After many months of planning and partnership-building the time was finally here! We have installed our first Motus Tower in Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve to support bird research in the Highlands, which contributes to tri-national effort! We will now be able to track some bird species that arrive in Haliburton County, and who have travelled all the way from south America. The Motus tower can track birds that arrive within a 20-30 km radius of the tower within Haliburton Forest. Knowing where birds land and which habitats they use will also allow us to estimate priority sites for conservation and protection. This tower is the first of three that The Land Between will be installing.
To install the tower, our bird expert Xavier Tuson (who many of you recently attended the birding walks with) lead our team to new heights as they climbed up a 150 foot tower for the installation!
A Motus Tower is a receiver for radio signals that are emitted every 5 seconds from microchips that have been fastened to bird's backs by researchers all over the Americas. Currently, there are Motus towers in many places across southern and northern America, which means we can track a bird's full migration pattern/flight route and also understand where and what habitats that they are using!
Birds are excellent bio-indicators of habitat health! By understanding more about how birds move and where they live we will also learn more about the functions and health of the ecosystems in which they reside, including the health of plants, trees, the presence of pollinators, food sources such as seeds, and also whether the habitat is healthy enough to support other associated species.
In particular, our specific goal for these towers in the Land Between is to use them to understand the migration patterns and habitat requirements for aerial insectivores (birds whose diets consist mainly or entirely of bugs) such as the whippoorwill. Aerial insectivores are the fastest declining species of birds, due to habitat loss and large reductions in insect populations, making their conservation of the utmost importance.
Motus towers were developed through partners such as Birds Canada!
|
|
|
Introducing Our New Knowledge-series; "What Do You Mean The Land Between"
|
|
|
Did you know that The Land Between bioregion boasts more lakes than anywhere in Ontario? It is the transportation route that Champlain took to cross Ontario. It is the home to the majority of Ontario's osprey, hummingbirds, skinks, and even turtles! The Land Between is also a meeting place of moose and deer, river otter and woodchuck, blueberry and strawberry. These unique meetings occur here because the Land Between sits between the Canadian Shield and St. Lawrence Lowlands in what ecologists call an "ecotone". This region is such a unique and important area in Ontario that we want to share knowledge about it's special characteristics with the world! Therefore, we are introducing a new series called: "What do you mean the Land Between?"! Social media and regular articles posts will give you insights into what the Land Between is, its wildlife, rich culture, fascinating history, creative economy , and what functions it provides to Ontarians! Track this series on our Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and be sure to pass on the newsletter to anyone who would be interested!
Did you know that the Land between is home to over 2000 large-ish lakes! With this incredible amount of lakes comes an amazing diversity of fish, insects, plants and mammals. Lakes are extremely important ecosystems and yet, lakes in the Land Between are fragile because they are sensitive cold water systems with low nutrients and limited soils to buffer contaminants. Small changes on land can result in big changes in these basins! This is why, although the region has many lakes, it is of the utmost importance that we do our best to treat them with respect. By caring for our lakes and considering them in everything we do on our property, we are also caring for all the life that relies on these waters.
|
|
|
|
Learn more about how the Land Between region is special by watching this video!
|
|
|
|
The Land Between is home to diverse natural landscapes full of nautre's sights and sounds. Its marvels attract people from all over the world who visit here with the hopes of experiencing nature up close and personal. Many people say that they love wildlife and express this love through FOOD! However, when it comes to caring for wildlife, feeding them is not the way to help. In fact, in our now modern, globalized, and complex world doing so can actually cause significant damage to wildlife and their habitats. The reality is that feeding wildlife has numerous consequences of which most of us are unaware. These consequences include negative impacts on animals' health, behaviour, survival and ultimately integrity of entire natural systems!
For instance, when we feed deer, and especially if we feed deer bread and worse, towards autumn, we are impacting their metabolisms. During this time, under natural conditions, their metabolisms would normally be slowing down in preparation for the long winter, however, the carbohydrates from bread keep their systems running at a "high" level. This heightened metabolic activity then prevents them from storing the necessary fat that they need to navigate colder days. Bread also changes their gut flora and can make them sick. In addition, when deer become reliant on or expect food provided by humans, they begin congregating near where humans live. This increased proximity causes deer to lose their natural fear of us which can lead to more aggressive behaviour towards humans, and causes increased rates of road strikes. Artificial feeding of deer can also change their natural feeding patterns and population abundance, causing certain areas to become overgrazed. Deer and other organisms are also important for native species seed dispersal (bringing seed from one area to another); however when feeds contain foreign seed species, deer can actually help to spread invasive species. Finally, because deer are moving out of forests, other predators, such as wolves and coyotes, are changing their patterns to find food. Thus, entire forest ecosystems can be affected simply by feeding deer! So, next time you considering feeding wildlife remember the age old saying "Fed is Dead".
When wanting to experience the beauty and beings of the Land Between we must be conscientious of the impacts that our behaviour has on this last wilderness expanse of southern Ontario. Choose to interact with wildlife in other ways such as by observing their behaviour with humility and providing/creating natural habitat!
|
|
|
Want to support wildlife on your property?
|
|
|
|
Many of us have come to the Land Between to experience nature, but are unsure of how we can support the nature that we love. The Highland Habitats Health Check-up is a program that gives landowners knowledge and skills to help wildlife on their own properties. Receive an assessment of the ecological health of your property and suggestions on how to improve it!
|
|
|
Muskoka Shows Leadership in Protecting Lake Health
Bylaws are upheld to support the Ribbon of Life
|
|
|
Muskoka has been leading the way in shoreland stewardship to ensure that lakes stay healthy for future generations. They have been organized advocates for lake health, using science, monitoring, bylaws, and enforcement to protect the environment. Without playing favourites or politics, they have upheld these values, even when a local business leader installed a huge stone wall on the shore of his property. Read the full article from the Huntsville Forester here
|
|
All of us have a role to play in the protection of land and species. For those of us who are fortunate enough to spend time in nature, and in the Land Between especially, we are acutely aware of the changes that are happening all around us. Land Knowledge Circles provides a platform for concerned citizens to have their voices heard and to share their optimism, fear and stories both new and old. Our Land Knowledge Circles are Traditional democratic and inclusive forums conducted to gain insight, find solutions and build capacity in our communities. During COVID-19 we have limited in-person gatherings, but are now requesting your opinions about nature. Want to share what Nature means to you? Complete our Nature Survey
|
|
|
|
A Land Knowledge Circles story from Mary McKinnon about how she has noticed changes in the Land Between
|
|
|
The Great Monarch Butterfly Migration
|
|
|
|
With its brilliant bright orange, black, and white markings, the monarch butterfly is a beautiful insect and arguably one of the most recognizable butterfly species to inhabit North America. Their life cycle begins when an egg is laid on a milkweed plant. After 3-5 days, the egg hatches, and a baby caterpillar emerges and begins its tireless phase of feeding. Monarch Caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed as they grow and molt over a two week period. After two weeks of feeding, they then form a chrysalis where they undergo metamorphosis. After roughly another two weeks, they emerge as an adult butterfly. The adult monarch spends it life feeding on nectar from wild flowers, looking for mates, and laying eggs to continue their life cycle, but it is in the fall when one of the greatest phenomena in the natural world occurs; the monarch butterfly migration.
|
|
|
|
Birds are inspiring and uplifting with their amazing movements and their cheery or spirit-raising calls. It is strange, however, to watch them gracefully gliding through the air, and then to fathom that they used to be theropod dinosaurs (the same family as the Tyrannosaurus Rex). Birds have been around since time immemorial! They continue to grace us with their presence, however, there are fewer and fewer around. Many of us have noticed changes in the bird song symphony we used to hear in our youth. Are we imagining it? Where are all the birds? Why are they disappearing?
|
|
You have seen Phragmites australis but maybe you didn't even know it!
Phragmites australis is everywhere and spreading quickly. From cottage country to the GTA; from Ontario's Highlands to the Gatineaus, and from Sudbury to Lake Erie Phragmites is spreading.
Phragmites australis is an invasive species of reed that arrived in Canada from Europe in the early 1920s with its first appearance in the St.Lawrence River Valley. Since then, it has traveled into the Land Between and is now distributed all over the United States. This reed is a vigorous grower which often out-competes native wetland species, like cattails, and reduces the habitat for all our native wetland species. In fact it grows so thick in our wetlands and lakeshores that nothing else can grow, or even move through its reedy forest. The spread of phragmites can also cause the collapse of our ecosystems, greatly alter the aesthetics of a landscape and reduce visibility by growing over five meters tall!
This grass has a billowy head and long thin stem. Recognize it in our ditches and in wetland edges? Although it is "pretty", it is highly disruptive because it is "out of place" in this landscape.
We need volunteers this fall, to help us locate pockets of Phragmites, map these areas, and then, next spring, to help us prevent it from invading our lakes and wetlands by helping as Phrag Fighter!
|
|
|
Our Heroes: Marie Windover
|
|
Marie is community guardian of an old growth hemlock forest called the Catchacoma forest, located on Crown land in Trent Lakes. Inspired by her love of the Land Between region and the rare ecosystem of the forest, Marie works diligently to hold municipalities and developers accountable for its protection.
The Catchacoma forest has been actively logged in the past two years without sufficient data to understand what areas need protection. Hemlock forests alone are not afforded enough protection according to many naturalists because, while the tree species is not rare, it is a foundational species that has a strong influence on the environment around it, including understory plants, forest animals and aquatic organisms (Henry and Quinby 2019). Thus, this forest has an important role for all the wildlife and spaces around it.
Being a resident of the region for over 26 years, Marie has become familiar with the challenges faced in a community where no conservation authority exists (most conservation authorities lie in the southern half of the Land Between), and where few grassroots conservation groups remain or have capacity and support to enable the protection of our natural heritage. Without these authorities and associations, governments are left to decide how to use and protect the land. Unfortunately, governing bodies (especially our municipalities) often do not have current data on such valuble natural systems or enough information to enable informed decisions at these scales. Thus, Marie is working together with multiple stakeholders including Fleming College and also her municipality to ensure that this forest is persevered for future generations.
So far, Marie, together with Fleming students and dedicated volunteers, has been granted a one year moratorium on the logging of this sensitive and productive forest. In this time, they will conduct research documenting the flora and fauna (including Species At Risk) that call the forest home. By "officially" documenting the species that locals have been witnessing in the forest for generations, the group hopes to permanently halt the logging of this irreplaceable forest.
An avid believer in community stewardship, Marie expresses the necessity of citizen action and engagement in conservation. Over the years, as Marie has learned more about the forest and the region, she has come to realize the transformative and connective power of nature based education. She hopes that the preservation of this forest will provide the opportunity for members of the public to come, experience and learn more about the marvels of this unique other worldly forest.
|
|
|
How can you help support us?
|
|
|
|
|
