RAINY RIVER VALLEY FIELD NATURALISTS
Alberton Municipal Building
Meeting # 122
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Present: Mike Hammond, Henry Miller, Terry Kawulia, Ahlan Johanson, Gaby Emond, Ilka Milne Henry Van Ael, Bob Saunders
Regrets: Phyllis Callaghan, Dale Callaghan, Mary Lysne, Wolfgang Bielefeld, Pat Donahue
Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Co-chair Terry Kawulia at 1837 hrs. Terry agreed to run this meeting, and Henry Miller volunteered to be interim chair until the next Annual General Meeting to be held early in 2020 (late January/ early February).
Minutes: Bob Saunders made a motion to accept the minutes of Meeting # 121 (May 6, 2019), as discussed by Ilka Milne, seconded by Henry Miller.
Carried…
Agenda: Gaby made a motion to accept the agenda as presented, seconded by Bob.
Carried…
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer’s Financial Report (Henry Van Ael)
Henry reported that as of today there was $2542.11 remaining in our account at RBC, and circulated the bank statements for all to view. Currently there are no outstanding bills, however we will be required to pay our annual membership fees with Ontario Nature (approximately $85) if we wish to continue with them. (an invoice has already been received by Terry). They did sponsor a couple of workshops around the province and do send us a magazine quarterly. Henry also pointed out that everybody’s annual club membership dues ($30.00 per member) were still outstanding. Most members present then quickly rectified that situation. For those members not yet paid up, please do so with Henry Van Ael.
Ilka made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as discussed, Mike Hammond seconded.
Carried…
4) Club Correspondence
Terry shared the most recent issues of the Ontario Nature magazines with the group, which are available for all to read if so desired. Terry also continues to receive the newsletters from the Thunder Bay Field Naturalist Group, but forgot to bring them tonight for us to share. Henry van Ael read several emails
5) The Future of our Club
5a) Each member present was able to share what direction they wished the club to take. Ilka reminisced how we once were in the past holding birding outings and hikes, having information displays and booths at different schools and markets, holding meetings, and even facilitating a very successful Dragonfly symposium. She acknowledged that yes, the Cranberry Peatmoss Boardwalk became a reality due to the Club’s efforts, but felt that other than our meetings, and the Christmas Bird count it had become our sole focus. She would like to see us spread out our energies, maintain the Boardwalk, but hold more outings, hold nature presentations, perhaps start a newsletter, build our membership, and have some fun. The general consensus was that we needed to get out and hold less “Business meetings”, have more outings such as Birding adventures, Mushroom Picking, perhaps a canoe trip, write and submit a monthly newspaper article to the paper, hold Slide Presentations about past wilderness excursions some of us have taken, or educational presentations on wildlife, plants, bugs, or current threats to the planet, all of which could be open to the public. The ideas were numerous and exciting! Henry Miller thought that in order for these to come to fruition, it would be necessary to have different committees and spread out the duties
Gaby had attended the Stewardship Meeting last week, and had some updates and questions for the group regarding our future. Firstly, Joe Reynolds, a long-time member of the club who many of the Field Naturalists knew, passed away in mid October. The Stewardship Club was still open to amalgamation and was wondering what the ‘Roadblocks’ were for the group. Members responded that they were not into ‘running projects so much’, but were more into focusing on the enjoyment of exploring and being in nature, and learning about it. Gaby stated that many were interested in helping out with the Christmas Bird count this year, and was wondering how solid the date was as the Stewardship Club already had their Christmas meeting/party planned for that date. It was decided that the Christmas Bird Count would remain on December 14th, 2019, as that would allow the flexibility of a ‘fall back day’(December 21) should the weather be atrocious, and Ilka, our organizer was heading out on a weeklong trip with her class on the 15th making that day unavailable. Gaby will pass on that information and we’ll see what happens.
5b) Membership fees are due. For those not yet paid up, please pay $30 to Henry Van Ael as soon as possible.
5c) Club memberships will continue.
5d) Henry Miller volunteered to act as Interim Chair until the elections are held early in the New Year 2020. Ilka Milne will act as Events Coordinator, Henry Van Ael will remain as Treasurer, and Gaby Emond will act as Secretary. Henry Van Ael, Bob, and Ilka will get together to set up a “Blogspot” for our club.
5e) We currently have a legal obligation to maintain the Cranberry Bog Boardwalk. Ilka thought that in the future, perhaps the municipality of Alberton could assume some of the responsibility. Gaby reiterated that the Stewardship Council was also volunteering to help out with this. In terms of maintenance required, weed eating is necessary biweekly, and the occasional board might need replacing (Mike Hammond has a stash, as does Terry). In the future we may apply for more Grant monies and continue to develop the Boardwalk further, however for now the members agreed to ‘just maintain’ it for now. The expenses involved in maintenance are limited to lumber for sign and Boardwalk repairs, gas for the weed eater, and printing costs for the brochures (many thanks to Mary Lysne and Phyllis Callaghan for having facilitated this in the past).
Bob reported that several Interpretive signs were again vandalized this year, with 2 having been thrown very close to the water’s edge. Since these signs are just being snapped off their wooden posts (many thanks to Mike for continually replacing these broken posts), it was suggested we replace the wooden posts with solid steel posts and sink them so far that they could not easily be removed. The Interpretive signs could then be screwed in place.
6) Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count will be held Saturday, December 14th from 0800-1700 hrs. Ilka Milne is the primary contact. We had very few people out last year and Ilka reported that our ‘Bird Feeder Counters’ were almost non existent. Gaby thought some people were not comfortable with identifying birds and were therefore reluctant to volunteer. It was therefore decided to hold a “Bird Identification’ workshop in order to encourage more community participation for the Christmas Bird Count and Feeder Counters. We will hold it hopefully the first week of December at the Fort Frances Public Library The members decided that the $45 rental fee for the room was worth it. Terry will look at booking the Shaw Room at the library on a weekday from 6-8 pm. Once the date has been confirmed, (The Bird Identification Workshop is booked for Wednesday, December 11th, 2019) Terry will inform the group so preparations can be made. Ilka will prepare a news article re the Annual Christmas Bird Count and our upcoming workshop and give it to Henry Miller who will then bring it to the Times for distribution. It was also suggested to pass it on to the Rainy River Record as well. Gaby will design and distribute a poster advertising both events as well.
7) Tales From the Wild Side
Bob reported that the “Feeder Watch” started on November 9th and encouraged all members to participate and upload their results on EBird. Some members reported that they have not yet started feeding the birds due to the presence of bears at their feeders and other wildlife such as raccoons and deer eating the majority of the seed. Several people reported sightings of multiple blue jays and Grosbeaks, some White Throated Sparrows, Chickadees, both the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, and even 3 Robins. Henry Miller reported seeing Red Headed woodpeckers up by the Elk Farm on LaVallee Rd. N, Ilka reported the same by Busch Rd and Domanski. Henry also saw 2 crows with white wings, a White-tailed Jackrabbit, and even a Black Groundhog this summer. Bitterns have been sighted by many members as have large flocks of Snow Buntings. The squirrel saga at Terry’s place is still ongoing with the squirrels winning and starting in on his house. It’s time to trap them Terry or go to Plan B.
Wild Parsnip is currently growing all over our District. Some members have heard a rumor that Devlin Council is entertaining the idea of globally spraying it. Many people are concerned that we have Giant Hogweed in the area, however most times it has been confused with the harmless but similar looking Cow Parsnip (possible presentation idea for the public in the future). Henry Miller reports that the Purple Loosestrife is spreading northwards. We have a large patch on Hughes Rd. and seeds are spread by vehicular traffic, water, and people who are inadvertently picking the pretty purple flower. Henry did arrange a ‘Loosestrife Eradication Day’ but was the only person who showed up. Bob reports that we have an infestation of European Buckthorn, a very bad deciduous shrub/tree. It can currently be found starting to take over the Point Park in Fort Frances. It’s seeds remain viable for 5-10 years. Fragmites, the Giant Reed Grasses are another invasive species found in many of our roadside ditches.
On a much happier note, Bob reports that the latest research is showing that the Monarch butterfly has made a remarkable resurgence.
A motion to adjourn our meeting was made by Terry @ 2045 hrs.
Meeting adjourned @ 2059 hrs.