Natural Areas Inventory Update

As the Natural Areas Inventory project wraps up its final field season, our ecological land classification crew is still busy surveying many of the natural areas throughout Hamilton.  Over the years, our ELC teams have found many rare and exciting species in our watershed, and this field season has been no exception! Recently, the team was thrilled to discover a rare Carolinian tree species known as Pawpaw.

Pawpaw, also known by its scientific name as Asimina triloba, is a small tree which can reach up to nine meters high, and usually grows in small groups or thickets.  They tend to grow in floodplains and shady areas with rich organic soils. This plant has teardrop-shaped leaves that have been said to smell like Bell Peppers when they are crushed, and can sometimes grow up to 30 centimetres long!  The leaves are bright green when they first open and droop downwards, giving the tree a tropical appearance.    
 

Pawpaw, flowers through late May to early June in Ontario and although the flowers are showy, with their six big red-purple petals, you might be more likely to notice their smell first! Like many other plants, Pawpaws are pollinated by insects, but instead of attracting bees, their flowers give off the smell of carrion to attract fruit flies and beetles.   Once the flowers are pollinated, they set edible yellowish-green fruits that are full of big, shiny black seeds.  These fruits can also have a different flavour to them, depending on the conditions they grow in, and are said to taste like custard, mangos, and even bananas.

The discovery of Pawpaw is an excellent find for the NaturalAreas Inventory project and the City of Hamilton for many reasons. First, adding a new tree species to the list of those already found in the city is exciting for Hamilton residents. Second, the discovery of a new Pawpaw population is exciting at a province-wide scale, as these trees are usually found along the northern coast of Lake Erie and throughout the Niagara Region. 

Pawpaw is just one of the many exciting finds resulting from the Natural Areas Inventory Project; don’t forget to keep an eye on the website for more to come! 

Jessica Consigilio
Ecological Land Classification Technician
Hamilton Conservation Authority

One week’s notice…. Spring is here!

Next week the calendar tells us that spring has finally arrived. The ground hog may have mentioned it about five weeks ago (in case you missed the announcement).

Unlike the last few years where migrating birds returned in January and gardens sprouted in February, this past winter took us back to when winters had snow and Jack Frost occasionally did take a nibble at your nose. The arrival of spring this year also bodes well for a healthy season. As we speak the vernal pools are active with amphibian activity and the endangered Jefferson Salamanders are on the move! It is breeding season for Jeffy and that comes with road closures in some areas to protect the paths they take to reach their breeding grounds.

Now, Jefferson Salamanders don’t make much noise and, while their movement heralds the arrival of spring, they are not the most commonly-noticed of creatures. One creature you will notice is the Red-Winged Blackbird. Traditionally, another first sign of spring is their migratory return from the Southern States.  Keep a look out near wet areas such as wetlands and shorelines populated by tall grasses or cattails and bulrushes. They’ll start looking for dance partners as soon as they return, so their calls will be frequent and easily heard. Just watch out once they start nesting because they defend their nests vigorously!

It’s not just the little ones we watch for this month. Along the north shores of Lake Erie from Windsor to Point Pelee, mass migrations of raptors are a birder’s delight. Closer to home, the Niagara Peninsula Hawk Watch is underway with the big day coming up at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area in the Niagara Region on Good Friday. But really, anywhere along the Niagara Escarpment and the lake shores this time of year is an excellent opportunity to see large birds such as bald eagles, swans, herons, falcons and hawks on their way back to Ontario.

A few weeks from now you might even get lucky enough to see the “clouds” of Broad-winged hawks and my friends the Turkey Vultures as they migrate en masse. Last year’s count of Turkey Vultures estimated more than 20,000 traveling through Niagara and more than 100,000 through Western Ontario!

So if you’re waiting for the flowery signs of spring… they’re coming, but it’s the feathery signs that come first! 

Chris Hamilton

Information Officer

Hamilton Conservation Authority