Durham Region Field Naturalists

Former federal cabinet minister and Toronto mayor David Crombie has resigned as head of Ontario's Greenbelt Council in protest over the omnibus budget bill that he says would strip power from local conservation authorities. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.5830385

Conservation authorities are the first line of defence in preventing and reducing the impacts of flooding, which just so happens to be the leading cause of publ...ic emergency in Ontario. The most practical approach to avoiding the impacts of flooding is prevention, to which conservation authorities play a critical role in regulating land use to minimize flood risk within a watershed. #ConservationMatters See more

Dear friends, This is an extremely important issue that needs your attention! Please sign Ontario Nature's action alert. "Even more importantly, please encourage your friends, neighbours and colleagues to phone their MPPs, and Hon. Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance 416-325-0400 to express their concern, and ask that Schedule 6 be removed from Bill 229. A personal phone call is not easy to ignore and will leave a much stronger impression than an email."... I highly recommend "for more information, please watch the video of a webinar, co-hosted by CELA, Environmental Defence and Ontario Nature earlier this week: https://cela.ca/we-need-our-conservation-authorities-webin/ "

Here is our latest newsletter. Enjoy!

Beginner Bird ID Workshop Looking to learn how to identify the birds visiting your bird feeders? Want to learn how your feeders can help scientists? Check out this workshop for this and more!

You can also send a strong message by signing our Action Alert to urge the government to withdraw Schedule 6 in its entirety from Bill 229. #ConservationMatters https://ontarionature.good.do/conservationauthorities/send/ https://globalnews.ca//david-crombie-resignation-greenbel/

https://ontarionature.good.do/psws/email/

A statement from Chief Kelly LaRocca, writing on the request and approval by the Chiefs of the Williams Treaties First Nations. Dave Ryan Honouring Indigenous Peoples - HIP City of Pickering

Are you new to bird feeding and bird watching? Want to learn more? Join this beginner ID online workshop with Birds Canada’s Project FeederWatch leader Kerrie W...ilcox and Urban Bird Coordinator Andrés Jiménez for tips on identifying your feeder birds. Learning who is at your feeder is lots of fun and a great way to enhance your bird feeding experience! Thursday, November 5 at 7pm Eastern. Be the first to sign up: https://docs.google.com//14ukOdh5s8pOJF3WfOsS54k/viewform

The Ontario legislature is moving ahead with a Ford government bill to remove powers that allow local environmental regulators to protect communities against fl...ooding and erosion. This despite warnings from those local environmental authorities that the changes would give new powers to provincial cabinet ministers to make political decisions about construction and industry projects that are not based on scientific evidence. #ConservationMatters See more

Doing a Great Canadian Birdathon can be a family affair! If you haven't gone birding for conservation yet this year, we hope you'll be inspired by our Ontario I...mportant Bird & Biodiversity Areas Coordinator Amanda Bichel & son Finnley, pictured here doing Birdathons in 2018 and in 2020. That's right - Finnley is so dedicated that he did his first Birdathon before he was born! Please consider supporting bird conservation by doing a Birdathon this year (get started here: https://www.canadahelps.org//bird-studies/p2p/birdathon20/). You can also support Amanda, Finnley, and the rest of their team (The Canucks) by donating here: https://www.canadahelps.org//p2p/birdath/team/the-canucks/

What is the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas? It’s a volunteer-based project to map the distribution and abundance of Ontario’s ~300 breeding birds. Data from the pr...evious two Ontario Atlases have provided enormous contributions to bird and environmental conservation over the last 40 years. Data collection for Atlas-3 starts in 2021 and will be no exception this project will put Ontario at the leading edge of bird knowledge in North America! www.birdsontario.org See more

"If there's only a fragment of hope left, you have a responsibility to do something about it." Sir David Attenborough has revealed his grave concerns for the planet and where his hopes lie for the future. (Via BBC Breakfast) bbc.in/2ED4OcY

Are your windows bird safe? Learn more here https://flap.org/learn/homes/

Don’t forget to registered for our Community Cleanup day we are hosting on Oct 3rd. Space is limited and registration is mandatory to ensure proper social dista...ncing protocols are followed. We’re using SignUp to organize this event. Here’s how it works: 1) Click this link to see our event on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/go/baJYDbg 2) Sign up! It’s Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com. Please see poster for more details. Thanks!

Our usual mow and blow practices are outdated, it is time to embrace another, more sustainable landscape around our houses. The good news? It is cheap and beautiful! Please share this message. www.healthyyards.org

It's that time of the year. Time for the Winter Finch Forecast! What birds might we see at our feeders this winter? Meet the new forecaster - Tyler Hoar of Oshawa!

Nature is our home. Keep Conservation Areas clean. #WorldCleanupDay #LeaveNoTrace #PackItInPackItOut

eBird’s redesigned Explore Region and Hotspot pages put the numbers you want right at your fingertips, with new icons that let you jump to recent visits, Top 100 eBirders, and top hotspots. Plus a dynamic media feed and more exciting ways to explore. Check it out! https://bit.ly/33vIOZS