Turtle Team 2021 (UTRCA weekly, August 13, 2021) The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority’s (UTRCA) “Turtle Team” has had a busy spring and early summer. During the lengthy, six week nesting season, the team located hundreds of turtle nests along the river and collected thousands of eggs, transporting them to the UTRCA Watershed Conservation Centre (WCC) for incubation. In late July, eggs [...]

Popular Nature School makes its return (UTRCA Weekly, August 6, 2021) Wildwood Nature School returns this fall with online registration opening on August 10 at 6 am on Eventbrite. The school was fully booked when it was launched in fall 2020, but the winter and spring 2021 sessions were cancelled due to the pandemic. Programming is offered for children from 18 months [...]

Friends of Stoney Creek continue through pandemic (UTRCA weekly, July 30, 2021) The volunteer work of the Friends of Stoney Creek has continued through the pandemic. This spring, volunteers prepared the second plot for the Friends’ pollinator garden, which UTRCA staff then planted on May 27. Species planted included: black eyed Susan, bergamot, white coneflower, purple coneflower, butterfly milkweed, coreopsis, blanket flower, [...]

Reporting on Woodland and Natural Cover Mapping (UTRCA weekly, July 23, 2021) The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) works on behalf of its member municipalities to track and provide information on environmental conditions in the Upper Thames River watershed. One aspect of this work involves mapping and analysing woodlands and other natural cover, and reporting on these changes every five years [...]

Community Science project expands to Stratford (UTRCA weekly, July 14, 2021) On Tuesday, July 13, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) installed a rain gauge at the Stratford Perth Museum as part of the new Community Precipitation Monitoring Project. “The Stratford Perth Museum is so proud to partner with the UTRCA on a number of projects, including this one,” said Stratford [...]

Thorndale Demonstration Farm Update (UTRCA weekly, July 8, 2021) Earlier this year, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) established a new, 58 acre demonstration farm near Thorndale, Ontario. Since then Conservation Services staff has been initiating projects to demonstrate various best management practices (BMPs) and showcase how they can improve soil health and local water quality. There are several water and [...]