Through the Lens with Colton Johnstone: Week Two

August 17, 2018

Week 2:  July 30th to August 3rd, 2018

This week I had the opportunity to accompany Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) Environmental Monitoring team to observe different types of fauna monitoring activities.

I spent an interesting day around Toronto Islands where I captured digital content for a turtle tracking study, funded by both TRCA and the Toronto and Region Remedial Action Plan (RAP), which looks at the connectivity and demographics of turtle populations in restored wetlands.

We started our day by checking to see if any turtles had been caught in the traps overnight. One large snapping turtle was not impressed when we pulled her out of the water for processing and repeatedly tried to snap as her measurements were being recorded.

Once finished, we put her right back where we found her so she could get back to her day.  After collecting the traps, they needed to be moved to new locations where they were to be set up for the following week.

Later in the week I had the opportunity to accompany the Toronto Zoo on an evening bat survey in Palgrave Forest. TRCA has teamed up with the Toronto Zoo Native Bat Conservation Program to learn more about the regional distribution and general ecology of local bat species. One of my deliverables for my Fleming College Environmental Visual Communications placement is to produce a two-minute video and I have decided to document this new partnership.

We rendezvoused prior to sunset to give the crew time to set up before it got dark. As the songbird lullabies faded to silence, we began to set up the mist nets. The nets were very large, spanning 12 metres across and stretching well beyond either side of the trail.

After setting the nets we had just enough time to enjoy the last of the sunset before we began to check the nets every few minutes.

Unfortunately, the crew I accompanied only managed to capture one Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), which made for very few photo opportunities. While waiting to go back to check the nets, however, we heard a racket! As we approached one of the nets, we found a flying squirrel entangled in the net.

It managed to free itself on its own and climbed the pole of the net to watch us work before gliding away into the night.  Having the opportunity to participate in a bat study was very interesting and I look forward to more opportunities to observe the important monitoring being done!