The David Suzuki Foundation provides tips for connecting with nature in fall and winter.
Discover the enchantment of fall and winter by immersing yourself in nature. You may even fall in love with the special seasonal benefits of these cooler months. Find inspiration in these connecting with nature tips.
Saving Monarchs has compiled a list of the birds that went extinct during 2023. They have also included a link to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s list of the 21 species delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction.
From Environment and Climate Change Canada – posted by Nature Canada – December 18, 2023
“The scale of the biodiversity crisis—the worst extinction since the dinosaurs—requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. To ensure that our efforts to reach Canada’s 30×30 conservation target have the greatest possible impact, we will need our towns and cities working hand in hand with other levels of government as champions for nature. Nature Canada is proud to bring our partners together to work with municipalities on a mission to protect nature in communities across Canada.” – Emily McMillan, Executive Director – Nature Canada
From the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority:
From time to time there is unsightly foam flowing down the river or accumulating along the shoreline in the Upper Thames River watershed. If you have every experienced this, you may have immediately thought this was some chemical flowing down the waterway. In a majority of situations, the foam is a natural phenomenon. Read more on the UTRCA website.
From Ontario Parks:
Wild animals rely on evolution and natural adaptations to survive until spring. The strategies they’ve developed are varied and, simply, incredible.
Read how sporting six different ways Ontario Parks’ wildlife makes it through the winter.
From Nature Canada – Announced in November 2023:
Nature Canada is thrilled to announce the country’s newest Certified Bird Friendly Cities and Towns for the 2023 Fall season! These include:
The first three cities Certified as Bird Friendly in 2021, Toronto, ON, Calgary, AB, and London, ON, have also successfully renewed their Certification status.
This brings the total number of Bird Friendly municipalities in Canada to 24.
All Certified cities and towns have collaborated with Nature Canada, local community organizations and amazing volunteers to make their communities a safe haven for wild birds!
From the Wilderness Committee – Ontario Office:
Ontario needs more protected areas. In 2021, the government’s Protected Areas Working Group made key recommendations to help the province protect 30 per cent of lands and waters in Ontario by 2030 — information revealed through a FOI obtained by the Wilderness Committee.
We are a part of 124 organizations urging the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, Andrea Khanjin, to follow through on these recommendations. Read more and take action.
Thanks to the 18 supporters and members who joined IDNC’s annual general meeting on November 4, 2023, at the Lawson Nature Reserve. Lots of good ideas flowed and our next year should prove to be interesting. For walks and lecture details, check our website. Thanks to Peter Krats for providing a thoughtful Indigenous Acknowledgement.
Thanks are extended to the nine club members who participated in this year’s annual Christmas Bird Count, held on December 28. Sightings of 16 species from the two and a half-hour walk are noted below along with count numbers from previous years, for comparison. There was minimal activity in the Reserve – weather was foggy accompanied by light showers. Wind was at 13 kph/E. Temperatures at at 6 degrees.
| Species | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 (N/A -Covid) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Total # of Species | 16 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 13 | |
| American Goldfinch | 22 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 35 | 17 | |
| Northern Cardinal | 1 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 9 | ||
| Dark-Eyed Junco | 12 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 36 | ||
| Song Sparrow | 1 | ||||||
| American Tree Sparrow | 1 | 1 | |||||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 1 | ||||||
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 | ||||||
| Brown Creeper | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 6 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | ||
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 16 | 13 | 25 | 19 | 43 | 23 | |
| American Crow | 6 | 70 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 3 | |
| Blue Jay | 14 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 18 | |
| Mourning Dove | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | ||
| Canada Geese | 41 | 24 (in-flight) | 1 | 45 | 22 | ||
| Herring Gull | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | |||
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 4 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 9 | |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 1 | ||||||
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Ducks (unidentified) | 15 | ||||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | ||||||
| Rough Legged Hawk | 1 | ||||||
| Harrier Hawk | 1 | ||||||
| Coopers Hawk | 1 | 1 (in flight) | 1 | ||||
| Starlings | 15 | ||||||
| Great Horned Owl | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bald Eagle | 1 | ||||||
| Rock Dove [ Pigeons ] | 7 | 20 | |||||
| Raven | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Horned Larks | 10 |
From Ontario Nature:
Join us on Wednesday, November 29th, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for a webinar about Ontario Nature’s new Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas (ORAA) publication which will be released the week of November 20th. After more than 10 years of data collection, the publication is the most comprehensive source of information on Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians available!At this free webinar, the registrants will hear from a panel of ORAA experts about the origins of the atlas project, species accounts, lessons learned, and future directions for reptile and amphibian conservation in Ontario. Please join us to celebrate this major milestone and learn how to freely access the ORAA publication.
If you can’t make it for the live presentation, register anyway and we will email you a recording soon after. We look forward to seeing you there!
Ingersoll District Nature Club 