A Fun-filled Fall at Wildwood Nature School  Wildwood Nature School had a busy fall season this year. We extended our session from four to six weeks for maximum forest fun! Our smallest Nature School participants are our Falcons and Fledglings who had fun exploring the stream, dressing up for Halloween, running around like squirrels in the fall, and learning about local animals and what they do during the winter. [...]

Lake St. Clair Conference 2024 In November Water Quality Specialist Craig Irwin represented the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) at the 2024 Binational Lake St. Clair Conference. The conference represented 25 years of joint environmental management by the U.S. and Canada in the Lake St. Clair watershed. The Thames River has a direct impact on Lake St. Clair as it is the outlet of the river.  Craig presented [...]

2024 Field Surveying Season  Borland Drain The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's (UTRCA) 2024 field surveying season is nearing its end as winter arrives. Beginning in early June, the team of surveyors used high-accuracy GPS to gather over 30,000 elevation points for the flood modelling team to use in building flood models. GPS points were collected from bank to bank across more than 150 kilometres of creeks [...]

More Experiential Programming Coming to the Museum of Ontario Archaeology   The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has recently partnered with the Museum of Ontario Archaeology (MOA) and Friends of Medway Creek thanks to funding from the City of London Community Grants Program! Over the next three years, the UTRCA and Friends of Medway Creek will work with the MOA to expand the interpretive programming offered at the museum by providing [...]

Creating Wetland Scrapes  Wetland scrapes are shallow ponds or temporary pools that are designed to hold rain and flood water seasonally, but become relatively dry for much of the year. Often created in floodplains or low areas with a high water table, they are constructed to mimic natural pools in open areas. They make a significant difference to wildlife, especially in agricultural areas, by providing breeding habitat for amphibians [...]

Phosphorus Professional Development Day Recap  On October 23rd, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Education and Stewardship staff hosted a Phosphorus Professional Development Day at the Watershed Conservation Centre (WCC) and Thorndale Demonstration Farm. This event brought together Specialist High Skill Major (SHSM) leads, Learning Coordinators, and rural educators to focus on phosphorus-related issues impacting the Thames River watershed and Lake Erie.  The day began at the WCC with [...]

Medway High School Students Stabilize Soil Along Medway Creek Medway High School students joined staff from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) to help establish a woody streambank along a 150-metre section of Medway Creek thanks to the Canada Water Agency's EcoAction Community Funding Program. Using shrub willow, cut and shaped into live stakes, the students hammered over 200 cuttings directly into the eroded bank.  Why Willow? Willow [...]