Saturday June 24: Tiny Marsh BioBlitz

Black Tern chicks and parent -Jennifer Howard photo

By Kate Harries Springwater News

The elegant and acrobatic Black Tern is a species of special concern in Ontario – but Tiny Marsh has a healthy breeding population of these interesting birds. Dave Moore of the Canadian Wildlife Service, who is leading a research project focusing on the migration and winter habitat of the Tiny Marsh Black Terns, is one of the leaders of a series of outings that have been organized throughout the day as part of the Tiny Marsh BioBlitz.

The Saturday June 24 event is a chance for the public to explore the fascinating world of one of southern Ontario’s largest wetlands in the company of experts.

Among them:

–Lynn Short, professor of horticulture at Humber College, who will make the world of plants come alive for you.

–Genevieve Rowe, of the Laurence Packer Bee Lab at York University, who brings her expert eye to bear on the Tiny Marsh wild bee populations.

–Chris Evans of the Brereton Field Naturalists Club, the naturalist who discovered the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly at the Minesing Wetland, who will lead a morning walk on dragonflies. (A well-known bird expert, Evans also leads one of the 6am bird walks).

Other walks focus on amphibians, fish, insects and more. The idea of a BioBlitz is to find as many different species of everything as we can. Each species – be it the Square-stemmed Monkey Flower, the Midland Painted Turtle or the Black-crowned Night Heron – gets counted once, regardless of how many individuals there are. It makes for a day that brings all ages together in an enjoyable joint endeavour.

Walks take about two hours and target different types of wildlife. See schedule below, with full details available at eventbrite.ca. Cost for adults is $15 a person, for the whole day, or for just one walk. Children and youth 16 or under are free. A BBQ lunch is included, as well as a t-shirt (while numbers last – register online now at eventbrite.ca to be sure of getting a t-shirt). Registration at the Tiny Marsh Nature Centre on the day is fine too.

Schedule:

EARLY MORNING 6 am – 9:30 am

-Waterfowl Viewing / Dave McLachlin of Ducks Unlimited Canada

-Bird Challenge / Ken MacDonald and Chris Evans MORNING 10 am to Noon -Family Walk / Lisa Levez and David Eales

-Plant Discovery / Lynn Short and Clare Holden

-Pollinator Patrol / Genevieve Rowe and John Hamilton

-Fascinating Insects / Yvonne Metcalfe -Damsels and Dragons / Chris Evans, Ken MacDonald and Dan Whittam

-On the Wing and Underfoot / Jim Charlebois and Dave Moore LUNCH 12 noon – 1 pm at the Nature Centre

AFTERNOON 1-3 pm

-Black Terns and other marsh breeding birds / Dave Moore and Ken MacDonald

-Pollinator Patrol / Genevieve Rowe and John Hamilton -Plant Discovery / Lynn Short and Clare Holden

-Life in the Swamp / David Eales and Bob Reader

WINDING DOWN 3:30-4:30 pm

-The Big Sit

THANKS to our sponsors:

BEAN (Biodiversity Education and Awareness Network); BIG 101.1; Brereton Field Naturalists’ Club; CORUS; Ducks Unlimited Canada; Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival; Fresh Radio 93.1; Midland Penetanguishene Field Naturalists Club; Ritchie’s Garden Centre; Rock 95; Springwater News; The Dock 104.1; The Peak 95.1 FM; Township of Springwater; Township of Tiny; Wild Birds Unlimited, 107.5 KOOL-FM.

Kate Harries is a director of the MTM Conservation Association, host of the Tiny Marsh BioBlitz.