Friends of Headwaters Nature and fellow naturalists,
Our next meeting is coming up quickly on Tuesday October 18th at 7:00 P.M. at the Orangeville Seniors Centre, 26th Bythia St, Orangeville.
Our main speaker will be Phil Bird, who spoke to us several years ago on the topic of local fish populations.
Phil will present a background on Ranaviruses including multiple confirmations of Frog Virus 3 (FV3) within the Credit River watershed. He will discuss the signs and effects, other recent findings in Ontario and most importantly; what CVC is doing and what residents can do to minimize the risk of spreading aquatic invasive species and pathogens.
Phil is a Specialist in Watershed Monitoring for Credit Valley Conservation. Phil also spoke briefly during our first meeting about the fish surveys he and others have done in the Willoughby Nature Reserve that Headwaters Nature helps look after. (This next meeting we will properly equip him with a data projector and screen. I apologize to you all — especially Phil — for seriously goofing last time.)
(Editor’s note: I spent a few sobering minutes looking up ranaviruses on the internet. This virus that affects much more than frogs … Apparently, Canadians are leaders in researching this Frog Virus 3 virus.)
Why, you may ask, am I including this turtle image when we’re learning about a Frog virus?
UPDATE:
Here are links sent by Phil Bird for reporting and for data access to local detailed natural history information:
The Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) reporting link: natural-heritage-information-centre-nhic-observation-reporting-form
CVC now has an open data portal which includes fish data: cvc-camaps.opendata.arcgis.com
A separate interactive map for fish records: CVC Fish Data
Scheduled regular meetings are October 18th and November 15th, 7:00 P.M., (both of which are the third Tuesdays of their respective months.) Ron Jasiuk is working on lining up speakers and we’ll announce those finalized arrangements both by email and through the website: https://onHeadwatersNature.ca
At our first meeting, we asked for volunteers to help improve our Headwaters Nature offerings. Our speaker, Phil Bird, is one such volunteer — and others have likewise offered to showcase their natural history experiences and skills. The photographer of the following Horsetail image, is another. I’m very grateful to Jessica Whyte for offering to help us run our social media services!
Mark Whitcombe, representing the Headwaters Nature executive
“Everything is a relationship”