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<<First Name>>, welcome to August's instalment of The Skink. It's been a busy month here at The Land Between, with our new Lake Health project soft launched, turtle hatchling season in full swing, and aerial insectivore research ongoing! See what's new with us, check out our upcoming events for September (including a walk and ceremony for Haliburton's oldest turtle, Grace) and what our team has been reading this month below!
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Soft Launch for Lake Health "Blue Lakes" Project
After 12 years of consolidating and modelling data for over 2,700 lakes in cottage country along with 4 years of crafting a meaningful program, we are extremely excited to be soft launching our Blue Lakes project! The project includes an ecolabel and a suite of tools to empower community members to care for their lakes. The ecolabel is a recognizable seal associated with participant actions tailored to each lake and is achieved annually to remain enrolled in the program. The data that we have collected and analyzed will also aid in the understanding of trends and actions required to maintain lake health and integrity. Its current stage - soft launch - will allow us to estimate responses and tailor our efforts. Learn more!
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Aerial Insectivore Research
In August, our aerial insectivore research continued full steam ahead! We've now sampled over 40 habitats for insect biomass, which is indicative of food availability for aerial insectivores and other songbirds. We are also mapping new locations for Motus towers, which are receiver towers that help track the migration of birds tagged with special radio transmitters. This allows us to consistently track birds, without the need to handle them on the ground after their initial capture, providing vital data for their conservation!
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Hatchling Update
August has come to a close and hatchling season is in full swing! This year, we incubated 7,198 snapping turtle eggs, 535 Blanding's turtle eggs, and 733 painted turtle eggs. So far, we have released 4,825 of the hatchlings with more come as the eggs continue to hatch! We excavate eggs under a permit from areas where threats of vehicular collision and predation is high, areas where only 3% of eggs would be expected to hatch. Our intervention, through excavation and incubation, increases hatchling success to between 94 and 97%.
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- Want to learn all about Motus towers? Learn more in this blog!
- Interested about a day in the life of a field technician, the people behind rescuing eggs and releasing hatchlings at The Land Between? Read more here.
- Learn how to live with and without mosquitos in The Land Between in this blog!
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🦟 Manage Mosquitos Responsibly! Summer in cottage country means bugs, and bugs (mosquitos specifically) are often seen as a nuisance to those wishing to enjoy the outdoors. Did you know, though, that mosquitos are absolutely vital to the health of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, playing a significant role in their food chains? It's understandable to want to avoid them, but managing them on your property should be done responsibly to ensure you don't disrupt these ecosystems and harm wildlife.
Our top tips?
- Remove, limit, or cap LED night lighting. Mosquitoes are attracted to the blue sky at dusk. LED lights are in the blue spectrum, so they attract these bugs to your door.
- Plant and maintain native plants that host dragonflies, bats, or birds, all who balance the ecosystem and consume thousands of mosquitoes in one night!
- Wear loose, light-coloured, long clothing! This can reduce the number of mosquitos that land on you by up to 90% given mosquitos have difficulty seeing these light colours.
For more behavioural changes you can make as well as other ways to responsibly reduce mosquitos on your property, read more here!
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Design-Your-Own Shoreland Garden Workshop
September 15th, 7pm, online
A naturalized shoreland can provide erosion control, create a key habitat for wildlife, support pollinators, and deter geese from your property! Natural shores can also be manicured and beautiful, while being fully eco-functional! In this workshop, you'll receive expert consultation catered to your property, walking away with all the knowledge and skills you need to naturalize your shoreland! Price is $40 per person.
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Saving Grace Walk & Ceremony
September 24th, 11am, downtown Haliburton
Join us for an Anishinaabe Mskhiki Dodem (Turtle Clan), Nibi Teaching, walk and prayer ceremony for Grace, Cottage Country's oldest female turtle on record, who has not had a verified sighting since her hibernation site was filled in. Event includes honoured guests: Anishinaabe Elder, Dorothy Taylor-McCue, and Anishinaabe Turtle Clan members of the Toronto Turtle Protectors Group.
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Foraging Isn't Actually That Cool
Kate's Pick
This piece by Modern Farmer is really illuminating with respect to the environmental and health risks of foraging, which has grown both locally and globally in popularity in recent years with the farm-to-table movement. Things like unsustainable harvesting (taking too much), unthoughtful harvesting (taking without a plan for use), trodding over delicate vegetation, and more are covered.
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Indigenous Guardians
Leora's Pick
Indigenous Guardians are trained experts who manage protected areas, restore animals and plants, test water quality and monitor development. They play a vital role in creating land-use and marine-use plans. And they connect youth with Elders and provide training that prepare young people to become the next generation of educators, ministers and leaders. Video here.
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Thanks for reading! Want to help support our cause? Your generosity is vital to help protect, conserve, and research this nationally unique and globally rare landscape. To make a receipted donation, follow the link below.
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