Clinton News Record, 2014-06-18, Page 9Huron County counts
its lucky salamanders
Colleen Cirillo
Special to the Signal Star
Enthusiasm can be curiously
catchy. Before heading out on
my first-ever bioblitz last Satur-
day (June 7) in Huron County, I
was mildly interested in reptiles
and amphibians. To be clear, I
wished these critters no harm.
In fact, I worried about their sur-
vival in this face of habitat frag-
mentation, pollution and cli-
mate change, but I did not yearn
for encounters with them.
Enter Rachel, and Tanya, and
a team of reptile and amphibian
experts from the Huron Stew-
ardship Council, Ontario Nature
and Nature Conservancy of
Canada - all with an instinctive
ability to engage newbies like
myself in the world of reptiles
and amphibians. These commit-
ted conservationists bravely led
a motley group of curious folk
into the Redmond and Rodgers
County Tracts in search of secre-
tive salamanders, slithery
snakes, tiny toads and more!
We were participants of
Huron County's first-ever
bioblitz, hosted by the Huron
Stewardship Council and
Ontario Nature. A bioblitz is an
event at which teams of volun-
teers find and identify as many
species as possible in a specified
area in a 24-hour period. The
Huron event was a modified
bioblitz that ran for six hours
and focused on reptiles and
amphibians, sometimes referred
to as herpetofauna. In Huron
County, this group of animals
includes eight frog, one toad,
two salamander, one newt, six
snake and five turtle species.
The sun shone brightly - per-
haps a little too brightly - as 60
people of all ages and skills
scoured the wet woodlots in
search of reptiles and amphibi-
ans. We waded through muddy
water, rolled -over heavy logs
and listened for movement in
the leaf litter to find a total of 189
individual animals representing
14 herpetofauna species. All
sightings will be entered into the
Ontario Reptile and Amphibian
Atlas and will inform Huron
County management plans. In
addition, we were treated to the
serenade of a scarlet tanager flit-
ting about in the forest canopy
and the beauty of a wildflower
garden on the forest floor.
The bugs were a force to be
reckoned with on this event, but
not sufficiently enough to
dampen our newfound enthusi-
asm. With a little guidance and a
lot of encouragement from the
pros, I've embraced my new role
as herpetofauna citizen scien-
tist. Now if only I could Learn
how to say that word correctly.
Huron Bioblitz took
place on June 7
Devin Sturgeon Special to the Signal Star
A volunteer holds a rare Ribbon Snake
while onlookers take pictures to submit
to the Ontario Nature Reptile and
Amphibian Atlas.
getitnline
clintonnewsrecord.com
HURON SUPERIOR
MEMORIALS
CEMETERY MEMORIALS
FLAT MARKERS
INSCRIPTIONS
SERVING HURON COUNTY
SINCE 1976
For Appointment CaII Representative
MICHAEL FALCONER
519-482-3664.519-525-2281
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 • News Record 9
School year winding down at St. Anne's
This past Wednesday marked the
beginning of quiet week at St. Anne's.
Staff and students are now busy pre-
paring for second semester exams.
Exams start on Wednesday the 18th,
with period one exams in the after-
noon. Thursday second period exams
are also in the afternoon and Friday's
third period exams are in the morn-
ing. This school year ends on the fol-
lowing Monday, with fourth period
exams in the morning. Good luck to
all of the students writing exams!
Then it is officially the start of summer
vacation for the students! Report
cards will be available in the office for
pick up on July 1-3. Graduating stu-
dents have their annual Graduation
Breakfast and Commencement prac-
tice the morning of the 26th with
Commencement following that night
at 6:58 p.m.
The Grade 11 students participated
in the annual Temple Tour, where
they travelled to different places of
worship to learn more about world
religions. The day was a great experi-
ence and learning opportunity for all
of the students.
Monday was the annual Track and
Field meet for the elementary schools.
Overall the students had lots of fun
and it was a beautiful day to be out-
side. This week the Grade Nines who
had math in second semester also
completed their Math EQAO.
The Grade 12 students also had
their retreat this past week. The stu-
dents got to participate in fun games
and activities in the morning, fol-
lowed by a catered lunch and com-
munity building activities at the
beach in afternoon. The retreat was a
great time for all of the students and it
was an awesome chance for all the
Grade Twelve students to be together
before they graduate. We wish every-
one all the best on their final exams.
Minister of Public Relations,
Claire Gordon
Public has a change to mingle
with the mayor on June 30
The Municipality of Central Huron
would like to invite all residents to its
2nd Annual Mayor's Mingle on June 30
at the Central Huron Community Cen-
tre from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Come and enjoy a burger and casual
discussion with the Mayor and Council.
There will be status updates on the
Nuclear Waste Management Study and
changes to our voting process.
"Communication is so important to a
successful municipality. This is one of
the ways we are making it easier for res-
idents to come and express their opin-
ions on all topics without the need to go
through the formality of a Council
meeting", stated Mayor Jim Ginn, "We
know people have questions and this is
a great, casual event to come and have
those questions answered':
For more information contact the
Municipal Office at 519-482-3997 ext
1237.
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We must fill 100 appointments at this ANNUAL blood drive
Blyth & District Community Centre
377 Gypsy Lane, Blyth, ON
Thursday June 26th 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Rally your Family and Friends to Donate Blood with You; Together We Can Save More Lives!
NEW DONORS & WALK-INS WELCOME
To book an appointment:
online: www.blood.ca
phone: 1 888 2 DONATE
(1-888-236-6283)
Canadian Blood Services
it's in you to give
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