Breeding Bird Atlas

Breeding Bird Atlas documents state Ontario's 12 biggest birds by weight are soaring in population compared to 20 years ago.

Everyone recognizes that Canada Geese - one of the big 12 - are plentiful, but the recently published Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario 2001-2005 shows that Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Sandhill Cranes and other big birds also are increasing in numbers.

Many factors have contributed to this surge, including banning the use of the pesticide DDT in the 1970s, conservation efforts by various government and non-government agencies, and reduced hunting pressure.

Tundra Swans were nearly extinct in the province and now "they're coming back, nesting all down the Hudson Bay coast and around James Bay," said Mike Cadman, atlas co-ordinator. "Wild Turkeys were extirpated from the province in 1909, reintroduced in the 1980s, and are doing very well now."

Great Blue Herons possibly are scarcer than in 1987, when the first atlas also co-ordinated by Cadman was completed. It may be a statistical anomaly, cautions Cadman. During the first atlas period, special effort was mounted to document heronries, which may have skewed the numbers.

Altogether, 286 bird species were documented as breeding in Ontario during the atlas period. At more than 700 pages, the atlas is stunning, with photos and a detailed, easy-to-read account on each breeding species. Maps show each species' range and distribution.

The atlas was a joint project supported by Bird Studies Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Field Ornithologists, and Ontario Nature (formerly Federation of Ontario Naturalists). It involved five years of field research by approximately 2,500 volunteers.

Ontario was divided into a grid of approximately 4,000 squares. Volunteers assigned to one or more squares followed a protocol that combined documenting breeding evidence and conducting point counts to determine both the distribution and an estimate of abundance of Ontario's breeding birds.

"There's an increase in birds of prey - raptors are doing very well," Cadman said, "particularly Bald Eagles, Merlin, Peregrine Falcons." Release programs developed over the past 20 years to help eagles and peregrines are paying off, suggested Cadman. Forest accipiters such as Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks also are increasing in numbers.

"Generally, owls are up," as well Cadman said, though "interestingly, Great Horned Owls are showing a marked decline. We don't really have a good idea why."

"We're losing grassland birds where forest is coming back," Cadman said, as well as "where agriculture is intensifying." Bobolinks, Upland Sandpiper, Dickcissel, Eastern Meadowlark and Henslow's Sparrows are scarcer.

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"Aerial insectivores - they're way down," Cadman said. "They're all among the 25 species showing the largest declines." This group includes swallows, martins, swifts and nightjars.

Drier summers may be reducing the number of flying insects since many have an aquatic stage in their development, suggests Cadman. "Some birds are migrating earlier, and then whacked by bad weather. Cold snaps in May or June eliminate insects to feed on and the young are vulnerable. Insecticides also may be a factor."

The Oak Ridges Moraine and other areas with increased environmental protection are becoming more forested and forest birds generally are doing well. "It shows up in the Niagara Escarpment, down the Bruce, Grey and Dufferin counties, almost to Hamilton," said Cadman.

"Almost 30 species are expanding their breeding range south, including Yellow-rumped Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, and Hermit Thrush," said Cadman. "About 20 species are expanding their range north," Turkey Vultures, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Mockingbirds, and Carolina Wrens among them.

The atlas is distributed by Ontario Nature at a cost of $92.50. Call 1-800-440-2366 or see www.birdsontario.org and follow the link to Ontario Nature.

St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA.

A trail for all seasons

It may be cold outside, but the Oak Ridges Trail Association is looking ahead to the spring, and a unique opportunity for residents to celebrate and promote the diverse natural beauty of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

The moraine is a ridge of land that runs parallel to and about 60 km north of Lake Ontario. It extends about 160 km from the Niagara Escarpment in the west to the Trent River in the east and has many significant features, in particular the ground water, which results from rainwater percolation into the generally porous soils of the ridge. The moraine also forms the watershed divide between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe and is the source of headwaters to more than 30 rivers.

On June 14 and 15, ORTA will host the second annual Moraine For Life Adventure Relay to raise awareness of the moraine and its vibrant habitats, help protect its ecosystem and heritage, and work on extending the Oak Ridges Trail while encouraging responsible land use for everyone to enjoy. During the 24-hour relay, teams of up to 15 racers will bike, hike, run and paddle across 160 kilometres of the trail, which stretches from Rice Lake to King City, and encompasses the local communities of Goodwood and Ballantrae.

The course covers 14 stages of varied terrain with breathtaking views. Different categories of participation are offered to appeal to everyone from seasoned adventure racers to families and friends, and this year a recreational masters category has been added for older participants. “Folks of all ages use the Oak Ridges Trail every day and we’re confident those in the 55-plus group can give others a real challenge in the relay,” said ORTA executive director Harold Sellers. This year’s relay sponsors include legendary philanthropists Joey and Toby Tanenbaum.

Of course, no one has to wait for the relay to enjoy the beauty of the moraine, which is open for year round enjoyment. As you can see from the photographs, if you haven’t already taken a hike along the trail, you’re in for a big treat.

ORTA is a volunteer, community-based organization that builds and maintains the Oak Ridges Trail. Teams can register for the relay online at Adventure Relay or by calling 1-877-319-0285.

York Region Forest trail
Eldred King Woodlands off Hwy. 48
Vivian Creek, East Gwillimbury

Stouffville Free Press News

Green is not cheap

Increasing restrictions on gravel development in the Toronto area are forcing aggregate producers to look farther afield for supplies, including to Grey and Bruce counties, Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel Association president Carol Hochu said Friday.

Grey County municipal officials have begun to warn in recent months of major proposals for aggregate extraction in the region. The warnings come after licence applications were made for large stone quarries and gravel pits, including one near Owen Sound and another south of Collingwood, that involve amendments to the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

There are strong business and environmental reasons for keeping aggregate extraction closer to Toronto, Hochu said. However, new restrictions on aggregate development on the Oak Ridges Moraine, together with escarpment plan restrictions, mean sources in the Toronto are running out, Hochu said.

“The industry is concerned that existing licence resources in the GTA are going to be exhausted in the next decade,” the association president said from her Mississauga office. “We need in an environmental, economic and social sense to have it located close to market. . . It’s becoming more difficult to license and expand an existing site or to bring a greenfield site onstream.”

There are other sources in the Kawartha Lakes region northeast of Toronto, in Wellington County, Simcoe and in Grey and Bruce, Hochu said. A 1977 provincial government study identified the area between Durham and Flesherton as home to half the total gross possible gravel reserves remaining in all of southwestern Ontario.

Durham Stone and Paving Ltd. has submitted a plan to take a maximum of 500,000 tonnes of material from a proposed pit on 70.75 hectares of farmland near Singhampton in the former Osprey Township in Grey Highlands. Two larger operators are also seeking to expand in the same area.

MAQ Aggregates Inc. and Georgian Aggregates and Construction Inc. are seeking permission for quarries on land within six kilometres of the Durham Stone site. Combined, the three operations could mean the removal of as much as three million tonnes of stone annually — some of it from land protected under the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

That’s more gravel than is now produced by all the aggregate operators in Grey County, judging by 2004 research by consultants to the county government.

Durham Stone and Paving proprietor Paul Arnill has designed his proposal to serve construction in the area. It’s still not cost competitive to haul gravel by truck from Grey to Toronto, he said in a recent interview. And Ministry of Natural Resources aggregate analyst Craig Lang figures trouble getting gravel out of Grey County might mean it’s more likely that areas of Simcoe County near Orillia will serve Toronto first.

“What I’m seeing in my part of Grey County is a response to local markets,” Lang said in a recent interview. He works from an office in Midhurst and is one of three ministry officials responsible for administering aggregate licences in the Grey County region.

“The difficulty you’ve got in Grey County, in my view, is that there aren’t any really good transportation systems to get the stuff out,” Lang said.

Area residents have speculated for years about the resurrection of rail service or dedicated trucking routes for substantial gravel resources identified in the county.

So far, nothing has happened to resurrect rail and highway transport via multilane highways north from Toronto through Barrie make identified gravel resources in the Orillia area more likely for development in the short term, Lang said. He and his colleagues in Owen Sound and Guelph with responsibility for aggregate in other parts of Grey say the 20 current licence applications on their desks represent the normal course of business for the region.

Lang has three current licence applications in his area of eastern Grey. James Williams looks after the southernmost municipalities of Grey from his Guelph office. He has six current licence applications, five in West Grey and one in Southgate.

Dave Munro oversees northwestern Grey County and most of the Bruce Peninsula from the ministry’s Owen Sound office. His area includes a concentrated area of production of “dimension stone” used in construction and landscaping.

“It’s pretty rare for me to be below 10 on the go at any one time,” he said of current files in his office. “This is sort of the hub of the dimension stone industry here around Wiarton.”

Members of the stone and gravel association with GTA customers would prefer access to gravel closer to the market, Hochu said. However, new government restrictions and the region’s growing settlement mean gravel development gets more difficult and costly as time goes by.

“It makes most sense to have the resources located close to the market so we don’t have extra truck-haul kilometres, which increases transportation costs and increases fossil fuel consumption and increases greenhouse gas emissions.”

“If anyone is an environmentalist, they have to acknowledge that it makes more sense to have it close to market. People acknowledge the need for aggregate. People say, yes, I know we need it to build and maintain the infrastructure of the province, but don’t get it from here, get it from somewhere else. That just doesn’t make sense.”

Grey Bruce - Ontario, CA.