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Introduction
The back roads of north
Wellington and Dufferin
counties criss-cross flat
expanses of farmland, more
in corn and soybean than
previous years but many
still in hay and alfalfa.
Numerous low areas, once
cultivated, are dotted with
the reddish hues of dogwood
and pockets of willow. One
hardly notices the gradual
climb onto the “Dundalk
plateau,” driving north
from Guelph or Kitchener-Waterloo.
But here the growing season
is shorter and the winters
longer than in the urban
areas to the south. Within
this largely treeless rural
landscape sprawls Luther
Marsh. The expansive wetlands
and surrounding woodlands
throb with verdant life
in the spring and hum with
biting insects in the summer.
Flocks of migrating waterfowl
congregate there in the
fall. Winters are snowy,
cold, and desolate – similar
enough to Arctic tundra
to attract the occasional
Snowy Owl and wheeling flocks
of white and black Snow
Buntings.
Luther is a Mecca for birds
of many feathers in all
seasons. Its large reservoir
supports thousands of migrating
waterfowl each fall, which
in turn support a significant
waterfowl hunt. Marshes
established around the perimeter
of islands and the reservoir
attract nesting Least Bitterns,
Black Terns, and other marshbirds.
A substantial mix of plantation
and native forest around
the reservoir provides breeding
habitat for regionally significant
numbers of forest birds.
Hay fields and early succussional
old fields near Luther Marsh
have occasionally attracted
rare and threatened grassland
species including Henslow’s
and LeConte’s Sparrows.
¹
The Grand River Conservation
Authority (GRCA) and the
Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources (OMNR) own this
large piece of Grand River
headwaters and manage the
resource for both river
augmentation and wildlife.
The Luther Marsh Management
Plan (1991), currently under
revision, directs management
activities within Luther
Marsh Wildlife Management
Area.
How does one maintain the
significance of this site
for the diversity of species
now present? What parts
should be left alone and
what parts managed to create
target habitats? These questions
are at the root of this
conservation plan.
Plans are works in progress,
open to revision and rethinking.
Yet we are hopeful that
this plan will serve in
demonstrating the significance
of the Luther Marsh for
breeding and migrant birds.
We are hopeful that the
information presented in
this plan, and its goals
and objectives, will serve
the community and the birds
well, and inform the process
of updating the Luther Marsh
Management Plan of the GRCA.
The
vision statement for the
Luther Marsh IBA is as follows:
The Luther Marsh Important
Bird Area will be conserved
and managed in concert with
the Luther Marsh Management
Plan, to maintain and enhance
its significance for waterbirds
and landbirds, and will
be a place where birds can
be observed, monitored,
studied and enjoyed for
the ecological, educational,
economic and recreational
benefits to the people of
Ontario and beyond.
*Edward
Chesky
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