Spawning season for snappers at Wye Marsh

 

 

Let me start with a painted turtle.  I found this one on the playing field at Wye Marsh Conservation Area and moved it so the school students playing a game modelling relations between historic trading blocs wouldn’t step on it.  Those claws are pretty sharp!

On June second, I found a snapper laying eggs and also saw holes dug by others.  It seemed like a lot of activity but the numbers kept picking up until yesterday, June 13, when I saw five turtles laying, including this location where three were laying at once. Should anyone care, this photo was taken on the berm at the far end of the big boardwalk.

One snapper had a hitchhiker. Not the same leech, but one a student had caught a few days earlier.

This photo is from the twelfth and shows a snapper’s claws and dragged tail.  We were lucky to have a brief shower the previous night.And here is a raccoon print, from the same morning.

It is tough to explain to the visiting students that the turtles lay so many eggs but raccoons eat most of them.  (The ROM tells me that skunks also prey on turtle eggs although I have not yet seen any at the Marsh.  I have seen an otter and wonder if they could dig up the eggs.) I have resorted to acting the part of a hungry baby raccoon (“Chirrrrrrrp.  Feed me, mommy.”) to emphasize that the raccoons are not actually bad guys. Sometimes I believe it myself.

 

But not so much when I see a cutie like this.

Both snapping turtles and Midland painted turtles are abundant at the Wye Marsh so I guess enough are getting through the gauntlet, even though snappers are rated as under ‘special concern’.  Painted turtles have no threat categorization at this time.

More on snappers at Ontario Nature and on turtles at The Toronto Zoo.

National wildlife Area Pics of the Month: Wye Marsh

I’ve been employed by the Marsh for a month now and love it. Well, I am not so thrilled by the pay, but the location is everything I wanted to experience when I planned to return to Ontario.
The area is full of attractions. Sainte Marie Among the Hurons is a reconstruction of the earliest European settlement in Ontario with the original site dating back to 1639. The conservation area is next to the reconstructed village and extends for around 100 hectares. The Wye River, of which the Marsh and the village sit nearly at the mouth, empties into Georgian Bay and the Tay-Midland Trail offers excellent paved cycling/rollerblading/… paths from Midland to Waubaushene, a remarkable distance.

Back to the Marsh. My work involves leading school groups on trails along the marsh and across it on long, floating boardwalks. We dipnet and look for dragonfly larva, watching swans, geese and many more birds and discuss ecological concepts. Oh, I also show the students turtles and snakes, which means I get to handle them: the dream job for ten-year-old Surprises!

From Wikipedia:

The Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre runs a breeding programme for Trumpeter Swans.[7] The centre, and its volunteers, monitor approximately one-third of all trumpeter swans in Ontario.[8] The swans had been absent from the marsh until a reintroduction programme by Harry Lumsden in the 1980s, as an employee of the Ontario Department of Natural Resources.[3] Archeological evidence collected by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century suggests that the area previously had significant concentrations of Trumpeter Swans, and historical references indicate the same.[3] While hunters armed only with bows and arrows would have had a difficult time hunting the swan, the introduction of firearms by European explorers would have made the swan a tempting target for hunters.[3] By 1850, only small numbers of the swan remained in Eastern Canada, and the last sighting of a Trumpeter Swan in Ontario before reintroduction occurred in 1884.[3] Among Ontarians, the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre has is known as the Home of the Trumpeter Swan.[3]
The marsh is also an important breeding site for Black Terns and Least Bitterns.[9] At least 1% of the breeding pairs of Least Bitterns in Canada nest in the Wye Marsh.[3][10]

I am not at all involved in the research that goes on at the marsh, but I make a small attempt to keep up with it. A quick Google Scholar search reveals a variety of studies in the area but most appear to be behind paywalls. The Conservation Action Plan of 2001 and Origin of Wye Marsh PDFs are available, though. If any reader has JSTOR access, I would like to read about silver-haired bats and the overview of the trumpeter swan reintroduction program.

Okay, I know you are really here for the pics(more can be found here):

This crayfish was walking on the road, pretty far from any water. Found on the quiet Muskrat Trail.

This trumpeter swan has orange feathers, most likely due to eating in iron-rich water. This snapping turtle and frog can be found in the Welcome pond, near the parking lot at the Marsh.Canada geese and goslings are everywhere these days.  Still haven’t seen any cygnets.
Very happily surprised to see this deer. near the blind on the ID trail.

Spring sightings

Three pictures from the Wye Marsh and two from Penetang Park.

It really is spring!  I saw a robin today.

I have no idea how seasonal Canada Geese are.

Nor do I know about lichen.  Still, the beauty of this lichen community makes me want to know more.

This redwinged blackbird doesn’t have much red.  The same is true for others I’ve seen in the last week.  I wonder if the red is more apparent later in the spring.

It seems crazy early for turtles!  Well, last year at this time, the temps were closer to 20 Celsius, but this year has been much colder and there was ice in this pond. I saw a total of five turtles in the Penetang Park pond.

The closing of Springwater Park

On Saturday, my son and I visited Springwater Provincial Park. along with a few hundred others, to show support for the continued existence of the park which is slated to lose its status at the end of the month.  It is a great little park and everyone there had fun.

Springwater links:  Facebook, Barrie Examiner.

I will be sad to see the park go but I can’t claim to be heavily invested in it.  It is a great local park for Barrie but I have only visited it twice.  I guess I won’t be visiting it again as it will become a ‘non-operational’ park the beginning of April.  I think that means the cross country hiking or ski trails will continue to be open but the animal sanctuary, the unique part of the park, will be no more.

Animal sanctuaries are my thing.  I love seeing local wildlife close up and even as a young adult would call strangers walking down the street to see some raccoon or snake I had found.  The Robertcats (I convinced my son that it was too informal to call them ‘bobcats’) and lynx were the first I had seen ever. I even loved the “site vacant” signs with their explanation that the park did not buy or collect animals but only provide a home for those unable to return to the wild. This kind of viewing opportunity needs to be preserved.

The thing is, from a numbers standpoint, the park really should be shut down.  I said that several hundred people attended the Saturday gathering, but that is probably the same number as visited the park in two or three months last year.  This is a local secret that people only seem to learn about from word of mouth.

I hope Springwater stays open but I also hope other people and parks are taking a second look at marketing and public awareness.  I’ve been out of the country for thirteen years so perhaps my ability, or lack of, to name parks is no indicator of the average Ontarians’.  I looked at the Ontario Provincial Parks website and was happily surprised to see how many there are, and how many I didn’t know about in my neighbourhood.  Well, I might be a little upset, too.

Why aren’t these parks better known?  Springwater is a great park that I suspect no one knew about three months ago.  I only recently learned that Springwater has cross country ski trails.  Wish I’d known that in early February.

As I’ve repeatedly written, I’ve been away.  I am not sure what the responsibilities of a park are compared to the responsibilities of the “Friends of…”  Who is involved in marketing?  How professional are these groups.  Back in the nineties, I had thought “Friends of Algonquin Park” was a volunteer organization of enthusiasts.

The thing I want is for those responsible for Awenda Prov Park and Arrowhead Prov Park to be sure they are keeping their parks in the public’s eye.  These are two great places that I know about that don’t get much attention. I know nothing about Bass Lake, McCrae or Mara Provincial Parks even though I drive within 50kms of them twice or more a month.  Explorer’s Edge, are these parks are in your region of responsibility?

What advice can I give to the marketers?  Well, I have a few ideas.

First, when you make a website, Facebook page, Google+ or Twitter account, Keep Adding Content!  The Wye Marsh, a great place that also needs to be aware of its marketing, offers both a good and bad example.  The Facebook page Wye Marsh has four friends and five photos (all mine!).  It has been in operation for two years with no apparent support from Marsh management.  The Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre, another Facebook page, is full of what appears to be daily content.  Attention seems to attract attention.  Next to actual Wye Marsh generated content is more content made and prepared by the public.  Win-win.

Second, make sure you have accounts with the three media above (and more) and your own website.  Link between them.  Really, these two steps are all that is needed for basic Search Engine Optimization.

Third, plan some events and write about them now!  Don’t wait until news comes that your park will soon be shut down. Do it now.

Our first week in Canada

Here is a brief look at our first week in Penetang, Ontario.  I am on my mother’s computer and don’t want to take too much time on it so a lot of this post will be terse to the point of being cryptic.  I am writing this post more for my memory than for international scrutiny.

Just before coming to Canada, I had one last hike on a small, local mountain and finished the hike in my T-shirt. The day before leaving, The Little Guy (TLG) and I rode our bikes to Eulsookdo.

 

Jan 31: Long slow drive home – often terrible visibility.  Went to sleep early, up at 3:30 for the day

Sat Feb 1: Midland winter Carnival.  Candy cannon and dog-sled ride

 

 

Here, re-enactors fire the Candy cannon, much as the originals would have done to fight the Americans in 1812.  Britain had access to sugar cane and so worked to rot the American’s teeth.

Sun Feb 2.  Visited the Wye Marsh where my mother volunteers.

 

 

 

Mon, Feb 3: First day of school, chose a cat

 

Tues, Feb 4: picked up cat “Colino7” from the SPCA.  Colino7 is a four-year-old neutered cat that apparently lived outside for a month or two before being brought in to the SPCA.  I say apparently because the volunteer at the pound pointed out that she only had the drop-off person’s word to go by and that wasn’t always trustworthy.  The cat is amazingly laid-back and has quickly adjusted to living in our home.  TLG, who loves the number seven, named the cat.

Wed, Feb 5: I drove to Toronto to Korean Consulate, and Barrie Drive Test for Ontario drivers licence

Thurs, Feb 6: Vet checkup for cat. All good

All this week, TLG watched a whole lot of TV – Treehouse channel

Fri, Feb 7: Big snow, buses cancelled but TLG went to school -only 20 students total.  Lots of fun.  We met Alex’s teacher, Mrs D.  She called TLG “Brilliant” regarding math.  She repeated that he helped his classmates on the math problems.  She had started him on Grade one spelling, which he is motoring through.  I thought it strange that he learn those words at a slow rate -I considered pushing him in that regard -but they are the basics of letter sounds and phonics.  I guess she knows what she is doing.  He has a good friend in class, Tyson, but is quiet in speaking to the full class.

 

 

Saturday, Feb 9: Big tobogganing day at Midland’s little lake park hill.

 

  TLG dressed in his hanbok and we recorded a bow and new years greeting in korean for YN and family.

 

 

 Made a snow fort and played inside.

 

Sunday, Feb 10, played in snow fort.  We shopped for Valentine’s Day card stock and a ‘ministick’. This is a tiny hockey stick that the kids use at recess at his school. Full size sticks should not be brought to the school but similar sticks are available for gym class. TLG was surprisingly quiet and cranky at the time.

He is still watching a lot of TV -no friends to visit or evening activities organized yet.  Perhaps due to the move and the changes, Alex needs me to hold him and sing lullabies to put him to sleep.
TLG has been uncomfortably interested in death and pets.  His questions have put my and Nana’s faulty memories on display.  We have told him about the cats Little Man, Blackjack, Tailor and Mums and the dogs Midnight, Misty, Buddy, Kingkong, Mr Mugs and Snoopy and I am happy to relive the good memories of these pets.  Still, he has asked how long these pets lived and how they died.  As I noted in our last visit to Canada, he asks similar questions many times possibly to ensure he knows all the details and understands them clearly.
Now that he has a pet of his own, he seems to be preparing for that time, probably when he enters university, when his cat will pass away.