Archive for the ‘conservation’ Category
Taking part in the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s ‘Small Acts of Conservation’
As part of an effort to enjoy these last days of winter and take a mindful approach to experiencing winter-bound nature, I have joined the Nature Conservancy Canada ‘Small Acts of Conservation Challenge.’
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The first unit in the challenge is ‘Explore a Winter Wonderland.’ I don’t do as much hiking as I once did, mostly due to the arthritis in my knees. However, we have a large property and lots of opportunities to take a walk in winter.
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One of my favorite short walks in the woods is a roundabout we completed last summer. The Rocky Road lets us turn around safely in our driveway. The roundabout is in the woods and driving through it is like a mini-exploration: there are birds to see since our feeders are nearby; there are always lots of animal tracks (deer, red and grey squirrel, mice, rabbit); in summer, we can see mosses, ferns, wetland plants, various shrubs and tree species (white pine, balsam fir, spruce, red maple and red oak).
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Although the Rocky Road is part of our driveway, it is also meant as a hiking path where I can walk safely, using a cane or my walker if needed. It is part of the ‘rocky road’ project started many years ago and described on this blog https://janetims.com/2011/11/13/plans-for-a-rocky-road/
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The first unit in the Nature Conservancy Challenge is ‘to follow trail etiquette and learn how you can stay safe during winter hikes.’
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Before I took the unit, I brainstormed what I knew about rules for the trail:
- leave only tracks, take away nothing but photos;
- follow the trail and limit incursions into wild areas;
- move slowly and deliberately and do not fall;
- use all your senses — seeing, hearing, smell, taste, touch
- focus on the ground but don’t forget to look upward and outward.
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The Nature Conservancy says:
- Enjoy the peace and quiet, and be respectful of others and the wildlife around you;
- Minimize your impact. Stay on the trail and pack out what you pack in;
- Respect nature. Take pictures only, and leave flowers, plants, rocks and wood behind for the enjoyment of others and for the integrity of the local ecosystem.
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To help me with my explorations of our rocky trail, I have found my book on identifying animal tracks in winter. Next time, I’ll follow the Nature Conservancy’s suggestion to use iNaturalist to help identify plants and animals I see on the trail.
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All my Best
Jane
Pileated Woodpecker excavations
The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a common visitor in our yard. The size of the woodpecker and its triangular red crest are impossible to miss. The male also has a red stripe on the side of its face.
There is a big spruce tree in our grey woods where the Pileated Woodpecker loves to visit. The hole in the tree and the pile of woodchips below the hole say this woodpecker has been very busy. The woodpeckers drill these holes to get insects.
On a drive to see the Smyth Covered Bridge near Hoyt, New Brunswick, we found a roadside tree with evidence of the Pileated Woodpecker’s industry. The holes are almost a foot in length and deep enough to hide a hand.
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To humans, the best forests may seem to be woods with healthy trees. To provide good habitat for the Pileated Woodpecker, a forest should have lots of dead and fallen trees, to provide food and nesting sites.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
restoring an old church
For some time now, as part of my duties on the Vestry of our church, I have been involved in discussions about the future of a very old church in our community.
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St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in New Maryland, New Brunswick (Photo credit: Hughes)
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St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in New Maryland, New Brunswick was built in 1863 and is a small wooden Gothic Revival church designed by Rev. Edward S. Medley as part of his architectural program.
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In recognition of its history and architecture, the church is listed as a Protected Historic Site under the Heritage Conservation Act. It is considered to be one of the finest Medley-inspired, Neo-Gothic, wooden churches in New Brunswick. The designation has this to say about the church …
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin Provincial Heritage Place is significant because of its association with the Neo-Gothic architectural programme of Anglican priest-architect Rev. Edward S. Medley and, his father, Bishop John Medley. Here the two Medleys have collaborated to render a diminutive, wooden, mid-Victorian church-building translated from more formal stone compositions in England dating back to the Middle Ages. Designed by Rev. Edward S. Medley in 1863 and completed the following year, this church was consecrated by Bishop John Medley. It serves as a noteworthy example of the more than 100 Neo-Gothic churches erected in New Brunswick during the 47 year episcopate of John Medley (1845-1892).
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Inspired by other much larger church buildings of the Gothic manner, St. Mary the Virgin reflects a dramatic emphasis on exterior vertical lines reaching upward along the walls of the building, ending in a distinctive bell turret. This verticality is accentuated further by board-and-batten exterior construction punctuated frequently in the architectural pattern by the characteristic pointed arch motif over windows, doorways and gables.
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The old church is closely surrounded by a cemetery and has been important to the community as a place of worship, family life, weddings, baptisms, and burials for well over 100 years. Since a new church was built in 1987, the old church has aged and weathered. Although repairs are needed, restoration is possible and a number of options have been suggested for its reuse.
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(Photos of the stained glass windows in the church are by John Leroux and are used with permission)
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If you are interested in hearing more about this church and following along as a new future for the church is imagined and realised, you can join the Facebook Group ‘Friends of the Historic New Maryland Church’. I hope to see you there!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
preserving coastal marsh (day 24 and 25)
The last few days of my virtual biking have reminded me of the need to preserve coastal areas, including barrier beaches and coastal salt marsh. Day 24 and 25 of my virtual travels took me along Youghall Beach near Bathurst. This barrier beach has been almost entirely developed with seasonal and year-round residences.
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map showing distance travelled (map from Google Maps)
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8-24 March 24, 2014 35 minutes (south of Youghall Beach to Youghall)
8-25 March 25, 2014 30 minutes ( Youghall to south of Youghall)
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aerial view of Peters River salt marsh (right) and Youghall Beach (left) (image from Street View)
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Peters River salt marsh (image from Street View)
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One of the reasons to protect barrier beaches from development is the close association with coastal marshes and their sensitive wild life. For example, the coastal marshes in the Bathurst area, including the coastal salt marshes of the Peters River near Youghall Beach, are home to the Maritime Ringlet Butterfly. The Maritime Ringlet (Coenonympha nipisiquit McDunnough) is a small butterfly with a wing-span of four centimeters. It is buff-and-rusty-coloured, with a dark eyespot.
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This butterfly is endangered, because it faces extinction. It is ‘endemic’ to the salt marshes of the Baie-des-Chaleurs – this is the only place in the world where this butterfly lives. The butterfly can only live in the salt marsh – the Maritime Ringlet caterpillar lives on salt marsh grasses (Spartina patens) and the adult uses Sea Lavender (Limonium nashii) as its nectar source.
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Government and conservation groups in New Brunswick have worked together to educate homeowners about protecting the Maritime Ringlet Butterfly. They list practical steps people can take to ensure the habitat of this endangered butterfly is protected. These include: not filling in the marsh, not burning marsh grasses, not using vehicles in the marsh, not picking marsh wildflowers such as Sea Lavender, and not going into the marsh. For more information on the Maritime Ringlet Butterfly and its protection, see http://www.bathurstsustainabledevelopment.com/userfiles/file/HSP%20Final%20MR%20ENGLISH%20brochure.pdf
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March 27, 2014 ‘Maritime Ringlet Butterfly’ Jane Tims
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
between the salt marsh and the sea (day 21, 22 and 23)
My virtual biking in early March took me along the last length of coast before Bathurst. This is an area of coastal salt marsh and barrier beach. It is also an area where a lot of coastal development has occurred. My bike ride revived many memories of days when I worked on the provincial coastal policy.
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distance travelled (map from Google Earth)
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8-21 March 1, 2014 40 minutes (Petit-Rocher-Sud to east of Nigadoo)
8-22 March 4, 2014 30 minutes (east of Nigadoo to Beresford)
8-23 March 8, 2014 30 minutes (Beresford to south of Yougall Beach)
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The prominent landscape feature in the area is a huge coastal salt marsh and a barrier beach. I certainly understand why people would want to live near to the sea. However, the development of the barrier beach can harm the beach environment, puts the health of the ecologically important salt marsh at risk, and sometimes creates a safety issue for the homes and cottages along the beach (people who live along the beach are at risk of coastal erosion, storm surge and walls of ice that build up along this coast).
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aerial view showing Beresford barrier beach, the coastal salt marsh behind it and the waters of the Baie-des-Chaleurs (map from Google Earth)
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The community of Beresford has preserved a portion of the beach and marsh, creating the Passerelle, a long boardwalk to enable people to appreciate the marsh and the bird life there. The Passerelle can also be seen in the upper left corner of the aerial view above (a white, curved structure crossing a corner of the marsh pond).
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a view of the Passerelle boardwalk on the Beresford Marsh (image from Street View)
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Once private land is developed, either for seasonal or year-round residential use, the only way to protect the beach and salt marsh is to encourage homeowners along the barrier beach to live as gently as possible.
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Copyright 2014 Jane Tims
garbage day after Christmas
One change has occurred in our household during the last few years – Garbage Day after Christmas. Our garbage is collected at the roadside once per week, on Thursdays. We used to have at least three big bags of garbage after the frenzy of opening presents and discarding the wrapping paper. But, since I began wrapping presents in fabric, we have far less garbage after Christmas – no more extra bags of wrapping paper.
I disliked buying wrapping paper every year. We usually spent a lot of money on wrapping paper and were always running out. It seemed a waste of money and not very environmentally friendly.
A few years ago, I changed to fabric for wrapping. I waited for the sale on Christmas fabric at my local fabric store and bought several meters in various designs at about $2.00 per meter. I also bought a large amount of stretchy metallic chord and some pretty ribbon by the meter. I tore the fabric into different sizes, to cover a variety of gift sizes. I also tried hemming the fabric but I gave that up after tedium set in. We have never noticed the difference between hemmed and raw-edged fabric.
a variety of Christmas fabric
The challenge of using fabric is closing the fabric securely around the gift, since it’s important to make sure the packages don’t come undone. We tried various types of closures for the fabric-wrapped presents including tape (doesn’t stick), diaper pins (ugly) and plain ribbon (slippery). The best way to close the presents securely is to use lots of stretchy metallic chord, supplemented by ribbon.
lots of ribbon
a present held secure with stretchy chord
To secure tags is easy. I use cut up Christmas cards for tags (I have enough card tags to last us 20 years at the current rate of gift-giving). I secure the tags by tucking them securely under the ribbon or chord, or by punching a hole in the tag and securing it with string or ribbon.
tags are easy to add
I asked a few people what they liked best about unwrapping paper-wrapped presents, and they always say the sound of the paper crinkling and tearing is a factor. So this year, I included a thin wrapping of tissue paper with each gift, at a fraction of the cost of wrapping paper.
I now include one layer of tissue paper inside to add to the enjoyment of opening the gift
I think it takes a little longer to wrap gifts using fabric, but, to me, they are just as pretty.
The method pays for itself within 2 or 3 years. You do have to ask friends and relatives to return the fabric and ribbon after they have unwrapped their presents!!!
fabric-wrapped gifts under the tree – a couple of paper-wrapped presents are hiding out among the fabric-wrapped gifts … can you spot them????
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
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