NL Fall 11.indd - MyCollingwood.ca

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In June, twenty seven Nature Leaguers spent a
wonderful 2 night, 3 day period in Tobermory,
staying at the Coach House Inn and enjoying
the hospitality of Ruth Vance and her staff.
We were impressed with the Tourist information-
centre. All of us soaked in the natural beauty of
the area. Delicious meals, social get togethers
and spectacular walks led by Carolyn
Moerschner who with husband Harry organized
the entire event. A memorable time!
Flower Pot Island
Carolyn Moerscchner leads a walk
Peter Long and
some serious
“Shuffling”on the
Shuffle board.
Harry Moerschner
and the“Butterfly
Dance.” What!!
Some people will
bend over backwards
to have fun.
( John Capon )
President Hill gearing up!
{
INCORPORATED AS SENIOR LEAGUE ENDOWMENT SOCIETY OF COLLINGWOOD
FALL ISSUE 2011
AGM
Nature
League
Wednesday 14th September at
Trinity United Church, Collingwood
140 MAPLE ST. ( Between 2nd & 3rd Streets )
10 : 00 AM COFFEE/SOCIAL
10 : 30 AM AGM
Lunch ( Dishes/Cutlery provided ) $6 per person
The threat of invasive plants
Guest Speaker
Hayley Anderson
Co-ordinator,
Ontario Invasive Plant Council
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Since 2004, the Nature League has been
presenting Awards ($300 cash awards ) to local
graduating students who have shown a passion
for the Environment and who will be pursuing
studies related to the Environment at College
or University.
Collingwood Collegiate CCI
June 29th: Award presented to Charita Ellis
by Migs Baker
Migs Baker (left) N.L.
Director, presents award
at CCI to Charita Ellis.
Stayner Collegiate SCI
June 29th: Award presented to Josh Kraan
by Lois Plowright, N.L. member
Georgian Bay Secondary School ( Meaford )
Fall 2011
£
President’s message
CAROLE HILL
I hope everyone has
enjoyed our past
year, the fall and
spring walks, our winter season,
our speakers and various socials.
June saw a first for the Nature
League, a two night stay in
Tobermory with some wonderful
walks, a resounding success which
we hope to repeat next year. Our
thanks to Carolyn and Harry
Moerschner for organizing this.
We would like to thank our renewing members for their support and
generous donations. Our fall programme, organized by Esmonde
Clarke, is enclosed.
Regarding our fundraiser for next
year, I am delighted to report that
John Capon has agreed to Chair the
committee for the Eco-House tour.
We are looking for members to
serve on this fundraiser committee.
On a sad note our Treasurer, Barbara
Kreutle, passed away in the spring.
She made an enormous contribution and will be missed by the
Board and her many friends.
This is my final year serving the
Nature league as President and that
position will pass to Clare Capon,
a long time board member. I could
not have served as President over
the last four years without the contribution made by the Board and
I wish to thank every member for
their support. I hope to see everyone at the AGM on September 14.
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Scientists finger climate change as culprit for dwindling numbers
/
he first documented evidence
of the baffling disappearance
of up to 90 per cent of snake
colonies in five separate spots
on the globe has “large scale
implications” for humanity, a Canadian
expert says.
The “most obvious cause, intuitively,
would be climate change,” biologist
Jason Head of the University of Toronto, told the Star. “Snakes are top predators in their eco system,” says Head.
“They are regulators on rodents.
If we remove that regulator, you can
expect an increase in the numbers of
disease vectoring (carrying) animals.”
Venomous snakes are taking the biggest hit in the findings, which has serious consequences for medicine, says
Head. “Snakes are not an insignificant
component of human society”, he said
“There are large scale implications”
to the disappearance of some kinds
of snakes, including the role of snake
venom in medicine. “You can draw
your own conclusions.”
A recently published study in the
journal Biology Letters, involvng painstaking research in England, Nigeria,
Australia, Italy and France, discovered
eight species in 17 snake populations in
those widely different climates that had
“declined drastically,” said Dr. Christopher Reading, lead researcher for the
study.
“In some populations, the decline
was 70 to 90 per cent,” Reading of the
Center for Ecology and Hydrology in
Wallingford, England, told the Star.
“ This is the first documented evidence that some snake populations
have declined. And the fact that it happened all at the same time, irrespective
of geography, indicates there is something at a higher level behind it.”
work with “Reading explained. His
team used a tag similar to the microchip that veterinarians use on dogs
or cats, while the Italian researchers
tracked their snakes with a permanent
mark on their belly scales.
In all, 11 species were followed as far back as the 1980’s
through 2005. In the late 1990’s,
certain species started vanishing.
Reprinted with the permission of the
Toronto Star and the author Lesley
Ciarula Taylor.
The Python Regius is one of the species of
snakes found to be disappearing at an
alarming rate
In particular, the fairly sedentary
snakes that use an “ambush foraging
technique disappeared in greater numbers compared with the wide-ranging,
active foragers.” said Reading.
And those most sedentary snakes
tended to be the venomous ones.
“The scale and precision of this
study” impressed Head.
While researchers were careful not to
pin the mysterious decline on
any one cause, the vastly different
geologies of the regions, from tropical
to temperate, suggested “one ultimate
driving mechanism,”with climate
change the clearest culprit, he said. “It’s
alarming, to be honest,” Head said.
“This is a compelling analysis that
is certainly going to get a lot of people
lookingat the diversity of the species.”
The next stage of study, Reading
said, would be to track more snake
colonies and more species in more
parts of the world, including
North America.“It’s possible what
we have found is an aberration.
But I suspect it is much more
widespread.
Reading makes it clear the
discovery is only the first stage.
“The whole reason for this paper
“was to say look, this is what we’ve
found. We are quite alarmed by it, so
we are flagging it so that herpetologists
around the world will look at it”.
Snakes are “quite difficult animals to
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In a letter to Marlene Esson, our
Ontario Nature Rep., Victoria Foote
of Ontario Nature reported that 3,500
people have now signed Ontario’
Nature’s 20/20 vision for Biodiversity in Ontario. She expressed her
thanks to the Nature League and its
members for supporting their charter
outlining how our different levels of
government can take action to slow
the loss of biodiversity by 2020.
Well done everyone!!
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Invasive Garlic Mustard pull in May
with David Featherstone NVCA
Bayview Nature Reserve
“Katie” of Wasaga Parks leads “Dunes” walk and talk
Wendy Parker’ bent” on
doing a good job.
Raymond & Zaiga
Smemanis, Esmonde
Clarke & Marlene
Esson.
April Social
Migs Baker, Diane
Kizik Macdonald &
Carole Hill
Storck Lecture
Thornbury Library
DR. Peter Storck
May’s Lecture
A great time at the Cauthers
Barbeque.
Chef Barry Parker
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Car Pool time: 9:45 a.m
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Car pool time : 9;45 am.
Conc. 10 or Hwy. 124 south to Duntroon sideroad (Simcoe Cty rd. 91) Turn
right proceed to “T” intersection
( Clearview Osprey Townline ), north
to end and park. 2.1k loop, good views,
not difficult. leader: Janet Howden.
705-444-6104
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Great Hall, Trinity United Church,
140 Maple Street, Collingwood.
Guest speaker: Hayley Anderson
10.00 am Coffee / Social /10.30 AGM
Drive west on Cty rd.19 ( becomes 9th
sideroad ) past Grey Cty rd. 2 to the
10th line Turn left and proceed on 10th
line past Metcalfe Rock parking lot on
your left. Continue to the 6th sideroad.
I will meet you there at 10.15. We will
drive to the 3rd line and the trout
ponds where we will meet Bruce Green
for our tour of spring fed ponds. You
can buy the trout at the Ravenna store
on Cty Rd. 2. We will walk after the
tour so bring your lunch and a drink.
Leader: Clare Capon 519-599-5582
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Car Pool time: 9:30 a.m.
Take Hwy. 26 east to Minesing. Turn
South on George Johnson Rd. Proceed
4.5 kms. to trailhead. There is a a small
parking lot, but it would be best to
park along side the road. I will be there
early in my green Subaru as a marker.
The trail is flat and easy to walk on
and we will walk along it to the second
bridge and then return, approx. 2hrs.
There is a small Italian restaurant in
Minesing called Giancicco’s and they
will be able to accomodate us for lunch
afterwards. Leader Gail Worth
705-444-1250
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Car Pool time 8.45 am
Clarksburg
Tim Tully, Natural Heritage Education
leader will lead the walk/talk. Following a Fall theme, Tim will discuss
wildlife’s tolerance to the oncoming
colder temperatures, looking specifically at migration, hibernation, fall leaf
colour change, seed dispersal as well
as specific adaptations such as freeze
tolerance and avoidance.
Car Pool time: 9:45 a.m.
From Collingwood take Hwy26, drive
through Wasaga Beach ( Mosley St.),
taking River Rd. west ( Hwy. 92 ) at
MacDonalds. Continue on Hwy. 92 to
Cty. Rd. 29. Turn left onto Cty Rd. 29
North. Continue to the end of Cty. Rd.
29 and turn right onto Conc. 4. Travel to
Cty. Rd. 6 and turn left passing through
Wyevale & Perkinsfield to Lafontaine
Rd. ( Esso on corner ). Turn right and
follow the signs to Awenda.
Enter park and drive to registration office. Assemble just past the office
( approx 10.15 am ) for drive to start of
activity. Senior entry fee $ 11.00 per car.
Degree of difficulty: easy
Contact Gary/Lois Cauthers
705 466 2272
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Take Hwy.26 west from Collingwood
towards Thornbury. Turn left on Grey
Rd. 2 Turn right on Clark St. through
Clarksburg going west across bridge
to 10th line, turn left down hill curving
right at bridge into parking lot.
It takes about 25 mins. This beautiful
conservation area was developed by
our own Mac Kirk and there is a stone
bench dedicated to him overlooking
the pond. The trails along the river
are very pretty. The walk should take
about 1 1/2 hours and 1 hour for lunch.
Easy walking, benches to sit on.
Leader; Lynda Eades 519-599-5842
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Car pool time 8.45 am.
Take Hwy. 26 west to Owen Sound
( becomes 16th St. East ) left on 9th
Ave. East, right on 10th St. East, down
hill. across bridge and right on second
Ave.West.- becomes Cty Rd. 1
(cont. over)
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Bass Lake continued.
North through Balmy Beach and East
Linton, north to Kemble Rock Rd. , angle left to Kemble, left 3km. to Lundy
Rd. Turn left and proceed to end and
park on grass. Do not block farmer’s
lane. Interesting 3km. loop, some hills,
moderate. Leader Bill Klein
519-534-5755
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Just a reminder to those who have yet
to renew their membership. We
appreciate your continuing support.
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Take Grey County. Rd. 2 south past
Kolapore North parking lot on left.
Approx. 3.8 kms.further on road curves
to left. Turn right, past large Grey Cty
forest sign. Go west, past first intersection to old bottling plant parking lot on
left. Approx. 5 kms., easy walking conditions. “Soups On” at Migs following
walk or if walk cancelled”Soups On”
only at 12:00 noon.
Leader Migs Baker: 705-445-4097
Ê - « i V ˆ >  Ê Û i ˜ Ì
November 16th Wednesday
Building a better world
A healthy environment for our grandchildren will depend
on the contributions
each of us can make
in our lives to make
a difference.
In keeping with our upcoming ECOHousing fundraiser we are pleased to
have Julie Scarcella address our group.
Julie, a director with bre ( Building
Research Establishment ), will discuss
green building practices for the future,
including healthy, efficient & ecofriendly homes to lessen the Carbon
footprint.
L. E. Shore Library in Thornbury
10.00 am Coffee/ 10.30 am Lecture
Question and answer period
Thank you to the Spring Program
Coordinator, Esmonde Clarke, with
input from Marlene Esson, and to the
many walk leaders for a rewarding
time.
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Ê " / ÊÓ È / Car Pool time: 9.45 am.
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* Highland“mega”quarry Melancthon:
2,300 acre deep pit lime stone mine:
200 ft below the water table.
Issues: water, transportation and loss
of farmland
* Walker quarry Duntroon expansion
OMB hearings concluded - decision
to come: To financially support the
Clearview Community Coalition in
their efforts to save the Escarpment
make cheque payable to the
“Environmental Defence,” tagged
C.C.C and mail to: Clearview
Community Coalition, Box 68,
Duntroon, Ont. L0M 1H0
( $510.000 raised so far. Final bill
approximately $610.000 )
7iVœ“iʘiÜʓi“LiÀÃ
Louisa Vaillancourt
Maureen and Daniel Hennessy
InMemoriam
BARBARA KREUTLE
Barbara Kreutle passed away in
May. For many years Barbara has
been a dedicated member serving
as treasurer until her death. Our
thoughts and sympathy to her
partner Fred
* MAQ Aggregate Proposal
A L L E N B A R N S TA P L E
* Havens & Huntingwood Trails
Condolences to: Carolin Barnstaple
whose husband Allen passed away
on June 12th.
Near the Walker quarry
Residential development proposals
threaten the Silver Creek Wetland:
* Castle Glen Proposed Interim Water
Supply Issues:
* Georgian Gate Residential
development proposal impacts
sensitive wetland areas
To the many members who write letters
of protest addressing their concerns
and to those members such as Don
Kerr, Norm Wingrove & Garry Reid,
who spend countless hours advocating
on our behalf, a big heartfelt thank you!
È
JUSTIN CORK
Condolences to the family of
member Justin Cork who recently
passed away
K AY P E R C I VA L
Belated sympathy to the family of
Kay Percival who, her daughter
advised, passed away November
30th 2010
Nature league P.O.Box 572
Collingwood Ontario, L9Y 4E8