June Meeting Recap: Trivia Night!

By Chris Hart

For the June meeting, Club members were treated to something a little different as they donned their thinking caps and took part in a nature-themed trivia night hosted by Julie Hall and Carolyn Brown. Julie and Carolyn, both of whom worked as interpretive guides at the Ojibway Nature Centre, lined up several rounds of fun, yet challenging questions that tested members' knowledge on such categories as "Latin Lingo", "The Answer is a Bird", and "Mushroom or Old-timey Insult". 

A room full of teams (two of which coincidentally named themselves the Know Nothings) competed over the course of the evening, with the eventual winners (the Clever Clearwings) taking home a copy of a book written by Adam Shoults, Adam will be the guest speaker at our annual dinner in November. Make sure to get your tickets!

A Guided Tour through Coventry Gardens

By Sheila Laurin

Insect Investigations with the Jr Egrets!

By Jennifer Nantais

August Meeting Recaps: Cultivating Community and Conservation

By Sheila Laurin

The August meeting started off with a presentation by Jennifer Nantais, a program specialist with Carolinian Canada about “In the Zone” Gardens that Help Wildlife Thrive. The aim is to grow Canada’s biggest wildlife garden network from Windsor to Toronto. 

Next, Kiera McManus, an intern, introduced a guest panel of gardeners and asked them some questions. The panel included: Brenda Taggart, Karla Comartin and Lorraine Chambers. Each native plant gardener explained how they got started, and where they are now in their fascinating gardening journey. They also expressed some of their challenges, future plans and tips for other gardeners.  

The Phrag Fighters Committee has lots to report on!

We got our grant of $2500.00 from the Invasive Species Center.  

We got our Consent to Enter agreement from the City of Windsor. (finally after 3yrs of trying) .

Heather and I talked with Karen Alexander, Windsor, Head Naturalist to find out a plan to assist Windsor in their future Phrag control.  Windsor will be spraying East Riverside Park around the Blue Heron pond in September. We will then go in and get rid of the dead phragmites.  Using a brush cutter, which we will be purchasing, and our cane cutters.  Windsor doesn't yet have a permit to spray over the water, only water edge.  

Click the link below to learn about our upcoming dates for phrag work, and to see a letter of appreciation from the Society for Ecological Restoration for our participation in this year's Make a Difference Week!

Lil'Reg and the Windsor Essex Nature Fund

The first time I went out to look at birds, I had no idea what I was doing. Not only did I show up without binoculars, but I didn’t even know how to refer to the activity. When I met my birding group for the first time in a parking lot in Mississauga, I asked: “Are you all here to birdwatch?” “No. We’re here to  bird.” My first taxonomic faux pas.

Initially, I thought distinction between birdwatching and birding was pedantic. I mean, how different could the two be?

It turns out that the two verbs, “ birdwatching and  birding”  refer to vastly different experiences and states of mind. Birdwatching is a passive pursuit. You see, one can birdwatch from one’s kitchen window simply by looking out at the garden and marveling at the avian creatures that stop at the feeder. It is a casual hobby that rarely involves driving long distances. This doesn’t mean that it’s frivolous; on the contrary, most birdwatchers own field guides and binoculars, are passionate about the species they see, and can usually successfully identify birds.