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When the Windsor-Detroit area underwent rapid industrialization at the turn of the 20th century, the Detroit River became notoriously polluted. These environmental issues have been identified as being related to, or the cause of, the impairment of several beneficial uses. The 1970s and 1980s saw the development of a massive conservation effort aimed at cleaning up the Detroit River.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between Canada and the United States, first signed in 1972, commits both countries to protect and restore the Great Lakes Ecosystem. The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup implements the Remedial Action Plan on behalf of a community-based partnership between the government (federal, provincial, municipal), local industries, researchers, environmental organizations, and citizens working together to protect, restore, and enhance the Detroit River ecosystem.

To learn more about the many projects that took place over the last year, download the DRCC annual report here .

The Pathway to Delisting has also been updated. This living work plan documents the remaining actions necessary to delist the Canadian side of the Detroit River as an Area of Concern. Download your copy here!   

By Chris Hart

The past few months have had quite the impact on the ecology of the common human (Homo sapiens). Closures to local businesses and establishments have created a sense of habitat fragmentation that this species is not used to. Areas of preferred use and high traffic have been minimized and/or removed, and as such, individual home ranges have contracted and seen drastic shifts. This has resulted in reduced connectivity among neighbouring units (including those with familial ties), and therefore lowered the potential for interaction with members of the same species (i.e. other humans). What has also happened, however, is that these shifts in habitat use have lead to an increase in chance interaction with members of other species (i.e. those with fur, feathers or scales). Below are a few photos of some local flora and fauna taken by a couple of club members.

Let us know if you have any neat natures photos that you would like to share!

By Paul Pratt

The third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas starts January 2021 and continues to the end of 2025. Earlier atlas projects ran from 1981 to 1985 and 2001 to 2005. During the second atlas participants logged 150,000 hours of field time and submitted 1.2 million individual breeding bird records, an amazing achievement.

An atlas square is 10 km X 10 km in size. In Essex County there are 36 full or partial atlas squares. During the last atlas 151 species were recorded with breeding evidence. Volunteers are needed to document breeding behaviour in each atlas square over the next five years.

Now is a great time to start investigating which breeding birds are in your neighbourhood and local birding patch. If you want to see what was found in the Essex Region or a particular square during the last atlas visit:

https://www.birdsontario.org/atlas/datasummaries.jsp?lang=en

If you are interested in volunteering to atlas breeding birds please contact Paul Pratt or Karen Cedar, the regional atlas coordinators.

Karen Cedar
Ojibway Nature Centre

Paul Pratt