Chris Hart, Author at Essex County Nature

National Urban Park update

By Chris Hart|2022-12-09T22:21:11-05:00December 9th, 2022|The Egret Article|

The idea of a National Urban Park in our community is one that seems to invoke interest, excitement and hope to most local nature enthusiasts. The process of how it will happen however, is one that seemingly only brings confusion. There are currently two active approaches, and Club Execs have teamed with the Friends of Ojibway Prairie to not only stay in the loop, but also be part of the conversation during both proceedings. A brief summary will hopefully provide some clarity to our membership.

Local NDP MP Brian Masse has put forth a private member’s bill to amend the Canada National Parks Act to establish and include Ojibway National Urban Park. Bill C-248 delineates the proposed park boundaries using geographic coordinates, and if voted in, will provide protection similar to existing National Parks. The proposed park boundaries include Ojibway Shores. The bill has passed through two readings in the House of Commons and is now in the Report stage. During each stage of the bill, including amendments and motions, the Club, and other local environment-focused groups have co-signed statements from FOOP to ensure ecological integrity remains top priority.

Separate from Bill C-248, Parks Canada, in collaboration with local stakeholders, are in the pre-feasibility phase of creating a National Urban Park in Windsor. This is part of Parks’ plan to establish several National Urban Parks across the country. The proposed park could encompass the current Ojibway Prairie Complex, including Ojibway Shores, along with several other natural lands within proximity. The current timeline would see the National Urban Park finalized in 2025. Similar to the progression of C-248, our Club has worked with FOOP to ensure the voice of our membership, and all who appreciate local nature, is heard during the Parks Canada process.

The two avenues may differ in approach, but both have the same end goal of increasing the protection and awareness of natural areas in and around the Ojibway Prairie Complex. The Club will continue to remain as active as possible, and update our membership accordingly, with both progress and events.

For more information on Parks Canada’s proposed National Urban Park in Windsor, visit

https://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/building-Windsors-Future/Pages/National-Urban-Park.aspx

More information on Bill C-248, and the National Parks Act can be found with the links below.

https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-248

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-14.01/

Phragmites group – Recent activities at Bryerswood

By Chris Hart|2022-12-09T20:04:31-05:00December 9th, 2022|Uncategorized|

By Howard Williams

On December 5th, two members of the Phragmites group and two volunteers from the Bryerswood Optimist Camp on Texas Road started clearing Phragmites from around the man-made pond that was being cut that morning – rather like harvesting sugarcane but in a cooler climate.

The work involved gathering the cut stands of Phragmites, some are over 2 m long, bringing them to sleds and then discharging the bundles of vegetation into a pile for later burning.
The following photographs show examples of the work and the results.

What is clear is that although the cutting may only take about 5 hours with a 2-person team (Chuck – photo above) from the Invasive Phragmites Control Centre, the gathering of the cut stands takes many more person-hours. As of mid-afternoon, there was a need for a few more hours of volunteer effort.

These two above photographs indicate the gradual clearing of Phragmites.

Left: Detail of the cut stands indicating the mixture of residual stems still in growth position, and cut stems that had to be raked and bundled. Right: View of the cut and cleared area.

Two means of transporting the gathered material, by tarp and by sled; note grins that mask aching bodies.

The Bryerswood firepit where the cut material was stacked and where it will be burnt.

View of the man-made pond surrounded by cut but only partially cleared Phragmites stems. This will look so much more inviting in the Spring.

2022 HawkFest

By Chris Hart|2022-12-09T19:43:54-05:00December 9th, 2022|Uncategorized|

By Paul Pratt

Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) has just completed its 49th year of fall raptor counts at Holiday Beach Conservation Area. Each fall we count hawks passing by the hawk tower at Holiday Beach as well as other diurnal migrants on a daily basis from September 1 to November 30. The dedicated counter this year was Nicole Shangi under the guidance of Hugh Kent, HBMO hawk count coordinator.

This year 135,910 migrating hawks of 15 species were tallied along with impressive numbers of other migrants such as 713,537 Blue Jays. Here is a chart comparing this fall with last year. 2022 was the third highest hawk count ever recorded, largely due to the excellent count of Broad-winged Hawks.