conserving our natural heritage through
education and involvement
October KWFN Meeting Oct 27, 2008, 7:30 p. m.
Programme
– “TALKING TURKEY – WILD TURKEYS”
Andy McKee is a fish and wildlife biologist with the MNR working
in the Owen Sound
area.He will be talking about how the
wild turkeys in this area were wiped out, and the process involved in learning
how to capture and relocate the birds successfully.He will share information on the areas where
the birds were released in Ontario
and share information re. the current numbers of wild turkeys.
Submitted by Karol
Grainger
Special
Announcement
Canadian Chestnut Council
Please
join us on October 18th, 2008 as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the CCC!
This is just a reminder that the Annual
General Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 18th at Tim Horton
Onondaga Farms, near St. George,
ON. All CCC members, friends,
family members and anyone else interested in chestnut recovery are invited to
attend. The day will begin at 10:00am and should adjourn by 4:00pm. Interesting
speakers, fun activities for the whole family, crafts for the kids,
bucket-draws, a wagon-tour of the breeding nursery and a complimentary lunch
will be included in the day.
My Birding Place - Record your field trips and
sightings for free! Because My Birding Place is a community you
can view and compare sightings with other users. Browse Sightings or
photographs by Location or Species. Use the Member locator to Find other
birders in your area and track your sightings together.Features include:
Sightings
and Checklists
From Backyard Birding to Scientific
Study My Birding Place makes it easy to share and organize sightings, field
trips and checklists.
Galleries
and Photos
Showcase your birding and species
photos with our easy to use gallery maintenance tools or, use the advanced
searching tools to browse and comment on images throughout the community.
Articles,
Journals, and Wiki Field Guide
Together with other members
participate in the MBP Wiki Field Guide Project. Contribute to the knowledge
base of articles and journals or take part in birding related discussions in
the forums.
Friends,
Neighbors, and Groups
Share Field trips and sightings
details with your network of friends. Clubs and organizations can create a
group profile where members data is combined. Group profiles are a great way
to keep members informed of meetings and scheduled events.
Special
Announcement
To
My Friends,
I
need your help to prevent Bush from fatally crippling the USA's most
successful wildlife law.
Early
this week, Dirk Kempthorne, secretary of the Interior, announced devastating
changes to the Endangered Species Act, signalling the end of protection for
thousands of imperiled species.
The
new regulations would:
-
Exempt thousands of federal activities from review under the Endangered Species
Act;
-
Eliminate checks and balances of independent oversight;
-
Limit which effects can be considered harmful;
-
Prevent consideration of a project's contribution to global warming;
-
Set an inadequate 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project in
the instances when they are invited to participate -- or else the project gets
an automatic green light;
-
Enable large-scale projects to go unreviewed by dividing them into hundreds of
small projects.
Please
send a message to Kempthorne and members of Congress that these changes are
unacceptable.
Neil managed to collect
$965.00 in pledges so he topped it up to $1000.00.Then, as promised, Neil doubled that to make
a total of $2000.00.This is a new
record and Neil thanks the 53 persons/families for their support.As a result, Bird Studies Canada and the
KWFN will benefit greatly by these contributions.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
May 26th will be in my memory for a very long time.The KWFN presented me with a Conservation
Award at the AGM.The Conservation Award
reads, “For his distinguished contribution toward the conservation and
preservation of natural environments.”
Receiving the KWFN Conservation Award was special by
itself, but to be presented a Life Membership to the KWFN was a
real honour.The plaque reads, “In
recognition of his long and faithful association with our club”.It goes on to quote Claude Monet, “The
richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.”
The Life Membership places me in a list that has
only 9 members throughout the history of the KWFN that was founded in 1934.
I understand that Julie Liptak was the force behind
this event and nominated me for these citations.Archival records show that the presentation
of two awards in the same evening is also a first.Thank you so very much my friend.
I shall always cherish this recognition and treasure the fond
associations I have had with the KWFN and its members.
Don't stop at Earth Hour - make every
hour Earth Hour!
Now the big
question is, "what's next?" You have taken the first step by turning
out your lights for Earth Hour. Now it's time to take it a step further - by
joining The Good Life.
Make every hour Earth Hour. Join WWF-Canada's
online community, The Good Life to learn how to live a life high in quality,
and low in ecological footprint.
Climate change is the single biggest
environmental threat facing our world today. The good news is that we can all
make a difference by choosing to live The Good Life
WWF-Canada's new interactive site, The Good
Life guides you to take action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions created
through your daily activities. Making changes, such as washing in cold water,
switching to green power or taking public transit can make a big difference.
Sign up, take action and make a difference
today. Live The Good Life with WWF-Canada.
Very Special
Announcement!!Threatened Species Discovered in 3 separate areas in the City of Kitchener
At a May 29th
E.E.A.C. Meeting, Region of Waterloo, it was announced that a
threatened species was found in HiddenValley. One may easily conclude
that it was Jefferson Salamander, since it was a salamander
recovery team that carried on the study last spring at the urgent request
of Neil E. Taylor. An earlier
incomplete and inaccurate inventory suggested that the Environmental Assessment
(2004) for the Bleams Rd./River
Rd extensions was itself to be
questioned.Now, the problem is that the
MNR has not seen fit to stop the Bleams Rd./River Rd. Extensions with the
attendant bridge and future developments which will lead to a degradation of
the 3 Provincially Significant Wetlands in the area and thus pose a threat to a
species that has existed since ice age times. New!–TheCity
announced last fall that Jefferson Salamander had been conclusively
substantiated in Doon South as early as 2004.One must wonder why this was
not disclosed earlier.Now a new site
has been disclosed in the western side of Kitchener.Details to
follow.
Monthly meetings are held at Wing404
/Rotary Centre, Dutton Drive,Waterloo. See link
to map on hot linked Directions.
Our thanks to those who
have agreed to lead the outings for September and October.We have some old favourites and a couple of
new destinations that should prove interesting.Just a reminder that outings require leaders willing to volunteer their
time and expertise/ familiarity with the location and that everyone is
encouraged to step up and lead an outing/hike to your favourite place.Please contact the Outings Director, Dale
Ingrey, by phone or email to schedule your outing for this year. Contact
information on page 2 of The Heron)
SCHNEIDER PROPERTY
Thanksgiving Hike
Saturday, October 11
Jane Schneider
519-746-1886
Join Jane for this traditional Thanksgiving
hike when the leaves should be turning in earnest with a hint of frost in the
air.Weather permitting, we’ll
explore Musselman Woods and the adjacent Schneider property, both of which
consist of some large hills.Come
prepared for some vigorous exercise and some good company, as we savour the
delights of a Waterloo County woodlot in the Fall.
Meeting Time/Place
1:30 pm at
Sobey’s Plaza
near TD/Canada Trust
Fischer-Hallman &
Columbia in Waterloo
RUTHVEN BIRD BANDING
STATION
Saturday, October 18
Dave Buhlman
519-893-2833
Join Rick Ludkin, master bander in charge of
the Haldimand Bird Observatory at Ruthven and participate in a hands on banding
experience.Learn about Ruthven’s
12 year banding programme which takes place from dawn till approximately noon
every day for 2 months, during the Spring and Fall bird migration.There are trails that you might like to
explore in the beautiful grounds of this historic mansion on the Grand River
and there are tours of the mansion from 11 am to 4 pm, for which there is a
small charge.Bring a lunch if you want
to picnic.Ruthven is located just south
of the town of Caledonia.We will meet
at the parking lot of Home Depot and car pool to Ruthven.We need to leave early to take part in the
morning banding.
Meeting Time/Place
7:45 am
Home Depot parking lot
(closest to Future Shop)
100 Gateway Park Drive
Kitchener
McNALLY PROPERTY WALK
Sunday, October 19
Elsie Taylor
519-747-2364
The McNally property in north Waterloo is ours
to discover, and it is a beautiful time of year in which to do it.We had snow on our first KWFN outing four
years ago, rain for the second year’s walk, and glorious fall weather
last year.A different perspective is
planned this year to allow for more enjoyment of the 60 acres of fields and
hilly forested terrain, including Mr. McNally’s old orchard.Please wear suitable footwear and clothing.If you know the entrance on Wideman Road,
we’ll meet you there at 1:00 pm.For background reading, there is much information available on the
internet (google mcnally property
waterloo) including Michael Frind’s three previous informative and
excellent articles from our previous KWFN outings.Allow at least 2 hours for the outing.
Meeting Time/Place
12:45 pm at the
Sobey’s Mall parking lot near TD/Canada Trust
corner of
Fischer-Hallman and Columbia in Waterloo
WEDNESDAY WANDERERS
Steckle Woods
Wednesday, October 22
Neil Taylor
519-893-6469
Join Neil for a leisurely stroll in
Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area (ESPA #29).While Steckle Woods is known for spring
ephemerals, it is possible to catch some late migratory birds as well as the
year round species and an opportunity to try to identify fall fungi.The hiking trail will lead to some wonderful
views that John Steckle enjoyed with his family.
Meeting Time/Place
9:00 am at the
furthest parking lot inside the woods, off Bleams Rd. west of Homer Watson Blvd.Rain time delay moved to 1:00 pm.
HIDDEN VALLEY
TREASURES
Saturday, October 25
Neil Taylor
519-893-6469
Join Neil for a reprise of last year’s
hike through this beautiful area that has been in the news so much this year (Jefferson
Salamander anyone?).We should see a
good variety of fall migrants and late fall flora.If you missed last year, now’s your
chance to see this natural area in all its splendour with one of its greatest
champions.Sturdy hiking footwear is suggested
for this approximately 3 hour outing.
Meeting Time/Place
9:00 am
Junction of Goodrich
Dr. and Hidden Valley Rd. in Kitchener (near the tracks past the old Goodrich
plant)
See Conservation Link for
current issues and letters and information submitted by the KWFN.
Cambridge Sightings This forum is for sharing information regarding birding and wildlife
"spotting" in the Guelph, Wellington,
Kitchener-Waterloo, and Cambridge areas
of Ontario. This forum
is quite extensive and should prove valuable with regular reports. This
webmaster encourages you to check it out.
Please
note: Dr. Chris Murfin from the
Kingsdale Animal Hospital has offered to provide medical attention to injured
native turtles at no cost to people that bring them in.
Angie is
also looking for any conservation group(s) that are working with the Karner
Blue Butterfly.
The KWFN Photo Salon features the efforts and talents of
local photographers. Photos should not be larger than 4 x 6(H) or 6 x
4(V). Images to be saved at 72ppi resolution and as a jpeg file with low
resolution. At this point, I will limit submissions to one photograph per
person which may be replaced upon request.
See
the Twelve Spotted Skimmer, photographed by Thelma Beaubien, which won First Place in the Fauna category of the FON's
Seasons 38th (2003) Annual Nature Photo Contest.
Make a difference to the world by
clicking on each of the following logos:
From
east 401, take the Highbury south cut off at London, follow Highbury south to St. Thomas.Highbury changes into South Edgeware at a large curve in the road to the west.Follow South
Edgeware
west to the first set of traffic lights - Burwell Road, turn left (south) and stay on this road. It
becomes Fairview Ave, which runs directly into Hawk Cliff Road. You will see a sign for Hawks Cliff Farm, selling
fresh vegetables and a gravel road just beyond sign, just continue down gravel
road to viewing area.
From west 401,
take the Highway # 4 (Colonel Talbot Rd.) exit south, through Talbotville (road now is Sunset
Rd).Continue towards St. Thomas; you will come to a veer in the road, straight
up to St. Thomas, veer to the right for Port Stanley, follow #4, now Sunset to
Port Stanley. As you approach Port Stanley you will come to a bend in the road with a sign
saying East St, to the left. Take East St., and follow it to the first
road left, (opposite Port Stanley Water Tower) Dexter Line, follow Dexter Line
approximately 2 km. and turn right down gravel road at Hawks Cliff Farm, and
follow gravel road to viewing area.
To add your sighting, click on Add Your Event. Please post
the Sighting as the title for your event. The date should show month and
date in 2 numbers, i.e., 03/17/2007. Please also post location and your
name. Thanks.
