Welcome to Adopt-A-Pond News!
Julia holding Blanding’s Turtle eggs – part of Adopt-A-Pond’s turtle “head-start” project. These eggs, found in the wild, are incubated at the Toronto Zoo; the young turtles that hatch will be raised in captivity until they become large enough to avoid being eaten by most predators (usually 1-2 years). Once the young turtles can fend for themselves they’ll be released into the wild again! (Photo courtesy of Ken Ardill)
Dear frog enthusiasts, turtle lovers and wetland watchers —
Welcome to the Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme’s new newsletter! With over 21 years of experience promoting education and stewardship projects that involve Canadians in wetland and biodiversity conservation, Adopt-A-Pond has a lot of fabulous stories to share!
As the warm winds of August blow and we sit drinking in the sweet sounds of summer (and yes, it is still summer!!) we are reminded that our backyards, cottage shorelines, favourite parks and camping get-aways are teeming with life. Summer is an exciting time for reptiles and amphibians – as well as many other species that rely on wetland habitats. Turtles are hatching and emerging from their underground nests. The last of the frog tadpoles are turning into froglets and braving life on land (at least, the ones that will transform this year). Salamanders are hunkered down in moist, wet soils, hiding from the unforgiving sun. And tiny snakes are getting ready to be born!
In the following links you will find information about some of Adopt-A-Pond’s most recent habitat restoration and Species at Risk preservation projects. You can check out a slideshow of top Turtle Tally and FrogWatch photos from Spring 2012, read through exciting news articles written by programme staff and participants, take a peek at one of our habitat restoration projects or discover some of the great ways we are celebrating conservation. The newsletter is now in a blog format, so feel free to keep the conversation going by adding comments below the articles, or by replying to other comments!
I sincerely hope you enjoy our new and improved, environmentally-friendly source for information on wetland conservation projects taking place across Ontario. As always, if you have an article, story, drawings, pictures, or video clip to share, please send it to aap@torontozoo.ca. Your stories are what make this newsletter great – we want to feature your conservation successes and wildlife encounters!
Yours in habitat and species preservation,
Adopt-A-Pond Coordinator