Your new Executive has been working hard over the summer to make this a very good year.  We look forward to seeing everyone at our first meeting of the season, at the Moose Family Centre, on September 12, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.  Our Speaker will be Bob Florean, the Stewardship Coordinator for the Manitoulin Area Stewardship Network at the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Bob will speak on the Manitoulin Streams initiative and also the recent Ministry of Natural Resources stewardship initiative on Manitoulin Island, the North Shore, and North Channel area.  You can get more information on both of these initiatives at www.manitoulinstreams.com and www.ontariostewardship.org.

Over the summer, many people enjoyed our Saturday morning and Tuesday evening walks.  Thank you for joining us.  We will continue our Saturday morning walks at Sherriff Creek Bird Sanctuary throughout the winter.  Please meet us in the parking lot at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Over the summer, we were also busy trying to save our beaver; unfortunately they had to be trapped and killed.  We are currently working with Rio Algom to install beaver bafflers so that, in the future, the beavers can continue to live in our Sanctuary.  In addition, as you’ll read on the next page in “Sherriff Creek Sanctuary Speaks”, the Sanctuary needs the beaver for its own survival.

Sandhill Crane Tour – Please join us on Thursday, September 14 at 1:00 p.m. to see the sandhill cranes as they congregate for their trip south.  Last year we saw several hundred cranes in the fields around Massey.  We will meet at 1:00 p.m. at Brunswick Walk and car pool to Massey.

Thunder Mountain

The next day we met Erwin Meissner and a group from the Massey Nature Study Group for a flora and fauna tour of Manitoulin Island.  We were very fortunate to see many orchids in bloom including small and medium yellow Lady Slippers and Ram’s Head Orchids.  We also saw fields of Prairie Smoke.  Birds were also plentiful both at the Little Current Sewage Lagoons and along the roads.  We were fortunate to see a Bald Eagle nest with eaglets at Strawberry Channel Lookout.  For a complete list, please see the Penokean Hills Web Site Messages under Massey Nature Study Group – Manitoulin Outing – May 30/06.

Not wasteful, beavers eat the bark and cambium (layer right under the bark) of trees, and use the rest of the tree in construction projects. A water habitat is essential for them. Beavers live near marshes, rivers, streams, ponds and small lakes, and their dams – while sometimes a problem for humans – have many outstanding benefits. A series of dams actually slows the flow of floodwaters. When streams in shallow valleys are dammed and subsequently cause flooding, new wetlands are created. These wetlands act as filters to remove pesticides, toxins, and silt; as well, they raise the water table and help prevent erosion. And almost ½ of endangered and threatened species in North America require wetlands to thrive and survive.

Beaver ponds are the principal breeding ground of Pileated Woodpeckers, as well as many plants and insects, and are used by Canada Geese and Wood Ducks for nesting. Also home to shorebirds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, this rich source of food attracts otters, mink, raccoons, hawks, cormorants, loons, and herons.

When a pond finally drains, a meadow is created with grass, berry bushes, and shrubs flourishing in the rich soil. Deer, grouse, bears, and many varieties of birds arrive, while the original stream continues to flow through, perhaps waiting for a new cycle.

As you can see, a blow to beavers would have a domino effect. Moreover, beavers are considered second only to humans in being able to alter their environment. Conservation biologists describe them as a keystone species, that is, a species whose ecological impact is disproportionately large relative to its abundance, and which performs roles not carried out by other species. “Keystone” refers to the keystone in an arch: the arch would collapse without it. I applaud the conservation efforts of my Stewards, PHFN, for their work with Rio Algom to understand the beaver’s place in the local ecology and to aim for alternatives, wherever possible, to their being killed.