… at the Clarke Sydenham Nature Reserve
To love your neighbour like yourself, it certainly helps to pick the right neighbourhood! Le Nichoir is very fortunate to be right next door to a small but immensely valuable natural jewel, the Clarke Sydenham Nature Reserve. Owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, this 47-acre site is adjacent to Le Nichoir, and has been a perfect haven for the centre to release many of our birds.
Despite its modest size, the reserve features many different habitats, from old forests to fields and temporary ponds, and hosts an impressive variety of fauna and flora. It is home to some of our most colourful birds, such as the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) and the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea). The Clarke Sydenham Nature Reserve also serves as a feeding ground for declining aerial insectivores such as the Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) and the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) nesting close by.
Building on this symbiotic relationship with our neighbour, last year Le Nichoir embarked upon a project to promote the reserve and its treasures. Supported by grants from the Fondation Hydro-Québec pour l’environnement and the Fondation de la faune du Québec, this project involved the design, production and installation of six interpretation panels, with information about the habitats and avian species along the trail through the reserve. As part of the project, a more current, detailed map of the reserve’s trail system was developed, with the invaluable assistance of six McGill students who walked all the trails and produced a map as an environmental research project.
UPDATE – July 18
The unveiling took place in the presence of Ed Prévost, the Mayor of Hudson, Jamie Nicholls, MP for Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and Martine Hamel, project coordinator at the Fondation Hydro-Québec pour l’environnement as well as representatives from the other parties involved in the project.
