HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-12Draft minutes — Not yet approved by Committee
NOTES OF MEETING OF
SAMUEL WILMOT NATURE AREA
MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
HELD TUESDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2019
7:00 PM
Present: Rod McArthur Tom Hossie
Kate Potter Tyson Brooks
Leo Blindenbach Brian Reid
Meaghan Vandenbrink
Regrets: Evan King Patrick Bothwell
Councillor Corinna Traill Carrie -Anne Atkins
Staff Present: Peter Windolf
1. AGENDA
MOVED: by Kate Potter SECONDED by Tom Hossie
THAT: the agenda for November 12, 2019 be accepted with the following additions;
-Volunteer Networking event
CARRIED
2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Approval of Minutes
MOVED: by Tyson Brooks SECONDED by Meaghan Vandenbrink
THAT: the minutes of August 13, 2019 be approved
CARRIED
SWNA November 2019 minutes
3. UPDATES
Waterfront Trail Paving
Paving the Waterfront Trail through the SWNA from Cobbledick Road to Toronto
Street is now complete. Line painting and vehicle access barriers were also
completed as part of the project. Brian Reid will prepare a blog article for SWNA
social media.
Wildflower Seed Grant
The SWNA was successful in obtaining a Wildlife Preservation Canada grant to
purchase wildflower seeds to enhance pollinator habitat. Four large bags of seeds
have been received are being kept in freezers until needed in fall 2020 (3 bags with
Rod McArthur and one bag with Meaghan Vandenbrink).
One acre of grassland at the SWNA just north of the lake shelter will be seeded with
a variety of wildflower seeds. Site preparation in 2020 will require monthly tilling to
eliminate weed seeds from the planting site. The seeds will be spread in late fall of
2020. Leo Blindenbach will be contacting possible volunteers to assist with the tilling
and seeding.
Monarch Tagging Event
The third annual monarch tagging event was held Saturday September 7, 10:00 AM
to noon at Port of Newcastle Waterfront Park. 500 tags were purchased from
Monarch Watch in advance of the event. The weather was very good with
thousands of monarchs migrating through the area. The event had the largest
public participation so far with approx. 200 people in attendance. All 500 tags were
used by 11:30 AM. The event was filmed by a crew from Texas as part of a
documentary about the migration of monarchs from Canada to their overwintering
site in the mountains of Mexico. The nephew of Fred Urquhart, whose research lead
to discovering the location in Mexico where the butterflies spend their winter
attended the event. Another 35 nets have been donated for next year's event by
Algoma Orchards, OPG, local realtors, and private individuals.
Durham Field Naturalists birding tour of SWNA
On Saturday August 24 at 10:OOAM Brian Reid lead a tour of the SWNA for the
Durham Field Naturalists. Thirteen people attended and 26 different bird species
were identified during a two hour tour.
Newcastle Harvest Festival
The committee had a booth at this year's Newcastle Harvest Festival on October 5.
The event continues to grow each year and it was an excellent opportunity to
promote community awareness to the many new residents of Newcastle who are
not aware of the SWNA. Trail maps were handed out to encourage new residents to
visit. It was recommended that some sort of interactive display could encourage
more interest in the SWNA booth next year.
Wildlife/Environmental Awareness Festival
The committee will participate in this new event on November 23 and 24 at the
Garnet B. Rickard Complex. The event will consist of vendors and environmental
SWNA November 2019 minutes
groups to help create environmental awareness. There will be live animal
demonstrations, meet and greet with the animals and a live birds of prey exhibit.
There is no cost for environmental groups like the SWNA committee to participate.
Several members have volunteered to staff the SWNA booth.
SWNA Presentation to Bowmanville Lions
The Bowmanville Lions Club requested a speaker from the SWNA committee for
their September 9 meeting to talk about activities at the SWNA. Brian Reid attended
and provided a PowerPoint presentation on the mandate and recent activities of the
SWNA committee. The Lions provided a $50 honorarium.
4. OTHER BUSINESS
Spring 2020 Pollinator Presentation
Brian Reid has arranged for a presentation by Sheila Colla, an interdisciplinary
Conservation Biologist interested in pollinator conservation. Her presentation will
dovetail with the other 2020 initiatives by the committee to enhance pollinator
habitat at the SWNA.
Dr. Colla is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York
University. Her research deals with the conservation of at -risk species including
native pollinators and wildflowers. In 2014, she launched a North American Citizen
Science project, BumbleBeeWatch.org, with various partners. This allows the public
to help build a long term database of bumblebees which can be used to look at
changes in abundance and distribution over time in light of global change.
The event is scheduled for Sunday April 26, 2020 at the Diane Hamre Recreation
Centre in Newcastle. Wildlife Preservation Canada who provided the SWNA with a
wildflower seed grant will be contacted to see if they are interested in participating
at the event.
NAYGN Tree Planting project spring 2020
A group of engineers from Darlington Nuclear has volunteered to purchase and
plant 30-50 bare root trees at the SWNA in 2020. The planting location will be just
south of the Cobbledick parking lot. They will contact staff in the spring to confirm a
date.
Volunteer Networking Event
Each fall the CSD hosts an event for volunteer groups. The event was attend last
year by Kate Potter. It was an excellent opportunity to meet other environmentally
focused groups but did not lead to any partnership opportunities for the SWNA
committee. The SWNA will not participate this year.
SWNA name tags
A request was made for more SWNA Committee name tags for use at public
events. Engineering staff will arrange to print more and order additional lanyards if
required.
SWNA November 2019 minutes
5. MOTION TO ADJOURN
MOVED: by Kate Potter SECONDED by Tyson Brooks
THAT: the meeting be adjourned.
CARRIED
Adjournment 8:00 PM
Next Meeting: Tuesday December 10, 2019
Notes prepared by: Peter Windolf