Peterborough Field Naturalists host an i-Naturalist walk through Harper Park

21/09/2017

September 10th proved to be a sunny, warm delightful morning as 13 people arrived at Harper Park for the Peterborough Field Naturalists’ inaugural iNaturalist walk.

With smartphones in hand, we gathered for a quick overview.  iNaturalist has become a popular method to engage citizens who want to learn about the nature around them, and to document observations of species for further scientific research.  An inventory of the species in Harper Park will provide a baseline of biodiversity, and help to monitor and assess changes due to the impacts of development. All good stuff!

Although iNaturalist is user friendly the website iNaturalist.org and the Getting Started video are worth exploring. But first, everyone needed to make an iNaturalist account from the website, iNaturalist.org.

In order to maintain a species list for Harper Park in one spot, The Harper Park Stewardship Initiative Project was setup in iNaturalist.  Therefore, the next “to do” was JOIN this project and make certain each observation …

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Day 2 of the Harper Creek shoreline project

28/09/2013

The People Behind the Project

I know that it is never wise to try and thank all of the people who make a project possible because there is always the risk of missing someone, and unfortunately it is the same with pictures.  For instance, I don’t have a picture of our photographer Gina Varrin, or of Sheila Nabigon-Howlett from the Council of Canadians who sat at the information table on Friday afternoon, of J.B. Jaboor who fixed our anchor driver, or of my husband Mark who helped with so many of the logistics, but had to work elsewhere during the two days of the project.

However, pictures are fun and they tell the story, so with apologies to those whose lovely countenances are missing from this post, on with the story….

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Day 1 of the Harper Creek shoreline project

27/09/2013

We could not have been luckier today; it was dry, warm and the winds were calm.  The “dry” was really important for this first stage of our project as even a small rain event would have caused a significant discharge from the stormwater pond into the stream where we planned to work.  Also, the coir logs, seen below, while fairly light when dry, are quick to wick up moisture, making them pretty unwieldy when wet!

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An Opportunity to Make a Difference: Our First Remediation Project!

25/09/2013

Pulling it all together

The level of excitement has been growing all summer.  Since Lauren Sharkey, coordinator of the Community Stream Steward Program (CSSP), first dropped off 97 native shrubs at the Zippel’s house in May, the HPSI executive have been dreaming up possible stream remediation projects.  

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Clean-up and Mapping Day: Reducing Obstacles to Public Enjoyment of Bridlewood & Harper Parks

30/11/2012

Well, it seems like only yesterday, but it was actually October 13’th acknowledged the beleaguered blogger, that a fantastic group of 14 enthusiastic stewards hauled some major trash out of Bridlewood and Harper Parks. An important goal of the HPSI is to promote nature-based education, as well as aesthetic and spiritual enjoyment of Harper Park.  Removing hazards from the park facilitates this goal by increasing the safety of those who regularly enjoy the natural beauty of this ecologically diverse nature area through quiet walks, photography and bird watching.

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