Birding

In Memorium: Harry B. Barrett

Harry B. Barrett at the NFN 50th Anniversary Gala 1922 - 2017 First President of Norfolk Field Naturalists and Honorary Director On January 26th, 2017, the NFN and the entire community of Norfolk County lost one of its greatest. Harry B. Barrett was a philanthropist, historian, naturalist, family man and a dear friend of so many. In 1962 Monroe Landon, another of our great naturalists, called a meeting at his house. The objective was to revive the old naturalist club, which had fallen by the wayside during the war years. As one of the founding members of Norfolk Field Naturalists Harry B. Barrett was appointed the first President of the new club. In 2012 the NFN celebrated its 50th Anniversary and is today going strong after all these years. As a token of deep gratitude for his long and dedicated…
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December 2016 Lotus

Here is the December 2016 Lotus newsletter. It has the annual Long Point Butterfly Count results and a story by Inga Hinnerichsen about Tiritiri Matangi, an island nature reserve in New Zealand.
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2016 Birdathon

The 2016 Summer Lotus has the first of two articles on the 2016 Birdathon. The second part will be in the next issue. There's lots of great photos from George Pond.
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Christmas Bird Count, Fisherville

Compiled by: Linda Thrower December 28, 2015 Sadly, The Fisherville Bird Count lost two of its long-time members this year: Jim Heslop and Wes Raymond. Sincere condolences to both families and friends, they will be greatly missed. Another reality has hit me this year, I do not think "bird" very well. I would have thought, with all the warm weather leading up to this count, and count day being the first really cold day, that the birds would have been out looking for food everywhere. Oh well, I was wrong again. There was a very nasty cold wind, so a big Thank You to all who participated. I do find it quite amazing what species we were able to find in spite of the weather. Here are the highs and the lows of the count. Species 2015 count (2014 count)…
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Christmas Bird Count, Woodhouse

Compiled by: David Okines Greetings Counters, These are the results of the 29th Woodhouse CBC held on December 20th 2015. The Woodhouse CBC is centred 7 km east of Simcoe, at the crossroads of Highway 3 and Cockshutt Road at Renton in Norfolk County and roughly covers from Port Dover to Waterford and just west of Simcoe to east of Jarvis. The mild weather this year was a change from recent counts but it made the birding harder. Overnight it was mostly clear but cloud cover increased to total cloud cover by late morning and then there were some sunny periods in the afternoon. All standing water was free of ice. Temperatures varied overnight from a high of -3 around midnight to a low of -7 by dawn and then increasing to a daytime high of +5. The wind was…
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Winter Birding in Haldimand County

By Inga Hinnerichsen Third time's a charm. I've tried to participate in this regular outing for the last 3 years. One year it was cancelled because of nasty weather, another time I had a sick hubby and a sick dog at home and couldn't go. I'm not an experienced birder, so outings like this present great learning opportunities for me. Finally, on Sunday, January 17, I met with the group of 10 birders led by Tim Lucas at the Port Dover pier. Just before I arrived a juvenile Bald Eagle sailed over the pier, I had missed it by mere seconds. One man had found us on the internet and came down from Mississauga. He later said it was well worth it. The forecast had the temperature falling well below freezing in the afternoon with light snow tapering off. While…
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Tales from The Tip

Story and photos by Inga Hinnerichsen Originally published in 2015 December Lotus Is anyone interested in spending a week at the Long Point Tip?" Diane Salter inquired during one of our watercolour painting sessions in Port Rowan. Diane had won the "Trip to the Tip" as a Birdathon prize supporting the Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO). Wow. I jumped at the chance! It turned out that three of us, Diane, Karin Jonasson and I plus Stu McKenzie and Ron Ridout clambered into the aluminium craft used to ship supplies and bird banders to and from the Tip on the morning of October 6. The boat was loaded with gear and supplies, both ours and the banders'. We had to bring food for the week + drinking water (and wine), sleeping bags, clothing for all weather conditions and cameras, binoculars and…
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A sparrow is a sparrow is a sparrow: More birdathon fun

Story and photos by George Pond “Hey, is that a Harris’s Sparrow?” Diane Salter yelled excitedly as we scanned a number of migrating White-Crowned Sparrows that were feeding on Betty Chanyi’s lawn. “Wow, it sure is. I haven’t seen one of those in years.” Shelia Smith answered. “Better make sure we get some photos for E-Bird documentation.” Somebody else said. Eight of us, Peggy McArthur, Alan McKeown, Anne Wynia, Betty Chanyi, Diane Salter, Shelia Smith, Mike McMillan and I, from the Norfolk Field Naturalists, were doing our annual “Birdathon” to raise money for the work of Bird Studies Canada as well as a share that is channelled back to the Field Naturalists for its many conservation projects. We had a fairly good day and as a group identified a respectable 121 to 125 different species. This is always a fun…
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The official dedication of the George and Shirley Pond Nature Reserve

By Inga Hinnerichsen Download the PDF of this article, which contains many more beautiful photos. By the time this report is published we hope many of you have had the opportunity to explore this beautiful and diverse tract. Saturday, April 18 was glorious: Calm, sunny and warm. What else do you want from a spring day after a particularly nasty winter? About 50 people attended the unveiling of the new sign at the Long Point Basin Land Trust (LPBLT) property along Front Road. You may recall that a couple of years ago NFN donated a substantial sum to LPBLT toward the purchase of this property. Al Robinson, former president of NFN, did the honours of unveiling the sign. Peter Carson, President of the LPBLT, gave the introductory speech and George Pond replied with a few words of wisdom to the…
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Birdathon Count 2015

Thanks again for all your great support and know that the money is all used for bird related research, important natural area land acquisitions and other bird related conservation projects. I like to think that we are helping to make this world a little better, not just for ourselves but for our children, grand children and all future generations. I hate to think of a world without birds, not just for their beauty but for the good they do. Thanks again! Sincerely, George Pond This is a list of birds identified during 2 Birdathons. The left check marks are from May 9, 2015, with Mike McMillan and group. Total: 101 The right check marks are from May 26 and 27, 2015, with George Pond and group. Total: 130 VVCommon Loon VVPied-billed Grebe VDouble-crested Cormorant VVGreat Blue Heron VVGreen Heron VLeast…
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