Snowarama in Riverside making the most of winter

Laura-Lee Cholette, assistant superintendant at the Upper Canada Golf Course, is someone who gives a ‘hoot’.

In May of this year, following a big windstorm, Laura-Lee spotted what she thought was a chunk of paper near the trees north of the par three third green. On closer inspection, the chunk of paper turned out to be a baby bird, later identified as a Great Horned Owl.

So began Laura-Lee’s rescue,  which included the Owl’s turn over to the Wild Bird Centre in Ottawa, its summer spent growing up at the Owl Foundation near Niagara Falls and its subsequent release back home on Sunday, October 9 at the Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary.

“They estimated it was only two weeks old when I found it and explained to me that at that age it wasn’t at the branch stage yet,” says Laura-Lee. (The branch stage, about six weeks old, is when the young owl is old enough to sit on a branch and wait for its parents to bring food.)

Initially, Laura-Lee left the unidentified bird, but after finishing work and returning home, she couldn’t get if off her mind.

She contacted the Wild Bird Centre in Ottawa and was instructed to return it to the tree and wait for three hours to see if the parents would return.

So back she went, a ladder was located, and she set the baby bird back up on a branch. After three hours, the parents had not showed up, and she returned home.

“The next day it was on the ground again.”

“It could stand up with no problem and its claws were huge. It even hissed at me.”

Fearing it was unlikely the baby would survive, Laura packed it up and took it to the Wild Bird Centre.

“It was neat,” she says. “They actually got four at the time, because of the wind storm.”

It was there that the baby bird was identified as a Great Horned Owl.

From the Wild Bird Centre, the baby was sent to The Owl Foundation, an owl rehabilitation centre located at Vineland Station in the Niagara Peninsula, where it was raised to the age it could survive on its own.

“They had a foster mom who took in six babies,” says Laura-Lee. 

When release time came, Laura-Lee was contacted. Also being returned to the area was a Screech Owl that had been found in Cooper’s Marsh in August. Preferred releases are done within a reasonable distance from where the owls are originally found.

“I was supposed to pick her up in Napanee, but luckily Patty Summers from the Wild Bird Centre in Ottawa was in Guelph and she was able to drive them here.”

Laura-Lee says she was totally impressed with the beautiful bird that was returned to her.

“Her wing span was three feet, and she was probably 1.5 feet tall. She was gorgeous.”

The Screech Owl, (later released at the Marsh) was “very tiny. It was the size of my guy’s head.”

In front of family and friends, Laura-Lee released the Horned Owl at the Bird Sanctuary. 

Per instructions, the box was opened near trees “so she could look for a perching option. The last I saw of her, she was flying off over the trees.”

“They explained to me that if there is room she will stay, but if there is already a pair around she will move on. I actually wanted to take her home. She was beautiful.”

Describing her feelings as happy “because it is now free” and sad “because it is alone”, Laura-Lee says the rescue was a “wonderful experience”. She says she has certainly learned a lot about owls.

The Great Horned Owl is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. It can have a wingspan of 40-60 inches and the females are larger than the males. They have large ear tufts,  reddish brown or grey faces, and their irises are yellow. 

All mated Great Horned Owls are permanent residents of their territories. After hatching, they move onto tree branches at about six weeks and fly about one week later. They stay with their parents for several months.

As for Laura-Lee, she will now be listening for ho-ho-hoo, hoo, hoo, the call of a Great Horned Owl, and wondering if it is her rescued baby.

[…]

“The Ministry of Environment has notified us that we need to wrap a fence around the Matilda Landfill Site so no other farming work is done on our landfill site,” Hugh Garlough, South Dundas Manager of Public Works, informed council members at the November 15th meeting.

He recommended that council hire Burchell Fencing. 

According to Garlough, “three local companies were notified and two submitted prices.”

Burchell Fencing’s quote amounted to $16,027.21 after taxes, while D&H Fencing’s quote came in at $19,741.45 after taxes.

Garlough explained “the biggest thing with this is to keep the landowners from spreading any manure or waste” on the landfill site, which might, in turn, result in negative test results.

In answer to council members inquiries into the amount of fencing required, Garlough replied, “I hope the ministry stands by their word and we only have to fence the agricultural land.”

The point is “to keep the agricultural community out of our property,” he reiterated.

As for a deadline date for the erection of the fence, Garlough told council that 2011 is the deadline, “but it’s been negotiated and deferred a little bit.”

If Burchell Fencing is able to complete the project this year, “a budget amendment to deficit finance the project would be required,” he continued.

Garlough told council that if Burchell is unable to complete the job before the end of 2011, “they’d get it done in the spring.”

Should that happen, “it will  be included in the 2012 budget.”

[…]

 

An update on the state of the sewers in Iroquois, Morrisburg and Williamsburg was given at the July 17 South Dundas council meeting.

Todd Grant of AECOM was on hand to deliver a presentation outlining the issues found in each of the locations as well as an account of what needs to be done and a timeline and cost approximation for the work to be completed.

The 2011-2012 study of the sewers in Iroquois, which has 14 kilometers of “mainly concrete” pipe and 125 manholes, revealed “clear evidence of infiltration and pipe deterioration.”

The streets needing work in Iroquois were divided into high priority and low priority, with the high priority streets expected to be addressed first.

The study of Morrisburg’s sewers took place from 2009 through 2011, revealing that the 19 kilometers of pipes and 250 manholes also had “clear evidence of infiltration and pipe deterioration.”

All listed streets needing work in Morrisburg were listed as high priority. In addition, a section on Lakeshore Drive is in such a state of disrepair that it cannot be rehabilitated, but requires replacement.

Grant’s report also covered the findings from the 2011 study of Williamsburg’s sewers, which include four kilometers of pipe and 20 manholes. These, he said, were in “generally good condition” and need only minor repairs.

The studies revealed extraneous flow, which is a combination of infiltration and inflow issues.

Infiltration refers to ground water entering the sewers through defective pipes and/or cracks in manholes while inflow refers to  water entering the sewers through inappropriate connections. 

Inappropriate connections can include such things as roof drains, foundation drains, sump pumps, street catch basins and yard drains.

The impact of the extraneous flow is loss of capacity in the sewer collection system as well as higher water treatment costs.

It was suggested that operating costs could be reduced by as much as 30 percent if all systems were completely repaired.

Grant suggested council look into an education program for residents highlighting and explaining the various inappropriate connections.

He informed council that final reports will be submitted by July 27 with the expectation that tender preparation will be completed by August 31 with a tender closing of September 21. Rehabilitation work would then begin on October 1, 2012 and run through to October 31, 2013.

The section of Lakeshore Drive requiring replacement has a design deadline of October 30, 2012 with the expectation that tender preparation will be completed by November 9, 2012 with a tender closing of March 2013. Work would take place between May and September of 2013.

“That was very interesting,” said deputy-mayor Jim Locke, following Grant’s presentation, “and not frightening.”

[…]