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.

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