This Week

Forster's Tern

The wind finally subsided later this afternoon.  It was even quite warm!  I checked out a couple of spots around Port Lambton and noted many Red Admirals flying.  Also Question Mark.
A Green Heron has been hanging around Brander Park.  Nice little bird.

Stewart Wetland had little to show.  A few Blue-winged Teal and a Shoveler have been swimming around.  Looks like the Mute Swans have abandoned their nest.  Doesn't bother me!

Speaking of swans, I found what appeared to be a Trumpeter Swan sitting in a field near Cathcart Park.  It was a bit distant, but I had no scope. I drove around the corner and came back ten minutes later and it was gone!  Even a Tundra Swan would be a little unusual at this time.  I had my camera but the setting had moved so the photo did not turn out!

The deer population in Rondeau Park has increased considerably the last two years.  For various reasons there has not been a cull the last two autumns.  It is starting to show with vegetation browsing and the fact you have to dodge deer driving through the park early in the morning.
Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's it was so obvious the damage that an overpopulation of deer had done.  There was virtually no vegetation from a metre down.  Yearly culls were eventually done and in recent years it is remarkable how different the park looked with lush vegetation and wildflowers.  One never knew that there were so many wildflowers!
Yesterday I received an email from the Peaceful Parks Coalition (PPC) in which they were all concerned about the announcement of continuing the the culls by Ontario Parks for another ten years.  Essentially PPC wanted evidence of vegetation studies that back up the need for culls.  Also the PPC believes there is lack of consultation.

It is obvious to me that some of these people at PPC are unfamiliar with the parks and the vegetation.  If one was familiar with the park, it would be obvious how beneficial a smaller deer herd would be.  I am at Rondeau almost every weekend and I am very familiar with how the vegetation has positively responded due to a reduced deer herd.  A cull is the only answer as deer do not respond well to moving to another location.  As well, there are too many deer elsewhere anyway!  It is human activity that has created this concentration of deer, so human intervention is necessary.  A lush forest is more important than an over-browsed forest full of sickly deer!