EVENTS IN THE AREA & REQUESTS FOR HELP
Do you have a maple tree? Volunteer it for tapping by newcomers to Peterborough
Submitted by Jay Fitzsimmons
Maple syrup is a great part of Canadian nature and culture. For immigrants, learning how to make your own maple syrup is exciting but daunting.
The Peterborough Field Naturalists has partnered with the New Canadians Centre to introduce immigrants to the experience of making maple syrup. Thanks to a Community Projects grant from PFN, we’ve purchased 15 sets ofmaple-tapping equipment to loan out to families with the New Canadians Centre. This will be our first year, and we’re excited. But we need maple trees.
Many immigrants don’t have a yard with a big maple tree. Many also don’t have a car. So we are hoping to hook them up with generous neighbours who have a maple tree they are willing to volunteer for tapping. If you live in Peterborough, and you have a sugar maple that’s at least 25 cm diameter at breast height, please consider volunteering it to be tapped. We’re especially interested in maples downtown or near apartment buildings. You don’t need to do any work.
Email [email protected] with your tree’s address. If any NCC families who want to tap live nearby, I’ll contact you to arrange things. We’ll follow tapping guidelines to keep your tree healthy. Thanks for helping, eh!
Pathway to Stewardship and Kinship Workshops
March 2 - Tell a Tale: Sharing Nature Through Stories With Young Children
March 23 - Creative Outdoor Playspaces with Adam Bienenstock
To learn more and preregister, visit Pathwayproject.ca/workshops
Note: The Pathway to Stewardship & Kinship needs more volunteers as there is so much interest in the schools in learning more about the natural environment. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Cathy Dueck at [email protected]
Call for Volunteers to Monitor Threatened Chorus Frogs This Spring!
Frogs will soon be calling, and we are calling on YOU!
The threatened western chorus frog (WCF) has recently experienced population declines. In response, a long-term monitoring program has been created by Blazing Star Environmental, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Trent University. This program will help us understand the changing WCF distribution. Data collected will allow the conservation community to detect and respond to WCF range declines over time.
Since the WCF range is large and the calling period is short, this program will rely on individuals to conduct short call surveys, beginning as early as March 2022. For more details about the program, please contact [email protected]
Wildlife Tracking Outings - Members Only
PFN member, Don McLeod, will once again lead members on one or more outings during the months of November to March focusing on tracks and other wildlife signs. These outings will be scheduled when weather conditions permit. The place and time will be announced by e-mail shortly before each outing. Anyone interested in attending should send an e-mail to Don McLeod at [email protected] so he can add you to an e-mail distribution list. If you signed up for previous outings, you would automatically receive an e-mail to confirm.
Accessibility: Moderate to somewhat challenging. These outings will all involve walking in snowy conditions.
Hello naturalist friends,
Hello Peterborough Field Naturalists,
My name is Zach Kahn, I am an Ecologist at Blazing Star Environmental, an environmental consulting firm based in Oshawa.
Blazing Star Environmental has an exciting year ahead of us. For the past four years we have partnered with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Trent University to carry out a long-term, range-wide monitoring program for the western chorus frog. We are happy to announce that spring 2022 will be the third monitoring season for the program! This year will also be the last monitoring season before a 5-year hiatus.The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence-Canadian shield population of Western Chorus Frog is listed as Threatened in Canada, and declines have been anecdotally noted in recent years. Our project hopes to determine the distribution and extent of the Western Chorus Frog in its range through periodic monitoring of the species. However, the success of this program is largely dependent on a strong base of organizations and individual volunteers willing to complete short surveys during the chorus frog calling season. Currently, we are in the process of recruiting volunteers to conduct these surveys.
We are hoping to appeal to the network of volunteers that might be interested in conducting frog call surveys. We are wondering if it would be possible to include a short article about this monitoring program in monthly newsletters, posting on a website news bulletin, or social media? We will also be hosting a free virtual information webinar on Saturday (February 12th) at 11am. The webinar will be talking about what volunteers can expect from the program and some results from last year's monitoring efforts.
Please let me know if you would be interested in promoting our program and I will happily send you some promotional materials to share. If you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Zach
Zachary Kahn
Wildlife Monitoring Technician
Blazing Star Environmental
104 McLaughlin Blvd.,
Oshawa, ON L1G 2P3
(613) 985 8463
The Arboretum, University of Guelph, Workshops
The Arboretum offers workshops all year round covering a wide variety of topics from birds to mushrooms to gardening to art. Virtual programs are offered live on Zoom, and recordings are made available for registrants to access for a limited time. Details on registration policies can be found on our Registration Information page.
View a complete list of The Arboretum's programs on our Workshop Descriptions page.
We are excited to be offering some of our programs in-person, once again. Please note that COVID procedures as applicable at the time of the workshop will be followed. The university's guidelines can be found at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/covid19/
Masks are required to be worn at all programs while inside and outside of our buildings. Proof of vaccination is required to attend and University of Guelph screening must be completed the day you are attending the program.
The University of Guelph screening form to attend our workshops can be found at: https://uoguelph.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Ntfm8k1oXAPssm. We will need to see the email you receive or a screenshot of the green checkmark.
Upcoming & Current Workshops
![Interested in learning more about using species reporting platforms, such as eBird and iNaturalist? Jenn Baici, a PhD Candidate at Trent University, is offering a three-hour introductory workshop all about eBird, iNaturalist, and other commonly (and not-so commonly) used species reporting platforms. She will cover 1. How to create profiles, 2. How to add observations, and 3. Who uses these reporting platforms and why. Jenn Baici is studying wild turkey social structure and behaviour in the Peterborough area. Part of Jenn’s research also involves estimating the size and distribution of Ontario’s wild turkey population with the help of citizen scientists. For the past several winters, Jenn has requested and curated wild turkey observations submitted through eBird and iNaturalist and is using this data to model where turkeys are today and where they may go in the future. She has extensive experience navigating these platforms as a user and as a researcher and is extremely excited to share her knowledge of them with the Peterborough community to further wildlife research while fostering community engagement with nature. Contact Jenn Baici directly for more information: jenniferbaici@trentu.ca jenniferbaici[at]trentu[dot]ca](https://peterboroughnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ebirdiNaturalist.png "ebirdiNaturalist")
