Goings on in Port Rowan/Long Point This Week.

It has taken a long time but it appears that the grand opening of the Port Rowan Wetlands will take place this Thursday.

Some of you will remember the sewage lagoons on Hunter Drive North.  They were decommissioned three years ago and since then they have been in the process of being converted into a functional table wetland.

We’ve been observing the complex process of the transformation over these past three years.

The most obvious changes occurred this spring.

That was when the berm that separated the two ponds was removed.

Now there is a long point that looks like an island.

According to by Shirley Rothery, Chair of the Long Point Biosphere, 

at the “north east where the municipal drain enters the wetland

the bottom will be contoured so that it rises gradually to the height of the island. This will help to keep water circulating in the wetland from the north east where it enters to the north west where it will exit. The variation in the water depths will encourage the growth of different types of vegetation and attract different birds and animals.”

You can read a summary of the project at http://www.longpointbiosphere.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/biosphereBeacon_summer2015_loRes.pdf.  It is on page 7.of this informative newsletter from the Long Point Biosphere.

Tall prairie grass has been planted on both sides of Hunter Drive.  This will eventually transform the area into an ecosystem once common in the area.  It will benefit wildlife and help protect the cold water creek from erosion.

Snowy Owl at the Port Rowan Wetlands December 2014

E-Bird records 190 species seen at this site http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L382681?m=&yr=all&changeDate=Set . Last Saturday one of our B & B guests observed 35 species on a quick trip to the wetlands.  They are located just 600 metres north of our house.  The ongoing transformation will certainly promise that even more species will be seen in future years.

Barn Swallow / Forest Birds Workshop - September 24, 2015

Also this week, there will be a couple of presentations at Bird Studies Canada (BSC) headquarters on Thursday evening.  BSC’s Kristyn Richardson will talk about stewardship programs for swallows.  She will be followed by wildlife biologist Gregor Beck and BSC’s Jody Allair.  They’ll talk about forest birds that are at risk.  The workshop runs from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at BSC headquarters,115 Front Road in Port Rowan on Thursday, September 24th.