What Were You Doing on Save The Frogs Day?

Illustration courtesy of Save the Frogs.com

Save The Frogs Day was celebrated this year on Saturday, April 30 with hundreds of events planned all around the globe. It is very encouraging to see that so many people care about amphibians and are acting on behalf of threatened and endangered frogs and toads. Preserving habitat is so critical to their survival. Protecting and supporting wetlands rather than draining them is absolutely vital. 

One easy thing we can do if we live in built-up areas where roads and highways intersect habitat is to be mindful of the fact that we actually share the road with other species. These small animals face incredible danger on a busy road and, unfortunately, they can't know what it is they are crossing.

So it is up to us to be cautious, caring and mindful. Slowing down, keeping to the speed limit and even stopping (safely!) to help a toad across the road - these are all ways in which we can reduce needless amphibian deaths.

And that mindfulness should extend to all animals, large or small, especially this time of year when their activity is heightened. They are out foraging for food, building nests and looking after young.

So be careful out there this spring. Watch out for deer, raccoons, opossum, squirrels, voles and moles, turtles and snakes.

And a special note for Londoners: Please slow down, people, along Harry White Drive at White Oak Road! White's Wetland ESA takes up the entire northeast corner and is home to all of the above! Obey the speed limit and/or reduce speeds. Please do not interpret "country road" as your license to drive "like a bat out of hell."

Industrial Wind Turbines, Migratory Birds and Political Shenanigans

If you are interested in expanding your understanding of this issue, the impact of IWTs on migratory birds, I urge you to read Wayne Wegner's passionately argued and brilliantly articulated essay, Location, Location, Location…Migration, Migration, Migration, embedded in the Middlesex Wind Action Group website. Scroll down through Issues, you will find it under the category "Wildlife."

The Wind Issue

As a follow-up to the previous post about wind farms, here are two links of note:

If you live in Middlesex County and have serious reservations about the continuing construction of wind farms in the county and in southern Ontario without proper environmental assessment and public input, then see what the Middlesex Wind Action Group has to say.

To gain a greater understanding of the issue and to learn more about the actual efficacy of wind energy, please visit Ontario's Wind Performance.

Why I Can't Fully Support Wind Farms in Ontario

Of course we need alternative energy sources. We cannot rely on fossil fuels much longer and I am certainly opposed to the cavalier approach most oil and gas companies take when it comes to the environment. And I don't buy their greenwashing either.

However, as environmentalists we would be wise to really question and examine all of our alternatives. In the province of Ontario wind energy has been promoted, above all other energy alternatives on the table, as the way to go. The problem is the Ontario government has been rubber-stamping projects willy-nilly, with very little concern for the surrounding environment or wildlife. The Ontario government repeatedly refuses to listen to biologists, naturalists and other members of the scientific community, many of whom merely want to point out the folly of some of the proposed locations, not denounce the industry as a whole.

And I don't even want to delve into the issue of who stands to profit or gain from all of this. That's a murky and mucky issue. Murkier and muckier than any swamp, bog or fen. No, there's even more to this preference for wind energy than meets the eye, and it's not all about folks who are simply concerned about the well-being of our planet. This has more to do with the pocketbooks of a small group of investors than it does with saving Planet Earth.

Let's not be naive. As with coal, gas, and oil, there are going to be wind barons, people who stand to get very rich from the wind energy industry. Let's not forget that this IS an industry, not a philanthropic endeavour led by a group of well-meaning, good-intentioned people. This is going to be about profits.

The Ontario government too hastily adopted wind as THE solution to our energy woes. We needed to explore and weigh other options - solar, for one. And what about geothermal energy? At the very least, the government should have been taking a more informed and enlightened approach when choosing wind farm locations. Not on migratory routes surely!

In any case, all this to preface the most recent update about TransAlta's Wolfe Island wind farm. This 86-turbine wind farm is a death trap for thousands of birds and bats. It should never have been built where it was built. The scientific and environmental communities were silenced and held at bay.

As a resident of the Great Lakes I am so deeply disturbed about the rampant, unchecked and unexamined proliferation of wind farms along our shores. And we have yet to really see how these turbines will perform. During this most recent heat wave, wind energy came up short, producing very little energy to offset our consumption when we needed it the most. A reliable source of energy for our future? Hardly.

Ontarians should all be very angry. Great Lakers should be very angry. No more wind farms without environmental impact studies first!

There's an election coming. Demand that!

Please visit the Nature Canada blog now to read the latest about TransAlta's Wolfe Island Wind Farm and the decimation of our bird populations.

A Year in Review Part III: All the “Tiny Green Things”

I’ve always had a profound love for wild things—I’m a big kid really, having never lost that childish instinct to reach out and pet something. It’s like a biological imperative, this need and desire to touch an animal. Silly, I know! Dog, cat, horse, deer, hare, crow…I revel in how animals and birds feel. I love their fur, their feathers, their feet, their hooves, their ears and, most of all, their eyes.

But I seem to have plumbed new depths of awareness and gentleness this year, which has astonished even me. Kneeling on the ground, stretching out in the ticklish grass or on the cool brown earth, just getting down close to the tiniest inhabitants of the wetland has yielded the most extraordinary joy. They have faces! They wear their skeleton on the outside. They have so many intricate moving parts, like marvelous articulated toys.

Only insects are much more precious than any manmade thing because they are living, breathing organisms—right under our feet, near us every day, even though we might not always be aware of their presence. They are indeed the silent majority. We think of them only when they bite us, sting us or ruin our picnics. But they are so much more than pests and pains.

If you say you love wild things, you cannot just love the big, charismatic creatures, like lions and zebras and elephants. No! You’ve got to embrace them all—the small, the pesky, the ugly—the faces only a mother could love. The “bugs” we humans call pests are truly marvels of nature. Even the house fly up close is a wonder of creation. E.O. Wilson knows it. Walt Whitman knew it. Now we all need to acknowledge it. And soon. We have to start valuing every living organism from plankton to polar bears or else we stand to lose them all. Lesson for humanity: the mighty depend on the miniscule.

So now as the snow lays thick and deep all around us, my mind is turning to the coming of spring and summer. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting up with a whole host of new insect buddies, learning more about them and watching them go about their daily, important work. In the depths of winter, I’m dreaming of damselflies and dung beetles.

Yes, 2010 was a good year. I learned that lymantriidae—tussock moths and kin—are no less lovely than a lynx.

Follow news from White’s Wetland on Twitter @tinygreenthings! Check it out from the sidebar...

Of Birds and Bugs and Butterflies: A Year in Review, Part I

What will I remember about 2010? One of the most delightful sights of my year was the daily stroll of the turkey mums with their young. Slowly and with great patience, these ungainly birds would take the kids out for an afternoon “constitutional” along the creek bed under the willows, all in single file. The little ones would straggle a bit from time to time, curious about their surroundings, but then they would hurry to catch up as best they could. But no youngster was ever left behind too long, as the attentive adults would occasionally stop and wait. Then the silent, methodical procession would resume. I counted twenty-six birds winding their way along the creek one day. By autumn, the young birds had grown so much it was hard to distinguish adult from offspring.

By the way, anyone interested in learning about wild turkeys can attend Nature London’s Talking Turkey on Tuesday, January 18, part of the Nature in the City series.

Looking back over 2010, I think I can safely say that, overall, the wild things that call this tract of land home seem to be doing reasonably well and holding their own. Sadly, the number of frogs and turtles was down this summer, yet the number (and variety) of birds observed was up. Birds not observed here in a very, very long time were turning up again, like the Bobolink. And there were birds we had never seen here before, like the Northern Mockingbird. Even now, with winter firmly entrenched and the snowdrifts deep, an Eastern Towhee has opted to stay around and seems to have taken up residence in a spruce tree. This is first time a Towhee has been officially spotted at the wetland and the fact that she is still here in December makes it doubly surprising.

And the butterflies! Giant yellow swallowtails were regular visitors, not to mention the many Red Admirals and more Monarchs than we have seen in years. These are all good signs. But I am still trying to identify one particular butterfly, an almost-black beauty that I caught only a fleeting glimpse of once I’m sorry to say. Hurry, summer!

I'll talk about "my bugs”in the next blog post…

As for the photo of the turkey hens above, I must thank D. Gordon E. Robertson and Wikimedia because I never seem to have the camera handy when I see my turkeys.

Trees ...

...make good homes. A black squirrel lives in this old maple on the property. He's a bit camera shy, however.

More about trees in the coming days, as we count down to Earth Day and to a very special event at White's Wetland.

Wildlife Week at the Wetland

It's Friday, but it's still National Wildlife Week in Canada! So get out there and walk for wildlife this weekend. The Canadian Wildlife Federation is trying to get everyone to "clock some kilometres" for wildlife. So rather than me re-explaining everything, just visit their website to learn more. Walk for Wildlife officially kicked off during National Wildlife Week and will end on May 22, International Day of Biodiversity.

Visit the Canadian Wildlife Federation. As they say, "Nature is coming alive again. Migrating birds are returning home. Trees are beginning to bud, animals are coming out of hibernation, and spring flowers are beginning to bloom."

And I think it has finally stopped raining. Or snowing. Or whatever that was. So there's no excuse!

Wildlife Week at the Wetland: Deer!

Spotted yesterday: "our" deer family on the move!

Did you know that white-tailed deer are relative newcomers to much of the range they now occupy in Canada? Long ago, when the first Europeans were exploring this land, this graceful mammal was found only in the most southerly parts of Canada—such as our own southern Ontario region—but not beyond Lake Nipissing to the north. The current range of the white-tailed deer in Canada is quite extensive.

What caused this change in range? Probably a combination of events, but high on the list most likely is the extent of human settlement in southern Canada, pushing deep into every corner of southwestern Ontario and pushing the deer range farther north.

Over time, southern Ontario has become increasingly urbanized, further reducing deer habitat. However, it is still possible to see them in our southern Ontario woods and bush areas. Still, between winter food shortages and the continual loss of habitat, the white-tailed deer, while having greatly expanded its overall range, has also experienced declines in population levels.

There are sixteen sub-species of white-tailed deer in North America. Only three of these species live in Canada.