BIG PROBLEM FOR GREBES THIS WINTER

As we anxiously await the arrival of our own breeding pairs of Red Necked Grebes to Sam Smith Park in early spring, there have been some alarming stories of grebes having a really rough time of it this winter.

Our frozen Great Lakes effect the migration of grebes. Grebes spend their entire lives in the air or on the water. With so much of the Great Lakes frozen over, grebes are unable to find open water, forcing them to land on hard surface areas. Once on land, Grebes are known as "sitting ducks" because their lobed feet, while suitable for diving, are so far back on their bodies that they cannot walk or take flight again. Toronto Wildlife Centre has declared a "grebe-mageddon" because of the number of trapped or injured birds they are caring for this winter.

Animal rescue workers in southern Ontario are struggling to keep up with an influx of injured grebes, a species of waterbird that’s fast running out of splashdown spots as the Great Lakes freeze over.

Grebes are smaller cousins to the loon. But with more than 80 per cent of the Great Lakes covered in ice, grebes are having a tough time finding open water to land in during Ontario’s deep freeze. That’s forced some grebes to touch down on solid ground, where they lack the ability to walk or take flight again.

“If the grebes land on land, they’re dead,” said Gail Lenters, who operates the Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge, located north of Toronto, near Lake Simcoe.

Grebe being prepared for surgery

"They can’t move, they can’t get around, they can’t fly. Lenters says grebes migrate south from the Arctic to spend their winters on the Great Lakes, where water at the centre of the lakes typically does not freeze. But that open water did freeze this year, and grebes are having a tougher time finding somewhere safe to come down.  She adds that grebes will fall out of the air or come to ground out of exhaustion because they are not used to flying such long distances in search of water.

 

That’s what’s happening to grebes on the shores of Lake Ontario, where rescue organizations like the Toronto Wildlife Centre find themselves taking in several injured birds on a daily basis.  Lenters says the Great Lakes don’t typically freeze this much, though there was a similar deep freeze last year. She expects the ice cover will remain until March.

SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING, FEBRUARY 24TH, 2015

Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting

February 24, 2015

 7:14 PM, Keaveney Residence, Etobicoke

• Toronto Park Summit: Saturday, March 7, 1-5PM. 585 Dundas Street E. (Daniels Spectrum Building). Registration required. Councillors will be in attendance.
• Seedy Sunday: March 22, 10:30AM to 3PM. Franklin Horner Community Centre, 432 Horner Avenue. Sponsored by LEGS (Lakeshore Environmental Gardening Society). Visit the FOSS/CCFEW table. Make pine cone bird feeders. Consider purchasing a FOSS membership ($5 single, $10 family).
• CSS Park Cleanup Day: Sunday, April 19. 9AM to 3PM. Volunteers are needed to help pick up unwanted trash in the park.
• CSS Park Bird Festival: Saturday, May 23. 9AM-1PM. Kids’ activities. Nature displays. Photography contest. Door prizes. And much more.
• FOSS Membership Renewals: See blog for membership form. Present members are encouraged to renew and individuals on FOSS’s contact list are welcome to join.
• Tree Removal Applications have been submitted to the City of Toronto to facilitate the construction on Colonel Samuel Smith Drive of the new Humber College Welcome Centre (HCWC). Humber needs to remove 18 trees (For every tree removed, 3 will be planted—24 on the HCWC site and 30 on the Lakeshore Grounds. Humber will also plant 12 trees on the St. Leo’s school grounds).
• FOSS advocates that native trees, not shrubs, be planted and that the location and species be determined by the city’s wildlife/habitat specialist in conjunction with the Forestry Department.
• FOSS also suggests that the trees be planted in clumps in order to duplicate the habitat that will be lost with the building of the HCWC.
• Many additional trees in CSS Park are suffering severe collateral damage from the city’s overzealous grass and weed trimmers.
•  FOSS has been asked to provide representation/input related to the development of a planned 200 sq. ft. exhibit space highlighting the history of the Lakeshore Grounds.

RESULTS FROM INTERPRETIVE CENTRE OPEN HOUSE

The Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre staff conducted two open houses last week for the community to provide feedback on the centre, share their stories and point them towards resources that they can use to aid research.
  
You can read a full summary of the open house report here.

Here also is a link to Humber College's Interpretive Centre website - Lakeshore Grounds.

FOSS "SHOUT-OUT" FOR ARTICLES TO POST ON WEBSITE

The Friends of Sam Smith Park website is there to inform people about what is happening in the park, particularly with regard to wildlife and habitat as well as other issues that impact FOSS’s central mission - “protecting, enhancing and preserving the naturalized areas” of the park.  But, the website can have other purposes too.

It can also be a place ….

• where we can educate each other about the plants, birds, fish, insects and mammals of our park
• that puts a spotlight on a unique quality of the park
• where we can make connections between what happens in our own particular “green space” and the wider world around it
• where we can share stories, impressions, insights and art
• that provides a forum for raising and discussing issues that impact the park or beyond
• that provides links to interesting articles, books and other organizations
• that can be lots more!

We know that there is a wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience amongst the many who are on our contact list.  We are approaching the hundred thousand “page view” level on our website now so there is no doubt that there are also many who wish to learn more about the park and connect.

We invite you to submit articles that we can post.  That option has always been there. Please consider contributing to the growth of FOSS and this website.  Contributions can be sent here and, of course, full credit will be given to the author.  Thank you.