Essex County Nature

Pop-up Bird Count Practice at Holiday Beach
2021-12-04 08:00 - 12:00 (America/Detroit)
Join us for some birding fun at Holiday Beach Conservation Area. This outing will be focused on Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). If you have always been interested in participating in a CBC or if you want to brush up on how CBCs work, this pop-up is for you! We will be counting all the birds we see during the pop-up and talk about what how to sign up for the CBCs in Essex County, as well as how to collect and submit data.
We will meet at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, at the entrance parking lot to Holiday Beach Conservation Area and make our way through the park including the main road, hawk tower and other trails. The outing will be from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (noon), but you can leave at any time. The parking area and main road are paved and trails are dirt paths on flat terrain. We will station someone both on the hawk tower and at the base of the hawk tower to observe birds on the marsh. Public washrooms are closed during the off-season in the park.
Provincial COVID-19 guidelines will be followed during the outing and a written safety plan is available upon request. It is expected that those in attendance at pop-up outings are fully vaccinated.
Pop-ups are intended to be informal, casual and social, and will take place at various locations around Essex County and Windsor. We will continue to provide an array of days and times to accommodate members with different availabilities. They will usually be announced a week before the date of the pop-up. They will not have an official leader but rather we hope those in attendance will share their own knowledge since there is such a wide range of experiences and interests within the club membership. One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance to meet at the start of the pop-up. We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the ECFNC iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the project.
If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled.

Pop-up Walk in Spring Garden Natural Area
2021-11-23 09:30 - 10:30
Given the continuing popularity of pop-ups, we are excited to announce the next outing will be at Spring Garden Natural Area in Windsor. Join us to explore this 2.5-kilometre loop through urban forest that is part of the Ojibway Prairie Complex.
We will meet at 9:30am on Tuesday, Nov.23, in the parking lot at the intersection of Malden Road and Elgin Street. The parking lot is on the west side of Malden across from Elgin. The parking area is gravel and the main trails through Spring Garden are made up of gravel and dirt paths on flat terrain. The are no public washrooms available at this site.
Provincial COVID-19 guidelines will be followed during the outing and a written safety plan is available upon request. It is expected that those in attendance at the pop-up outings are fully vaccinated.
Pop-ups are intended to be informal, casual and social, and take place at various locations around Essex County. We will continue to provide an array of days and times to accommodate members with different availabilities. Pop-ups will usually be announced at least a week in advance.
They will not have an official leader, but rather we hope those in attendance will share their knowledge since there is such a wide range of experiences and interests within the club’s membership. One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance to meet at the start of the pop-up. We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the ECFNC iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the project.
If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled.

Monthly Meeting
2021-11-10 19:30 - 20:30
Join us Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom for our monthly meeting and hear from Jackie Serran, coordinator for the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup Remedial Action Plan. She will provide a timely update on the Detroit River cleanup program, including beneficial use impairment status updates, various monitoring and research efforts, and some exciting habitat restoration work taking place, in particular at Peche Island.

Here is the Zoom meeting link.

Pop-up Walk at Maidstone Conservation Area
2021-10-16 13:00 - 14:00
Our next pop-up will be at Maidstone Conservation Area. Join us for an afternoon walk through this beautiful oak hickory woodlot to enjoy the fall colours. The Maidstone Conservation Area trail is a 1.5-km loop and includes a section of trail that borders the Puce River.
We will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, in the parking lot off of Lakeshore Road 209 south of Essex County Road 46. The entrance to the conservation area is on the west side of Lakeshore Road 209. The parking area and main trail are a mix of gravel, dirt and boardwalk on flat terrain. There are no public washrooms available at this site.
Provincial COVID-19 guidelines will be followed during the outing and a written safety plan is available upon request. It is expected that those in attendance at pop-up outings are fully vaccinated.
Pop-ups are intended to be informal, casual and social, and will take place at various locations around Essex County and Windsor. We will continue to provide an array of days and times to accommodate members with different availabilities. They will usually be announced a week before the date of the pop-up. They will not have an official leader but rather we hope those in attendance will share their own knowledge since there is such a wide range of experiences and interests within the club membership. One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance to meet at the start of the pop-up. We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the ECFNC iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the project.
If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled.

Monthly Meeting
2021-10-13 19:30 - 20:30
Join us on YouTube for a presentation about the Moths of Essex County by club member Mark Nenadov, who has produced an informative video. He will answer questions after the presentation live via Zoom. The Zoom link will be provided in the YouTube chat.
You don’t need a YouTube account to watch. If you miss the online event on Oct. 13, you can go to the Essex County Nature YouTube channel any time to see the video, as well as recordings of previous online presentations.
Tap here for the link to the YouTube presentation of Moths of Essex County Part 1.

Monthly Meeting
2021-09-08 19:30 - 20:30
Join us for our virtual monthly meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom
The topic is the Global Bird Rescue.
Club member and PIBO’s urban bird educator Jennifer Nantais will demonstrate how to participate, search for bird collisions, and record your observations in the Global Bird Collision Mapper and iNaturalist to help identify and mitigate potential hazard areas.

Link for the Zoom meeting.

Pop-up Outing at West Essex Sewage Lagoons
2021-09-05 08:00 - 09:30
Our third pop-up outing will be at the west Essex Sewage Lagoons. (These lagoons have public access and no permit is required.)
One of our main targets will be shorebirds, since the lagoons serve as a stopover for migrating shorebirds that feed on the muddy banks. However, there is a good assortment of wildflowers and insects that can be seen along the main path to the lagoons as well.
We will meet at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 5, at the parking lot on North Malden Road just west of Highway 3. The parking lot and trails are gravel and the lagoons are a short walk from the parking lot. The main path is mostly flat with a couple of gradual slopes. We will have a scope available but highly recommend bringing your own if you own one. There are no public washrooms at this site.
Pop-up outings are intended to be informal, casual and social, and will take place at various locations around Essex County. They will usually be announced at least a week before the date of the pop-up. They will not have an official leader but rather we hope those in attendance will share their own knowledge, since Club members have such a wide range of experiences and interests.
One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance to meet at the start of the pop-up. We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the ECFNC iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the project.
If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled.

Pop-up Outing at East Riverside Park, Windsor
2021-08-19 19:00 - 20:30
After the success of the club’s first pop-up outing at Sadler’s Pond in Essex, we are happy to announce that we will be holding our second pop-up outing along the Blue Heron Trail in East Riverside Park in Windsor.

We will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug.19, at the parking lot in Cora Greenwood Park, which is located on the northeast corner of Little River Boulevard and Cora Greenwood Drive in East Windsor. From here we will cross the road to get on the Blue Heron Trail, which runs through East Riverside Park.

The Blue Heron Trail is fully paved and mostly flat except for some hills on the south side of the park. There are no public washrooms at East Riverside Park. There is a City of Windsor website page for the park that includes a map.

Pop-up outings are intended to be informal, casual and social and will take place at various locations around Essex County. They will usually be announced at least a week before the date of the pop-up.

They will not have an official leader, but rather we hope those in attendance will share their knowledge since our club members have such a wide range of experiences and interests. One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance at the start of the pop-up.

We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the project.

If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled.

Monthly meeting
2021-08-11 19:30 - 20:30
Phragmites australis (common reed), is an aggressive invasive plant that is invading the Great Lakes and is dominant in Essex County wetlands and other habitats. Club President Karen Alexander has been working with phragmites in Ontario since 2011.

Karen is co-founder of the Ontario Phragmites Working Group (OPWG) and served as co-chair of the OPWG from 2015 to 2021. She will share her knowledge about this plant, how it arrived to the Great Lakes, why it became so pervasive on the landscape and present a number of control options that have been developed in Ontario that are leading to phragmites-free shorelines and communities.

This presentation will draw on the expertise of the Invasive Phragmites Control Centre, the Invasive Species Centre, and the Ontario Phragmites Working Group.

Join us Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom and hear from Karen about this important topic.

Pop-up Outing at Sadler's Park in Essex
2021-08-05 19:00 - 21:00
We are excited to announce our first “Pop-up” outing. These outings are intended to be informal, casual and social, and will take place at various locations around Essex County. We will try to send out a notice at least a week before the event.

Pop-ups don’t have an official leader; rather we hope those in attendance will share their knowledge, since there is such a wide range of experiences and interests within the Club’s membership.

One or more members of the Membership Committee will be in attendance to meet at the start of the pop-up. We will also spend some time using the iNaturalist app and the ECFNC iNaturalist Project, so if you have a smart device, we encourage you to bring it along to help identify anything interesting we find and contribute to the Project.

The first pop-up will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5, at Sadler’s Park (also known as Sadler’s Pond) in the Town of Essex. It will end around 9 p.m. We will meet at the Greenway entrance parking lot off Thomas Avenue (just south of where Thomas and Forest Street meet). Directions from Highway 3: turn east on Maidstone Avenue (County Road 8), then right onto Bell Avenue and then left onto Thomas Street. Or you can turn east off Highway 3 onto Victoria Avenue and then turn left onto Thomas Street.

Additional details:

The parking lot at Sadler’s Park is gravel and the rest of the trail we will be using is cement with no rough terrain. There are no public washrooms at Sadler’s Park, but there are fast-food restaurants nearby with washrooms available on Maidstone Avenue. If there is light rain, we will go ahead with the outing but if it is storming, the outing will be cancelled. We strongly recommend bringing bug spray for mosquitoes.

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-07-14 19:30 - 20:30
Join us for our monthly meeting on Zoom to hear from guest speaker Lauren Weller, who will talk about restoration in agricultural landscapes.
Agricultural landscapes, such as Essex County, produce a variety of ecosystem services, the value of which is often underappreciated, and can be important refuges for biodiversity.
Agriculture is also frequently the cause of numerous disservices to natural ecosystems, including habitat loss, soil degradation, and erosion leading to nutrient runoff and harmful algal blooms.
However, addressing these challenges may offer a clear opportunity to revitalize freshwater ecosystems, preserve soils, sequester carbon and increase biodiversity through improved functioning of agro-ecosystems.
Lauren will take a long view of managing soil for ecosystem health, past, present and future, including some research currently being carried out in Essex County that speaks to the sustainable management and restoration of these landscapes.
Tap here on Wednesday, July 14, at 7:30 p.m. to join us on Zoom and hear from Lauren about this important local topic.

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-06-09 19:30 - 20:30
Join us for our monthly membership meeting on Zoom and see a presentation on how you can become involved in the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas project.
The program will be presented by the assistant provincial coordinator of the atlas project, Kaelyn Bumelis. Karen Cedar and Paul Pratt, the Essex region coordinators, will also be present to answer questions relating to our region.

Tap here Wednesday evening to join us on Zoom, or use the meeting ID 810 7804 7503 and passcode [REDACTED].

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-05-12 19:30 - 20:30
Find out about growing food and increasing biodiversity at home at our monthly meeting.
Brandi Bechard is the founder and co-owner of Ground Culture, an ecological foodscaping company based in Windsor and Essex County. She will be giving a 20-minute presentation on increasing the ecological function and food growing capacity of your outdoor space. The topics Brandi will cover include vegetable gardening, perennial food plants and creating a more biodiverse ecosystem in your yard.
There will be a a question-and-answer period after the presentation.
Join us on Zoom by tapping here May 12 at 7:30 p.m. You can also use the meeting ID 880 9495 1282 and passcode [REDACTED].

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-04-14 19:30 - 20:30
Join us to find out about bird friendly cities from Jennifer Nantais, a club member and urban bird educator for the Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

She will describe the Bird Friendly City project and explain how local partners are working toward making Windsor one of the first bird friendly cities in Canada.

We’re meeting online, so you can attend from anywhere. We’ll spend some time at the beginning of the meeting sharing sightings and information. We would love to hear about what you have seen so far this spring.

Tap here Wednesday evening to join us on Zoom. Or you can use the meeting ID 833 7484 7408 and passcode [REDACTED].

Slide show from Costa Rica
2021-03-17 19:30 - 20:30
Feel like a mid-week adventure to see nature up-close in Costa Rica? Join us for this special presentation by Steve Marks.

Steve, who received the club’s 2020 Outstanding Achievement Award, is currently living in Costa Rica and has put together a one-hour slide show to give us a glimpse of his latest adventures. He is joining us live via Zoom, so you’ll be able to ask questions and say hi.

Tap here Wednesday evening to join us on Zoom.

The meeting ID is: 867 8933 1461. The passcode is: 108307.

Annual general meeting
2021-03-10 19:30 - 20:30
It’s been a long, trying year for many. We hope you’ve had time to enjoy nature. We want to hear about your finds. Come to our annual general meeting on Wednesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom to find out the latest news and share your nature stories. This is also the meeting at which we review the club’s finances and elect the executive for the coming year.

Tap here for more details.

Tap here for the Zoom meeting link.

Tap here for the 2020 AGM minutes (draft)

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-02-10 19:30 - 20:30
Join us Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom for our monthly membership meeting. We’ll open with some club news and share sightings before welcoming our guests.

They are Dr. Catherine Febria and her students at the University of Windsor Healthy Headwaters Lab. They will give us a presentation about their work at the Marianne Girling Nature Reserve and on farms across Windsor-Essex.

The Marianne Girling Nature Reserve adds to an important connected stretch of habit along Cedar Creek that includes Marshfield Woods, an area of natural and scientific interest, and a large, intact forest — a rarity in Essex County. The UWindsor team members will share their ongoing research into the role wetlands and other natural heritage features play in providing ecological services.

Tap here for the Zoom meeting link.

Monthly meeting on Zoom
2021-01-13 19:30 - 20:30 | Online – Zoom
Join us via Zoom on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. for our monthly meeting, which will feature a presentation about species at risk in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes support a diverse array of plants and animals, with rich ecosystems that are unique in the world. The lakes provide us with fresh drinking water, food and recreational opportunities.

Our guest speaker is Kat Lucas, the Aqua-Links program assistant at the Toronto Zoo. She will focus on some of the species at risk in the Great Lakes and our role as individuals to protect this sensitive ecosystem.

Lucas has a passion for conservation education and connecting others with the environment. She graduated from the University of Guelph with a bachelor of science, zoology and a master of environmental science with a focus on aquatic toxicology and fish reproduction.

You will be able to ask questions after her presentation, so come prepared!

Tap here on Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. to join the meeting on Zoom.

Essex County Nature Meeting - Online
2020-11-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Online – Zoom
Our first live and online members’ meeting! Ryan Wolfe will talk on the conservation aspect of his masters research project. It will be targeted at unraveling the history and current status of the Blue Racer in Canada while highlighting some of the conservation work going on to protect the species, and recommendations for what we can do in the future.
This meeting will take place live on Zoom on Wednesday, November 11 at 7:30pm.
To join the meeting, please visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85909486771?pwd=[REDACTED] Please join the online meeting at least 5 minutes early to make sure your computer is set up and ready to view the presentation. If your computer does not have Zoom installed, you will be prompted to download and set it up in order to join the presentation. This is a quick and simple process.

CANCELLED: Essex County Nature Meeting
2020-04-08 19:30 - 21:30
We regret that we have had to cancel this meeting.
Our guest presenters will be Jackie Serran, the remedial action plan co-ordinator for the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup, and Gina Pannunzio, the Essex Region Conservation Authority’s partnerships and outreach co-ordinator. Jackie will provide an update on the cleanup progress, share preliminary results of the fish consumption survey and highlight some habitat work taking place in the watersheds. To wrap up, Gina will share some of the outreach events taking place in the spring, including community restoration projects, watershed cleanups, invasive species pulls, nature hikes and more.
Location: Ojibway Nature Centre, 5200 Matchette Road, Windsor, Ont.

CANCELLED: Evening Spring Herp Walk
2020-04-04 18:30 - 20:30
We regret that we have had to cancel this event.
Keep checking the event calendar regularly for future hikes.
Take an evening stroll with club member Dave Kraus on his property a 1515 Mersea Road 7 in Leamington. Look for spring wildflowers, turtles, waterfowl, shorebirds, snakes and spring birds. At dusk, watch for foraging bats, woodcock aerial displays, and maybe screech and great horned owls. Even if they can’t be seen, expect to hear woodcocks, spring peepers, chorus frogs, leopard frogs, screech owls, great horned owls and coyotes.
Park on the grass farm lane off to the right before reaching the barn when coming down the gravel driveway. Wear waterproof boots and layers for the weather. You might want a headlight or flashlight if you have one. If you wish, bring a lawn chair to sit out after the walk and listen to the (hopefully) loud evening chorus, chat, star gaze and enjoy a beverage (bring your own).
If the weather is poor on April 4 the event will be rescheduled to April 11.
Location: 1515 Mersea Road 7, Leamington, Ont.

CANCELLED: Jack Miner Nite Hike
2020-03-26 19:00 - 21:30
We regret that we have had to cancel this event.
Keep checking the event calendar regularly for future hikes.
Join other club members for an evening search for owls and other night life at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary.
Location: Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, 332 Road 3 West, Kingsville, Ont.

Essex County Nature Annual General Meeting
2020-03-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Ojibway Nature Centre
At this meeting club members elect board members, review last year’s minutes and club finances, and participate in the always popular year-in-review quiz.
After the meeting, stay for some coffee, tea, snacks and socializing.

Meeting location: Ojibway Nature Centre, 5200 Matchette Road, Windsor.

Discover Ducks in the Detroit River
2020-02-29 10:00 - 13:00 | King’s Navy Yard Park, 242 Dalhousie Street, Amherstburg, Ontario, N9V 1W4, Canada
Learn about ducks that depend on the Detroit River in the winter. Use binoculars and scopes to get a close-up look at ducks on the river. Expert birders will be on hand to help with identification.
Take part in a duck scavenger hunt and leave with a beginner guide to ducks on the river.
Warm up with some hot chocolate and snacks. (Bring a mug if you can.)
This is a free, drop-in event for all ages at King’s Navy Yard Park, 242 Dalhousie St., Amherstburg.
It is sponsored by Birds Canada and the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club.
For more information email abichel@birdscanada.org.

New Member Orientation Meeting
2020-02-19 18:30 - 20:30 | Ojibway Nature Centre
Join other members as we explore the inner workings of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the Ojibway Nature Centre, 5200 Matchette Road, Windsor.
The meeting will be hosted by the membership committee and will cover the club’s activities, structure, history and volunteer opportunities. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and provide suggestions for the future.
Please confirm attendance by Feb. 11 to carlmaiolani@cogeco.ca or by calling Carl Maiolani at 519-972-1399. Pizza will be served at the beginning of the meeting.
All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Native Trees and Shrubs Winter Identification Walk
2020-02-16 14:00 - 15:30
This native trees and shrubs identification walk/workshop will be led by Dave Kraus.
Meet outside the Ojibway Nature Centre, 5200 Matchette Road, Windsor, by the parking lot. (Remember to hide valuables and lock your cars.)
We will take a leisurely walk on some of the trails, observing wildlife and learning some simple clues that are helpful in distinguishing some local native trees and shrubs when they are leafless.
Binoculars will be helpful for both wildlife and tree identification.

Essex County Nature Meeting
2020-02-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Ojibway Nature Centre
Tom Preney, the City of Windsor’s biodiversity co-ordinator, will talk about how fun and easy it is to contribute to citizen science using iNaturalist.
iNaturalist blends science and technology and uses social networking to discuss real time observations while documenting biodiversity. Through an interactive presentation Tom will introduce you to the world of iNaturalist and provide a tutorial on how to use both the web and mobile version so you can contribute to the world’s leading citizen science project.
Before attending the presentation participants are encouraged to download the iNaturalist app on their mobile device.
Meeting location: Ojibway Nature Centre, 5200 Matchette Road, Windsor.

Winter Birding Along the Detroit River
2020-01-12 09:00 - 15:00 | Lakeview Park Marina, 9200 Riverside Drive East, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Meet at 9 a.m. at Lakeview Park Marina, 9200 Riverside Drive East, Windsor.
Leaders: Kory Renaud and Jeremy Hatt.
This event is held in partnership with Ontario Field Ornithologists.
Winter is an excellent time of year to observe waterfowl, gulls and birds of prey using the open water of the Detroit River. We will start the day at the marina, make a visit to Little River Corridor, continue down river to check a few spots and end at Ojibway Park.
Be sure to dress for the weather, pack some snacks and bring a scope if you have one. Due to the duration of the outing (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), we will make a brief stop for lunch along the way.

Essex County Nature Meeting
2020-01-08 19:30 - 21:30
Essex County Field Naturalists Kory & Sarah Renaud will talk about their trip along the rugged Dempster Highway through the Yukon and Northwest Territories. They will share their stories and photos of this adventure of a lifetime!

Essex County Nature Meeting
2019-10-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Point Pelee Visitor Centre
Wednesday, October 9 at 7:30pm – Point Pelee National Park Visitor Centre
Join us for this monthly meeting in a special location. Sarah Rupert will be presenting on Fall Bird Migration in the Park.
Refreshments are welcomed. Attendees will not have to pay admission to the park.
