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June eNewsletter

Content:

AGM invite - Saturday June 12, 7pm, virtual
TMX Update
May highlights from the park (fish & turtle surveys)
Regional Parks Snap & Share (post your sightings on iNaturalist!)
Upcoming volunteer opportunities

Annual General Meeting

We hope you can join us at 7pm on Saturday June 12, for the Colony Farm Park Association AGM. We’ll be doing a year in review with photos presented by chair Jane Thomsing and coordinator Maddie Edmonds.

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It is with incredible frustration that we must inform you that after being informed that the TMX work at Colony Farm Regional Park would stop until the end of the birding window, we've received word today that they will now continue. This flip-flop and terrible communication is typical of Transmountain and they are using a PUBLIC park as a pipeline construction site during birding season in prime bird habitat.

May updates from the park

The Buntings are back!

Colony Farm hosts a small breeding population of the colourful Lazuli Bunting, normally found only in the interior! Be sure to watch out for them in the hedgerows around the community gardens and near the works yard. They do like to pop up when you’re not trying to find them!

Photo: Bruce Brandhorst

Sage Thrasher!

Early in May, we had a rare visitor to the par - a Sage Thrasher. These prairie specialists usually breed in the Okanagan and are endangered in Canada. This bird appeared slightly injured in the wing, but was actively foraging. It disappeared after several days, hopefully off to the interior.

Fish trapping

We did a first round of fish trapping in the new wetland along the Sheep Paddocks trail. So far, we have only caught sunfish, which are not native. We will be sampling the wetlands throughout the year to look at seasonal changes.

Turtle surveys

We also completed a turtle survey of the sloughs and wetlands. The result was a single red-eared slider - also an introduced species that are often released as pets. There have only been a handful of native western painted turtles sighted in the park in the last decade. Keep an eye out, and forward us any turtle sightings. This gives us a good baseline for future years, when we are hoping to release juvenile western painted turtles in the new wetland.

Join in the Regional Parks Snap & Share - take photos in a regional park by June 13 and upload them to iNaturalist.

Check out the details and register for prizes here.

iNaturalist is a great way to build your nature knowledge and get feedback on your observations. What’s more, you’ll be joining a global community of citizen scientists and contributing to biodiversity science. It’s a fun outdoor activity for everyone, on your own or with your family bubble.

Volunteer opportunities

Bird survey - Saturday June 26, 7am-9am

As part of our wetland monitoring program, we will be conducting monthly bird surveys. We will do 6-7 point counts on the west side of the park.

Water quality monitoring - Saturday June 26, 9am-11am

We will measure water quality in the Sheep Paddocks wetlands to ensure their suitability for target species such as western painted turtles.

Oregon Forestsnail Surveys - until mid June

Walking the Mundy Creek trail on a damp day or early morning? You can help us track the red-listed Oregon Forestsnails living in the stinging nettle along the trail. Snail activity declines after mid June, so get in touch soon for how to participate in a snail count.

Invasive species removal - Sundays

Come help maintain the restoration plantings around the new Sheep Paddocks wetland by pulling invasive species and weedy Red Alder.

Email Maddie Edmonds (colonyfarmparkassociation@gmail.com) to sign up.

If you would like to make a donation to support the Colony Farm Park Association, we have a donation page where you can contribute to our fund through the Pacific Parklands Foundation.

For the latest on our activities you can also follow us on social media @colonyfarmparkassociation (on Facebook and Instagram). If you want to pass along the link, anyone can subscribe to the eNewsletter here - http://eepurl.com/hrB5yX

Email colonyfarmparkassociation@gmail.com if you have stories or photos to share with CFPA. You could be featured in a future newsletter!

Copyright © 2021 Colony Farm Park Association, All rights reserved.

Visit our website at https://colonyfarmpa.com/

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Colony Farm Park Association · 1008 Corona Cres · Coquitlam, BC V3J 6Y9 · Canada