"NO JETS TO." ETOBICOKE CHAPTER FOUNDING MEETING FEB. 10TH.

For more information and to register, follow this link.  Listen to reasons to fight this from

Peter Milcyn, MPP for Etobicoke Lakeshore.

Friends of Sam Smith Park opposes Billy Bishop Airport expansion.  Click here to see previous post on this issue.

SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING, JANUARY 27TH, 2015

Summary: FOSS Steering Committee Meeting

January 27th, 2015

                                     7:02 PM LAMP, ROOM 301, 185 5^th Street, Etobicoke

•      Live Green Grants from the City of Toronto ($5000 to $50000) are available for small group local initiative projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Interested parties are invited to attend an informational Community Meeting scheduled for February 17, 6-8PM, Mimico Public Library, 47 Station Road. Registration link here;. Separate grants are available for eco-roof and cool roof projects.

•     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) and the new Catholic school. 19 trees with a chest high diameter of 30 cm or more will make way for the HCWC and the school will remove 30. The school also desires the removal of all apple and oak trees for fear of bee stings and nut allergies.

•      For each tree removed, 3 must be planted elsewhere. If there is no space to re-plant, a cost of $583 per tree is levied. FOSS does not want dollars in lieu. FOSS advocates that replacement trees be planted in the area east of the recent plantings.

•     Many additional trees in CSS Park are suffering severe collateral damage from the city’s overzealous grass and weed trimmers.

•      Toronto Park Summit: Saturday, March 7, 1-5PM. 585 Dundas Street E. (Daniels Spectrum Building). Councillors will be in attendance.

•     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.

•     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).

•      FOSS Membership Renewals: See blog for membership form. Present members are encouraged to renew/individuals on FOSS’s contact list are welcome to join.

VIDEO OF SOME SCENES AND BIRDS FROM SAM SMITH PARK

Thanks to Terry Mannella for allowing Friends of Sam Smith Park to link his video "Colonel Samuel Smith Park 2013".   
Terry is a frequent park visitor who says that he "enjoys walking, listening and viewing the sounds and sights of raw nature."
Here is a link to his Youtube channel.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7TH - HUMBER BAY BIRD WALK

FLAP CANADA - PREVENTING BIRD COLLISIONS WITH WINDOWS

LINK - FLAP CANADA - FATAL LIGHT AWARENESS PROGRAMME

JOIN NEIGHBOURS FOR A "GREEN" COMMUNITY CONVERSATION - FEB 17TH

HELP CHOOSE CANADA'S NATIONAL BIRD!

Canadian National Geographic is asking Canadians to vote for which bird should be chosen as our "national bird".

To find out more and to vote, follow this link

NEW LOOKOUT DESIGN

 There have been some questions regarding seating at the new lookout. 

There is seating, but since it's located on either side of the entrance, the rendering of the platform doesn't capture it.  There are two benches included in the design.

OWLS IN THE PARK

SNOWY OWL ON DOCK - Photograph by Julie Hyde

It looks like the predicted "snowstorm" has started.  There have been many reports of a first year male Snowy Owl (or Owls) being seen in the park in recent weeks.  Three different birds were supposedly seen today.  This night-hunting bird(s) is usually seen safely roosting by day on the yacht club dock.  Occasionally Snowy Owls can be found on the rocky headlands, but, with the sharp increase in unleashed dog traffic, that happens rarely now.

"DIGISCOPING"

Here are a few photographs we have recently received from park visitors. One was taken with a cell phone camera through a telescope that a birder let them use.  This technique is called "digiscoping" and can sometimes yield results ..... not always, but worth a shot if you are prepared to ask politely.

The Northern Saw-Whet Owl below was also photographed this morning in the park.  They are very small owls with large, rounded heads that lack ear tufts.  They are about 8 inches tall and weigh around 3 ounces.  By contrast, the Snowy Owl is about 25 inches long and weighs around 5 pounds.

NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL - Photograph by Terry Smith

SUMMARY: MINUTES FOSS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING NOVEMBER 25TH, 2014

Summary: Minutes of the FOSS Steering Committee Meeting

November 25, 2014

   7:00 PM LAMP, ROOM 302, 185 5^th Street, Etobicoke

• Milkweed seeds have been planted in three areas of Colonel Samuel Smith Park to attract and provide food for the dwindling Monarch Butterfly population. Special thanks to staff and students from Humber College who seeded “Swallow Field”. Milkweed is no longer considered a “noxious weed” in most jurisdictions, including Ontario. For more information: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/info_milkweed.htm
• On November 27^th, several individuals from the FOSS Steering Committee (accompanied by members of CCFEW) attended a meeting at the Etobicoke Civic Centre to support the city’s draft plan designating CSSP as an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) and to lobby for an enlargement of the areas of the park coming under protection. The Lakeshore Planning Council (LPC) also supports this initiative.
• FOSS is satisfied with and commends Humber College for the “bird friendly” design of its new Welcome Centre building
• FOSS advocates re-planting of trees and/or moving of existing trees that will be disturbed during construction of the Welcome Centre. FOSS also suggests the remediation of North Creek (especially the zone south of the Power House).
• FOSS advocates that the proposed Catholic elementary school (to be located on CSSP Drive) will also be bird friendly and will provide for the salvation of the existing historic apple orchard.

CITY OF TORONTO "BIODIVERSITY IN THE CITY" BOOKLETS

The City of Toronto has produced a series of booklets on the non-human residents of Toronto.  
The booklets are available for free at your local City of Toronto Public Library branch.
If you are having trouble finding them, you can contact Hailey Toft at the City of Toronto.
For a description of current and forthcoming titles, go to this "Biodiversity in the City" link.  There, you can also read PDF format versions of the booklets.