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By Gina Pannunzio, Pearl Bradd, Paul Drca and Ian Naisbitt

The above normal temperatures on Saturday, 15 April, 2023 attracted 40 eager community volunteers to the 42^nd cleanup of the Little River Watershed. Even a few Essex County Nature elders shuffled their way to Teedie Park in East Windsor. The park is best described as a linear, peaceful corridor on the banks of the Little River that curves around the Canadian Tire Corporation Store site on Tecumseh Road East. The CTC store graciously offered their parking lot for use by the volunteers. Playground equipment does exist on the open space adjacent to Hawthorne Drive.

The cleanup partnership included: Essex Region Conservation Authority, Little River Enhancement Group/ Essex County Nature, City of Windsor, Casino Windsor employees (CodeGreen), 35th Tecumseh Cubs (Scouts), and Detroit River Canadian Cleanup. Enthusiastic community volunteers started before 10 a.m. and worked till 11:30 a.m. to remove accumulated debris and Winter wind blown litter along this portion of the Little River Corridor and Ganatchio Trail. Volunteers collected the litter using gloves, garbage bags and buckets. A Tip of the Cap to Deputy Mayor of Tecumseh Joe Bachetti, MPP Andrew Dowie, and City of Windsor Councillor Angelo Marignani for attending and helping us cleanup the river valley. Challenges experienced by volunteers were the strenuous movement up and down the steep slopes of the Little River valley, some sections of impenetrable vegetation and others with prickly flora. Nevertheless, volunteers willingly accepted these challenges and got to work.

Cleanup events remove items in the environment that can harm local fish and wildlife populations. We would also like to highlight the fact that Little River cleanups also address two of the Beneficial Use Impairments of the Detroit River Area of Concern:

• Degradation of fish and wildlife populations (BUI # 3).
• The loss of fish and wildlife habitat (BUI # 14).

Our cleanup was part of the binational Earth Month stewardship initiatives held by partners of the Detroit River Coalition representing organizations from Canada and the United States. The partners represent a binational environmental resource hub for the purpose of plastic pollution removal and protection of the Detroit River.

Presently, there is an environmental study going on that includes Teedie Park: Little River Channel Improvement Class Environmental Assessment (EA), Via Rail to Lauzon Road

EA includes these statements:

• 387 trees were inventoried: 19 species – (81 %) native species and 19 % non-native species.
• “Potentially four Species at Risk (SAR) present:
• Eastern Wood Pewee, Snapping Turtle, Eastern Foxsnake and Prairie Rose.”
• “Little River Corridor provides an important wildlife movement linkage between the Detroit River and lands south of E.C. Row Parkway. Natural cover limited to a narrow band of vegetation on each bank utilized by a variety of wildlife.”
• SAR habitat for the Eastern Wood-Pewee, Snapping Turtle, Eastern Foxsnake and Missouri Ironweed identified – additional field surveys prior to construction may be required.”
• Beaver activities have impacted several large trees.   

Option 6 “Full Natural Channel Design” is the preferred option:

• Create high quality aquatic habitat
• Healthy sustainable river
• Bank and bed erosion will be controlled
• Naturalization increases resiliency to climate change
• Will assist in animal nesting ground
• Long lasting impact on the neighbourhood
• Will detract people from littering
• High buy-in from stakeholders

Photo # 1: Shopping Carts and Chair taken from the pedestrian bridge.

We are never surprised to find shopping carts in this section of river. This was the prime reason our group targeted this area as a cleanup site back in 1996. Since then we have literally pulled out hundreds of shopping carts. This was our 17^th cleanup at this site to improve the ecosystem health of this section of the river. It will also help our community to delist the Detroit River as an Area of Concern.

Photo # 2: Little River Channel facing north from the pedestrian bridge.

The diagram below gives you a good idea of how the river bed was altered years ago to allow stormwater to flow freely. Little River banks are steep and the bottom is flat. This photo shows you how nature reclaims her land that has been altered by humans. Sediment has settled in the west bank and trees have rooted themselves.  

By Dave Kraus

Saturday May 6 & Sunday May 7, 2023.

Leave at 10:00 am Saturday from Leamington Dock aboard the M.V. Pelee Islander II (be at the dock by 9:10 am).
We will return to Leamington Dock by 5:45 pm Sunday

We will likely see:  migrating waterfowl & warblers, wildflowers such as trilliums & waterleaf, basking turtles and snakes, bullfrogs, historic sites, and hear a chorus or two of American Toads, to suggest a few of the many enjoyable experiences on Pelee Island in spring.  We should also get a chance to visit the Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO bird banding station) and some of the Nature Conservancy of Canada properties: Red Cedar Savannah ESA, Stone Road Alvar ANSI, Brown’s Point and Woods, and Brown’s Road Alvar.  We will have plenty of time to walk, observe, and relax on the excursions to some of Pelee’s most beautiful natural habitats, including:  Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve, Lighthouse Point Provincial Nature Reserve, the Stone Road Alvar Complex, Sheridan Point ESA, and many other stops along the way (including natural habitat restoration work completed on my property). 

Should we experience inclement weather, we can visit the Pelee Island Heritage Centre, tour the island in the comfort of our rented bus and/or lounge at The Dog and Goat Inn/Main Station Guesthouse.

I have arranged for bus transportation while on the island – no other vehicles are necessary on the trip.  There is parking at the Leamington Dock area. I have reserved space on the ferry for all registered, walk on passengers attending this trip – we will board the bus in the parking lot at the dock in Leamington on Saturday morning by 9:15am.

Accommodations have been reserved at The Main Station Guesthouse.  The motel style rooms are rustic, but comfortable and are situated on spacious grounds. Reservations are generally set for two persons per room.  However, people do not need to register in pairs or groups – everyone is welcome and will be accommodated based on their wishes and room availability.

The Dog and Goat Inn contains a clean and comfortable  restaurant where I have arranged for our delicious meals.  We will break for meals regularly (lunch at noon and dinner at 5:45 pm on Saturday, breakfast at 8:30am and lunch at 12:45pm Sunday) and snacks are also available on both ferry crossings.

The total cost will be $ 280 this year.  This cost will include: the two ferry trips, weekend bus transportation, four hot meals ordered off the menu, non-alcoholic drinks, overnight room accommodations, and all taxes and tips. The $ 280 cost will include all expenses for the weekend other than alcoholic drinks, souvenirs, and snacks on the ferry.

All interested persons need to do is:  sign up with me and then show up at the Leamington Dock by 9:10 am Saturday morning with warm outdoor clothes and accessories, overnight necessities, $ 280 cheque (payable to David Kraus) or cash per person, and a few additional dollars for extra snacks, etc. if desired. The trails are elevated and dry, but you may wish to bring along rubber boots to access some swampy areas on my property and at the bird banding station, especially if it has been rainy. Carl will hopefully arrange for good weather as usual !!

I will contact each person that registers should any time or location changes for the ferry occur, otherwise the above outline is the basic schedule, rain or shine.  I will hand out more detailed schedules on the Saturday morning ferry trip, but with our own driver and rented bus, we can be flexible and able to visit various sites depending on the weather and the group’s wishes. 

To register for this trip: see me at the ECFNC meetings, call, or email/text:

Dave Kraus   phone: 519 825 7491 (leave message)

email address:

call or text: 519 257 8674

I look forward to your company on this ECFNC outing !!!

By Donny Moore

Now is the time to start thinking about Spring birds. Although we have likely had a few early birds return to the area due to the mild winter, the Spring birding season starts in March.

Some of you readers may have been at my presentation about birding in the water treatment facilities and heard about the diversity that can be encountered there. Well this is a great time to start checking them out. Locally Essex has the most open site to explore with a parking lot just of hwy 3 (due to recent construction it is a little harder to get there). Harrow lagoons has a permit allowance which is open to members of the Field Nats. I have worked with the water treatment management company to gain this access. Some guidelines can be obtained from the Field Nats about the expectations of those who wish to go there. At the time of writing some work is being carried out in there and we should not enter. Rule of thumb would be if you see heavy equipment in there, do not enter.

Getting that out of the way though leads me to say these areas are a great place to welcome back many waterfowl species. Geese, ducks and swans will use these areas throughout the winter depending on open water levels. Typically you will see lots of migrant Canada Geese, Tundra Swans and lots of dabbling ducks. These numbers will start to change going through March as they make their way back to breeding grounds. As they leave many other species start to arrive. Killdeer will be seen and heard, Yellowlegs will appear and also then many duck species. Expect to see increasing numbers of Northern Shoveller, Bufflehead, Scaup, Ring-necked, Pintail, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Black ducks.

As we move through Spring more waders will show up too. Usually a bit more difficult to ID, it’s best to be prepared with good optics. I would almost suggest that Harrow lagoons can not be fully appreciated without a scope. Saying that, I do not wish to deter anyone from going to look at what can be readily enjoyed with binoculars.

More and more Songbirds will be arriving during this time too and you will note the change in behaviour with your feeder birds. The community that is enjoyed by the “birds of a feather” will start to change to the more aggressive, breeding mode. The chips calls you have heard all winter will be changing to full songs and birds will be staking out territory and mating. As you look around on your commutes, you will see Redwinged Blackbirds perched high at the tops of Phragmite, shrubs, small trees, fence posts and hydro poles. The males will sing for about 3 weeks before females start to arrive to see what impresses them.

Robin’s will be poking around the yard hoping the worms are coming up in the soft spring earth. Starlings and House Sparrows, will be getting down to it both in nest building and mating.

As the appeal to go to the birding Mecca of Point Pelee increases during this time, I would encourage you all to try and put some extra effort into finding your own “patch”. Somewhere close to home that you can start to see and appreciate the birds that are in your area. I assure you that if enough of us are doing “patch work” more interesting information about birds in Essex county will arise. Also we will start to record many more rarities as these birds can turn up anywhere at anytime and if we are all just checking out the same spot, more will be missed than recorded. So wether it’s your local treed park or municipal water treatment area, get out there and enjoy the freshness of spring and all that it brings.

Please also if anywhere seems to be private property seek permission. This could be from private landowners, local municipality or management company.

You can always get in touch with me or follow along on my musings on Facebook

@donnymoorephotography