OFAH Zone J Newsletter

[Dan Andrews]

summer newsletter

O.F.A.H. Zone J Annual General Meeting was held in April,

hosted by the Port Colborne and District Conservation Club.

Thank you to all Members who attended!

Zone J Executive for 2009 – 2010

Chair:

Tony Jackson, Stratford area tjsfinsnfeathers@sympatico.ca Tel: (519) 273-4193

1st Vice:

Len McPhail, Caledonia area lmcphail@mountaincable.net Tel: (905) 765-1326

2nd Vice:

Bruno Vanden Berghe, Windsor area Fax:(519) 252-3968 Tel: (519) 253-0448

Secretary/Treasurer:

Kathy Moore, Brantford area kfm00@rogers.com Tel: (519) 756-9386

Alternate Director:

Brian Moore, Windsor area brianmoore@live.ca Tel: (519) 919-1520

Past Chair:

Felix Barbetti, Niagara area fbarbetti@cogeco.ca Tel: (905) 892-4381

Past Chair:

Alf Marinelli, Port Colborne area alfred.marinelli@sympatico.ca Tel: (905) 834-6142

Would you like the Zone J Newsletter emailed to you?

If so email teamofah@live.ca saying that you would like the newsletter emailed to you. You will have it faster then you would through the mail. Newsletters are published in March, May, August and December.

If you would like a link to your Club posted on our website, please email us and we’ll get it posted.

www.ofahzonej.tripod.com

Attend the OFAH Zone J meetings to qualify for your chance to win a

$500.00 Gift Certificate from Bass Pro

There are 3 ways to earn a ballot for The Bass Pro Draw:

1) Attend two (2) OFAH Zone J meetings in one calendar year. Meetings are held in January, April and September. (This has been the same way used to qualify for entry during the past 3 years)

2) Attend any OFAH Zone J meetings and bring a friend*. Both you and your friend* will receive one ballot each.

3) If the friend* you bring to the meeting is not a current OFAH member in good standing, have your friend join OFAH and you each earn an extra ballot. Contact OFAH Zone J Secretary with your friend’s* new OFAH membership number to validate ballots.

* Friend is defined as an adult who has not attended an OFAH Zone J meeting during the past two years (2007 & 2008).

OFAH Zone J Outstanding Achievement Award

This award is to recognize an individual’s outstanding effort towards Stewardship, Conservation, and/or the promotion of angling or hunting in Southwestern Ontario as selected by the OFAH Zone J membership.

Members of OFAH Zone J may nominate anyone, does not have to be an OFAH member, for this award.

Nominees for the 2009 award may be submitted to the Zone J Secretary/Treasurer no later than December 31, 2009. Please include a description of the work the nominee has done as well as photos, news articles, etc. The Zone membership will vote on the winner at the January 2010 Quarterly meeting in Dorchester with the winner being announced at the Zone J Annual meeting in Caledonia on April 10, 2010.

OFAH starts petition to Scrap the Long Gun Registry

Visit www.scrapthelonggunregistry.com and sign the petition

Update on the cormorant cull on Middle Island

Parks Canada held a public open house on the conservation plan in Leamington April 20th. Parks Canada was informing people how the cull was going and what they plan to do. Parks Canada is working with University of Guelph to determine how long the guano will linger. They have evidence of a good seed bed on the island and studies show some plants will come back on their own but others can not grow with the elevated PH levels. Parks Canada has also conducted soil samples on the nearby islands to determine the PH levels in/on those islands. They have checked soil in areas where there has not been cormorants in the pasts two years. The problem they are having is not knowing if it has been 2 years or 20yrs since the cormorants have been there. They will continue to work on the soil samples on Middle Island and time will tell if or how much work they will need to put in to recover some plant species.

Parks Canada is currently culling cormorants, they started the five-week cull on Apr. 17 and everything is going well. This is an early time to cull but what they are doing is culling the early nesters. Without doing this, they could be taking a cormorant off of an incubated nest.

By the first week of May the majority of the Cormorants will have migrated back to the summering grounds. It is proven most Cormorants spend the winters on catfish farms in the Southern US. Scientist at the University of Guelph are able to determine the exact (one farm to another) wintering location due to the micro-organisms found in the Cormorants upon their return to the summering locations. Catfish farms in the southern US are becoming smaller and some are shutting operations down, due to the rising cost and catfish can be obtained cheaper in other ways. This in it self, might help with the number of Cormorants that return in the spring. Some may starve with the lack of food available in their wintering grounds.

An electronic copy of the conservation plan will be linked on the Zone J website soon.

We are fortunate to have some outstanding people and clubs in our Zone. If you or your club has received recognition for a “Job Well Done”, please let us know and we’ll publish it in our Newsletter. Here are the most recent Winners we are aware of:

Award winners from the 2009 OFAH Annual Conference include:

Royal City Fishing Club: The 2008 Bert Austin trophy for the Club selling the highest number of Conservation Lottery tickets was awarded to the Royal City Fishing Club of Guelph. Fred and Jean Stahlbaum accepted this trophy. Congratulations for selling 739 books of tickets!

The 2008 Windsor Sportsmen’s Club trophy for the next highest number of tickets sold was presented to the Georgian Bay Hunters and Anglers Inc. OFAH Zone J 2nd Vice Chair Bruno Vanden Berghe and OFAH President Jack Hedman presented this award. Congratulations for selling 691 books of tickets!!

Rob Baden, a Master of Science Candidate studying at the University of Western Ontario won the OFAH/OFAH Zone G Wildlife Research Grant. Rob is studying wintering ecology of canvasback and redhead ducks on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers.

University of Guelph Master of Science Candidate Eric Smyth was the recipient of the OFAH/Oakville & District Rod & Gun Club Conservation Research Grant for his research project “A Decision Analysis Evaluating Management Options for the Dam on the Black Sturgeon River.”

OFAH Zone J 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award:

Don Fairbairn of London won the inaugural OFAH Zone J Outstanding Achievement Award that was presented to Don at the

Zone J Annual Meeting in Port Colborne.

National Wild Turkey Federation recognizes Greg Balch:

Balch's dedication to teaching and conservation recently made him the only Canadian to receive a Robert M. Latham Sportsman Wild Turkey Service Award, an honour conferred at a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn.

Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s Conservation Achievement Awards:

Port Colborne and District Conservation Club received this award for its habitat reconstruction and walleye rearing work on the Welland River. Anne Yagi, biologist with MNR said, “Since 1997 the Port Colborne, Fort Erie and Dunnville Conservation Clubs have been working together on the walleye rehabilitation project in the Welland River.”

Port Colborne and District Conservation Club members Steve and Dara Richardson also received a Conservation Achievement award for the studies they are conducting in the Wainfleet Bog and Mud Lake Conservation Area. Monitoring the nesting boxes of the wood duck in the spring helps keep track of the ducks’ activities.

Waterloo Rod & Gun Club celebrates its 60th Birthday this year!

Thames River Anglers Association received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority for 10 years of Conservation Work.

Grand River Fisheries Management Plan Implementation Committee receives well deserved National recognition from federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans –Representatives of the committee, including our own Felix Barbettii will receive The Recreational Fisheries Award May 4th in Ottawa. This award recognizes contribution to conservation, restoration and enhancement of Canada’s recreational fisheries and their habitat. The Management Plan was prepared by the MNR and the GRCA with the input and assistance of more than a dozen different partners and associations including: Brantford Steelheaders, Caledonia Bait and Tackle, Dunnville District Hunters and Anglers, Friends of the Grand River, OFAH, Ontario Steelheaders, Ontario Streams, Six Nations (Wildlife Management), Trout Unlimited Canada, Izaak Walton Fly Fishing Club, University of Waterloo and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Map to Youth Campout

O.F.A.H Annual Youth Campout:

June 19-21,2009

Held at:

Long Point Waterfowl Research and Education Centre, near Port Rowan.

This FREE event is for youths aged 8 to 17.

A Parent or Gardian must accompany Child(ren).

Mentored activities include: pellet gun range, archery, fishing tips and lure making, birdhouse building, walking tour of Normandale fish hatchery, Conservation officers display and presentation.

OFAH Zone J provides lunch on Saturday. All other meals are the responsibility of the camper.

Youths must have an adult to supervise them.

Gates open at 2pm Friday with social time and campfire Friday evening.

Groups start Saturday at 8:45am

Greg Balch will start his traveling classroom display and presentation on the Food Web Sunday at 9am.

You must Pre-register for this event by calling: Alf Marinelli (Port Colborne area) (905) 834-6142

Don Fairbairn (London area) (519) 641-8540

Brian Moore (Windsor area) (519) 919-1520

Welcome to the following new Member Clubs to OFAH Zone J:

London Fish & Game Club Middlesex Versatile Hunting Dog Assoc.

Burlington Fish & Game Club Ltd. Tillsonburg Get Outdoors Club

St. Catharines Game and Fish Association

OFAH Zone J supports the Scaup research being done by Long Point Waterfowl. In 2006 we sponsored the satellite tracking of a scaup named OFAH J and in 2007 we sponsored another scaup we called Yolanda J. The transmitter in OFAH J stopped working late in 2007 but Yolanda J’s transmitter is still working just fine.

Once again Yolanda J wintered near Daytona Beach, Florida.

April 9th she visited Long Point on her way to her summer home in Labrador.

If you visit Zone J website follow the “Interesting Link” to Long Point Waterfowl Research and click on the “Scaup Tracker”. You will be able to track Yolanda J’s flight to her summer home.

Did you know???

The Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary was born in 1904 for the conservation of migrating Canada geese and wild ducks, originating the waterfowl refuge management system. Jack Miner started his banding efforts in 1909 when he banded his first wild duck. Only a year later, Dr. W. Bray of Anderson, South Carolina recovered the band.

This started Jack’s 30-year lecture career speaking on wildlife conservation and the need for the establishment of sanctuaries and wildlife refuges. In 1915, Jack banded the first Canada goose to trace migration habits. This is when he included Biblical scripture, making the birds “Missionaries of the air.”

Since the beginning of the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Jack has received many awards both national and international. In 2004 Jack Miner’s celebrated their 100th Anniversary.

All information on the page was found at www.jackminer.com

Band recovery from ECUADOR

Date of Recovery: March 11th, 2009 Place of Recovery: SAN ELOY, Manabí province, Ecuador, South America

Specify duck or goose: Blue Winged Teal, Anas discors

Number on the band: 1185 year 90

Legend: "HAVE FAITH IN GOD" (Mark 11:22) (See photo)

NOTE: Recovered by an unidentified hunter who reported it to Carlos Camacho and Santiago Torres, two biologists during a field day.

For sending or asking for additional info, please e- mail: peninsula_explorer@yahoo.com or ccamacho@avesconservacion.org

**Thanks to Dean Ware for sending the above info to teamofah@live.ca

Did you know???

When purchasing ammunition, the Chief Firearms Office requires you to show a valid Possession and Acquisition License (PAL) as identification only. If you are asked for more identification, the vendor has a “Store Policy” that requires more information to be logged. Security and confidentiality are always a concern when giving your personal information to a stranger in a public setting. Be Ware!

Looking for the perfect gift for someone? Buy them an O.F.A.H. membership!

Visit www.ofah.org or call (705) 748 OFAH

Mark Your 2009 Calendars

O.F.A.H. Annual Youth Campout – June 19, 20 and 21, 2009

Long Point Waterfowl Research and Education Centre, near Port Rowan

Zone J Quarterly meeting - September 20, 2009

Waterloo Rod & Gun Club 1075 De Lane R.R. #1, St. Jacobs (519)-664-2951

Zone J Quarterly Meeting – January 10, 2010

Wellington Street Sportsman’s Club, Dorchester

OFAH 82nd Annual General Meeting and Wildlife Conference – March 18 – 20, 2010

Delta Meadowvale, Mississauga

Zone J Annual Meeting and Election – April 3 & 4, 2010

Caledonia Hunters and Anglers, Caledonia

Buy & Sell

If you have something you would like to sell or if you are looking to buy something related to hunting, fishing or the great outdoors, please contact our webmaster Len McPhail and he’ll get it posted on our Website lmcphail@mountaincable.net Home: (905) 765 1326

Upcoming Events

Please contact Webmaster Len McPhail to have your club’s events posted on our website.

Zone J has over 23,000 members that can be reached thru our website.

Did you know???

Is canned kernel corn considered “live bait”?

Page 7 of the fishing Regs reads “Bait – There are some areas of the province where the use of any

form of organic bait is not allowed. Organic bait includes live or dead animals, plants or part. See Bait (page 10), or exceptions to the Zone regulations for the Zone where you are fishing.”

Sounds to me like the answer is YES, corn is considered live bait.