SUMMER 2019 gblt.org PROTECTING the WILDERNESS of our UNIQUE ARCHIPELAGO A 5,000+ acre sanctuary for nature A guide to Filling the knowledge The Perseid meteor Georgian Bay’s gap: Nighthawks and shower, and how to mushrooms Whip-poor-wills watch it Photo: Bill Lougheed 1 Tadenac Conservation Initiative: a 5,000+ acre sanctuary for nature by Georgian Bay Land Trust staff One of Georgian Bay’s largest undisturbed natural areas spawning and nursery sites, alongside nesting waterfowl. At now has a Conservation Easement at its heart. The Tadenac least 28 species of fish are present in the waters. The biodiversity Conservation Initiative protects 5,000+ acres of pristine terrestrial even extends in unexpected directions: 20 dragonfly species and aquatic wilderness south of Twelve Mile Bay, in an area have been identified on the property, including hundreds of the known for its exceptional biodiversity. Made possible through rare Elfin Skimmer, North America’s smallest dragonfly. support by Canada’s Nature Fund, this project secures a critical link in a coastal habitat corridor and lays the groundwork for The size of this protected area, and its situation within an ongoing conservation research. even greater undisturbed area (18,000 hectares without roads, the second largest such area on Georgian Bay’s eastern coast), The importance of the Tadenac Conservation Initiative is best adds to its ecological value. Large mammals including Moose demonstrated by the incredibly diverse and valuable habitat and Algonquin Wolf are still found here, while they have it protects. The area contains 70 distinct habitat types—more abandoned many other places more fragmented and disturbed than double the amount of the GBLT’s next-largest property, by humans. Many of the property’s at-risk species have Sandy Island—including older-growth forest, two Provincially viability (survival expectancy) rankings of good to excellent, Significant Wetlands, and pristine examples of several smaller, an uncommon rating for these species which demonstrates the rare wetland types. Among its 495 inventoried plant species, importance of large-scale intact habitat. The lack of roads and 15 are classified as provincially rare. As John Riley, former Chief Science Officer of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and a key player in early inventories of the property sums up, “The “The work of the Georgian Bay Land Trust and its Tadenac property and surrounding land is one of the exemplary partners is a great example of the leadership and natural areas of Georgian Bay due to the high concentration of collaboration needed to protect more of Canada’s unique features and the extremely high quality condition of a diverse assemblage of terrestrial and aquatic communities.” nature. By working together, we can double the amount of nature we’re protecting from coast to coast to coast.” This property’s rich mosaic provides habitat for too many species at risk to list: 32 species of reptiles, mammals, birds, Catherine McKenna and fish including the Blanding’s Turtle, Bald Eagle, and Little Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Brown Bat. Endangered Lake Sturgeon use the wetlands for 2 that will also provide opportunities for conservation-focused research. To this end, the landowners have established a $1 million endowment to support ongoing scientific research in this remarkable area—an incredible legacy for conservation knowledge and its application to species health. The Georgian Bay Land Trust is extremely grateful to Environment and Climate Change Canada, without whose support this project would not have been possible. $967,000 in funding for the project came from Canada’s Nature Fund, a $500 million initiative set up by the federal government in 2018 to fulfill Canada’s commitment to protect 17% of our land and inland waters by 2020. We were honoured to have this project selected during the initial round of “Quickstart” funding, a Algonquin Wolf by M.W.P. Runtz choice that speaks to both the value of the Tadenac habitats and the national significance of the Georgian Bay region. We other human disturbance has also kept the threat of invasive also want to thank the Echo Foundation and the McLean plants remarkably low: only 6% of the area’s flora is non-native. Foundation who provided additional funding for the project. The property’s large, contiguous forests are more resilient to The protection of this property is the result of more than ten climate change than fragmented or altered tracts, and they’re years of collaborative work between the Georgian Bay Land also more likely to support a diverse array of breeding birds. Trust and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Extensive While habitat generalists like Crows and Blue Jays do well initial field work was done by some accomplished naturalists, on the edges of forests, there are a number of birds that have chief among them John Riley, Jarmo Jalava, and Wendy Cooper; evolved to inhabit the sheltered interior. As forests become the species and habitats that they documented during this smaller and more broken up by roads and settlement, these time laid the foundation for the present conservation success. birds are increasingly vulnerable to predation and competition Going forward, the area will be monitored using a Property from forest-edge species. A good indication of the Tadenac Management Plan co-developed by the GBLT, NCC, and the forests’ remarkable condition is demonstrated by the fact that landowner, and both the GBLT and NCC will play a role in Chimney Swifts were observed here nesting in a hollow tree. guiding the landowner regarding research projects directed by This type of natural nest is quite rare in today’s world, where the newly-established endowment. Chimney Swifts nest almost exclusively in the man-made structures for which they are named. We send our utmost thanks to the landowners whose commitment to preserving our coast deserves all our praise. Beyond its own characteristics, this project is significant for the They are fantastic partners in conservation, whose actions have role it plays in establishing a larger protected habitat corridor protected an incredible place—one that provides ecological along the eastern Georgian Bay coast. Substantial portions of benefits to everyone and everything that resides on our the coast to the north and south of this property are protected coastline. Thank you also to the many passionate individuals as conservation reserves and provincial parks, and to a lesser and organizations that were involved in making this happen. degree as crown land. This project adds an important missing link to that network. Keeping coastal habitat corridors open and wild is imperative for the survival of numerous animals acres protected that must roam and migrate seasonally throughout their 5,000+ lifecycles, and this becomes particularly important in the face of climate change. There is evidence that our coastal habitats will be affected more slowly than inland ones by climate change, making them a very valuable place for slow-adapting 32 70 documented species distinct vegetation species to gradually shift their ranges. One of the core focuses at risk community (habitat) types of the Georgian Bay Land Trust is to continue to protect links along this corridor, to establish as much as possible an unbroken stretch of protected habitat from Port Severn to Parry 2 $1 million Sound, while acknowledging that there will always be some Provincially endowment for natural and man-made breaks. Significant Wetlands conservation research The land and lakebed included in the Tadenac Conservation Initiative is protected by a Conservation Easement and remains 15 700+ privately owned, with regular ecological monitoring to be provincially rare total flora and undertaken by the Georgian Bay Land Trust. The Initiative’s plant species fauna species primary purpose is to provide a sanctuary for biodiversity 3 Filling the knowledge gap: Tracking Common Nighthawks and Eastern Whip-poor-wills by Elora Grahame, Ph.D. candidate, Norris Lab, University of Guelph Eastern Whip-poor-will nestlings It takes a certain tenacity to willingly subject oneself to clouds an optimal setting for nightjars to hunt aerial insects, but the of mosquitoes so thick that accidentally inhaling one of these name “goatsucker” is still used commonly today. pests becomes a regular inconvenience. Enduring swarms of biting insects often coincides with studying insectivorous Nightjars are particularly intriguing in that their secretive species like Common Nighthawks and Eastern Whip-poor- natures have inhibited researchers from answering basic wills. If you could choose any study organism for your Ph.D. questions about their natural history. Unlike most birds, research, why on earth would you opt to study birds that nighthawks and whip-poor-wills do not build nests but live in what are, at times, downright miserable fieldwork instead lay a clutch of two eggs on bare ground or leaf litter. conditions? I sometimes chuckle to myself and muse over Once hatched, their chicks are relatively mobile and can hop this question while sitting comfortably in my office at the short distances. This allows them to hide beneath nearby University of Guelph. vegetation should a predator disturb their brooding mother, and as the chicks continue to grow, the nest site can move For one thing, Common Nighthawks and Eastern Whip-poor- a considerable distance from its original location. Though wills are really cool. They are both enigmatic species, and their fascinating, this unusual reproductive strategy has limited stealthy dispositions have long shrouded them in mystery. our understanding of breeding ecology for these species. Both are members of the nightjar family, a group of large- For instance, how much time do nighthawk or whip-poor- mouthed, cryptically-coloured birds named for their jarring will parents invest in raising a pair of young? What kinds nocturnal calls. They are somewhat owl-like in appearance— of habitat do they require to successfully raise their chicks? so much so that they are occasionally mistaken for owls by How often do their nesting attempts fail due to predators, mobs of irate chickadees and affiliated warblers.