Event Reports

SpruceHaven Visit 2019

by

The annual WRN visit to SpruceHaven was well attended this year. Along with a look at screech owl boxes and beehives, the other activities were:

A talk about the Barn Swallow colony and the ongoing monitoring and research project there.

A visit to the salamander monitoring area, with its numbered boards. (Our WRN Teens group has recently taken on this ongoing monitoring project.)

A visit to the beginnings of a prairie grassland.

Ending up with refreshments provided by the owners – Dave Westfall and Sandy and Jamie Hill.

For a full report and lots more photos see David Gascoigne’s blog at Annual Visit of Waterloo Region Nature to SpruceHaven.

Field Trip to North Shore of Lake Ontario 2019

by

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

Great Backyard Bird Count 2019

by

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
DSC_4422
Mourning Doves (and a Dark-eyed Junco)
Mourning Doves (and a Dark-eyed Junco)
DSC_4423
DSC_4429
Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
DSC_4448

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.

Mill Race St. Jacobs Outing

by
Black-capped Chickadee

The Mill Race St. Jacobs outing on Thursday morning, January 17, 2019 was well attended. The bird life was pretty active and there was much to see. At the other end of the trail there was a cafe for warm-up and refreshments.

For photos and a report of the outing see David Gascoigne’s Travels With Birds blog at: Waterloo Region Nature Outing to The Mill Race, St. Jacobs.

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
DSCN0083
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
DSCN0018

Montgomery Fall Work Day 2018

by

Montgomery Fall Workday Report 2018

Friday, October 19, 2018

Present: Wayne & Lynda Buck, Fraser Gibson, Jim Cappleman, Chris Wright, Sandy Ponic, Wendy Shaw, Pat & Paul Bigelow, Donna & Marco Debruin, Anita Smith, Marg & Graham Macdonald,       Regrets: Genie Berger

A beautiful morning around 8-10 degrees and sunny!

We worked in 3 groups. Jim, Paul & Wayne cleared trail and there were some problem areas one (downed tree) completely blocked the trail just past Post 5. Also more trail blazes are needed from Post 4 to Post 6. At Post 6 renewed blazing is needed to indicate the turn! Blazing not done as temperature too low for paint to adhere.

A second group (Lynda, Donna, Pat) inspected the trail for features, hazards, debris and signs of undesired invasion.

All property signs were in place and in good condition. The natural features at each trail post were present. There was no evidence of intrusion nor any safety hazards observed.. Several safety hazards were corrected in the spring work day eg. post in animal hole at top of the incline from the lower section of the property to the upper level. West of Post 1 fungi covered the trunk of a dead beech! Between Post 2 &3 a large area of debris from spring flooding was observed along with a small wooden chair.

Working through the inspection list.
Working through the inspection list.

Fungus on dead beech tree.
Fungus on dead beech tree.

The third group (Fraser, Chris, Wendy, Sandy, Marco, Anita , Graham) examined the property overall and checked the wood duck boxes. Chris Brought green garbage bags and focused on garbage collection! Not too much as usual and no large debris. Two boundary markers #6 and #8 which have been missing for several years were replaced – thank you Fraser. Some wildlife of note observed giant ragweed, a pileated woodpecker, the scrape of a deer, a red backed salamander (under a log turned over by Fraser) and a woolly bear caterpillar.

There was no contact with hikers or neighbours although adjacent to our property after post 8 a neighbour had cleared a path to the Nith , had a mowed area and set up with a rustic bench (2 split logs) set up to view the Nith. They also had a bird nest box on a close by maple. It was decided this area was not our property.

Deer scrape.
Deer scrape.

Checking a Wood Duck box.
Checking a Wood Duck box.

Giant Hogweed: There was no sign of Giant Hogweed flowers , no plants seen but vegetation is still quite high so small plants could be present.

Wood Duck Boxes: The West Box (Nith) was severely leaning. That was corrected as much as possible but next spring will need to be redug and straightened. In that box we found evidence of wood duck hatching – broken eggshells and no whole eggs as we have found in the past. The West box (inland) showed signs of owl nesting with owl pellets and a rodent foot inside it. The debris found in the shavings was removed and the old shavings returned to the boxes.

Owl Pellets.
Owl Pellets.

DSC_3890

P1090610

P1090615

Reported by Marg Macdonald (chair)

October 21st, 2018

WRN Board 2018-2019

by

At the WRN Annual General Meeting on Monday May 28, the new board for 2018-2019 was presented:

 

 

 

Membership Director – Anne Godlewski

Outings Director – Graham Macdonald

Program Director – Rachael Edwards

Anne Godlewski, Graham Macdonald, Rachael Edwards
Anne Godlewski, Graham Macdonald, Rachael Edwards

Jon Walgate, Paul Bigelow
Jon Walgate, Paul Bigelow

 

 

 

Past-President – Jon Walgate

Treasurer – Paul Bigelow

 

 

President – Josh Shea

Secretary – Erin Bannon

Director at Large – Jason Earle

Josh Shea, Erin Bannon, Jason Earle
Josh Shea, Erin Bannon, Jason Earle

Not Present –

Conservation Director – Anita Smith

Long Term Volunteer Recognition

by
10+ Year Volunteer Pin
10+ Year Volunteer Pin
10+ Year Volunteer Pin

At the WRN meeting on Monday April 23, 2018, people who had volunteered during a span of 10 or more years were recognized and presented with a pin.

10 year pin recipients

10 year pin recipients

Conservation Award 2018

by
Conservation Award Plaque
Conservation Award Presentation
nominator Stephanie Sobek-Swant, recipient David Gascoigne, nominators Graham Macdonald and Marg Lewis-Macdonald, President Jon Walgate

David Gascoigne was presented with a Conservation Award at the WRN meeting on Monday, April 23, 2018.

 

Introductory remarks by Conservation Director Anita Smith:

The Award Criteria for Waterloo Region Nature’s Conservation Award reads as follows: The nominee shall have participated in or instigated or increased public awareness of endeavours that have contributed to the conservation and/or preservation of the natural environment of the Region of Waterloo.

This year’s recipient of the Conservation Award meets those criteria hands down. Not only has he initiated programs that increase public awareness and conservation efforts locally, his work is recognized well beyond Canada’s borders. His efforts have been broadcast on the front page of The Record, as well as CTV news and the CBC.

Our award winner has served as president of Waterloo Region Nature. He is a volunteer at RARE, gives talks, leads walks and is an avid birder. He has initiated a barn swallow monitoring program that compares colonies in two local barns, carefully recording every detail; eggs are counted, birds are banded and some even have trackers so their migration to the south can be monitored. Bird Studies Canada was asked to rate this barn swallow monitoring program and on a scale from 1 to 10 they gave him a 12! Our winner has engaged a community of volunteers and students to join him in the work and now salamanders and butterflies are being monitored in the area as well.

As an avid birder he is known around the world. Recently the world’s gull expert, Klaus Malling Olsen, contacted our award winner asking for photos to include in his latest book; A book which, by the way, Princeton University Press has asked our winner to review!

This year’s Conservation Award recipient is genuine, engaging and inspiring. Graduate students request to work with him over the paid TAs assigned to courses. Even the youngest children he works with, such as in a class in St. Jacobs, find his enthusiasm contagious. A six-year-old girl in that classroom recently asked for his phone number, so she could give him a call the next time she spotted an interesting bird.

Please join me in congratulating this year’s Conservation Award recipient, David Gascoigne.

 

Conservation Award Plaque

David Gascoigne with Award
David Gascoigne and nominator Graham Macdonald

Lake Erie North Shore Field Trip 2018

by
Snowy Owl

Photos taken by Thelma Beaubien on the field trip to the Aylmer Wildlife Refuge and the north shore of Lake Erie on Saturday March 17th, led by Jim Burrell:

Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird

Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose

Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker

Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Duck

Snow Goose
Snow Goose

Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

Tundra Swan
Tundra Swan

Field Trip to North Shore of Lake Ontario 2018

by
Wood Duck
DSCN0676

On Saturday March 10, 2018, David Gascoigne led a group of 20 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

Trumpeter Swans
Trumpeter Swans

Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser

Wood Duck
Wood Duck

Bufflehead
Bufflehead

Great Backyard Bird Count 2018

by
American Goldfinch

The 6th annual WRN Great Backyard Bird Count outing was held on Saturday February 17, 2018. It was well attended with about 20 people at each of the stops and a core group that made it to all 3 locations. Each host made sure that we were well supplied with coffee and snacks while viewing the birds.

At the Cappleman property we watched a variety of birds coming to the feeders with plenty of window space and lots of  activity.

Hairy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker

Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco

American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

American Tree Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow

At the rare Eco Centre we went behind the building to watch activity at the feeders and in the nearby trees. A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers showed up, with observers commenting on how rare that would have been a few years ago.

rare Eco Centre Feeders
rare Eco Centre Feeders

Red-bellied Woodpecker
This Red-bellied Woodpecker was a bit shy.

At Lakeside Park, Mary Ann Vanden Elzen led a short walk while describing the park’s history and some of the recent projects that the city and local residents have undertaken there. Unfortunately the birds were smarter than we were, and didn’t bother to show up.

Turtle Beach at Lakeside Park
Turtle Beach at Lakeside Park (somewhere under all that snow)

Lakeside Park
Lakeside Park

After the walk in Lakeside Park, we descended on the Holvey house for pizza and cookies, where the main birding question was how many constantly moving House Sparrows were hiding out in their backyard hedges.

 

For a full report on the day and lots more photos, see David Gascoigne’s blog: Great Backyard Bird Count 2018.

SpruceHaven Outing

by
Cape May Warbler

WRN visited SpruceHaven Farm just north of St. Agatha on Saturday September 16, 2017 on an outing led by David Gascoigne.

We started out watching a number of birds being banded at a picnic table just outside the barn.

SpruceHaven Bird Banding

 

Next up was a talk about the Barn Swallow monitoring program inside the barn with its dozens of numbered mud nests. The Barn Swallows had already left for the winter.

Barn Swallow Talk

We then toured the various habitats on the property, and heard about the Motus bird tracking tower located there, and the salamander monitoring project.

SpruceHaven Woods

We finished up with refreshments at the house of the property owners – David Westfall and Sandy and Jamie Hill.

For a full report on this outing by David Gascoigne with photos by Miriam Bauman see https://travelswithbirds.blogspot.ca/2017/09/bird-banding-and-visit-by-waterloo.html.