[A special field report from Josh Van Weiren, Park Ecologist / Ecosystem Scientist, Thousand Islands National Park]

Thanks again to all that attended this years 1000 Islands Christmas Bird Count!

We had a great turnout (~20 active participants and 3 feeder watchers) and found some interesting species in this unusually warm year. Thanks to those that helped cover additional ground this year with long hikes through 1000 Islands National Park properties on Hill Island and Landon Bay!  I've attached an excel sheet with our observations (broken into sample units if you're interested), otherwise a quick summary of our results is found below:

• 59 total species (avg=56.  highest count since 2010)
• 5501 total birds (avg=6774.  Low duck numbers dragged the total down this year)

Highs:

• Mute Swan (26 - Highest count on record)
• Trumpeter Swan (66 - Highest count on record)
• Common Raven (38 - Highest count on record (by 8))
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (7 - 2nd highest count on record) -- pictured above
• Pileated Woodpecker (20 - 2nd highest count on record)
• Winter Wren (2nd record ever) -- pictured above
• Ruby-crowned kinglet (4th record ever) -- pictured above

Lows:

• Red-breasted Nuthatch (1 - Lowest count on record)
• Snow Bunting (0 - First time they were not observed during this count)
• American Tree Sparrow (34 - 3rd lowest count on record)
• Bufflehead (2)
• Common Goldeneye (51, average 417.  Of note, this was the 4th consecutive year this species was well below the average for this count)
• Common Merganser (57, average 1190)

To learn more about the Christmas Bird Count (CBC):

• In Ontario, visit Bird Studies Canada's CBC website
  
• In New York, visit Audubon's CBC website

The Ontario Invasive Plant Council (with funding from the Invasive Species Centre) is hosting another lunch-time webinar series! This eight-session webinar series will include a wide range of presentations, including species-specific webinars on managing some of Ontario's top priority invasive plants, a Grow Me Instead webinar, which will highlight common garden invaders and their alternatives, and a Clean Equipment Protocol webinar, for those who want to learn how to prevent the spread of invasive plants. It will also include two presentations from experts directly involved in invasive Phragmites management and the innovative approaches they have taken to deal with this aggressive invasive plant.

The series will begin on Wednesday January 6th at 12 noon. Each webinar will be an hour long. The webinars will also include an open discussion forum where participants can ask questions of our expert panelists. See below for a brief description of our first webinar and how to register!

Webinar #1 - Wednesday January 6th @ 12 noon
Building Partnerships to Deal with Invasive Phragmites: A Grass Roots Perspective
Presented by: Bill MacDonald and Nancy Vidler, Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group
Facilitated by: Kellie Sherman, OIPC Coordinator

In this webinar, learn how the municipality of Lambton Shores is winning the battle against invasive  Phragmites through community involvement. This presentation will be conducted by members of the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group, a grassroots organization formed when invasive  Phragmites was discovered in their community. They will describe how they tackled this huge ecosystem issue in their ecologically-sensitive area. 

Come prepared with questions for our expert presenters, Bill MacDonald and Nancy Vidler. Bill is a retired business executive who is president of a residential beach community organization in Lambton Shores. Bill first became aware of invasive  Phragmites in 2009 when it began infesting the beach near his cottage. When he discovered there was no governmental body that had a plan to manage invasive  Phragmites in the community, he joined with other like-minded citizens to form Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group. Nancy retired from Community and Social Services with the Regional Municipality of Halton to live in Port Franks, Lambton Shores and has become the driving force behind invasive  Phragmites management and habitat restoration in this lakeside community. She is a member of the Ontario Phragmites Working Group and is Chair of the Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group. 

Register here.

Other upcoming webinars: 

Webinar #2 - Wednesday January 20th @ 12 noon
Invasive Phragmites Management in Municipal Drains in the Town of Kingsville
Presented by: Ken Vegh, Town of Kingsville 
Facilitated by: Kellie Sherman, OIPC Coordinator 

Webinar #3 - Wednesday February 3rd @ 12 noon
Invasive Phragmites: Best Management Practices
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison
Expert panelist: Janice Gilbert, co-chair of the Ontario Phragmites Working Group

Webinar #4 - Wednesday February 17th @12 noon
Clean Equipment Protocol: Inspecting and Cleaning Equipment for the Purposes of Invasive Species Prevention 
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison
Expert panelist: Joe Halloran, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry 

Webinar #5 - Wednesday March 2nd @12 noon
Grow Me Instead: Beautiful Non-Invasive Plants for your Gardens
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison
Expert panelist: Sean James, Fern Ridge Landscaping 

Webinar #6 - Wednesday March 16th @ 12 noon
Wild Parsnip: Best Management Practices
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison
Expert panelist:  Nancy Cain, Cain Vegetation Management and Tom Beaubiah, Biologist with Cataraqui Region Conservation 

Webinar #7 - Wednesday March 30th @12 noon
Aquatic Invasive Plant Watch List for Ontario 
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison 

Webinar #8 - Wednesday April 13 @ 12 noon
Japanese Knotweed: Best Management Practices 
Presented by: Amanda Warne, OIPC Outreach Liaison
Expert panelist: Freyja Whitten, Credit Valley Conservation 

Registration coming soon!

The Christmas Bird Count is right around the corner!
From Dec 14–Jan 5, thousands of daylong, volunteer-run bird surveys will be held locally by naturalist groups. They are free and open to everyone – regardless of age or skill level. This year will mark the 116th year running in North America, making it the largest and longest running citizen science project in modern times.

Find the count nearest you here:

• NY: http://www.audubon.org/content/join-christmas-bird-count
• Ontario: http://www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/cbc

"The Christmas Bird Count is North America’s longest-running citizen science project and a crucial part of Canada’s biodiversity monitoring database. [...]
Last year 4,100 people participated in 114 bird counts across Ontario. They recorded an astonishing 178 species and 1,394,498 individual birds. Here are some highlights:

• Cape Crocker count participants recorded 1,417 individuals, nearly double the number recorded the previous year.
• A record number of mute swans (18) and golden eagles (3) were spotted in Owen Sound.
• Three new species were added to the St. Catharines count: cackling goose, trumpeter swan and Harris’s sparrow.
• Participants recorded 74 species at Prince Edward Point, a 15% increase over the previous year.
• 347 snowy owls were recorded across the province, with the highest number (48) occurring in Kingston.
• Rare sightings included a white-eyed vireo in Toronto, a western tanager in Kingston and a Eurasian tree sparrow in Niagara Falls.
• Long Point boasted the highest species total at 107.
• There were three new counts in Ontario last year: Gananoque, Kapuskasing, Moonbeam and Orono."

From: The Northumberland View

When: November 26, 2015
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
Registration: Free

This webinar will update you on the highlights of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s newest Annual Report. Each year, the Commissioner’s Annual Report examines how ministries are meeting their stewardship responsibilities for Ontario’s water, air, plants, animals and other natural resources. Ellen Schwartzel is the Acting Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, the province’s independent environmental watchdog. Join us for this one-hour webinar including Q and A.

About Ellen Schwartzel:
Ellen Schwartzel’s career in environmental policy has spanned more than 25 years, beginning with advocacy work for environmental organizations and research support for Ontario’s Environment Minister. Since 1995, Ellen has focused on environmental policy through the lens of the Environmental Bill of Rights, serving the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario in several capacities. She is currently the Acting Environmental Commissioner. Ellen received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Botany from the University of Toronto. 

---REGISTER HERE---

Friday Nov. 20, 2015 from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
New Location! Batawa Community Centre at 81 Plant St., Batawa (north of Trenton)
Admission: $30 includes lunch
 
Download brochure or visit www.hastingsstewardship.ca to register by November 14.
For more info, contact Hastings Stewardship at 613 391 9034 or [email protected]
 
Conference Highlights:
Field Trips on site at Batawa ski hill: Geology & Biology ∙ Forest Bathing ∙ Forest Management
 
Michael Runtz –The Secret Life of a Forest
Not all of what goes on in a forest is visible to the eye.  Join Michael Runtz for a highly visual tour of the myriad living things and their interactions in our woodlands. Discover surprising and hidden aspects of this remarkable habitat.
 
Michael Runtz is one of Canada’s most highly respected naturalists, nature photographers, and natural history authors. More than 40,000 students have enjoyed his Natural History course, televised from Carleton University.
 
Mark Stabb – Ontario’s Biodiversity: Is Nature on the Run? – The Ontario Biodiversity Strategy and related Conservation and Community Actions
Acre by acre (OK, hectares), private landowners contribute directly to nature conservation through short-term actions and long-term plans. Mark’s presentation will demonstrate how these efforts fit into the big picture of global biodiversity conservation, in the context of woodlots and rural lands. Mark will illustrate the state of biodiversity in the region, with a focus on forests.
 
Mark Stabb is the Central Ontario program director with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), and he oversees numerous conservation projects. Previously, Mark worked as a biologist and park planner for the Ontario government, a teacher at Algonquin College, and a Wetlands program manager.
 
Rob Johnson – Green Legacy Programme
Rob Johnson is currently the manager of the Green Legacy Tree Nursery, a community based nursery that grows trees to improve the forest cover of the County of Wellington.
 
Rob will give an overview of the Green Legacy Programme - the largest municipal tree planting program in North America – providing over 160,000 trees a year. Rob will explain many ways to utilize trees on the farm, principles of permaculture, intercropping, silvo pasturing, and commercial varieties of fruit and nut trees.
 
Eleanor Thomson – Botany in your Woodlot
Eleanor is with E. R. Thomson Botanical Surveys and Ontario Field Botanists

Listen to Sarah Walsh, Director of Land Conservation for A2A partner, the Thousand Islands Land Trust (TILT), on North Country Public Radio, discussing the importance of conservation in the A2A region and connectivity along the Frontenac Arch as she walks along the new TILT trail through the Otter Creek Preserve.

Listen here.
​

Join in October 23, 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., for a fun all-hands-on-deck chemical free invasive plant removal day! Help Ontario Nature staff and community volunteers pull invasive garlic mustard, preventing the weed from taking hold in the beautiful Lost Bay Nature Reserve. Meet Ontario Nature staff for environmental education activities and a nature walk in the morning, then join in the pull with guidance from the conservation staff. We will take precautions to prevent the spread of seeds during the pull.

Schedule:

• 10:30am-11:30am Lost Bay Nature Reserve hike
• 11:30am-12:00 bring your own bag lunch
• 12:00-3:00pm Volunteer garlic mustard pull

The event is free to the public and will take place rain or shine. Children age 10 and older are welcome.
Please bring warm layers that can get dirty, rain gear, garden gloves, a bag lunch and a water bottle. Snacks and refill water will be provided. RSVP to Dana at [email protected] or just show up at 10:30. If required, Dana’s phone number, for the day of, is 647-471-2589.

Directions and Location: To Lost Bay Lane from Kingston: Come east on the 401 to  Gananoque.  Take the 2nd exit onto Hwy 2, turning left (east) at the stop light at the bottom of the ramp.  Continue past the tiny village of Wilstead (about 5 km.) and a bit later turn left on the Kyes Rd.  (just past a green house on the left with a large weeping willow tree.)  Go north over the railroad tracks, and past the first 4 way intersection until the road takes a sharp turn to the right.   Just after that you will turn left on the Russell Road (north). Stay on it past the first 4 way intersection at Sand Bay Corners, where the road’s name changes to Black Rapids Road. Once  on Black Rapids the first possible turn to the left is Lost Bay Lane. There is Y in the road just before the place where the Garlic Mustard patch is. Keep left. You’ll spot some raspberry canes on the left and then a garden on the north and south sides of the road. Park your cars just beyond them on the side of the road.

The Friends of the Salmon River invite you, your family, friends, colleagues and fans to participate at our Presentation and Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at the Arden Community Centre at 5998 Arden Road (County Rd. 15). See map here. Doors open at 6:30 pm for viewing of displays and the presentation will start at 7 pm. Please plan to arrive early if renewing or purchasing your membership.

Before the AGM, Friends of the Salmon River is proud to present an evening on Puzzle Lake Provincial Park, which is in northern Stone Mills Township. Please see the poster below for more about this worthwhile evening of opportunity and learning. See link to event location map below.

It would be appreciated if you would bring a display for viewing by our members and visitors and brochures that highlight your organization and the work that it is doing for the environment in our neighbouring area.
We are expecting 40 – 50 members and guests as well as colleagues from local government offices and associations. Coffee and tea will be available from 6:30 pm.

We look forward to an evening of sharing with a focus on the environment in Eastern Ontario, particularly the Salmon River watershed.  All are welcome. 

Contact us at 613-379-5958 or [email protected] for further information.