Wetland inhabitants

Nov 20, 2014

by Lorraine Julien

On November 1 this year, the Toronto Zoo held a presentation for participants who had reported sightings of wetland inhabitants - frogs, toads, turtles, salamanders and snakes. My husband and I were happy to be invited.

In the morning there were a number of informative presentations put on by people interested in protecting our wetlands and the little creatures that inhabit them. Presenters included a wildlife photographer, experts in many fields and just regular people like ourselves who have an interest in enjoying and preserving nature. Something new this year was a presentation by Rosemary Oliver, a Fibre Artist, who brought with her a display of turtles that were created using various fabrics and fibers. Accompanying this column is a photo of the turtles that were on display. If you’d like to see more of this talented artist’s work, her website is http://oli9603.wix.com/rosemary.

One of our own turtle experts, Mr. Pat Grace from Bob’s Lake, was once again there. I had the pleasure of chatting with him regarding this past season’s turtles. It seems 2014 was not a good year for hatching turtle eggs according to Mr. Grace and others who’ve been monitoring turtle nests. Probably the wet, cool summer was the main reason. Turtle eggs need the constant heat of the summer sun to incubate and hatch. Mr. Grace kindly provided a photo of one of his three baby Map turtles.

The Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre (now known as the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre) hosted a booth. They take in injured turtles, and, if possible, nurse the turtles back to health and then return them to a natural and safe environment. For more information you can check out the following websites and make note of the emergency phone numbers for next year: www.kawarthaturtle.org Tel. 705-741-5000 Chemong Road, Peterborough; Closer to home, there is the Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee – www.sandypineswildlife.org Tel. Sue Meech at 613-354-0264; or The Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary at www.rideauvalleywildlife.org Tel. Linda Laurus at 613-258-9480.

Most turtle injuries are due to being hit by cars. Most do not survive but a few do and, if they are lucky, they’ll be picked up by good Samaritans and taken to one of the trauma centres.

After a morning of listening to experts, we were treated to a pizza lunch and then were free to roam around the zoo for the afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather was cold and windy and only a few hardy animals ventured outside their shelters.

If you observe turtles or frogs next year, the zoo’s Adopt-A-Pond Program would like to hear from you. By collecting information from all over the province, the program will have a good idea of how well or how poorly the turtle and frog population is doing.

It’s very simple to report sightings – just email Julia Phillips at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and give her your information. If you can send photographs, that’s even better as it helps to make positive identifications.

There’s been a lot of activity at my bird feeders recently. Some of the regulars are just plain hungry but there are a lot of birds stopping on their way south. I finally got a proper feeder pole with a really good baffle that keeps the squirrels from getting into the feeders. The squirrels aren’t exactly starving as there are lots of seeds thrown onto the ground by the birds. Our Hallowe’en pumpkin is now in the backyard also where the squirrels can feast on it and what is left will compost itself into my flower bed.

My bird visitors include a pair of cardinals (they visit every day), blue jays, purple and gold finches, juncos, cedar waxwings, chick-a-dees, nuthatches, a downy woodpecker, mourning doves. Over the past few weeks, I’ve also noticed groups of raptors circling high overhead as they work their way south.

Let’s hope this winter will be a bit more gentle than last year!