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By: Jeremy Hatt

The Butterfly Committee has a few exciting announcements to share as we approach spring. The first is that the Committee now has a logo thanks to the artistry of Janice Boussey.

The Committee is represented by the Pearl Crescent, a common butterfly of Essex County that can be found from April to October but is most abundant in late July to early August and mid-September. This variable pollinator of meadows and roadsides symbolizes the complexity and interconnectedness of nature; a great emblem for the Committee.

The Committee has also been in contact with the Toronto Entomological Association (TEA) to explore more ways to get involved in the Ontario Butterfly Atlas as well as participation in additional butterfly counts in the region. Point Pelee National Park is restarting its annual butterfly count this year and ECFNC will be closely involved in helping organize the event and providing volunteers to count. The count will be held on Saturday, August 8 – stay tuned for more details closer to the date.

Partnerships with Pelee Buzz on Pelee Island are also in the works including a moth night that will be held in coordination with TEA on Saturday, June 6 at 9pm and continue on the morning of Sunday, June 10. The moth night will be led by Alan Macnaughton, Vice President of TEA. More details on how ECFNC members can participate will be forthcoming.

“Location: 285 West Shore Road, Pelee Island. This is a joint outing with Pelee Buzz. A variety of sheets and lights will be set up to see the moths come in. We will want to identify and record the moths as they arrive, perhaps by uploading observations to the www.iNaturalist.ca website — it can identify observations to species with at least 90% accuracy. Bring either phones or regular cameras. On the following morning (Sunday, June 7), there will also be a viewing and releasing of moths that arrived during the night.”

Keep your eyes out on Pelee Buzz at https://peleebuzz.ca/ for other upcoming events taking place on Pelee Island in 2026.

Also, a reminder that the Butterfly Committee has created Projects on iNaturalist and eButterfly for collecting data from all butterflies reported in Essex County. They are a great resource for learning about our local butterflies, their flight times, and abundance.

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterflies-of-essex-county

eButterfly: https://www.e-butterfly.org/ebapp/en/projects/view/91

Finally, we are still looking for additional members to help, so if you are interested in joining the Butterfly Committee, please contact me at .

By Alexander Campbell

The 2025 field season for the Turtle Conservation Committee (TCC) was a very successful one!
From the end of March till mid November, members of the TCC were very busy helping to conserve everyone’s favourite reptile. From wading through dense vegetated wetlands, to responding to late calls about nesting and injured turtles, here is a breakdown of all the fantastic work that the dedicated members accomplished in 2025.

2025 Stats:
345 newly documented turtle observations
500+ volunteer working hours
530+ deceased reptiles & amphibians documented on roads
73 calls & texts were responded to from the emergency & Turtle nesting hotline
79 turtles & 3 snakes were successfully assisted across roads or brought to a wildlife rehab
34 nest protectors were deployed on turtle nests: 4 Blanding’s Turtles, 11 Common Snapping Turtles, 2 Northern Map Turtles, 16 Midland Painted Turtles and 1 Eastern Musk Turtle.

We are currently gearing up for the 2026 season, which means this is the perfect time to get involved! There are many ways you can help by joining the TCC, from surveys to transporting injured turtles to rehabilitation centres, there is something for everyone in this committee. We currently in need of volunteers to assist with the current projects the committee has running:

• Media, Outreach & Community Engagement
• Surveys: Occupancy, Visual Encounter, Mark-recapture, Road Mortality, Opportunistic
• Grant Writing & Fundraising
• Nest box construction
• Turtle Nest Protection

Do you have a skill that was not listed but think would benefit the committee or have interest in joining this turtley-awesome committee? Please email us at

As a reminder, with this warm weather turtles will begin to start crossing roads and within a couple months will begin to nest and they need your help!

If you come across an injured or deceased turtle please let us know! You can call or text our injured & nesting turtle hotline to report observations. Our members are trained on how to respond to injured & deceased turtles and align transportation for them to receive immediate emergency care and examination. Why deceased turtles you may ask? The majority of times a turtle may seem dead, they often still have brain function and absolute death can only be determined by professionals. Females during nesting season may also be carrying eggs, after a female turtle passes, her eggs can still be salvaged and incubated by permitted individuals.

Additionally, you can call the hotline to report nesting turtles and members will be able to assist with the protection of the nest and record much needed data on nesting selection of turtles in Essex County.

By Don Bissonette

Here are the Bluebird Trail statistics from the 2025 nesting season. We collected statistics from 14 Bluebird Trails, with a total of 90 Birdhouses. Four of these trails, are the Nature Club’s Bluebird Committee trails, with a total of 20 Birdhouses. The other 10 trails are Affiliate trails.

  In the 2025 Nesting Season, we counted a total of 13 successful pairs of Eastern Bluebirds, which produced 63 Fledglings.  Also, these 14 trails hosted 55 pairs of successful pairs of Tree Swallows, which produced 234 Fledglings.    Every year, we are collecting less Bluebird trail statistics. There are less Bluebird Committee trails, less Affiliate trails and less Affiliate Monitors willing to share their Statistics with us. 

  Recently, I found a Bluebird Committee Trail Report from 1994. That year, we collected statistics from  22 trails, with a total of 231 Bluebird houses. 12 of these trails were Bluebird Committee trails, and the other 10 trails were Affiliate trails. 

  There are a few reasons for the decline. 

1.  Some of the properties were sold, and the new property owners were unwilling to allow the monitor(s) to continue visiting their properties.
2. Originally, the property was good Bluebird and Tree Swallow habitat, with large open sunny areas. Over time, trees and shrubs filled in these open areas. The trees and shrubs may have been planted by the property owners, or arrived because of natural succession. The loss of open areas, makes the property less desirable to the Bluebirds and Tree Swallows, and more desirable to the House Wrens.
3.  House Sparrows became a problem. In a few cases, I had to take down some Bluebird Committee trails, because the number of House Sparrows were overwhelming. The rise in House Sparrows numbers happens when the property owner, or his neighbours, is feeding birdseed in the Winter & early Spring. Those bird feeders attract lots of House Sparrows to the property.
4. Also, if the property owner or his neighbours have poultry, the House Sparrow population may rise. Grain is set out, to provide feed for the poultry. The House Sparrows are quick to find this grain. In time, there are lots of House Sparrows staying on the property.  I have seen House Sparrows feeding at grain feeders, inside poultry barns; they flew in the barn, through an open door, or through an open window, or through a small hole in the wall.

In the past few years, our committee was given leads on properties with good Bluebird & Tree Swallow habitat. But, there is no point in setting up new Bluebird trails, if there is no one willing to monitor these properties. At present, each of our Bluebird trail monitors has enough trails to monitor and is unable to care for any more trails. 

Thank  You to every-one, who has contributed financially to our Bluebird Committee. 

  The Ontario  Eastern  Bluebird  Society’s  Annual  General  Meeting is on Saturday, March 22, in Hamilton. For more information, visit their Facebook Page, or their Website.

  Van  Ert  Live Traps for Sale. Recently, I received a delivery of Van Ert Live Traps. They are $23.00 each.  Cash only.  (20.35 + 2.65 H.S.T. = $23.00 each). Contact me, (Don Bissonnette) if you want one, and we can arrange pick-up. If You are planning on going to the next Ontario Purple Martin Association meeting, we can meet there. Receipts provided.  Thank You to all of the Bluebird Trail monitors, who shared their 2025 trail statistics with us. Best Wishes for the 2026 Nesting Season! …  Don B.