Fwd: Grimsby Wetlands Connections
Colleen Reilly
Hello,
We are hoping you are enjoying the summer.
The water levels at the Grimsby Wetlands are maintaining spring levels this summer with all of the rain we have been having. This is most noticeable in Watcher’s Pond as you will see that in the east half of the pond the cattails are absent. With the higher water levels, approaching almost a meter in depth, the cattails are failing, leaving a lot of open water areas. This will result in a more diverse marsh. Only time will tell as to how the vegetational community will present itself in the future, but we do know that water levels will affect the types of plants growing in the pond. Stay tuned.
The plants, especially the goldenrods and other meadow plants are quite tall this year, a function of a warm early spring and again rains. The goldenrods are just beginning to bloom and by Labour Day the place will be a sea of yellow followed by purple blooms of the New England Aster. The Cup Plants are giving us a wonderful show this year.
In the early evenings now we are witnessing a marvelous flight of blackbirds, grackles and starlings coming into the cattail stands in Watcher’s Pond to roost for the night. The birds return from about 6:00 pm until sunset arriving in fast moving flocks. At sunrise the birds rise from the cattails and depart for their daily feeding grounds. Have an early dinner and come and enjoy the show. Best enjoyed from the viewing deck on the east side of Watcher’s Pond.
This email will be followed in the fall by one of our typical Wetlands newsletters. The main reason for this note is to bring you some news about how our programmes at the Grimsby Wetlands are connected to the real world.
Hot off the press in the Environmental Journal is an article on the Brownie Award that the Grimsby Wetlands won last November. Having this good news story told again is fantastic for us. More people will end up knowing about the work being carried out here by the volunteers and the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club along with the partnerships developed over time with Niagara Region, Town of Grimsby and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. Go to this link:
Recently we came across the Fall 2022 issue of The Audubon magazine and in it we think you will be especially interested in two of the articles. Go to this link:
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2022
One article: Home Away From Home is about research on wintering roosts for Purple Martins in the Amazon. This year we saw about 30 nesting pairs of Purple Martins and likely had 80 young birds fledge from our nesting structures. It is fascinating to learn about how they live in their winter habitats half a world away.
Another article : Connecting Lights is about migration research in the Americas using the MOTUS wildlife radio tracking system.
As you may know we have one of the MOTUS stations at the Grimsby Wetlands thanks to Birds Canada. This is one of the few places where the public can get right up to see a MOTUS Station.
By reviewing the above mentioned articles we can see how the Grimsby Wetlands, our home grown project, is connected to so many elements of the worlds environment and scientific research.
How can you help? We hope you can share this article with friends and relatives. Invite them to come out to visit the wetlands and learn more about our Grimsby lakeshore revitalization project.
Please let us know about your sightings at the Wetlands and share photos that you might like to see printed in the Wood Duck about your experiences at the Wetlands.
We again would like to thank all of our donors and volunteers who have made all of this possible.
Take care,
Bruce and Laurie Mackenzie
PS: Full disclosure: Stu Mackenzie shown in the Connecting Lights article is our son.