First of all, thanks so much Pamela Cornell for this wonderful Inner Harbour photo of a stand-off between a Painted Turtle and a Watersnake. Fabulous!
Second, thanks so much to our great students courtesy of a Community Foundation grant. The quality of both our citizen-science work and our outreach has improved dramatically. Also most grateful to WWF Canada, Trailhead and Freshwater Future for their grants. We had a wonderful kayak adventure out on the water last week and are looking forward to beginning work on our year-long telemetry project. More anon…
Finally thank you all so very much for your continuing interest. Do have a look at our great new Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour Facebook page and like it for updates. It will have to suffice for the time being as our webpage is temporarily down.
1) Sad Unwarranted Destruction of Turtle Nest Covers.
2) Caretakers of Belle Island Clean-up, Sunday, Aug 5 at noon TODAY!
3) Archaeological Test Pits dug in McBurney Park ahead of Tree Planting
4) Why Citizen-Science is Important
5) Turtle Road Kill due to Increasing Habitat Loss
6) New Frog Project
7) 2018 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Thurs, Aug 9
8) Electrical Charging Stations in Kingston
9) Upcoming Municipal Elections Heads Up
1) Sad Unwarranted Destruction of Turtle Nest Covers.
We were honestly shocked that some of our turtle nest covers were removed and destroyed – first on Saturday night, July 28, and second on August 3. Avidan Waldman happened to be in the park on August 3 and took a picture of one of the perpetrators removing 2 covers. The McBurney Park Neighbourhood Association became involved by posting the picture on their Facebook Page and administrator, Mo Clark, offered a $200 reward for information. We now know the identity of the person in the picture. We do hope that those of you who also know her will try to help her understand that her actions were potentially harmful to the unborn turtles in the nests, seriously compromised research aimed at saving turtle habitat, and served no useful purpose whatsoever. We truly hope she can communicate these concerns to other members of her group. It seems strange that she is Indigenous because deliberate destruction like this flies in the face of many Indigenous values and could even be read as an assault on members of the Turtle Clan. Sometimes raw anger can mislead.
2) Caretakers of Belle Island: Clean-up of Belle Island, Sunday, Aug 5 starting at noon TODAY! All welcome!
3) Archaeological Test Pits dug in McBurney Park ahead of Tree Planting
KINGSTON, ONT./July 23, 2018 – The City of Kingston must dig archeological test pits ahead of planting up to 10 new trees in McBurney Park to replace older trees that have been removed.
“The pits will show us where we can plant the trees. McBurney Park is also known as Skeleton Park for good reason: it sits on a cemetery that closed in 1860s and had the park built over it in the 1890s. Any digging in McBurney Park requires archeological testing according to the Cemetery Act of Ontario,” says Troy Stubinski, operations manager for public works.
The City has contracted an archeologist to dig 22 test pits to find suitable locations to plant the 10 trees this fall and potentially more in the future. The City has committed to double its urban tree canopy over the next decade.
McBurney Park sits on the former Upper Burial Ground. It was Kingston’s primary cemetery until 1850 when Cataraqui Cemetery was established. It is estimated up to 10,000 people were buried on the property before the cemetery closed in 1864.
“Archaeological assessments are a way of carefully reviewing resources that have been hidden for generations and documenting them for archival and educational purposes. Without taking the time to do this we could lose this opportunity and information forever,” says Ryan Leary, senior heritage planner.
The City has conducted two major studies in McBurney in the past 15 years: an archeological study ahead of road work on Alma, Balaclava and Ordnance streets and another as part of the McBurney Park Landscape Renewal Plan.
More on the City’s Urban Forest Management Plan? www.CityofKingston.ca/
4) Why Citizen-Science is Important
https://www.cbc.ca/news/
5) Turtle Road Kill due to Increasing Habitat Loss
https://brian.eco/why-did-the-
6) New Frog Conservation Project
Matt Ellerbeck, Frog Advocate and Conservationist, and a long-time contributor to many of our earlier workshops has a new venture of his own – the Frog Conservation/Outreach Education project. There are more frog species in the region than any other group of reptile or amphibian, yet no outreach group is solely devoted to them. Frogs are more endangered than most other groups of animals and personally they are his favourites.
More info? www.saveallfrogs.com or matt.ellerbeck@saveallfrogs.
Also interesting re Frogs – African Bullfrog protects his Young Tadpoles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
7) International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Thurs, Aug 9.
We are happy to help promote this event due to our ongoing and respectful relationships with Indigenous groups in the city. The event is open to people of all ages, all nations.
What: A celebration of our connection of our environment with international indigenous speakers, artists/performers, knowledge sharing, interactive activities, tribute to missing and murdered indigenous women, arts and crafts vendors, community booths and more.
When: Thursday, Aug 9, 11am – 4 pm
Where: Lake Ontario Park, KIngston, ON
Contact: Yessica Rivera Belsham 613-770-4522
Email: worldsindigenouspeoples
Website: www.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
8) Electrical charging stations
KINGSTON, ONT./July 25, 2018 – The City of Kingston is now installing 48 public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at 21 locations, making it easier than ever to be an EV driver in Kingston.
“As part of the City’s commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, we hope that providing the infrastructure to support electric vehicles will encourage more residents to adopt this environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional cars,” says Paul MacLatchy, environment director.
Charging station parking spaces will be clearly marked with signage. During a trial period, Level 2 stations will be free for public use with the payment of normal parking fees. Level 3 fast chargers will require payment to use. To view the full list of future EV charging stations visit www.CityofKingston.ca/EV
Level 2 and Level 3 charging stations are being installed as part of Kingston’s network. Level 2 charging stations typically deliver a full charge in four to six hours and Level 3 fast chargers deliver a full charge in less than an hour.
Charging stations in the City’s public network are owned by the City and will be operated by FLO, Canada’s largest electric vehicle charging network.
9) Upcoming Municipal Elections Heads Up
If you care about the environment as we do it is important to elect like-minded Councillors. The certified list of candidates and more information about rank ballot voting are available at CityofKingston.ca/Elections
More Questions? Contact City Hall (elections@cityofkingston.ca
Remember to check the Voter’s List at VoterLookup.ca to ensure your information is correct in advance of the October voting period.
Online voting is available from Oct. 13 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2018 with advanced polls open on Oct. 13.
Trust you are enjoying the summer. Another wonderful month ahead.
Cheers,
Mary Farrar, President,
Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour