2022 Spring AGM - St. John's, NL |
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 | | The Fluvarium staff lead a bug sweep prior to the walk around Long Pond and visiting the center. |
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SAM hopes everyone enjoyed themselves! Thank you to all involved in the planning and execution of the event. Special thanks to City Staff Heather Mills-Snow, Karen Chafe and Edmundo Fausto for the tremendous amount of work put in, Quidi Vidi Village Artisan's Studio for hosting our Meet and Greet, Wedgewood Catering for the delicious food at the Meet and Greet, the St. John's Convention Centre for hosting the AGM and providing the amazing food throughout the day, The Fluvarium for hosting our afternoon outing, and to SAM Staff for organizing the meeting and running the outings and events throughout the weekend. |
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SAM Scholarship and Steward Award |
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The winner for the 2022 SAM Scholarship has been chosen and notified, stay tuned for the upcoming announcement of the winner! As well, we have recently changed the criteria for the SAM Steward Award - an announcement is coming soon with all of the details! Keep an eye on our Social Media pages. |
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SAM would like to give a warm welcome to our newest Conservation Biologist - Ashley Locke! |
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Growing up in the Town of Meadows on the West Coast of Newfoundland, Ashley spent a lot of her childhood enjoying outdoor activities like snowshoeing, camping, fishing, and hiking. This experience and her interest in science led her to complete a Bachelor of Science majoring in Environmental Biology at the MUN Grenfell Campus. When she completed her degree, she decided she wanted to go back to school to pursue a career in conservation. In 2020 she started the Master of Environmental Science program at MUN, completing it in 2022. Over the summer of 2021 she worked as a co-op student with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) where she gained work experience with bird monitoring within the province. In her free time besides enjoying the great outdoors, Ashley enjoys watching documentaries, spending time with her pets and painting wildflowers and landscapes. |
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In May, SAM staff Zachary and Karleena travelled to the Burin peninsula, along with with Catherine Dale of ( Birds Canada), to meet with SAM Member municipalities. It was a wonderful opportunity to revisit SAM Conservation Areas and see firsthand how municipalities are continuing to steward them. |
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Their first stop was in St. Lawrence, where the town and SAM staff held a public engagement session at the St. Lawrence Recreation Centre to review the Habitat Stewardship Agreement and the recent expansion of St. Lawrence's agreement to protect additional coastal habitat. Catherine also provided an overview of the Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas. There was lots of community discussion and engagement following the presentation. |
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 | | Outreach Coordinator Karleena presents Wetlands 101 to the students at St. Lawrence Academy |
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The following day, SAM and Birds Canada returned to the municipality of St. Lawrence and presented to several high school science classes taught by Mr. Higdon at St. Lawrence Academy, where they addressed the importance of conserving wetland habitats (and had some fun playing Wetland Jeopardy), and some bird ID tips. Karleena, Zach and Catherine had a great time engaging the students in conservation. |
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Afterwards they travelled to the towns of Garnish and Frenchman’s Cove, where youth from both communities helped install nest boxes to enhance the nesting habitat for secondary cavity tree nesting bird species (such as Tree swallows, Black-capped chickadees, Boreal chickadees and House sparrows). Nest cavities are sometimes in short supply - installing additional nest cavity boxes is a conservation measure that can have a positive impact on bird populations. A nest box monitoring program is an excellent opportunity for some fun community conservation engagement, and helps to improve the availability of suitable wildlife habitat. The information collected will be submitted to a larger dataset, available to researchers and wildlife management. |
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On the last day, SAM and Birds Canada co-hosted a bird watching and nature hike at the Winterland Eco Museum and Trail. This Conservation Area is a beautiful combination of wetland types that supports an abundance of wildlife. It also tells an amazing story of local history. While on the trail they spotted, snipes, white throated sparrows, mallards, American black ducks, purple finch, dark eyed juncos, osprey, blue jays, and ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets. Finishing off at the Heritage House along the trail, they were greeted by the Winterland Heritage Development Corporation (WHDC), along with some treats, a burning wood stove, and even better company. It is always wonderful to meet integral members of the community that have been steadfast stewards of the area. |
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We finished off the trip with a Nocturnal Owl Survey (which runs from April 1st to May 15th annually), led by Birds Canada. Stopping at predetermined spots along the road between Little St. Lawrence and Lewin's Cove, from 9PM-12AM, we were successful in hearing from some Great horned owls and Northern saw-whets. |
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 | | Completing the Nocturnal Owl Survey between Little St. Lawrence and Lewin's Cove - this is at midnight at one of the last stops, the sound of Great Horned Owls calling from not too far away |
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We are always inspired whenever we visit SAM communities. SAM is a network of conservation minded municipalities that are collectively trying to ensure future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty of Newfoundland and Labrador the way we do today. |
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 | | SAM Outreach Coordinator Karleena sits among eNGO Caucus Participants. |
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This event allowed the eNGOs of Newfoundland and Labrador (over 15 of which were represented in person) to work together and create some networking relationships for future projects, and allowed the sharing of ideas to further our work in conservation in the province. |
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 | | The eNGO Caucus was held at the Corduroy Brook Nature Centre - participants enjoyed a walk around the trails before the event began in the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor. |
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Events included a bird walk along the Nature Trails, Speed Networking - where each organization had the opportunity for one-on-one networking with each eNGO present, Project Management Training, Nocturnal Owl Survey, and more. If your organization would like to be a part of planning the next eNGO Caucus event, or if you would like your organization to be on the invite list, please reach out to samengagement995@gmail.com. |
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Birds Canada - Newfoundland
Breeding Bird Atlas Update |
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Celebrate breeding birds in Newfoundland this June by participating in the Big Atlas Weekend from June 22nd-29th, 2022. You can win prizes for competitions within Newfoundland, and between other provinces and US States! Submit breeding behaviour observations to the Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas to contribute! Kickoff webinar - Wednesday, June 22nd @ 6pm (ET) Weekend Event - Friday, June 24th @ 6pm (ET) to Sunday, June 26th @ 12 pm (ET) Awards ceremony - Wednesday, June 29 @ 6pm (ET) |
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Catching Up with the Zurels |
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Last fall, SAM acknowledged the conservation efforts taken by a private landowners in Portugal Cove-St. Phillips. Sarah and Jo Mark Zurel wanted to consciously re-naturalize a part of their property. They recognized that maintaining a continuous buffer around a wetland can facilitate healthier wildlife habitat and encourage positive wildlife use of habitat on their own property. With the help of Murray's Garden Centre and Landscape Services and the Portugal Cove- St. Phillips Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE), the Zurels were able to create an ecological landscape plan and started to restore the natural pond side buffer. |
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 | | Sarah Zurel posing with their Nest Box Monitoring Document next to one of their recently installed nesting boxes. |
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As environmental stewards, the Zurels are interested in ways to further support or enhance wildlife habitat on their property. SAM Conservation Biologist Zach installed two nesting boxes near the water's edge, and the Zurels agreed to monitor the nest boxes as Citizen Scientists throughout the years for activity. They started with a desire to reclaim the land and do what is best for the natural environment and now we are starting to see habitat improvement and enhancement opportunities. Thank you, Sarah and Jo Mark Zurel, for being environmental stewards, and your continued commitment to conservation. |
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Thank you to Catherine of Birds Canada for helping us create our Nest Box Monitoring Program. If you'd like to learn more about our nesting box program, or are interested in having some installed in your community, please reach out to samconservationtech@gmail.com. |
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Did you know? You can follow SAM on a variety of Social Media Platforms! Check us out on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @SAM_Stewardship |
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2022 Stewardship AnniversariesWe would like to recognize some significant
Municipal Habitat Stewardship Agreement signing anniversaries.
Congratulations and we look forward to many more years of
conservation and stewardship!
25 years since signed (1997)
Torbay
Bay Roberts-Spaniard's Bay
Winterland
20 years since signed (2002)
Flower's Cove
5 years since signed (2017)
New-Wes-Valley
Forteau
Lewisporte
Centreville-Wareham-Trinity
Pouch Cove
May 31st, 2022 marked 29 years since the first agreement was
signed in Whitbourne, Happy Birthday SAM! |
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Do you have a conservation story you would like to see featured in a future newsletter? Send an email with the details to
samengagement995@gmail.com! |
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