Monday 30 September 2013

CEDAR WAXWING

Cedar Waxwing, September 28, 2013

Bombycilla cedrorum
Family: Bombycillidae
Cedar Waxwing

Up-right and motionless before feeding.

The young are streaked and lack the full crest of the adult.

"Here today - and - gone tomorrow"
There is a bird in there about dead centre, in the Mountain Ash tree.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

ENERGY EAST PIPELINE

Today was an Open House for the Energy East Pipeline. Lots of people to talk to and lots of fact sheets - likely info that is on their own Blog or website. The following factsheet was offered as likely the most useful for MY Blog to post. While the actual work won't likely start until 2016 they are making sure the public knows what will happen. Whoever the contractor is that gets the job will be responsible for hiring both skilled and unskilled labour. Since there already exists a pipeline in our area construction work would be on building extra pumping stations along the line.

Energy East Pipeline August 2013 Fact Sheet

"Our Commitment to the Environment"

"As one of North America's leading energy infrastructure companies, TransCanada respects the diversity of landscapes in which we operate by considering environmental and cultural aspects of our business activities. TransCanada strives to minimize its environmental footprint as we fulfill our obligation to address energy demands across the continent."

"At TransCanada, environmental responsibility is more than just talk. We translate our words into actions by applying an environmental focus to the complete lifecycle of our projects, from business development to design, construction and operations. TransCanada develops its projects in compliance with all applicable environmental legislation and regulations to protect the environment. An important first step in a pipeline project is to develop an understanding of the existing environments along the route so that we can anticipate and avoid or mitigate environmental impacts to the greatest extent possible."

"Almost 70 % of the pipeline is already in the ground and more than half the length of the new pipeline segments will run parallel to existing industrial rights-of-way, helping to minimize the impact on the land and effects on the environment."

"TransCanada is devoted to minimizing its environmental impact along the proposed pipeline route. Recognizing the importance of native topography as well as soil and top soil conservation, the project team will implement the most effective methods and techniques designed for the highest quality reclamation process. In all cases, great care and planning will be taken to minimize and avoid impacts to the environment, including rare or endangered species and habitats, significant water crossings, historical and paleontological resources and native rangelands."

"TransCanada encourages public input into the development of Energy East and will be engaging with landowners, regulatory agencies and directly affected stakeholders about all aspects of the project including the environmental and socio-economic effects assessment."

"As part of its regulatory applications to the National Energy Board, TransCanada will undertake a detailed Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment which evaluates the social and environmental resources that may be interacted with along the Project."

"TransCanada designs, constructs and operates all projects to conserve environmental resources by re-establishing the essential biophysical characteristics of the environment ensuring equivalent land capability and biological diversity are maintained. TransCanada will maintain a right-of-way easement for the lifespan of the pipeline, and will work with landowners to address any issues that might arise due to its activities."

"Pipelines are the safest, most reliable, economical and environmentally favourable way to transport oil and petroleum products throughout North America. In addition to the gas and oil needed to operate our cars and trucks, petroleum products are used by many other industries to produce valuable materials, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, plastics, chemicals, and construction materials. Pipelines are a vital part of our energy infrastructure and have been quietly serving us for decades."

SUSTAINABILITY

"We're proud to be recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as one of the leading energy infrastructure organizations on the continent. In 2012, we were appointed to the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index from the Carbon Disclosure Project."

"TransCanada has also received widespread recognition for its efforts and success in such areas as social responsibility, safety. climate change, energy consumption, human resources development, knowledge management, stakeholder relations and corporate governance. In 2013, Canadian-based Corporate Knights, the world's largest circulation magazine focused specifically on corporate responsibility, named TransCanada as one of 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada."

"Here are just a few of the projects we're proud to be involved with:

'TransCanada owns or has interest in more than 11,800 megawatts of power generation. That's enough to power approximately 12 million homes, and more than one-third of this power comes from alternative and renewable energy sources."

"TransCanada partially owns the Cartier Wind Energy project in Quebec which is the largest of its kind in Canada. Its total annual production represents 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) or enough energy to meet the electricity needs of about 150,000 households in the Province of Quebec."

"TransCanada's new Waste Heat Recovery facility in British Columbia makes use of excess heat from a compressor station to produce about 6.5 megawatts of clean, emission-less electricity, which is enough to power more than 4,000 British Columbia households annually."

"TransCanada is an avid supporter of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited (U.S. and Canada) and Nature Canada in a series of initiatives that help restore, protect and conserve natural habitats and promote local involvement in protection of habitat."

"TransCanada's commitment to environmental and social responsibility has led to many more exciting energy innovations. To discover more visit our website, check out our blog or follow us on Twitter."
EnergyEast@transcanada.com

All their factsheets are on Recycled paper with the dreaded FSC trademark.

There will be three more Open Houses in Ontario .

Sunday 22 September 2013

NORTHERN GOSHAWK

One of the three North American Accipiters .

Accipiter genitilis
Accipiter = bird of prey
genitilis = noble
Collins call it "The Lord of the Great northern Forest"
 

Goshawk comes from Anglo-Saxon = Goose Hawk

Length 19 - 23 inches
46 - 62 cm.
Wingspread 39 - 43 inches
98 - 115 cm.
These photos were taken September 4, 2013. I had the good fortune of a clean wind-shield on the truck. Hawk migration has been advertised now (end of third week of September) for Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minn. in the local media and Google Alerts.

National Forest Week

Nice of today's paper to tell us that the third week of September is /was National Forest Week.

Noon-time in the Boreal Forest

A good thing about Blog Posts is the "edit" function. While todays paper has the Forestry Futures Committee stating that the third week of September is National Forest Week...The Working Forest newsletter has the dates September 22 to September 28, which when I look at the calendar is the fourth week of September. i.e. this coming week.

Friday 20 September 2013

10,000 PAGEVIEWS REACHED

THANK YOU TO MY READERS.

Would you believe that nearly half the last 'thousand" Pageviews are accounted for by the Post PORTRAITS ?

Wild Rose

Wild Columbine

Canada Anemone
Anemone Canadensis


Finally a daisy without blurred white petals.
 This is the same blue mat used on all flowers.

How it was done. The small speck on my wrist is a mosquito.

The hazard of standing still.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

LAKE SUPERIOR NATIONAL MARINE CONSERVATION AREA

PARKS CANADA


scale 1:900,000
Map created July 7, 2010 by KBM Forestry Consultants
www.kbm.on.ca

Map produced for Parks Canada by KBM under license from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources c. Queen's Printer of Ontario, 2010 Canadian federal data courtesy of GeoBase. All right reserved.

Hurkett Cove would be just East of Dorion in Black Bay.
 The Black Bay peninsula extends South West.
St. Ignace Island is the large Island South East of Red Rock.
The small yellow islands are part of the Lake Superior National Conservation Area,
 so besides water they also control some land areas.

I liked this brochure because it had the terrain relief map
 that shows the "rough" terrain we live and work and play in.

The red line is the highway, and hard to see thin black line is the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that also hugs the Superior shore. It used to make for a spectacular journey by the passenger trains but they now take a route north of Lake Nipigon and this Superior route runs freight trains.

Lake Superior has an international boundary between the United States and Canada
The thin black line going north from Lake Helen is the now non-existent C.N.R..

"The Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area will be the world's largest freshwater protected are covering over 10,000 square km." The new brochure lists the  area as 10,850 square km of lake and over 600 islands.

"National marine conservation areas are part of a nation-wide family of protected areas managed by Parks Canada. By establishing representative examples of unique marine areas across the country, Parks Canada strives to conserve delicate marine ecosystems. Traditional activities and ecological sustainable uses including fishing and boating will continue to be enjoyed."

"Ecological sustainable uses" this is a neat way of saying Don't Pick The Rocks. That was the one point that bothered me with so much local "tradition" of agate picking on those islands.

Back to the Brochure: "So many ways to experience Parks Canada's Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area:

Driving along the north shore - discover the rich history and culture of First Nations, breathtaking vistas and incomparable terrestrial sites as you travel along the top of Lake Superior. (with the topographical map you can definitely SEE that to be true. In a later brochure they just have a pale green featureless map representing land and blue for water. In the KBM map even the water is defined in shades  of blue -pale for shallow - less than 5m and darkest areas as more than 300 m.)


This is from the new brochure showing more of Northern Ontario.
The green is Pukaskwa National Park.
Lower right corner is Sault Ste. Marie

While brochure number one names "Kayaking, canoeing and camping in the marine conservation area, brochure number two locates that activity to the protected Rossport area. Considering the violence that Superior can rise to that may be for the good. But that gives you access right through Nipigon Bay shielded by St. Ignace Island.

Second brochure. Nipigon is the other dot by Lake Helen First Nation, top left corner.

Scuba Diving is becoming a popular recreational activity with over 50 shipwrecks in the "area".

I see Terrace Bay is encouraging fall surfing on the huge Lake Superior waves.

Once Superior freezes it is safe for Snowshoeing, Dog Sledding and Snowmobiling.  I see Silver Islet has Winter Scuba Diving - dry suit is recommended as the water is warmer than the air in the winter.

The tip of the Sibley Peninsula is the western edge of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area and from there it goes south to the International Border, half way to Isle Royale.

The Eastern edge encompasses the Slate islands Provincial Park with its resident Caribou herd.

The second brochure : "Located in the traditional territory of the Anishinabek people the conservation area boasts near pristine waters, spectacular scenery and unparalleled beauty. It is a place to discover unique geology, rare arctic plants and a rich cultural history."

It is nice to see in print 'near pristine waters'. We are getting close to being de-listed as one of the 44 impaired areas of concern in the Great Lakes Water Quality Remedial Action Plans. Terrace Bay/Jackfish  is an area of concern too. Nipigon has completed their sewage treatment upgrade and Red Rock is moving forward with theirs, it only leaves the fish population to grow back which may take a while. Work is continuing on spawning beds and stream re-alignment on various tributaries to the Nipigon Bay.

While this may sound like an advertisement , I use it to show that one hundred years of industrial use, log drives, power dams and population growth has occurred on this Nipigon River yet our waters are "near pristine" and our geological features, flora and fauna are still here  as "spectacular scenery, and unparalleled beauty."  captured by Parks Canada for eternity.

With the Red Rock mill closed and the Nipigon Plywood mill burned, population in both communities has declined. A new way of life has to evolve for our communities that relied on the forest industry. Even family life will change as sons will no longer follow their fathers into the woods-industry in a local mill, settle down and raise their families in the same town.

When the mills were running they were our industrial "base' for the communities and were powered by hundreds of workers in and out of the mill. Greenpeace brought out a document called "Building a Green Economy in the Boreal Forest in 2010. Part of their policy recommendations was for Research and development" funding of non-timber forest sectors such as wild food harvesting and to provide marketing and start-up funding for entrepreneurs in these sectors."   Let's think about this - if this came to pass would our blueberry-picking sites be off limits to the general public so that the entrepreneur would have sole license to that area's crop? Or could he charge a "picking fee" on Crown Land. In any event it would be seasonal employment of a few weeks. The "berry crops" are on sites of previous recent logging operations, or wildfires. These "sites" are good for a few years. Once the trees grow that's it for fifty or more years. Wild food will require a forest industry to be a companion to it.

This site has lasted longer than the area around it mainly because it is on a rocky  ridge.
It may produce enough for one family, but not a community.

The Blueberry ridge.
We are fortunate that our fibre is still being sold to the few remaining operating mills in Northern Ontario. The distance they now have to transport that fibre is adding costs to production that wasn't there in the past. Distance also adds the dreaded 'carbon footprint" .  So we will have blueberries in the future but we are now driving many more miles for that pleasure, too.

Local weekend festivals, for berries or fishing or sports rely on volunteers.  Volunteers come from communities. With our shrinking population due to loss of local industry our volunteer base is shrinking. So these very activities that try to bring in business to our local economy are feeling the stress.

Construction on a grand scale brings in workers and supplies some local jobs. Nipigon is looking forward to the next three to four years of construction of the "one of a kind" for Ontario of a four-lane highway bridge over the Nipigon River. www.nipigon.net has artist conception photos of this. They plan to market the construction as a tourist site. Usually road construction is something to be avoided but since this is the ONLY bridge that will get you across Canada it can't be avoided if you are driving, riding or walking.

While I am plugging Nipigon, we have a Tim Horton's , KFC and Robins on the highway, but "downtown"  the Nipigon Café "House Special" pizza is the best in Canada. And while you are in Nipigon visit the Nipigon Historical Museum on Front Street it's part of the "culture".

Sunday 15 September 2013

WHAT NEIL YOUNG LEFT OUT

Fort Mac Philosopher

fortmacphilosopher.blogspot.com/
6 days ago - ... we don't even use plastic grocery bags. Posted by Tim Moen at 06:15 32 comments: · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook ...
 
Headlines against the Tar Sands have been prevalent lately so this Blog explains a bit of reality of the day of Fort McMurray.

Let's try  http://fortmacphilosopher.blogspot.com  and look up Neil Young post . Other way is to Google Tim Moen and click this post of his.

 

Thursday 12 September 2013

WOODCHUCK - GROUNDHOG

In most parts of the Canada - U.S. region of North America we call it the Groundhog.

WOODCHUCK
Marmota monax

Body size 16 to 20 inches
Tail  to 7 inches

Family: Sciuridae
The FAMILY goes back to the Miocene

Dark brown, grizzled with sometimes rusty below.
Feet black; Ears small.

Food: Clover, alfalfa and other plants.

Age to five years.
Can climb and swim.

Where is Democracy

http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/wheres-democracy-environmental-movement/18841

This is a long article but even then it just presents the situation in snippets that should tweak your interest to do more research and or  watch for new developments with a clearer eye.

Friday 6 September 2013

SPRUCE GROUSE

SPRUCE GROUSE

Canachites Canadensis
Size 16 inches


Female and immature - brown barred with black.


Habitat: Northern coniferous forest -"the forest primeval".


Collins'" Complete Field Guide to American Wildlife"  calls this bird
 "foolishly tame" -" flushes to small tree and sits."
 September 4, 2013