The Egret Article

ECFNC Annual Dinner – 40th Anniversary

By Chris Hart|2024-12-09T22:16:31-05:00December 8th, 2024|Annual Dinner, Awards and Honours, The Egret Article|

By Aileen Petrozzi

Great food, great speaker and great company! We couldn’t have asked for anything else.

November 16^th our members and non members enjoyed our Annual Dinner and Auction at St Mary’s Hall in Maidstone. We celebrated our 40^th Anniversary as a club with speaker, Adam Shoalts. He discussed his book “Where the Falcon flies”.

The Auction was a success producing over $2300 for the Heritage fund. We would like to thank all the volunteers and donors. Without them this would not have been possible.

Donors to the Auction:
Viewpoint Winery Lakeside Bakery Jones & Co. Ken Lapain &Sons Ltd
A.J. Matte Electric Blackburn media Jack Miners Cerebral Escape Creations

Joan Murphy-Walker, Karen MacDougall, Peter Kathmann, Laura Foy, Carl Maiolani, Janet Tuite, Kory Renaud, Howard Williams, Eleanor Mazzara, Anne Barbour, Dave Kraus, Linda Menard Watt, Catherine Hogg, Lou Anne Meloche, Shirley Grondin, Joann Grondin, Mary and Pierre Masse, Kelly Morrissey, Dan Loncke, Claire McAllister, John Balga, and many anonymous.

Volunteers:
Cathy Lapain, Joann Grondin, Shirley Grondin, Megan Irwin, LeeAnn Meloche, Vicki Rees, Janice Boussey (PowerPoint presentation)

I will be conducting a survey in the New Year to see how we did and how we can improve. I will be re-establishing the Heritage Committee in March to go over the survey and how we can fundraise. Hope you will join the committee.

Thank you again for coming out and enjoying our Annual Dinner.

Happy Holidays
Aileen Petrozzi

The Club would also like to congratulate Cathy Lapain as this year’s recipient of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Outstanding Achievement Award.

Cathy is a long time member of the Club and has been the Treasurer since 2013. She is a very active member of the Executive Board and the Heritage Committee. Cathy has helped to organize and carry out many key Club events, including the Annual Dinner, and our Bake sales on Earth Day at Malden Park and at the Holiday Beach Hawk Fest. Congrats Cathy and well deserved.

MP Windsor-Tecumseh Irek Kusmierczyk, Guest speaker Adam Shoalts, and Club President (and dinner MC) Kory Renaud

Essex County Nature Building Community: Collaborations with the Windsor Feminist Bird Club

By Chris Hart|2024-12-09T21:14:47-05:00December 8th, 2024|The Egret Article|

By Jeremy Hatt

One of the goals of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club Membership Committee recently has been to develop and strengthen connections with other naturalist groups and organizations in the region. One of these organizations is the Windsor Feminist Bird Club, a local Chapter of the Feminist Bird Club, which is a global network with the following mission: “promoting inclusivity in birding while fundraising and providing a safe opportunity for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC, and women to connect with the natural world.”

The Windsor Feminist Bird Club (WFCB) was originally spearheaded by Samuelle Simard-Provencal, a former Masters student at the University of Windsor whose thesis was on Snow Bunting movement through southwestern Ontario. When Samuelle started the Chapter, the Ontario Field Ornithologists promptly reached out to ask if they would provide leaders for Birding With Pride at Point Pelee National Park, an annual birding event celebrating the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. EFCNC was there to support this event as well and connected with WFBC to collaborate on local outings going forward.

The first such outing was a well-attended Big Sit at the Delaurier Homestead parking lot at Point Pelee National Park on November 18, 2023. Participants brought lawn chairs and warm clothes and sat in the parking lot from 9am to 12pm to record every bird that moved through during the morning. Starbucks donated coffee and members brought baked goods and other snacks. It was a great first collaboration between the two groups and led to another Big Sit this year, held on November 16 at the same location!

One of the highlights of the first big Sit was a juvenile Golden Eagle that flew over in the last 5 minutes of the sit, 8 Red-shouldered Hawks, and a total of 200 Pine Siskins. This year there were several highlights including huge flocks of Greater Scaup streaming overhead totaling 7,608 birds (likely large rafts scared up by fishing boats on the east side of Point Pelee), migrating Tundra Swans, and a good selection of winter finches including the bird of the morning, a single flyover White-winged Crossbill.

A full list of species for both Big Sits can be found here:
November 18, 2023: https://ebird.org/checklist/S154736998
November 16, 2024: https://ebird.org/checklist/S202843408

Sameuelle Simard-Provencal has now moved out west to continue her studies in ornithology but local birding expert and ECFNC member, Kate Derbyshire, has taken over leading the Club moving forward. She has already run a successful Owl Prowl at Ojibway Park and continues to be active on the WFBC Instagram site, the main source of information for the Club. The Instagram handle for WFBC is @windsor.fbc and can also be reached by email at .

ECFNC looks forward to collaborating with the WFBC in the future to foster connections within the community and support the mission of the Windsor Chapter as outlined on their Instagram page: “Promoting inclusivity in birding for women, BIPOC, & LGBTQ+ folks. Everyone is welcome outdoors!”

Fall Phrag Fighters

By Chris Hart|2024-12-09T22:13:58-05:00December 8th, 2024|Environmental projects, The Egret Article|

By Aileen Petrozzi

Fall was a great for our Phrag fighters. Working with the city of Windsor we tackled Blue Heron Pond. The City of Windsor had sprayed the land Phragmites in September. Each time we came back we saw the poison work down to the roots. The plant usually dies back from the bottom up. Herbicide sprayed at the top causes the plant to die from top to down. Seeing this in action was great to see!

With the weather cooperating, the first three Saturdays in October and November 5^th. our members and City of Windsor guides waded into the ponds edge. Using cane cutters, we proceeded to cut phragmite as far we could go below the water level. This method is called “cut to drown.” Cutting beneath the waterline can drown the plant by inhibiting the supply of oxygen to the lower plant parts.

We circled the pond missing the areas around the big drains. It wasn’t easy, but we got the job done with the help of more volunteers we have ever had.

The City of Windsor is presently removing the land phragmites.

Heather Inksetter and I want to thank the best group of Volunteers and Guides!

Michelle Mastellotto       Megan Irwin              Roland Chaudat          Andrea Maclean
Bernard Cameron            Janice Boussey           Tim Shortridge           Nancy Cristofoli
Ellen Van Wageningen    Osa Asemota              Akash Nair                  Carolyn Brown
Ramandeep Kaur             Sarika Sharma           Rucha Petel                Lucas Hoshirs

The community of Blue Heron Pond should see cat tails and more wildlife return as we continue our fight against phragmites.

Thank you and Happy Holidays,
Aileen Petrozzi and Heather Inksetter