Cover Crop at the Thorndale Demonstration Farm (UTRCA Weekly, October 1, 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. One BMP project saw a cover crop planted into a soybean field this fall. Typically, a cover crop would be planted after the fall harvest. In this case, though, the existing soybean crop will be harvested late, because its [...]

Prairie Flowers Emerging at Cade Tract (UTRCA weekly, September 24, 2021) Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff’s efforts to convert two hay fields at the Cade Tract to tallgrass prairie are starting to show results! This UTRCA property is located west of the Town of St. Marys, at 4695 Perth Road Line 5. The fields were seeded with a native tallgrass prairie mix in September 2020. Many prairie grasses and flowers concentrate their energy into root growth for the first year or two, so annual weeds are often seen first. In early September 2021, the field in the [...]

Saturated Buffer to Protect Water Quality (UTRCA Weekly, September 17, 2021) One of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority’s (UTRCA) strategic Environmental Targets is to establish and restore 1,500 hectares of natural vegetation cover, windbreaks, and buffers by 2037. To achieve this, staff work with landowners to target marginal lands, stream buffers, vulnerable farm fields, and other areas. Earlier this summer, the UTRCA installed a saturated buffer to protect water quality, on a property near St. Marys. The project is funded by the Canada-Ontario Agreement through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Staff chose this UTRCA-owned site [...]

Nature School coming to Fanshawe Conservation Area! (UTRCA weekly, September 10, 2021) Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Community Education staff are looking forward to welcoming children to Fanshawe Nature School next month! Parents can register their children online now for the six week outdoor program, which is designed to provide safe, nature-based learning through play and exploration at Fanshawe Conservation Area. Fanshawe Nature School will have three, age-based streams: Owls & Owlets (2-5 years old with caregivers): Tuesday mornings, 9:30 - 11:30 am beginning October 19 for 6 weeks Sparrows (5-8 years old, drop off program): Tuesday [...]

St. Marys Sparling Bush Pollinator Garden (UTRCA weekly, August 27, 2021) Thanks to funding from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, hundreds of pollinator plants are now growing next to the Sparling Bush in St. Marys. Staff from the Town of St. Marys prepared the site, which included stripping the sod, bringing in topsoil, tilling, and providing mulch. Originally, the plan was for local students to participate and get hands on planting experience. When the pandemic made that plan impossible, staff from the municipality and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) planted the pollinators in early June. [...]

Shoreline Improvements on Lake Victoria (UTRCA weekly, August 19, 2021) Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff took advantage of the nice weather to add some finishing touches to the latest shoreline restoration project on Lake Victoria in Stratford. Several trays of wildflower plugs, Big Bluestem plugs, and serviceberry trees were planted along the north shore of Stratford’s Lake Victoria last month. The plugs and trees will provide the biodiversity component of the project. The roots add stability to the work in addition to keeping the weeds down. The planting completed the 60 metre long shoreline stabilization project, which [...]

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 of various species of turtles began to hatch, and the team moved into the turtle release phase. Scott Gillingwater, UTRCA Species at Risk Biologist, has been leading this reptile research and recovery program for nearly three decades. [...]

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 of age up to 11 years. Every trip to Wildwood Nature School is its own adventure! Each visit starts with a grounding in the surroundings and a reminder of nature awareness routines and best practices for spending [...]

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, and lavender. COVID-19 may have delayed the project, but the extra year allowed the Friends to use chemical-free methods to prepare the plots. A tarp was used at one site to eradicate the grass and the second [...]

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 through the forest condition grades and data in our Watershed Report Cards. Recently, Cathy Quinlan, Terrestrial Biologist, has been delivering online presentations on changes in woodland and natural cover in the UTRCA watershed between 2010 and 2015. [...]