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Category: Events

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Mark Stabb
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Program Director, Central Ontario – East

Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)

Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff like to say that science drives our conservation work. This is true, but sometimes while following the science, we stumble into something unexpected and truly amazing.

Let me explain.

...continue reading "Driving Miss Hazel"

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Stuart Anderson
EVC Placement

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, I was pleased to attend the 11th annual Prairie Day hosted by Alderville Black Oak Savanna (ABOS). The event was well attended and had all kinds of activities in which to take part and learn. Bird banding, nature walks, and art displays were just a few of the things kids and adults alike could observe and participate. The weather held out, making it a great day of connecting with nature in the great outdoors.

Photo by Stuart Anderson


...continue reading "My Prairie Day 2018"

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Cobourg, ON – This spring, experts will return to conduct the ninth season of prescribed burns on the Rice Lake Plains. Partners of the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative are hosting a Prescribed Burn open House on March 3rd from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Harwood Fire Station (5424 Front St). A presentation will occur at 6:00, with representatives from organizations planning prescribed burns in the County available to answer questions afterwards. ...continue reading "Rice Lake Plains Prescribed Burn Open House scheduled for March 3rd"

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BIRDS AT RISK ON THE RICE LAKE PLAINS - WORKSHOP:
On a recent sunny and cold winter's day more than 70 participants took part in a bird conservation workshop hosted by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative. This free event was held on Saturday February 6th at the Alderville Black Oak Savanna Ecology Centre. Interested landowners from Northumberland and surrounding counties learned about bird species at risk throughout the Rice Lake Plains. Willow Beach Field Naturalist Executive member Ben Walters who is also a Ph.D. candidate at Trent University, Peterborough, provided insight to the changing bird populations of the area. He combed hundreds of ornithological records dating back to the 1820s to produce an in-depth look at Birds of the Rice Lake Plains. ...continue reading "Here’s what we’re doing for Species at Risk…"

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Imagine you are married and a special anniversary arrives. Now imagine both partners are so busy that you forget to celebrate it! Well, it is safe to say that the partners in the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative (RLPJI) must be a busy lot, because we missed celebrating our big 10th anniversary! And we missed it by a country mile. ...continue reading "Celebrating “roughly” a decade of conservation and camaraderie on the Rice Lake Plains!"

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HARWOOD — With a passion for saving the eastern blue bird, Harwood resident Hazel Bird spent countless hours roaming the Rice Lake Plains checking the nest-boxes she built.

Now the public is welcome to walk the trail Ms. Bird once did at The Nature Conservancy of Canada's Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. Ms. Bird died in 2009 and the piece of land she once spent so much time on was acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada in 2011. Volunteers worked to restore and protect the property's tallgrass prairie, sand barren, oak woodland and black oak savanna habitats, which are native to the Rice Lake Plains. ...continue reading "New trail opens in Harwood’s Nature Conservancy of Canada Hazel Bird Nature Reserve"

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It was a perfect day to celebrate the Alderville Black Oak Savanna. With wind rustling strongly across the landscape and warming sunshine illuminating the rich natural colours of the tallgrass habitat visitors at the seventh annual Prairie Day had a wonderful opportunity to experience the magnificent and rare grandeur of the black oak savanna and tallgrass prairie restoration project.

Part of the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative, which includes partners like Alderville First Nation, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Northumberland Land Trust, Northumberland County, the Lower Trent and Ganaraska Conservation Authorities and Ontario Parks, the day showcased and celebrated the work that's been done across the Rice Lake Plains region to restore and rejuvenate the extremely rare oak savanna and tall grasses that were once so prominent in the area. ...continue reading "Prairie Day celebrates “incredibly special place”"

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Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are funding projects across Ontario from the Escarpment Eco Park in the Hamilton / Burlington area to environmental workshops in Northumberland.

"The Nature Conservancy of Canada's project aims to garner awareness and support for the Greenbelt in Northumberland County by partnering with Alderville First Nation to host (more) workshops for conservationist guided public tours, school outings, and a Greenbelt Prairie Day in the Rice Lake Plains area," states a media release. ...continue reading "Greenbelt Foundation funding for Northumberland"