated Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas (ESPAs) by the Region of Waterloo. These were the first municipally-designated natural areas in the country, and continue to be conserved through the Region’s Official Plan.

Lamb has undertaken many significant naturalization and restoration projects. He has advised on many conservation plans and publications. He is meticulous in documenting and collecting; and has donated his records and collections to public institutions so that they are available for future generations.

New Book – Best Places to Bird in Ontario

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Best Places to Bird Ontario

Ken and Mike Burrell (who are well known to many WRN members) will have a new book out this spring (anticipated for late April), titled, Best Places to Bird in Ontario. The book covers the top 30 birding destinations in the province, with each covered in a chapter, having an in-depth overview to the region from a birding perspective, and a site guide with directions, colour maps, and photographs.

Until March 31st they are offering a pre-order rate of $20/copy ($5 off regular pricing). Book orders can be picked up from Ken at WRN meetings.

For more information about the book:
https://greystonebooks.com/products/best-places-to-bird-in-ontario

For ordering information:
http://burrellbirding.ca/best-places-to-bird-in-ontario/

 

Best Places to Bird Ontario

WRN Teens – Chickadee Banding

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Chickadee Banding at Wrigley Corners Outdoor Ed Centre with Levi Moore
Feb 23 2019
WRN Teens were down south of Cambridge again, this time to visit Wrigley Corners Outdoor Ed Centre. We met Levi Moore, the outdoor educator who teaches there, working mostly with high school students. He is a certified bird bander and does on-going studies of Black-capped Chickadees.
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To demonstrate how it works, Levi has a mist net (for catching the birds to be banded) set up inside.  He used a stuffed Northern Cardinal to demonstrate how birds get caught and how he removes them from the net.
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It was a bit windy but seemed like a fine day to band Black-capped Chickadees. However, we saw only a couple briefly and there were none at the feeders and, more importantly, none at all got caught in the mist nets. So, no bird banding for us!

Instead, we wrapped up our visit by examining and trying to identify Levi’s impressive skull collection.

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Just checking out the amazing nature stuff in Levi’s classroom kept us occupied for a while! Then Levi did a really inspiring presentation. First he explained how he ended up in outdoor and environmental education then he showed us a super informative slide show about bird banding. We got to handle all the tools necessary for the job.

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We hope to get back to Wrigley Corners sometime and maybe the chickadees will be more cooperative!

Thanks as usual to the Teens who were able to make it out, to their fearless parents for driving, to Linda who helped out and took photos, to Paul and Cathi who put our reports on-line, and of course, to Levi for spending part of his weekend sharing his knowledge and love of nature with us!

ON Government Proposing Changes to Endangered Species Act – Act Now!

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Snapping Turtle
Snapping Turtle

As many of you heard at the February Membership meeting, the Ontario Government is proposing changes to the Endangered Species Act. These changes will impact species at risk while supporting easier development. This is not the proper way forward.  We need your voice to speak out against proposed changes. You can write a letter or use the Ontario Nature template to sign onto their campaign.

Here is the link to Ontario Nature Campaign – https://ontarionature.org/programs/endangered-species/

Please consider signing on today!

Thank you for your awareness and voice on this matter.

WRN Kids – Predator-Prey Simulation Game

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On Saturday February 23, 2019, WRN Kids learned about the different levels of the food web by acting the roles of herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, disease and human.

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They had to collect food and water while avoiding predators and seeking out prey to tag.

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For more photos and a full explanation of how to play the predator-prey game see the report by one of the participants on the WRN Kids blog at: February 23, 2019 – Predator-Prey Simulation Game.

WRN Teens – Owl Prowl

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Screech Owl surprised when cleaning out Wood Duck box.

We arrived at Huron natural area just as it became dark. We then spent about half an hour learning about the different kinds of owls that can be found in Ontario and more specifically the KW area. We learned about their shapes and sizes and some of their behavioural habits as well as listened to some of their calls. We then began our hike in the forest. We would walk for a couple of minutes, then stop and play either the call of the Eastern Screech Owl, or the Great Horned Owl. We would listen for a response and then continue walking. About halfway through the evening during one of our stops something small and grey flew over our heads. We turned on a light and scanned the trees around us until we spotted an eastern screech owl perched on a branch close to the group. We admired it for a few minutes until it grew bored of us and flew away.

Linden Imeson Jorna

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Photo ops were scarce in the dark — in spite of it being a beautiful moonlit evening, so here’s a daylight photo of another screech owl.

 

Thanks to Josh Shea, WRN president, WRN Teens planning committee member, and City of Kitchener Natural Areas Coordinator who led WRN Teens — and their specially invited parents! — for this activity in Huron Natural Area.

Screech Owl

Great Backyard Bird Count 2019

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On Saturday February 16, 2019, WRN birders went on a 3 stop outing where we watched birds comfortably from inside while our generous hosts plied us with food and drink. Thanks go to Irene Simpson and Jim Cappleman for starting us out on the Baden sandhills, Dave Westfall and Jaimie and Sandy Hill for hosting us at SpruceHaven Farm in St. Agatha, and Brenda and Alan Holvey for a pizza lunch at their home on Lakeside Park.

White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Cooper's Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
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Mourning Doves (and a Dark-eyed Junco)
Mourning Doves (and a Dark-eyed Junco)
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Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
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For a full description of the outing with lots more photos see David Gascoigne’s Travels With Birds blog at: Great Backyard Bird Count 2019 and for yet more photos see the WRN Facebook page.

WRN Teens – Tracking at Bechtel Park

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Saturday, January 26, 2019

WRN Teens has turned out to be a combination of work-projects, learning opportunities, and enjoying nature. We were really fortunate that for our January activity, Anita Smith (WRN Teens planning committee member and WRN conservation director) gave us a workshop on tracking. Anita describes herself as a tracking apprentice and we were impressed by her dedication to her apprenticeship and the depth of her knowledge.

We met at Anita’s house for an overview of tracking, what can be observed and the many ways we can get information. We had a look at her amazing skull collection.

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Big thanks to Anita for sharing her passion with us! We learned lots and will all want to work on our tracking skills in the future.

Then, we headed outside through Anita’s backyard and into Bechtel Park where she spends lots of time — along with lots of creatures! We saw branches chewed by deer, lots of small mammal tunnels, opossum tracks, fresh coyote tracks, and we did our best at identifying many others. We also found several raptor pellets. We checked out various holes and looked for evidence of recent activity. We learned that Anita sometimes catches nighttime photos of animals with a trail camera.

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