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!