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Windsor Essex Butterflyway
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Windsor Essex Butterflyway

The Egret Article

Windsor Essex Butterflyway

By Chris Hart|2021-07-11T12:05:47-04:00June 8th, 2021|The Egret Article|

By Jennifer Nantais

Dozens of volunteers from the Windsor and Essex County area have signed on to become butterfly rangers with the David Suzuki Foundation, joining over 1,000 others across Canada in an effort to help bring back the pollinators!

Populations of wild pollinators such as butterflies and bees face many threats, including climate change, habitat loss and alteration, and widespread pesticide use. The Butterflyway Project aims to help increase native vegetation cover to ensure available food sources for pollinators and their larvae, and to spread the message that wild pollinators are crucial to the survival of plants, wildlife, and humans.

Current and future goals include planting pollinator gardens and native vegetation on private and public land as well as sharing knowledge, support, resources, and plants with others who are willing to help return some of our urban landscape to pollinator habitat.

You can join the Windsor/Essex Butterflyway Facebook group to share your garden photos, ask for advice, and help with tricky plant and insect identification questions. With over 50 past and present Butterfly Rangers in this group, there is always someone to aid and encourage your efforts to restore native plants and create a sustainable future for pollinators in our community.

Stay tuned for future projects and events, and visit davidsuzuki.org to find out how you can get involved in future Butterflyway campaigns and help restore and protect nature in Canada and around the world

Bird Friendly Windsor

By Chris Hart|2021-07-11T12:07:00-04:00June 8th, 2021|The Egret Article|

By Jennifer Nantais

Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) has signed up to work toward the goal of making Windsor one of Canada’s first Bird Friendly Cities. This certification program, created by Nature Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, recognizes and celebrates the contributions of communities toward the creation of a more bird friendly environment.

So far, a local volunteer bird team has been created, and PIBO has obtained funding to add an urban bird educator and an education assistant to the staff working on this certification process. Current projects are focused on developing outreach opportunities to share information about hazards that birds face in an urban environment, including window and vehicle collisions, disturbance of nesting and roosting sites, and the impacts of pesticides and light pollution, just to name a few.

The team is working on a survey for landscapers to learn about their current knowledge and practices pertaining to native vegetation and bird and wildlife friendly gardening practices. We are also developing outreach projects to educate private citizens about options in their yards and home gardens.

World Migratory Bird Day

The bird team celebrated World Migratory Bird Day on May 8^th by hosting a virtual scavenger hunt. This family friendly event encouraged participants on three teams to practice safe social distancing while exploring Essex County to complete 25 tasks that required them to photograph birds, answer a variety of questions, and share their passion for nature.

The celebration continued into the evening with a virtual gala. This online event welcomed renowned authors, including Margaret Atwood, and featured speaker David Lindo, who discussed how his passion for birds was born in an urban environment. Over 200 viewers tuned in, and the event successfully raised funds to support future bird research.

Photo Contest

A bird-themed photo contest and virtual art exhibit also accompanied these World Migratory Bird Day events. Stay tuned for the photo contest winners, which will be shared on the PIBO website, social media, and the Bird Friendly Windsor project Facebook page. Like or follow this page to keep up on our progress, receive related content about keeping birds safe in an urban environment, and help us to spread the word about making Windsor a Bird Friendly City.

Art Exhibit

The art exhibit that kicked off on World Migratory Bird Day will remain open, and submissions are welcome from artists and bird lovers of all ages. Not only is this a fun way to show off your talent, but the more entries we can share, the more opportunities we will have to showcase Windsor and Essex County’s love of birds and passion for becoming a Bird Friendly City.

City Bird

The next step is to select a city bird! This exciting public engagement opportunity will give citizens a chance to first nominate the birds they think would best represent the city of Windsor, then vote as a community on the winner! Which bird do you think should be chosen? Let us know the bird you wish to nominate, and why you think this should be our city bird. Once the most popular nominations have been gathered, the official nominees will be announced. Stay tuned, and make sure to vote!

Please send submissions for the virtual art exhibit to

Hermit thrush, photo by Jennifer Nantais

Club Launches iNaturalist Project for Members to Share and Learn

By essexcountynature|2021-06-08T21:59:32-04:00June 8th, 2021|The Egret Article|

A bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax) photographed in Windsor by Tom Preney on April 30, 2020 and posted on iNaturalist.

By Aileen Petrozzi and Ellen van Wageningen

Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club members now have a new way to connect and share sightings. The club has started a project on iNaturalist, one of the world’s most popular apps for identifying plants and animals, as well as sharing information as citizen scientists.

Some club members have been using iNaturalist for years. Many of us are new to it and finding this is the perfect time to practise, as we wait for COVID-19 restrictions to be lifted.

The Membership Committee has set up the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Observations project so members can share nature sightings and see what others are observing in Windsor and Essex. At the same time, they can harness the expertise of millions of others using the iNaturalist platform.

The photo shown here of a bold jumping spider is by Tom Preney, who gave a presentation about iNaturalist at a monthly membership meeting in February 2020. He has joined the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Observations project, so all his sightings are listed there, including the details about the bold jumping spider.

We want to make it easy and fun for members to benefit from Tom’s expertise and that of many other club members who are knowledgeable about different plants and animals of all kinds.

A good place to begin is the Getting Started page on iNaturalist. The Membership Committee is looking for a coordinator who can help other club members navigate iNaturalist once they’ve set up an account and practised a little. When we are able to meet in person, the committee plans to schedule hikes and other events so members can practise together.

In the meantime, committee member Carl Maiolani has taken on the role of acting coordinator and can be reached at .

If you are interested in being the iNaturalist project coordinator for the club, contact me at .

Below are the details of the project, instructions for joining iNaturalist and more information about the coordinator’s role.

Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club iNaturalist Project Plan

Overview

The purpose of this project is to create a place for Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club members to share nature sightings and see what other members are observing in Windsor and Essex County.

Goals

Have an area in iNaturalist for members to view and share their observations.
Help members learn how to use iNaturalist to share and identify their observations.
Produce quality citizen science data about Windsor and Essex County for research and conservation.

Coordinator’s Role

The success of this project requires a champion who will encourage and assist club members to participate in the iNaturalist project. The coordinator can be new to iNaturalist™ and learn to use it with other members. However, the coordinator should be knowledgeable enough about smartphones and computers to help with troubleshooting basic technical issues.

Coordinator’s Responsibilities

Help club members learn and practise using the iNaturalist app and website by conducting workshops and hikes.
Act as the club’s contact person for members with questions about the app.
Encourage club members to use iNaturalist and add their observations into the club’s project.
Participate in board and membership committee meetings as needed.

Instructions for using iNaturalist

Download the iNaturalist app: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

Make an observation with your iPhone

Tap observe.
Add one or more photos as evidence.
Choose what you saw.
When you saw it should be added automatically.
Where you saw it should be added automatically. If it does not, check Privacy in your Settings.
Save your observation.
Upload to share with the community. This should happen automatically. If it doesn’t, tap the Upload button. You can turn off automatic upload from the app settings from the Me tab.
Check back for activity on your observation from the community or be notified by email to the address in your account settings.

Make an Observation with your Android

Tap the observe button from the My Observations tab.
Add one or more photos as evidence.
Choose what you saw.
When you saw it should be added automatically.
Where you saw it should be added automatically. If this doesn’t happen, check app permissions in your Settings.
Save your observation.
Sync to share with the community. This should happen automatically. If it doesn’t, tap the button. You can turn off auto upload from the Settings tab.
Check back for activity on your observation from the community or be notified by email to the address in your account settings.

Make an observation from the Web

Start by clicking the green Upload button from the header when you are logged in.
From the upload page, begin by dragging in one or more photos. Each photo will create an “observation card” that you can edit before submitting.
You can also use the “Add” button in the upper left to create observation cards without photos or the “More Import options” menu to upload a CSV or import from external sites.

How to Join the Club’s Project

Android
Tap the three vertical bars at the top.
Go to Projects.
Go to Search.
Type in Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Observations.
Pick the project.
Join.

iPhone
Tap More in the bottom left corner.
Tap Projects.
Search for the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Observations.
Tap the ECFNC Observations project.
Tap Join at the top of the project.

Web
Go to Community at top of page.
Go to Projects.
Search for Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Observations.
Join.

Use of Photos and Observations by the Club

The Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club will not republish photos posted to the project without the permission of the observers who submitted them. Information about observations may be shared in digital and other communications with club members, as well as on the club’s website. The club will adhere to the iNaturalist Privacy Policy.

Timetable

Mid-April: Notice to membership about the project in the Member Update and invitation to join to help test it.
Mid-April and May: Soft launch with board members, suggest a possible coordinator or coordinators.
May board meeting: Get board members feedback and make any changes.
June: Launch to members and community.
After June: Help and encourage members to use iNaturalist through an article about interesting observations in The Egret issue in June and/or September.