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. [...]

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 Perth Museum General Manager John Kastner. “Like the UTRCA, the museum is very mindful of our environmental and community responsibilities and this ongoing partnership certainly augments and enables the museum’s holistic use of our property.” The [...]

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 soil management practices being undertaken on the property. Craig Merkley, Conservation Services Specialist, says that, “The BMPs include broad based and narrow based berms, blind inlets, stand pipe inlets, and a rock chute. We’ve installed windbreaks along the [...]

"Water is Life" Initiative (UTRCA Weekly, July 2, 2021) The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) recently partnered with the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board (HPCDSB) to bring the Water Is Life initiative to elementary schools in the watershed. This great collaboration has created opportunities to integrate Outdoor and Indigenous Education and continue building relationships among groups. Inspired by the book “The Water Walker” by Joanne Robertson, the UTRCA created digital resources for students from Kindergarten to grade eight. These resources include a reading of the book by the author herself, presentations, videos, a catalog of resources that exhibit [...]

GREEN Leaders Program and Virtual Student Summit (UTRCA weekly, June 24, 2021) Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Community Partnerships and Education staff launched a virtual version of the UTRCA’s GREEN Leaders Program in January. This June, more than 400 grade 7 and 8 students, along with the grade 10 H3ELP class (Head, Heart, Hands Environmental Leaders’ Project), completed this program and had the opportunity to become youth environmental leaders and implement sustainable solutions to local environmental issues. The program was offered to students in the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB), thanks to generous funding provided by the [...]