The 2008 Christmas Bird Count for the Richmond Hill Circle was held on 20 December 2008. There were 34 field observers and 9 feeder-watchers. A total of 54 species (plus a hawk and a gull of unknown species) were observed, totalling just shy of 4500 birds. These numbers are fairly typical. The highlights included a Northern Goshawk, THREE Bald Eagles, a Swamp Sparrow, a Fox Sparrow, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a White-crowned sparrow, two Northern Flickers, a Snowy Owl and 48 White-winged Crossbills. The weather was cold but not too windy.
A large group of participants enjoyed the Chili Supper hosted by Martin and Judy Chen. In addition to lots of good food and drink, people vied at a variety of quizzes, and the drawing of several door prizes. There was even a spirited rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.
Our thanks again to Wild Birds Unlimited for providing prizes for the lucky participants.

The Richmond Hill Naturalists officially announces the formation of a new special interest section of the club — an astronomy group, to be known as the AstroNats.

“We are thrilled to have the AstroNats join our club,” said Richmond Hill Naturalists’ President Marianne Yake. “With the AstroNats we will be able to extend our enjoyment and protection of nature to the sky as well as to Earth.”

This new amateur astronomy group will be chaired by Ms. Heide DeBond, one of the current operators of the 74 inch telescope at the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO).

The core of the amateur astronomy section of the club is drawn from the DDO Defenders group which together with the Richmond Hill Naturalists has undertaken to preserve and protect the entire DDO site at 123 Hillsview Drive, Richmond Hill. The Astronats will service southern York Region and the Greater Toronto Area.

With the formation of the AstroNats, the Richmond Hill Naturalists and the David Dunlap Observatory astronomers have come full circle: In 1955 Helen Sawyer Hogg and Ruth Northcott, both resident astronomers at the Observatory, helped found the fledgling nature group called the Naturalists and later called the Richmond Hill Naturalists. From astronomers forming a nature group, we now have that same nature group forming an astronomy group.

The Richmond Hill Naturalists is dedicated to enjoying, protecting and promoting the environment and natural history. The club offers year-round activities and monthly speakers from September to April covering a wide range of topics. Included under the umbrella of the club are dedicated groups for bird watching, botany, the environment, and now astronomy.

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For further information on the Richmond Hill Naturalists please contact:

Marianne Yake
President

Richmond Hill Naturalists
[email protected]

Phone: 905-883-3047

https://www.rhnaturalists.ca/

Don’t miss our annual Richmond Hill Naturalists AGM and Potluck Dinner on Thursday, April 17th. Dinner will be at 6pm, followed by a guest speaker presentation at 7:30pm.

This year, the RHN is proud to present, Travels with Theo: Coastal Chile and Puru by Theo Hoffman, Pharmacist, Biochemist, Professor Emeritus of U. of Toronto, Serious Birder. Theo will present a stunning slide show and talk on his recent travels to South America and Easter Island.

The public is cordially invited to our speaker’s event. which is sponsored by the Richmond Hill Naturalists. There is no admission charge and parking is free. For more information, contact Marianne Yake, 905-883-3047. Location: Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, Wallace Hall, 10066 Yonge St.

-Moai figures on Easter Island

-Humboldt Penguins on Islotes pajaras

-Moon Valley, Atacama Desert

The Richmond Hill Naturalists have recently learned that the University of Toronto is planning to close David Dunlap Observatory, declare the lands ‘surplus’ and sell it off in an ‘open bid’ process to those who can most afford this 189 acres, i.e., developers!

The University of Toronto’s Governing Council will meet on October 30th at 4:30pm to determine whether to accept the proposal of the Observatory lands becoming “surplus” and therefore to be put up for sale. There are 30 reserved seats and 30 first come-first served seats. To RSVP for a seat call 416 978-6576 and to send letters or speak as a deputant (3 minutes max) contact Matthew Lafond, Recording Secretary at matthew.lafond at utoronto.ca. The meeting is at Council Chambers, Simcoe Hall, University of Toronto, 27 King’s College Circle (attached to Convocation Hall).

We ask deputants and letter-writers to ask the Governing Council to NOT declare the lands ‘surplus’ and refer this matter back to staff to look at alternatives to selling the lands in their entirety, and work with the Town and public on determining the best use for these lands, in the name of science, not money!

Alternatives to development

This DDO property could become a small satellite northern campus, much like Mississauga and Scarborough. With financial support from Alumni, many of whom live in the wealthy suburbs around these lands in Richmond Hill whose children now attend UofT as students. Graduate students in particular are said to be the focus of U of T’s growth plans and this location would be ideal for a small graduate research ‘think-tank’ campus. Many of the best and brightest scholars in Ontario come from Richmond Hill high schools already, so reducing the need to travel to downtown Toronto should be considered by U of T planners. Universities can no longer continue to plan for growth for its own sake. They must also consider the social and environmental impacts they place on the outlying communities they serve. The development of new university capacity should strategically improve air and water quality and combat climate change by reducing CO2 emissions. The development of smaller satellite campuses and the creative use of high-speed network applications such as video conferencing, is an approach that could help.

As a last resort, we will fund-raise to purchase the property, an approach that would require broad public support, especially from University of Toronto Alumni. That scenario is not ideal for either the University in terms of future fund-raising (they will become the ‘bad guys’ in the eyes of Alumni in this town), nor for us as residents of Richmond Hill who will have to raise millions of dollars to compete with developers’ deep pockets. In addition, taxpayers would have to pay for a potential OMB hearing over the rezoning of the lands, which we know will be inevitable. We have long supported the Town’s initiative to protect this parcel of green-space, which is currently zoned ‘institutional’ by the Town. The Town has designated the buildings and immediate lands as ‘heritage’.

Currently, it appears that taxpayers will have to compete with land speculators in an open bid process. This was clearly stated by U of T Dean of Science, Pekka Sinervo, who told the Richmond Hill Post: “We have no restrictions on who to sell the property to. It will be based on making the highest value of sale to the university”. Thus, the price of real estate in this Town will once again be driven artificially high, just to line the pockets of the Dunlap heirs, the University of Toronto and the developers. Once again, the cost to nature and the cost to residents’ health and well-being will be unaccounted for.

As an alternative to this nasty scenario, the land should be deemed ‘public property’, kept in the hands of the U of T and turned into a northern campus. If there is any sale of land, it should be to the Town at a reasonable price with a proper Community Plan done for any land parcels that do come up for sale in future. The U of T would be far better off to look at all funding alternatives and keep the DDO operating as a spectral observatory.

It should be remembered that the DDO land is the last significant green space in the south section of Richmond Hill. The loss of this 189-acre urban wilderness will have a devastating impact on wildlife and will affect thousands of Richmond Hill residents who live in the surrounding area. Paving over the DDO lands will add traffic and noise to our already-congested roads. The loss of this property will also rob current and future generations of healthy green space that provides a host of free services including: insect control, air and water purification and carbon storage and habitat for deer and dozens of birds species.

Why close a productive Observatory?

In addition, the Richmond Hill Naturalists have learned that contrary to what the U of T officials have stated in their press release, the David Dunlap Observatory continues to operate successfully as a spectral observatory (light pollution only really is detrimental to optical astronomy) and attracts astronomers from around the globe. DDO astronomers continue to publish numerous research papers and work on special projects with institutions such as NASA. For decades, the DDO has also provided outreach programs to thousands of families and school children in the GTA by hosting school trips, special lectures and observation nights.

U of T’s September 10th press release also contains inaccurate information about the current cost of the maintenance of the facility. The $800,000 per year figure quoted in the release reflects a time when (which was only when it was operating with full-time staff),

The University also cites the need to close the facility because of light pollution. In fact, the Town has had a lighting by-law since 1995. This has helped keep light conditions of the Richmond Hill night sky at 1970′s levels. Remember, it was in that decade when U of T’s own Dr. Tom Bolton discovered the first black hole. There is no real reason to close this facility as it is still being used for astronomy.

Given that many Richmond Hill students have attended the University of Toronto over the years, the destruction of the David Dunlap property would be an unwanted, unfair and unneeded lesson for thousands of U of T Alumni. The announced plan is especially hurtful because it was brought forward with no consultation with area residents.

For these reasons, the Richmond Hill Naturalists are asking the University of Toronto cease its plan to sell off these lands. We call upon the Town of Richmond Hill, the University of Toronto and all levels of government to work together to preserve this property. We believe there are ways the Observatory can continue to operate, perhaps as an independent entity that is shared by all Ontario universities. We believe this green space can and must be saved.

Please visit our Save the Observatory page and start sending lettersto local and provincial politicians and University of Toronto officials.

Armed with generous pledges from members who were at the annual meeting, Gene and Charlene Denzel, joined by Denise and Rod Potter for part of the time, birded in Pt Pelee National Park and HIllman Marsh from 13:30 on Monday 7 May to 13:30 on the 8th, with a total of 13 hours of birding during that period. The result was a total of 102 species, including only 14 warblers. The weather was good during this time at Pelee, meaning rain overnight and fog in the morning ( {-:} ). Some highlights were Hooded Warbler, Marbled Godwit, 3 wrens (Carolina, Winter, and House), and 5 thrushes (counting Robins).

During the next 4 days Gene and Charlene birded some more in the Pelee area, and then moved on to Rondeau Provincial Park. Rondeau was quite productive, with as usual much less crowding. For the 5 days, the total got up to 139 species for Gene and Charlene, including 25 warblers, with good views of Golden-Wing, Blue-Wing, Kentucky (see photo), a singing Hooded, Cerulean, and a swarm of Northern Parulas. All in all a delightful May outing.

For those who want to pledge, it can still be done either by contacting Gene directly or online through the secure aBird Studies Canada website using the following link Denzel-Baillie , and entering my ID (56301) at the appropriate place. If you have your own ID with Bird Studies Canada, you should enter it where requested to simplify processing.

The March 2007 edition of the Richmond Hill Naturalists newsletter, “The Bulletin” is now available.

by Russell Tilt

(First published in the RHN Bulletin, March 2007 edition)

I was shocked, but not surprised to hear of the passing of the Naturalists’ good friend and strong supporter, Gladys McLatchy.

Gladys joined the Richmond Hill Naturalists in 1974 and continued to be a member for 28 years. I recall my first contact with her was when she and her parents operated a store called “Fabric Fair” at 8 Yonge Street South, where they carried a complete line of materials for dressmaking. My wife Doris and daughter Susan visited her store often in the early 1950’s when we became close friends. Her father was a founder and promoter of the Curtain Club.

Gladys lived at the corner of Yonge Street and Major MacKenzie Drive until about 2 ye ars ago, but left after a long continuous battle with the Town and the Department of Highways who wanted to take over her property when the two roads were being widened.

Gladys was also a very active member of the Horticultural Society since the early 1940s. She held every office and sat on every committee in the Society. She was also a member of numerous organizations of the Town where she held responsible positions.

As a member of the Naturalists and the Horticultural Society she played an important role in persuading the Town Council to establish the Mill Pond Park, the Lois Hancey Park and the Pioneer Park. I was honoured to plant the first barrel of flowers in front of Gladys’ home as part of the establishment of the Town parks.

Gladys also served as an advisor to the Naturalists in the 1970s and 1980s, but never received any recognition for this. For 15 years she was a generous supporter of the Richmond Hill Naturalists’ annual Birdathon.

Her main interest was horticulture. She loved working in her garden, which was always one of the best and most interesting in Richmond Hill. She was also interested in wild plants and always had some in her garden. Gladys was always strong and firm in her opinions and never hesitated to make them known. She was an accomplished leader.

Gladys, we are proud to have known you and are grateful for all that you have done.

Charlene and I were fortunate enough to be able to travel to South Africa for three weeks last Fall, with a small group of people interested in birds, fauna and flora there. We spent a few days in and around Kruger National Park, where we saw lots of bird and animal life. We then traveled to Lesotho (a small mountain country imbedded within South Africa) by car (an adventure in itself!), which was quite interesting in its own right. Then we made our way to Durban, from which we flew to Cape Town. There we spent some incredible hours in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which has to be one of the floral wonders of the world. In addition to wonderous vistas of flowers and mountains, it also had a lot of neat birds.

Of course, no birding trip would be complete without a visit to some sewage lagoons, and we did travel to one on the Western shore with good results. We travelled down to the Cape of Good Hope, seeing besides some nice birds a few Southern Right Whales in close to shore.

After the group finished up, we took a pelagic trip for one morning, with good luck on the weather front (no seasickness!), and incredible views of all sorts of sea birds mobbing the trawler’s catches as they were hauled in.

Of course, we can only touch on the highlights in the brief time after the potluck dinner, but we’ll try to whet people’s appetites for all of the natural beauty and variety to be found in South Afrtica.

The RHN Bird Group convened at Mike Turk’s place for a discussion of these two cranes. Below is a condensed version of the information presented at the meeting, by Martin Chen, Gene and Charlene Denzel, Harold and Muriel Farrant, Barbara Jackson, Theo Hofmann, and MIke Turk .

First on the table was the Sandhill Crane, which is one of the only two crane species in North America (of 13 worldwide). This bird comes in 6 sub-species or races, of which the local one (nesting as near as the Carden Alvar area) is the Grus Canadensis Tabida (Greater Sandhill Crane), somewhat larger (and with a 50% longer bill) than the ones which breed in the Arctic (including far Eastern Siberia) and sub-Arctic. All of these winter in the area from Southern California across the lower Southern US and North Central Mexico, and 75-80% of the migrating birds stage on the upper Platte River in Spring migration. The main differences amongst the populations is size, but even in mixed flocks (say at the famous gatherings on the Platte River) they are not always easy to distinguish. The Southern races (in Cuba, Florida, and Mississippi) are essentially sedentary .

The birds range in weight from roughly 3.3KG to 4.3 kg for females, and 3.8 kg to 5.4 kg for males, and up to 120cm in height. Wingspans range from 160 to 210 cm.

There are upwards of 500,000 in the total poppulation, more than the total of all other crane populations in the world. They seem to be spreading out as suitable habitats are er-established, and their primary threat in general is degradation of habitat which consists of open wetlands, shallow marshes and wet meadows, plus over-hunting in some areas. Historically they were hunted for food and sport, and sometimes by farmers because of their penchant for grains. (When large flocks of Sandhill Cranes descend on a freshly planted field, they can take so much seed that the field may need to be replanted! There is work going on to find an economical treatment for seeds which will discourage the birds from foraging to this destructive extent.)

They are omnivorous, but especially in Winter do like to visit farm fields for grains.

This species shares with all cranes the graceful, stately courtship dances, with the tossing of sticks, rocks, or tufts of grass included in the ballet. Anyone who has had the opportunity to witness one of these dances will attest to the magic. When flying they are easily distinguished from herons and egrets by the stretched out form, with straight neck and legs extending from the body, plus a distinctive slow rolling down-stroke and quick upstroke of the wings. Their calls (often heard in the evenings if canoeing in parts of Killarney Park in July, for instance) are quite noticeable and identifiable as well.

The Whooping Crane (Grus Americana) is the tallest bird in Norh America, ranging from 130-160 cm in ht (51-63 in), and 4.5-8.5 kg in wt. (9.9-18.7 lb), with a wingspan of 200-230 cm (78.7-90.5 in). To better appreciate its size, consider that it is 7 times heavier and 30 cm (a foot) taller than the Great Egret, and almost 3 times the weight of the Great Blue Heron, birds which are locally familiar. They also fly with extended neck and legs, as with the Sandhill Cranes, in diistnction from herons and egrets, and their long stratight bill is quite different from a stork’s.

As with the Sandhill Cranes, these birds are omnivorous, eating grains, fish (such as eel), crustaceans, berries, etc., perhaps more inclined to animal material. They also have a stately courtship dance, and similar foraging behaviour.

It’s population status is the complete opposite of the Sandhill Crane, in that its population declined to 15-16 birds in the wild in 1941! A concerted effort to protect and nurture this magnificent species has built them back up to 232 in the flock which breeds in Wood Buffalo National Park (in Alberta and the Northwest Territories) and winters in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, another 53 in an experimental non-migratory flock established near Kissimee Florida. A third population which has involved an attempt to establish a new flyway between a breeding ground in Wisconsin and wintering ground in Florida, with the birds being trained on the migration route by following an ultralight aircraft and had reached 82 birds as of January, suffered a devastating blow this month when 17 of the migrating first-year birds were killed in the huge storms in Florida. (For more about this, see the migration project. ) Besides these wild populations, there are some 145 in captivity. Clearly the species is still in a very precarious situation.

In addition to major habitat loss, the Whooping Crane suffers from potential nest and brood predation from bears, wolverines, wolves, lynx, and Ravens. Adults are only subject to the bobcat, being more likely to suffer from hitting power lines. Of course, as with all large birds, it is also subject to ‘accidental’ shooting.

(more…)

The February 2007 edition of the Richmond Hill Naturalists newsletter, “The Bulletin” is now available. In this issue:

• Greenspaces are making a comeback
• Learn more and get involved to Strengthen Ontario’s Endangered Species Act!
• The Concept Plan for a new ‘Lake Ontario Park’
• New Book by Paul Hawken: “Blessed Unrest”
• Ontario expands Rouge Park by an additional 1,500 acres
• More news and events

A hardy group of folks from the RIchmond Hill Naturalists met at the Kleinburg CoffeeTime on a relatively mild Saturday morning before heading over to Joan Love’s spread. Joan’s feeders as usual were attracting a nice variety of birds (Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Junco’s, House Finches, CHickadees, Cardinals, Bluejays), but nothing exotic. A walk down through the river valley produced nothing of note. Upon heading down the hill back towards the house, a raptor was spotted at the top of a bare tree. Initial guesses were of Kestrel, but upon more close looks that was rejected. At a distance, through binoculars, it looked somewhat like a sHarp-shinned Hawk, but the tail was not right. Finally we brought a scope out and we all got a good look, including the eyebrow and tail markings, which all pointed to Merlin. As we were finishing our last looks at this very cooperative bird, another raptor flew into a tree on the other side of the house. This was undoubtedly a SHarpie, and gave us all a great chance to do the comparison.

Heading off up Major MacKenzie from Joan’s place, a Northern SHrike on the phone line was seen by a number of people. Up on the flats a number of raptors could be seen, the first couple being Red-tailed Hawks. The next one to show up was kind enough to land in a tree not too far from the road, and was clearly a (light-morph) Rough-legged Hawk. It was nice enough to take flight when people had it in their binoc’s, showing the neat ‘elbow patches’. While trying to scope the various hawks, a few folks tracked down some Song Sparrows and Field Sparrows down a side road/driveway. Seeing that a very long freight train was blocking the southward portion of McGilvary and Huntington Roads, we opted to head North up Huntington, along which more Red-tails and another Rough Legged Hawk were seen, as well as a Coyote in a field seen by a few.

Stoppping at the Nashville Cemetary, the group began a scanning of the row of cedars at the back, which quickly yielded what turned out to be 5 Long-Eared Owls. One took off over the cemetary, being harassed by a noisy flock of Blue Jays, but giving us all great looks.

Given the hour, it was agreed to head South now, in hopes that the train had crept out of our way. It had indeed and, along with a few more sightings of Red-tails, we had great luck at some freshly manured areas on a field on the East side, where a large number of Horned Larks were busy working over the bugs. A good chance for great scope views.

After these successes, we headed off to the pub in the Longchamps restaurant, which had a cheery fire going to help revive frozen toes and fingers. A pleasant lunch with lively discussion of the neat birds seen brought a nice outing to an end.

The December 2006 edition of the Richmond Hill Naturalists newsletter, “The Bulletin” is now available. In this issue:

• The Quiet Disappearance of Pollinating Insects
• Oak Ridges Moraine: The Buck Stop s Here
• North Leslie Decision Not Conducive to Morraine Protection
• High Tech Barn Swallows
• Events past and future
• Bird Observation Reports
• Holiday Safety Tips for Pets and Wildlife

You can view it online here with Adobe Acrobat Reader (available on-line free of charge from Adobe’s website).