Covered ground, an open mind; each step, so much in store.
Everyday's a holiday, walking in the great outdoors

2023 Events & Pop-ups: A Year in Review 

By Kristen Derbyshire

 

By the close of the year, the club will have hosted a total of 54 events! That’s more than one event per week of the year. We’re really keeping you guys busy! Of that total number of events, 41 will have been Pop-ups - smaller scale gatherings which are organized by the Membership Committee to bring us all together for a moment and immerse ourselves in the abundant nature of Windsor-Essex County.

 

A good chunk of those Pop-ups can be attributed to the Bi-Weekly Walks which are held at Black Oak Heritage Park in Windsor. This idea to host a regular rendezvous at Black Oak to observe the natural surroundings as the seasons change was initially thought up early this year by Howard Williams. Before leaving us a few months ago to move with his wife to the east coast, his contributions to the club were invaluable. The club is happy to continue the bi-weekly Black Oak walks in his absence, turning them into a custom of sorts - in honour of Howard.

By JoAnn Grondin

Please click the link below to read more about all those who helped make the evening a success, including a list of those who kindly donated to our silent auction.

Collaborative 'Big Sit' event at Point Pelee

By Jeremy Hatt

On November 18, the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club joined up w/ the Windsor Feminist Bird Club to host a Big Sit at the Delaurier parking lot in Point Pelee National Park.  

 

A Big Sit is as fun as it sounds! The basic idea is for birders stay in one spot, often in a comfortable chair, for an extended period to watch all the birds that fly by or over and count the total number of species and individual birds. We chose the Delaurier parking lot as it is a big open space w/ a good clear view of the sky. Migrating waterfowl, raptors, and passerines all fly over this area of the park and so it’s a great place to get a good variety of birds. Mid-November sees good movements of raptors like Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and Northern Harrier, blackbirds, and finches like American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin to name a few.  

The process of creating a National Urban Park in Windsor continues. There are no major updates at this time. Bill-C248 is still at the second reading in the Senate, and Parks Canada, and the NUP-HUB continue their planning and policy development. 

 

More information on the legislative route to a NUP and the progress of Brian Masse's Bill C-248 can be found on the Parliament website. See link below. 

 

For the policy route, a summary report of engagement and feedback from public and stakeholder events from November 2022 to June 2023 was recently released. A link to that document is provided below.

 

A contribution was made by the Club to the Essex Region Conservation Authority on behalf of Jim McAllister. Early this month, a Swamp White Oak was planted in honour of Jim at the heritage forest at Hillman Marsh (left photo). Information on the annual memorial event at the forest should be released in the spring. 

 

With the support of the Club, Lil'Reg recently had two memorial plaques made by the City of Windsor to honour Roger Koppeser and Stan Taylor. The plaques were placed under one of the 25 trees that were planted just south of the Ganatchio Trail, near Sand Point Beach, in 2016 for Lil'Reg's 25th anniversary (right photo). Also under the tree is an engraved boulder, also placed in 2016 to mark the anniversary, and a memorial plaque for member Peter Hayfield, placed in 2020.

 

Fueling Futures Grant from Enbridge Gas

 

We are pleased to announce that the Club was a recent recipient of a Fueling Futures grant from Enbridge Gas. The $2500 grant will go towards supporting our many community sustainability initiatives, such as our Phrag Fighter events, the Blue Bird Committee, Jr Egrets, and more. #ENBFuelingFutures 

2023 Birds Wrapped

By Kristen Derbyshire

Call for Members' Memorable Moments

 

As 2023 comes to a close, we'd like to hear about your most memorable nature sightings or adventures over the past 12 months. Similar to the December Members' meeting, this is your chance to share your story!

 

Please submit a photo, and/or a short summary of your experience, to essexcountynature@gmail.com. If submitting a photo of a neat sighting, be sure to include the who/what/when/where. 

 

Submissions will be compiled and included in the March 2024 Egret.