FYI May 2010 (also available as pdf file)

• Tree-mendous Work!
• SWOOP-ing through the Watershed
• Hockey Day in the Watershed
• Species of the Month: Smooth Serviceberry
• On the Agenda

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Tree-mendous Work!

Thanks to good weather and nearly 3000 students and community members, another successful Communities for Nature spring tree planting season has wrapped up. Over 700 large hardwood trees and 6700 tree and shrub seedlings were planted throughout the UTRCA watershed.

Funding for the projects came from a variety of sources, including Suncor Energy Foundation, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (Woodstock, Stratford and London branches), EcoAction through Environment Canada, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, City of London, City of Stratford, City of Woodstock, Town of St. Marys, Sifton Properties, Enbridge through Tree Canada, CAMI Automotive, Clean Water Program, Hodges Funeral Home in St. Marys, Logan and Evans Funeral Homes and R.D. Longworth Funeral Home.

Other partners include the Municipality of Middlesex Centre, Little Creek Tree Farm, Thames Valley Board of Education, London District Catholic School Board, Avon Maitland Board of Education, Try Recycling, Friends of Stoney Creek, Friends of Medway Creek, Friends of Pittock, Ilderton Scouts, London Sparks and Brownies, Municipality of Thames Centre, Zorra Township, TD’s Women in Leadership and Camp Keemokee.

Other activities of interest include the relocation by tree spade of 50 trees, from near the UTRCA administration office in Fanshawe Conservation Area to various places with the park. This work is in preparation for construction of the new administration building.

Contact: , Resources Specialist

Below: Jim McHugh of Instant Tree Ingersoll uses a tree spade to remove a tree from near the UTRCA administration building.

Top: A tag marks a new tree at Evelyn Harrison School. Thanks to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, 13 trees were spade moved into the school playground, benches were installed and 30 shrubs were planted by the students.

Above: Staff and students of Evelyn Harrison Public School at the official opening of their Outdoor Green Classroom.

SWOOP-ing through the Watershed

In January 2009, discussions began for new aerial photography to be collected in 2010 across southwestern Ontario, including the UTRCA watershed. This information was presented in the UTRCA March 2009 FYI.

In the past year, a steering committee of provincial, municipal, conservation authority and other agency staff developed guidelines for the project, referred to as the South Western Ontario Orthoimagery Project, or SWOOP 2010.

Imagery collection began in the second week of April and should be completed for the UTRCA watershed by early May. Once the photography is complete, a seamless digital file that is referenced to the Earth’s surface will be produced, through a process known as georeferencing.

UTRCA staff will use the georeferenced image to update woodlands, watercourses, wetlands and other topographic mapping data to determine changes in the landscape since the last images were taken in 2006. This information is calculated and reported in the UTRCA report cards.

Left: SWOOP 2010 covers all of southwestern Ontario.

The final product for SWOOP 2010 will be completed and delivered near the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011.

For more information about the project see www.swoop2010.ca

Contact: , GIS Specialist

Right: An example of the 2006 mapping.

Hockey Day in the Watershed

The Annual Conservation Authorities Hockey Tournament was hosted by the Upper Thames River Rats on Saturday, April 17 at the Western Fair Sports Complex in London. The nine teams in the tournament drew players from 15 different Conservation Authorities, Conservation Ontario and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A total of 128 players participated, including eight women.

Three teams participated in the “Recreation Division” (Toronto Region, Halton and Eastern Ontario CAs [with players from South Nation, Cataraqui and Rideau Valley]). The other six teams participated in the “More Recreational Division” (ERCA Flatlanders, Thames River Rats, DFO Fish Heads, Credit Valley, Notty SimCO [players from Nottawasaga, Lake Simcoe and Conservation Ontario] and the All Sorts [with players from Kettle Creek, Grand River, Maitland Valley and St. Clair Region]).

The TRCA prevailed to win the Recreation Division (AGAIN!), defeating the Eastern Ontario CAs. The CVC defeated DFO in the More Recreational final.

We are hoping that Conservation Halton will host next year’s event.

Contact: , Coordinator, Hydrology and Regulatory Services

Left: The Thames River Rats.

Species of the Month

Smooth Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)

Several species of serviceberry are native to Ontario and the common names are often used interchangeably – Serviceberry, Shadbush, Juneberry and Julyberry. These lovely shrubs are members of the Rose family.

Smooth Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is an erect shrub with several stems in a clump. It also has a tree form that grows up to 10 metres tall. Pretty white flowers (at left below) with five petals appear in April and early May and the leaves unfold and develop at the same time. The leaves are alternate on the stem and the margins have fine to coarse teeth. The leaves are smooth underneath, not hairy as other serviceberries are; hence, the name Smooth Serviceberry.

Dark reddish-purple to black berries (at right above) ripen in June and July which is why the common names include Juneberry and Julyberry. The berries are juicy and edible and make excellent pies and jam – if you can collect the fruit before the birds eat them. Robins seem to adore them. A close relative, Saskatoon Berry (A. alnifolia), is native to northwestern Ontario and the prairies.

Local pioneers coined the name serviceberry as this shrub comes into bloom each spring at the time funeral services were held for the people who died over the winter. The pioneers may also have given this shrub the other common name, shadbush, as it blooms when the shad fish come upstream to spawn.

Smooth Serviceberry is ideal in urban gardens as it does not get too tall and the leaves turn a lovely orange colour in the fall. The UTRCA plants several species of serviceberry in its reforestation programs as they are excellent wildlife shrubs. The flowers are a nectar source for bees and other pollinators early in the season and the summer berries are an important food source for birds and other animals.

This species is common throughout southern Ontario and prefers sunnier locations in clearings and thickets and along the edges of woods, fencerows and roadsides and in coniferous and mixed woods.

Contact: , Terrestrial Ecologist

On the Agenda

The following items will be presented at the UTRCA Board of Directors meeting on May 25th, 2010. Click HERE for Board meeting minutes.
• Presentation – “The UTRCA in Middlesex Centre: What Have We Done for You Lately?”
• Fanshawe Pioneer Village Report
• Administration and Enforcement - Section 28 Report
• The Case for Joint and Several Liability Reform in Ontario
• Building Committee Update
• Joint Health and Safety Committee Meeting Minutes
• Green Energy Act Update
• 2009 Audit Update

Contact: , Executive Assistant

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