The Trumpeter Swan Conversation Ontario (TSCO) 5-Year Trumpeter Swan Survey is a tool used to gauge the sustainability of the Trumpeter Swan restoration efforts and to identify changes in their habitat in Ontario. In 2025, the one-day survey will take place on Saturday February 1 with Sunday February 2 as a backup date. The approximately 156 sighting locations span throughout Ontario and are focused on the wintering locations for the swans.
The survey relies solely on voluntary participation that TSCO coordinates. TSCO confirms volunteers as observers for specific locations. TSCO will instruct the observers on how to safely perform and accurately document observations. The observers will document their sightings in a web-based TSCO database.
TSCO members will be available throughout the day to provide guidance and support.
If you or anyone in your organization would like to volunteer to take part in the survey, please fill out the participant form through the link 5 Yr Trumpeter Swan Survey Participant Form or through our website trumpeterswanconservationontario.com and we will be in touch with you.
Article by Trumpeter Swan Conservation Ontario
Algonquin to Adirondack Collaborative (A2A) would like your support in amplifying their latest action alert urging the Government of Ontario to advocate for wildlife crossings on highway 401 in the Frontenac Arch region.
As you may know from the recent release of our Right to Roam report, we estimate that more than 20,000 animals are killed every year on highways in the A2A corridor. These roads impose a barrier to wildlife movement. As development increases, habitat loss accumulates and species ranges shift in response to climate change, wildlife movement routes will become more limited.
The planned widening of Highway 401 to six and eventually eight lanes in portions of the region will further reduce connectivity and increase wildlife mortality. We're working hard to preserve this landscape connectivity for the long-term function and resilience of the A2A region— but we need your help to reach a wider audience.
Article by A2A, Photo of possible overpass location by Ryan Danby
This free webinar will be hosted by Friends of Ojibway Prairie president, Mike Fisher and Ontario Nature’s Nature Network Organizer, Lesley Rudy. The focus is about how national and provincial urban parks can not only protect nature but also connect urban dwellers to local wildlife and green space.
Windsor-Tecumseh MPP and Parliamentary Assistant for the Ministry or Environment, Conservation and Parks, Andrew Dowie will share his vision for the Ojibway Prairie Complex in Windsor and potentially other surrounding nature areas, which is slated to become a national urban park thanks to an agreement between Parks Canada and the City of Windsor.
MPP Dowie will speak about the province's urban provincial parks and his Bill 193 that seeks to create new legislation for a class of urban park within the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act. He will explain what an urban park is and how they differ from conventional parks. MPP Dowie will outline what the federal and provincial governments are doing to establish new urban parks, including the Uxbridge Urban Provincial Park, which the government established in July 2024. MPP Dowie will discuss what the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks is doing and his work there as Parliamentary Assistant.
A recent hike at the Willoughby Nature Reserve after the Great Lakes West Region’s fall meeting was more than just a walk in the woods.
Our guide picked up a dying leaf with green spots that represent active photosynthesis in the leaf and are almost always associated with insects, typically moth larvae, eating there.
The obvious conclusion is that larvae are causing the green islands. However, research indicates that the larvae have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria living on their bodies. The bacteria increase the production of cytokinins which are normally shut down when the plant goes dormant, thus allowing the larvae to have food to eat later into the fall.
Thanks to Ron Jasiuk of Headwaters Nature for that interesting information.
Article and photo by Dorothy Wilson
See our events calendar for a complete listing of events organized by Ontario Nature and Nature Network groups.
To submit your public events to our online calendar, email them to noahc@ontarionature.org and allow up to a week for posting. Please send only events that are open to the public and no more than three per month.
We want to include more content from the network and will feature a story or two each month from network groups, as well as other resources. We encourage you to share your stories and links by emailing them to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org.
Ontario Nature @ Centre for Social Innovation720 Bathurst Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R4
Photos © Noah Cole, Trumpeter Swan Conservtion Ontario, Ryan Danby, Tom Preney, Dorothy Wilson, Noah Cole, Grand River Conservation Authority