Nature Conservancy of Canada Speaks at January Meeting
Submitted by The Bruce Men’s Shed
At our January 20 general meeting held at Legion 202 (Lion’s Head and Ferndale) guest speaker Justin Johnson of Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) described the work they do with their properties in North Bruce. NCC manages over 50,000 acres in the Manitoulin Island Archipelago and over 5,000 acres in the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula. NCC actively stewards the land with a focus on protecting key biodiversity targets, collaborative conservation, protecting at-risk species, and managing invasive species. On the peninsula there are 72 species at risk of which 33 (39.2 percent) are birds and the remainder are roughly equally distributed among fish, insects, mammals, reptiles, and vascular plants. Threats to species at risk include habitat alteration (land use change usually due to building), disturbance, fire suppression, reduced prey availability, and reduced reproductive success.
Bruce Men’s Shed (BMS) has built and donated to NCC, 21 bird houses for the purpose of encouraging nesting opportunities for species at risk. The bird nest boxes built by BMS are designed to encourage tree swallows, eastern bluebirds, and the great crested flycatcher. The nestbox deployment plan by NCC for nestboxes in 2024 is tentatively planned to be at NCC properties Crane Lake, Cape Hurd, Hubbert, and Sturgeon Bay Forest. Nestboxes will be periodically monitored to see if, and what types of birds are using them. On an annual off-season time they would be cleaned and prepared for another season.
Many Wednesday mornings we continue to have some easy hikes. On January 24 we visited the Grotto in the National Park area. The Grotto in the middle of winter has a very different feel and beauty. The lack of tourists is a startling contrast to the busy summer. The January 30 visit to the White Bluffs was cancelled due to wet conditions, but hopefully can be rescheduled for another date. On February 8 we plan to do a short (3.5 km) snowshoe loop trek at Jackson Cove. This moderately difficult but short (3.5 km) snowshoe hike follows a loop route that provides beautiful views of Hope Bay, Cape Croker and Barrier Island. This is a good trail to try snowshoes if you have never done so. Additional hikes will be planned depending upon weather conditions.
Tuesday mornings in January and February a small group of us continue building scale models. We are also learning about paints and how to apply them using brush and airbrush. Feel free to drop in and say hello and for a coffee, we are at Legion 202 on Highway 6 from 9-11:30 am.
Monday mornings we have a coffee and chat time from 9-11:30 am. Come and meet members and share your interests and skills.
Plans are underway for further woodworking projects which will be announced as the plans are firmed up.
Next Monthly General Meeting: Saturday February 17th 9-11:00 am at Legion 202 on highway 6 just north of Ferndale. Doors open at 8:30 am. Guest speaker will be announced later.
If you would like further information on how to get involved with the Men’s Shed movement, please don’t hesitate to contact the Bruce Men’s Shed at brucemensshed@gmail.com or call Gerry at (519) 793-3005.
See further announcements, pictures, and short videos of what we are doing on our Facebook and Youtube channels @brucemensshed.
