e-Bird

Birdwatching has been transformed by its own social media.  e-Bird, run by Cornell University collects tens of thousands of reports submitted by dedicated birdwatchers.  They geocode them, identifying 'hotspots' by repeated submissions.  Three are in the park:


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Hotspot	Species	Rank in Halifax County
Salt Marsh Trail	158	13
Bissett Lake	101	36
Shearwater Flyer	89	47

another is nearby

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Rainbow Haven

168

9

For today, let's check out the SMT.

You can look at a chart of the occurrence of species in checklists.  This doesn't account for relative abundance, just prevalence.  The top ten species (with a month-by-month chart, highest occurrence red, lowest green) are:

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American Crow
Herring Gull
Black-capped Chickadee
American Black Duck
Ring-billed Gull
Song Sparrow
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Black-backed Gull
Canada Goose
Greater Yellowlegs

So you'll always see a crow or a herring gull.

You can explore data and print your own checklists.

Here is a treemap of all species seen on the SMT since 2005.  The size of a box is proportional to the frequency of appearance in checklists.  The bigger the box, the greater the prevalence.

Special General Meeting

Monday 18 June 2018 starting at 6:30 pm

in the Program Building 256 Bissett Road called

to decide on a revised set of By-Laws for

Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association 

The primary item of business will deal with the following special resolution:

That Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association accept the revised by-laws as presented in the file "CHPTA by-LawsSGM2018.pdf" distributed for review by email 15 June 2018

At our Annual General Meeting 26 April 2018, the membership unanimously passed the Special Resolution on new By-Laws. The By-Laws were submitted to the Registry of Joint Stock Companies shortly after. Their review revealed that we had omitted a by-law required in Schedule B of the Societies Act. It involves the custody of the Seal of the Society. I have confirmed that CHPTA is not required to have a Seal but the Societies Act requires a by-law outlining the custody and use of the Seal. The required By-Law was left out due to my misinterpretation of Act and was not picked up by Registrar staff when I passed a draft to them for comment.

 

To meet the requirements of the legislation, I have inserted the following clause in by-law 39 (c) for the duties of the secretary in these revised By-Laws.

"(The secretary shall,....) (c)       have custody of the Seal of the Society which may be affixed to anydocument upon resolution of the Directors;"

The remaining clauses have been re-numbered. No other part of the By-Laws has been changed from the version adopted at our Annual General Meeting 26 April 2018.

I am aware that this was short notice and I apologize for that. The intent was to put the notice out early this week but I was distracted by the forest fire threatening the Shearwater Flyer. This notice does meet the minimum notice required under our current By-Laws. I hope that we can get a decent turnout on Monday to resolve this oversight.

Michael McFadden

Chair

Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association

902-435-3952

www.chpta.org

Operation Clean Sweep

For:

International Trails Day!

When:

Saturday June 2, 9 am till BBQ for all volunteers at 12 noon.

Where:

At the park buildings, Bissett Road (map)

Why:

• We need your help to spruce up the Park & Trails.
• Hard work and the satisfaction of a job well done.
• A day in the great outdoors.

Who:

• Family, Community, Friends
• Kids, Adults, Seniors

Highly sought after positions:

• Culvert cleanout
• BBQ helper
• Garbage pick up
• Painting
• Tree & flower planting
• Graveyard cleanup & paint
• Bench installation
• Carpentry
• Trail maintenance
• Weeding

Activities:

• Bird Walk
• Treasure Hunt
• Food

More Info:

Michael McFadden
Chair and Op Clean Sweep Guru
Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association
902-435-3952 chairchpta@gmail.com

Annual General Meeting for 2018

It will be held Thursday 26 April 2018 at the Church of St Andrew 2 Circassion Drive just off the Forest Hills Parkway. The doors will open at 5:30pm with a meeting start at 6:00pm. A reception will follow. For our local politicians and trails staff - RSVP to chairchpta@gmail.com or by text or phone to 902-435-3952.

The AGM will be quite busy therefore the Board opted to not have a guest speaker for the meeting. CHPTA intends to host presentations dealing with issues of interest like the HRM Green Network Plan, changes to park and trail regulations and the upcoming negotiations with DNR on a Park and Trails Management Agreement over the next year.

For current members: please fill out a membership form with the latest information, circle the renew option and mail it in or bring the form with you along with your membership dues ($5.00 per person per year)  For those interested in joining, please fill out the form and send it in by mail. If received before the end of March, you will be able to vote at this AGM. You can bring in the form to the meeting, but will not be able to vote until the next members' meeting.

A reminder to our members: we will be discussing and voting on a Special Resolution aimed at updating our current By-Laws. A separate email with the details and background documentation was sent out 18 March 2018. Just to refresh your memory here is the resolution you are being asked to consider:

that CHPTA approve the revised By-Laws as presented to the members 26 April 2018 (document “Proposed CHPTA by-Laws AGM2018.pdf”) and file the new By-Laws with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies immediately.

Please bring your own copies of any documentation being used at the AGM either in electronic or hard copy format. There will be a very limited quantity of documents available at the meeting.

Please feel free to pass this invitation to anyone who is interested. The more public involvement we have the better we can achieve our objective as laid out in our Memorandum of Association (a founding document):

To encourage volunteer membership in the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association for the purpose of promoting and coordinating the construction and maintenance of parks and trails in the Cole Harbour area of Halifax County.

Hope to see you there.

Michael McFadden
Chair
Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association
902-435-3952
www.chpta.org

More on pollution

Watch CHPTA Chair Michael McFadden talking about the pollution coming our way from the Dartmouth Clay Target Association.

The Department of the Environment is meeting with the skeet club this week and promises action.

The skeet range (blue marker) is a five bay open air facility. Shooters face the main tidal channel, which is about 300 yards away. The route to the Salt Marsh Trail, about 7/10 of a mile away is obvious. 7,500 waddings transported such a distance implies the existence of many more. There is every likelihood that large quantities of clay fragments and shot have found their way into the environment.They are clearly a threat to the abundant bird life and should be cleaned up. The skeet club needs a pollution abatement program.