The Egret Article

By Carl Maiolani

Pop-up #11 @ Hillman Marsh on Sunday March 26th 10am

My list of 8 attendees is as follows:

Jeremy Hatt, Howard Williams, Carl Maiolani, Jeremy Bensette, Larry Onysko, Nicole Dumouchelle and potential new members Marilyn Miller and Darren Hughes.

This event lasted from 10-12pm despite the weather. It was cold, damp, windy, and snowy the whole time. Nevertheless we had a great time. We walked out to the shorebird cell and immediately saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans half way out. We made our way over to the shelter and were able to pick out a number of ducks that were a considerable distance away. This was thanks to the knowledge of Messrs. Hatt and Bensette and their scopes, as well as their I.D. skills. After a while we retreated back toward the buildings and made our way over to the boardwalk. The presence of potentially three new members added a welcome tone and additional knowledge to the lively conversation during this walk. In total, we saw 26 bird species including Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Widgeon, Pied-billed Grebe, and Horned Grebe.

Pop-up #12 Black Oak Heritage Park on Tuesday April 5, 2022

The list of 22 attendees is as follows:

ECFNC – Carl Maiolani, Aileen Petrozzi, Howard Williams, Catherine Hogg, Carole Donaldson, Murray Spearman, Brenda Stewart, Linda Parkinson, Tracey Colenutt, Larry Onysko, MaryAnn Max, , Tammy Dallyn, Tim Shortridge, Bhav Dulay, Nancy Cristofoli and Michelle Mastellotto

FOOP – Heidi Jacobs, Griff Evans, Claire McAllister, Brian McAllister, David Puglia and Sarah Puglia.

This event ran from 6-8pm. The weather was perfect. The temperature started at 52F and went down to 46F while the wind was barely noticeable at around 7mph from the NE. There were NO clouds.

We stayed on the main and only official trail that runs through the north end of the park. It seemed to be very quiet for the whole walk because of the time of day, the early day of the season, and the relative low number of spring bird migrants. The trees were quiet also… Among those that were identified were black oak, shagbark hickory, bitternut hickory, black walnut, ash, poplar, hackberry, swamp white oak and a few beech trees.

Pop-up #13 Derwent Park/Shaughnessy Cohen Woods on Saturday April 23, 2022

The list of 22 attendees was as follows:
Carl Maiolani, Howard Williams, Carole Donaldson, Catherine Hogg, Aileen Petrozzi, Jeremy Hatt, Tracey Colenutt, Shelley Brinacombe, Donna Cowie, Marjorie Ward, Michelle Mastellotto, Ian Woodfield, Bev Chortos, Steven Chortos, Larry Onysko, Tammy Dallyn, Lupita Amaya, Laura Stricuck, Cathy Coulter, Karen Hass, Caroline Tanchioni and Dave Kraus.

This hike ran from 9-11am. The weather was better than perfect. The temperature started in the low 50sF and gradually went up from there. It had rained a lot in the morning hours but the clouds had cleared out prior to our start so we were treated to a warming sun for the remainder of the morning. The wind was almost non-existent so we were able to easily hear all the birds that were in the area and were drying out.

The big group broke into smaller groups and covered the short trails in a very relaxed fashion. A few brave souls went down to the culverts at Forest Glade Dr. and the E.C. Row Expressway looking for early bird arrivals that might be checking out the nesting opportunities.

A total of 34 bird species were spotted including Cliff Swallow, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Of the 22 people that attended a total of 6 were not yet members of the Club. It’s always great to see new people taking the initiative to join us for a walk. Thanks to the existing members that encouraged them to come along. Here’s hoping some of them will join the club and become active members.

As a matter of interest to probably only a few, I was unable to find out why the City of Windsor named this park Derwent. An online search turned up an area in England between Manchester and Sheffield that has a number of features named Derwent. There are also areas in Alberta and Tasmania that use the name. Artists may also recognize the name as high quality brand of pencils.

It should also be noted that a portion of the woodlot in or nearby the park was dedicated to Shaughnessy Cohen, an MP who represented this area after elections in 1993 and 1997.

Pop-up #14 Carolina Woods- Heinz Bush on Saturday May 7, 2022 2-4pm

Attendees for this event were Carl Maiolani, Heather Inksetter, Peggy Hurst, and Gerry Waldron.

The main objective of this annual event is to pull out invasive garlic mustard plants from this park. The last time a group of members from our club did this was in 2019 before the pandemic started. Fortunately the weather cooperated and made the afternoon effort very comfortable. Past efforts at controlling the spread of this plant in this park meant that most areas around the trails had minimal plants.

Pop-up #15 Kopegaron Woods C.A. on Sunday May 8, 2022

The list of 18 attendees was as follows:
Carl Maiolani, Terry Parkinson, Linda Parkinson, Larry Onysko, Jeremy Hatt, Ian Woodfield, Carole Donaldson, Howard Williams, Joan Hueston, Kathy Roth, Ellen van Wageningen, Jeff Creighton, Rob Dunlop, Shirley Dunlop, Dave Kraus, Pam Blondin, Bob Sanford and Patricia Sanford. 

This hike ran from 1-3pm on Mother’s Day. The weather was beautiful with temps around 62F and winds from the east at 7-11 mph. A modest number of birds were observed including Hairy Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Rusty Blackbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black and White Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. About 15 species of spring-flowering plants were identified including ten that were in bloom. As would be expected early in the season, Spring Beauty was almost everywhere along the walk. Other plants of note were Jack in the Pulpit, Dwarf Ginseng, Large White Trillium, and Red Trillium.

As is typical for this kind of outing there was a lot of back and forth discussion about the various plants and birds  that we observed. In addition there was also a lot of other social conversations as members caught up with people thy haven’t seen in quite a while because of the pandemic. We also were pleased to get to know some new members better.

Pop-up #16 Maidstone Conservation Area C.A. on Friday, May13, 2022

Please see Howard Williams’ article “In praise of pop-ups” for the summary of this outing.

Pop-up #17 Big “O” C.A. and Rowsom’s Tibury West C.A. on Saturday May 28, 2022

List of 7 attendees:
Carl Maiolani, Jeremy Hatt, Larry Onysko, Shelley Brinacombe, Dale Larson, John DeMarco and Tammy Dallyn

This event started early on a beautiful Saturday morning. The weather was as good as it gets, again. Temperatures were in the mid 60’s and the sky was cloudless. The highlights of the Big O walk were a Least Bittern and an Alder Flycatcher. The Bittern was heard calling from the Phragmites that grows around the large pond in the southwest corner of the area. The walk at Rowsom’s was particularly enjoyable especially as we made our way through the very mature woodlot. Of special interest was when we were treated to a non-stop chorus of an army of bellowing bullfrogs calling from a swampy area very close to the trail. Maybe all these males were in search of the Beyonce of Bullfrogs. On the trail back to the parking area we also heard a Mourning Warbler calling from deep amongst the nearby thickets.

Stay tuned for more pop-up events!

By Howard Williams

The Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club (ECFNC) organizes semi-regular pop-ups throughout the year that are informal gatherings at places of natural historical interest.  The rationale behind pop-ups is to introduce members and others to a specific site, to encourage observation of the natural history and to facilitate social intercourse and networking.  Furthermore, thanks to Carl Maiolani, who amongst other things has a gift of generally providing good weather.

When I arrived in Windsor last Fall having migrated from Nova Scotia, the pop-ups were one of the only events in which I could participate safely, outdoors, maskless by choice but keeping my physical distance from others as and when necessary.  Moving to a new city is not easy during a pandemic, so the pop-ups were a wonderful introduction to a new social network with which I had a common interest.

The pop-ups also introduced me to new areas for birding and wildflower observation.  I knew about Ojibway and Point Pelee from previous visits to southwest Ontario, but the others, such as Kopegaron, Maidstone, Black Oak, and Devonwood were a delightful revelation.  One of the joys of being retired was that I could visit these places in a disciplined way, every week or two, to observe seasonal changes and understand the rhythm of nature, especially during Spring, when plants and birds appear and disappear so rapidly.

As an example of participation of a pop-up, the following is a write up of an event held at Maidstone Conservation Area on 13^th May 2022.  A beautiful warm sunny evening saw a select group of Essex County Field Naturalist’s Club members visit Maidstone Conservation Area, a little gem of a place that contains a wealth of wildflowers and birds.  We were far from disappointed by what we were hearing, smelling and seeing between 6.30 p.m. and dusk.  At least 16 species of birds were recognised, including Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Great Crested Flycatcher.  Over 25 species of wildflowers and small trees were recognised, including some notable examples of Wild Ginger that was showing its flowers perfectly, as was Large Flowered Bellwort.  

Much discussion centered around specific identification of wildflowers, some of which have yet to be confirmed.  We remarked on the occurrence at Maidstone of a planted Redbud (Cercis canadensis) a leguminous tree that has Canada implied in its name but does not now occur here naturally.  According to Waldron (Trees of the Carolinian Forest), a single specimen was reclaimed by Lake Erie from the southern tip of Pelee Island.  Back in the late 19th century it was only in the extreme south of Ontario that it was naturally distributed.  Readers are invited to explain this anomaly, including why websites such as the Catalogue of Life does not say when it was named, and by whom: (Catalogue of Life : Cercis canadensis L.), presumably a Canadian.  We were piped out of the woodland by a Wood Thrush chorus that was setting a peaceful melancholic tone before a magnificent sunset.

These conservation and other areas of natural habitat also allow the all too apparent negative aspects of living in a large city such as noise, drugs, and litter, to be offset by the beauty of nature.

Well done ECFNC, pop-ups are just the best idea, except on websites.

By Chris Hart

The ECFNC is a community based club promoting the excellence and the enjoyment of our local environment. As such, we often give back to those organizations whom align with these beliefs. One such contribution is the Lynda Corkum Essex County Nature Bursary, which is awarded to a Biology graduate student at the University of Windsor. This is a $1000 donation made possible from funds acquired selling the Fish Book. We are pleased to announce that this year’s recipient is Sarah Dobney. 

Sarah is a PhD student studying Savannah Sparrows on Kent Island, New Brunswick. She says “over the next several years, I will travel to this population to investigate how song relates to various aspects of development and reproduction. Specifically, I will test how song influences mate choice, nest-site selection, and parental behaviour. Additionally, I will determine how nestling vocal learning is influenced by adult song density within a nestling’s acoustic environment. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to conduct field research at this site, and this would not be nearly as possible without the generous support of people like you. Thank you!”

Sarah is an avid birder originally from Long Point. In reaching out to Lynda, Sarah stated “Words cannot express how amazing it is to receive financial and emotional encouragement to continue conducting field research, from someone who has made so many important field contributions herself.”

Congratulations Sarah, and we look forward to hearing more as your research progresses.

Other recent donations by the Club include:

Jan/21 Jack Miner’s Foundation $1000.00  (towards Wall replacement)

July/21 Windsor Essex Community Foundation $300.00 (donation to Managed Fund started by LREG)

April/22 Town of Amherstburg $2000.00 (Map & Grow Tree Planting program – ‘Thank you’ letter included below)

May/22 Weston Park/Little Reg Committee $1000.00 (40th Anniversary Tree Planting)

Heritage Committee

Aug/21-Ontario Nature-$5000.00 (Sydenham Nature Reserve expansion)

 

For more information on these contributions, and/or how to make a donations to the Club, please contact a Club Board member.