April eNewsletter

Dear friends of Colony Farm,

Here’s the news from Colony Farm Regional Park from March & what’s upcoming for April!

Content:

• Updates from the park: Who’s laying eggs in the wetlands?
• Upcoming volunteer opportunities
• iNaturalist Workshop & weekend blitz - May 1 & 2
• Partner promo: Free Outdoor Summer Camp with Catching the Spirit Youth Society

Who’s laying eggs in the wetlands?

In March, CFPA running volunteer events as part of our Sheep Paddocks stewardship and monitoring program. Right now, we’re focusing on monitoring native amphibians breeding in the three constructed wetlands.

Exciting news! We found a Northern Red-legged Frog egg mass while surveying the new wetland! These frogs are blue-listed in BC, so it’s especially great news that they’ve moved in. We’ve also detected 4 Northwestern Salamander egg masses in the new wetland and 7 so far in the older phase 2 wetland. Just today, we added a 3rd species with 49 Pacific Treefrog egg masses in the new wetland!

Both frogs and salamanders attach their egg masses to branches or aquatic vegetation below the water surface.  The egg masses we found in the new wetland were attached to the root wads installed for turtle basking habitat - but the wetland edges are lacking in branch options. We have started installing more branches along the edges to provide attachment points (and the tree frogs have already taken advantege).

Head over to our Instagram account for more photos.

A big thanks to all the volunteers who have made it out to help with surveys and habitat enhancement!

Upcoming volunteer opportunities

We will continue amphibian surveys until mid-April, keeping an eye out for Western Toads that lay their eggs later (there were little toadlets near the new wetland last year, so we want to keep an eye out!). We will also be starting up bird counts and testing out new water quality monitoring equipment to ensure that parameters are acceptable for potential Western Painted Turtle release.

To get involved and hear about the latest opportunities, email colonyfarmparkassociation@gmail.com.

An upcoming volunteer event (with more to come!):

• Saturday April 17, 10am-12pm (Wetland monitoring + stewardship)

iNaturalist Workshop & Weekend blitz May 1 & 2

Take photos of nature and learn about what you see! iNaturalist helps you identify observations and contribute to citizen science.

On the first weekend of May, CFPA and the Community Garden Society are teaming up for an iNaturalist weekend blitz. Join us to learn about nature and help document biodiversity at Colony Farm.

New to the iNaturalist? Want to meet other participants? Join in our zoom tutorial sessions! Maddie Edmonds, Stewardship Coordinator for CFPA will be introducing the iNaturalist app and website.  

• May 1: 9 am – 9:45am -  How to use iNaturalist, tips and tricks
• May 2:  6pm - 6:45pm  follow-up: share your experience

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuce2vrjgrGN2FICGXuGHdXdWKUEUkr_Oi

In between the zoom sessions, take a few photos of plants and critters, and upload them to iNaturalist.

We encourage everyone to submit their observations at the park at any time. Want to learn more? You can find instructions on our website!

Catching the Spirit Youth Society is offering Free Outdoor Summer Camp for Youth!