Matt Thomson of Mariposa Ecological Initiative led a small group to the last remaining crown land on Lake Couchiching. This beautiful 144-acre property has a lovely walking trail along the waterfront where we identified many birds (blue heron, kingfisher, black-capped chickadee, American Redstart, Black-and-White Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Trumpeter Swans, Hairy Woodpecker and a Barred Owl).
Matt reports seeing American Groundnut (apios americana or potato bean) on this property (a rare occurrence), and we saw bottle gentian, sedges, many varieties of fern, fungi, bog goldenrod, to name a few.
A few meters away along the shoreline is a new housing development called Serenity Bay by LIV Community which adversely impacts shoreline wetlands. The overall message we heard is the importance of ensuring municipalities uphold policies under the Provincial Planning Act, and ensure preservation of wetlands; in particular, this beautiful piece of Crown Land.
Thank you to Marilyn Clark for the photo up, and Marilyn and Denis for the photos. And of course to Matt for leading the group!
