Thurs Aug 15, 2024: Join us for Wetlands Appreciation Week at the Backlands Bioblitz

Posted on August 9, 2024 by admin

🌿Have you heard about the Backlands Bioblitz?!🌱

Our HRM Alliance and Ecology Action Centre are helping us celebrate Wetlands Appreciation Week with a Bioblitz Hike in the Halifax Backlands on August 15th from 6:00pm – 8:30pm.

What is a “Bioblitz”?

You’ll learn how you can become a valuable part of conservation efforts as a citizen scientist – all you need is a smartphone (or camera with a computer at home). We’ll show you how to use the iNaturalist app to spot native and invasive plants, then hike to wetlands in the Shaw Wilderness Park and collect vital data for conservation efforts. These wetlands are crucial for fire control in nearby jack pine barrens ecosystems. Continue reading →

Posted in Water Quality, Watershed, wetlands | Comments Off on Thurs Aug 15, 2024: Join us for Wetlands Appreciation Week at the Backlands Bioblitz

Radon, Bird Friendly Halifax, Municipal Watershed Management Framework, Coastal Management all topics of the HRM Environment & Sustainability Standing Committee Aug 1, 2024

Posted on August 8, 2024 by admin

There was a lot packed in to the August 1, 2024 meeting of the  Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee.

View:
– Proceedings on YouTube
-The Agenda PDF  It includes Links to related documents, amongst them:

– Radon Awareness, PDF of slide presentation by Lacie Sutherland
– Existing and Planned Measures for Coastal Management: Staff Report
– Bird Friendly Halifax PDF of slide presentation Jess Lewis
– Municipal Watershed Management Framework [PDF]
& a Presentation by Elizabeth Montgomery [PDF]

Posted in Birds, Community, Water Quality, Watershed | Comments Off on Radon, Bird Friendly Halifax, Municipal Watershed Management Framework, Coastal Management all topics of the HRM Environment & Sustainability Standing Committee Aug 1, 2024

Saturday Aug 24, 2024: Bluff Trail BBQ Bash & Fundraiser

Posted on August 6, 2024 by admin

Received from The Bluff Trail/Woodens River folks, members of the Backlands Coalition:

BLUFF BBQ BASH and Trail Stewardship Fundraiser
Saturday, August 24th 11 AM to 3 PM
Canada Games Centre 26 Thomas Randall Drive, Halifax, NS B3S 0E2

Join us for a day of outdoor BBQing and trail community spirit at the Bluff BBQ Bash! We’ll be raising funds for the preservation and maintenance of one of our province’s most cherished natural treasures. Whether you’re an avid user of the trail, simply want give back, or just want to be social, this is an event you won’t want to miss! Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Conservation, Crown lands, Halifax Green Network Plan, Our HRM Alliance, Parks and Protected Areas | Comments Off on Saturday Aug 24, 2024: Bluff Trail BBQ Bash & Fundraiser

This summer our socials are, quite literally, going to the birds…4Aug2024

Posted on August 4, 2024 by admin

Black & White Warbler in East-West Pine Islands Ponds area,  May 18, 2023.  Photo credits: Joshua Barss Dunham.  Click on images for larger versions.

This summer our socials are, quite literally, going to the birds…

Ground nesting birds to be precise! Since March, we’ve been featuring 4 species that nest in the Backlands. Today we’re returning to the migratory Black-and-white Warbler:

The males arrive first and are territorial, chasing away other males and even other species! Listen carefully – these guys often return to the same territory year after year, so you may hear the exact same bird you heard last year.   Read More…

Posted in Birds, Conservation | Comments Off on This summer our socials are, quite literally, going to the birds…4Aug2024

Volunteers sought for Invasive Species pull and Lawsons Brook on Thurs. 1Aug2024

Posted on July 15, 2024 by admin

Received from the Williams Lake Conservation Company this am (Jul 15):

Click on image for larger version

Come and help the WLCC and Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) remove invasive plant species along Lawson’s Brook in the Shaw Wilderness Park from 9:30 AM-1:00 PM on August 1 (rain date August 2). See poster x for details.

Participants are asked to pre-register with the NCC by contacting Mackenzie.Foster@NatureConservancy.ca.

Hope to see you there!
———————————– Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Conservation, Shaw Wilderness Park | Comments Off on Volunteers sought for Invasive Species pull and Lawsons Brook on Thurs. 1Aug2024

News from the Backlands Coalition July 2024

Posted on July 15, 2024 by admin

By Martha Leary for the Backlands Coalition
July 14, 2024

With leadership from the Williams Lake Conservation Company (WLCC) the Backlands Coalition (BC) has assembled the “Bird Team”.

In addition to our annual surveys of all birds in the Backlands, our popular social media series on ground-nesting birds and participation in the Bird Friendly Halifax activities, the Bird Team is continuing our 2-year Common Nighthawk Project. Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Conservation | Comments Off on News from the Backlands Coalition July 2024

Nighthawks have returned to the Backlands! 5Jul2024

Posted on July 5, 2024 by admin

By The Bird Team: Joshua Barss Donham, Fulton Lavender, Cathy Smalley, Katie Studholme. Video by Joshua Barss Donham

Images from Nighthawk Video

Joshua heard the Nighthawk for the first time this year at Osprey Ridge/Alabaster Way Trailhead on May 23; there have been many sightings and recordings since.

Why does this have us all atwitter??

Nighthawk numbers have been in steep decline. It is a Species of Concern Nationally, and a Species At Risk in Nova Scotia, and thereby legally protected under the NS Endangered Species Act.

The Backlands is a special place where they are surviving and raising their young.

Read More…

Posted in Birds, Conservation | Comments Off on Nighthawks have returned to the Backlands! 5Jul2024

Update on Birds in the Backlands – JBD Jun 24, 2024

Posted on June 30, 2024 by admin

Hairy Woodpecker (female) on nest cavity May 28, 2024
All Photos on this page by Joshua Barss Donham
Click on images for larger versions

On Hairy Woodpecker & Flicker nests, Hermit Thrush and Barred Owl behaviour, Osprey fishing, Eastern Wood Peewee sighting, Common Nighthawk activity, a bird survey and sounds of toads and beavers in the night,  late spring into early  summer of 2024

Wrote Joshua Barss Donham on June 24, 2024:

I was away for the last few days of May and the first week of June, but the day before I left I visited the Hairy Woodpeckers Nest.

Everything was as it had been when Fulton and I checked it a couple of days before.

Parents were  still visiting the nest cavity with food and the young still could be heard calling out to the parents for more food when the parents were out foraging. Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Community, Crown lands, Lakes, Shaw Wilderness Park | Comments Off on Update on Birds in the Backlands – JBD Jun 24, 2024

Common Nighthawk is HRM 2024 Bird of the Year 29Jun2024

Posted on June 29, 2024 by admin

From presentation by Fulton Lavender & Joshua Barss Donham on Birds in the Backlands: Indicators of the Health of the Habitat (Oct 2022)

It’s not common, it’s not a hawk, and it doesn’t hunt at night, but the Common Nighthawk IS “HRM 2024 Bird of the Year”!

The announcement was made by Jess Lewis on Mainstreet NS in conversation with host Jeff Douglas on June 27.  Jess is Conservation Coordinator for Nature Nova Scotia and Chair of Bird-Friendly Halifax.

The Common Nighthawk is listed as a Species At Risk/Threatened in Nova Scotia. Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Conservation, Fire Ecology | Comments Off on Common Nighthawk is HRM 2024 Bird of the Year 29Jun2024

Golden Heather now in bloom in the Backands 14Jun2024

Posted on June 14, 2024 by admin

Wrote  Joshua Barss Donham this am, with pics attached:

“The Golden Heather is now in bloom transforming patches of unassuming scrubby vegetation into carpets of brilliant yellow. A particular patch that I’ve been keeping an eye on, thirty metres so from the AlabasterWay/Osprey Ridge trailhead, was a hub of activity yesterday morning with tricolour bumble bees, honey bees, mason bees, and hover flies congregating … lots of pollinating going on.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation | Comments Off on Golden Heather now in bloom in the Backands 14Jun2024