Past Projects

BREEDING BIRDS OF AURORA STUDY (2017)

BBoA Front Cover Website (1) A multi-year study of bird habitats, behaviour, movement, and breeding trends in Aurora, ON. The report maps the present distribution of the breeding bird population and documents changes resulting from development in the area. Included are recommendations as to how citizens can work together to protect and conserve breeding bird populations and enhance wildlife habitats.

Click here to download the full document.

BREEDING BIRDS OF THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE (2010)

Breeding Birds Oak Ridges cover A study of the breeding bird population changes on the Oak Ridges Moraine between 1985-2005 based on the two published Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. Features a useful method to generally define recent changes in the breeding bird populations in any location in Ontario.

Click here to download a PDF copy of this study.

TOWN OF AURORA STORMWATER PONDS VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE STUDY (2007)

Stormwater Study Cover This study monitored and recorded the plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals found in 22 stormwater ponds in Aurora. Recognized monitoring techniques were used to assess the use of these ponds by local and migrating wildlife. Recommendations were included for best practices for the design and ongoing maintenance of the ponds. This study was recognized by the National Water Research Institute as a significant contribution to the literature on stormwater ponds.

Click here to download a PDF copy of this study.

BIRDS OF DIDSBURY (UK) AND THE SURROUNDING DISTRICT (1900-2000)

By Alderman Fletcher Moss, Three Schoolboys and the County Recorder

This report indicates the historic importance of three schoolboys’ (including local naturalist David Tomlinson) accurate records of the birds they saw and the nests they found between 1948 and 1952. These records when combined with the records in the early 1900s of Fletcher Moss, a local Didsbury alderman, and present day records reported to the Manchester District Recorder, allowing information about the dramatic changes that have occurred in the bird populations between 1900 and 2000 in this part of Manchester (UK) to be recorded for posterity. Hopefully this will encourage present day students to keep accurate records of the wildlife they see, as these could be equally important in the future.

Click here to download a PDF of this remarkable collection of documents and photographs.

PROJECT NEST BOX – SCHOOL NEST WATCH PROGRAM (2010)

Designed by Nature Aurora in collaboration with Clean River Recycling Solutions ( a division of Midpoint International), Bird Studies Canada, The Royal Ontario Museum’s Ontario Nest Records Scheme, and schools in Aurora (and across North America). Nest boxes made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic were delivered to schools for students to assemble, monitor, and report their findings to the Project NestWatch database at Bird Studies Canada.

Click here for more information about this program.

BREEDING BIRDS OF THE OAK RIDGES MORAINE (2000)

This report by David Tomlinson indicates how by using the 1985 Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, an accurate record can be made of the breeding bird population in any location (in Ontario) by studying the bird population in the 10 X 10 km squares covering a municipality.

Click here to download a copy of this document.

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PROPOSAL FOR THE CREATION OF A COMMUNITY WILDLIFE PARK IN AURORA (1998)

A long-term proposal to create a nature reserve in Aurora on a 70 hectare area of land scheduled for future housing development . The area consists of natural ponds, marshes, woodland, scrubland, and grassland including an existing shorebird scrape. This area was declared a provincially important wetland by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

Click here to download a copy of this proposal.