More Photos from the Helicopter cleanup on McIntyre Creek

Garbage REmoval Project

December 15, 2015 was a day with a great sense of accomplishment for the Friends of McIntyre Creek.

 Two years ago a Whitehorse resident dumped some large household articles over the cliff
at a very well used wildlife viewing site.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek’s mandate is to monitor and preserve the integrity of the
Creek. We therefore took action to deal with this careless dumping of waste, which was not only an
eyesore, but a real threat of toxic contamination to the fauna and flora of the Creek.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek approached Heli Dynamics to see if they would work
with us to air lift this garbage to a place that the City of Whitehorse could manage the
disposal.

 Heli Dynamics quoted us  a fair price for the job and we were thereby able to approach
The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust  for sponsorship  for the charter of the
helicopter.  With this sponsorship,  we were able to involve the City and Yukon
Government, and made the decision to wait until the ground froze, enabling us to gather the
garbage  into a net for retrieval.

On December 15th,  three nets full of  garbage were lifted by helicopter from the valley
floor and placed in a turnaround big enough for the City’s truck and loader to load and remove the items.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek wish to thank the following people and groups who assisted with this Project:

- Ta’an Kwach’an Council and their wildlife technician Phil Emerson, who gathered the garbage into the net.

- The President of the Whitehorse Disc Golf  Association, Ryan Norquay,  who worked along side of Phil ,also donating his time and energy to gather the garbage  into the nets.

-  Heli Dynamics for the assistance they provided to lift the 3 nets full to a  better place.

-  Marc Boulerince from City of Whitehorse Parks Department for  his help in getting the dump truck and loader and being by for extra hands when needed.

This cleanup was accomplished with the help of many hands, and we cannot express enough thanks to everyone who assisted.

We will continue to monitor all areas for garbage dumping and abuse to the water shed.

As well, we continually monitor  the health and status of our wetlands and streams
through our official Wetland Keepers program and  Stream Keepers program.

Please help us to keep this area in its untainted, natural state for all to enjoy.



The Friends of McIntyre Creek.

Cathy Deacon took these photos last year.  If you look closely, you can see many ducks and swans at the mouth of the creek.  They go in and out of the creek area and the river in the fall and spring.

Bio Diversity Forum Nov 10, 2015

Summary Report of the BioDiversity Forum reported by Dorothy Bradley - President of FOMC.

"There was a good report on the toxic substances found in the Whitehorse Lagoon . It was stated that there are a lot of birds living in this lagoon in the summer. The lagoon is emptied 3 times a year into the Yukon River.

Reports on birds: Albert Creek bird banding station has banded 50,000 birds. Teslin Lake has banded 23,000 birds. McIntyre Creek is the most visited bird banding station of all of them and it is the least supported financially.

Wilson’s Warbler is the most seen bird in Albert Creek. The Alder Flycatcher is the most seen in Teslin Lake. These three sites are the most northerly bird Banding stations in Canada.

There was a study done on the width of the riparian zones required for terrestrial birds and animals. It has been found that for the most birds the protected zone is not enough to provide habitat for the birds. The new finds in the Yukon are the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble bee which is endangered, the purple flowered sage found on Beaver Mountain and the Orchid Larkspur found in the Richardson Mountains.

Over all it was was a very interesting afternoon. The last comment that very much caught my attention was that 

‘Many scientist think it is too late to stop Climate Change.'"”

FOMC Poster at the Biodiversity forum -  Photos compiled
by Gerry Steers - Gerry's Computer Magic

Photo of reflection at McIntyre Creek

This photo was shared with us by Ian McKenzie

Currant Berries along McIntyre Creek

Cleanup September 19, 2015

Friends of McIntyre Creek and volunteers, cleaned up the stretch from the Yukon River to Mountain View.  There are still people dumping their furniture and other unwanted items, instead of taking them to the dump.

Thanks to Atco Electric for sponsoring, and to the volunteers who came out to help.

July 2015 Bio Blitz

Annual Bio Blitz, July 2015, held by Yukon Conservation Society and supported by Friends of McIntyre Creek.  This Bio Blitz provided surveys of the fauna and flora of middle McIntyre Creek.

2015 Weed Pull

A special thanks to Atco Electric and Celeste Sundquist Bendall for a wonderful lunch. Thanks also to the Yukon invasive Species Council for directing and helping with the pull. We accomplished 2 miles of cleanup along the fish lake road.


Photos provided by Dorothy Bradley.

Bear Hazard Assessment - WildWise Yukon

WildWise Yukon is hosting two open houses to gather input and share findings from a Bear Hazard Assessment which is currently underway for the City of Whitehorse. Public input will help form the recommendations resulting from the study, which will in turn help strengthen our goal of becoming a bear-smart community.


Please drop by July 30, 2015 - 10:00 am - 12:30 pm or July 31 - 2 pm - 6 pm in the meeting room at the Whitehorse Public Library. We look forward to seeing you there!


Heather Ashthorn

Program Coordinator

WildWise Yukon

335-5212

Please join use for a McIntyre Creek BioBlitz!
What is a Bioblitz? A Bioblitz is a period of focused biological surveys geared to volunteers, families, students and the general community. In our case, this will be a two-day event. The Bioblitz will include 6 different study groups: (1) birds (2) mammals (3) bees and butterflies (4) fish (5) plants and (6) stream bugs.
Why are we doing this? In support of the park planning presently occurring with the City of Whitehorse, the Yukon Conservation Society is beginning a community-based biological assessment program, using the Bioblitz as the resource. We will be working with the Friends of McIntyre Creek, the Porter Creek Community Association and others. The intent is for this event to be repeatable on an annual basis and for the data to be used to support future planning in the City.

How can you help? Join expert biologists on July 4th and 5th as we study the birds, bugs, plants, mammals, fish and benthic (stream) invertebrates of McIntyre Creek! You will have the opportunity to participate in up to four different groups over the course of the weekend. No experience necessary.
For questions or to register, contact the Yukon Conservation Society 668-5678
Check out the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1598510390438531/
When:  July 4th @ 8am, event will run until 4pm
            July 5th @ 8am until 4pm
Where: McIntyre Creek Pumphouse, behind the Yukon College
What to bring: lunch, walking shoes, weather appropriate clothing, camera, sunscreen, water, field gear if you have it (clipboard, binoculars, plant/insect/bird guides)
Schedule of Events:

July 4th, 2015
8am	Meet at Pumphouse for signup. You will have the opportunity to participate in up to 4 different study groups!
9am-12pm	Groups depart to gather data in Middle McIntyre Creek
12-1pm	Lunch back at the Pumphouse, a perfect time to convene and share stories and get yourself with your next group
1pm-4pm	Groups depart to gather data in Middle McIntyre Creek
4pm	Convene back at the Pumphouse for more story-telling!
July 5th, 2015
8am	Arrive at the Pumphouse for DAY 2, chose your groups and gather your equipment
9am – 12 pm	Groups depart to gather data in Middle McIntyre Creek
12pm – 1 pm	Lunch back at the Pumphouse, a perfect time to convene and share stories and get yourself with your next group
1 pm – 4pm	Finish data gathering, share stories and hand-in data sheets

Christina Macdonald
Executive Director
Yukon Conservation Society
302 Hawkins Street
Whitehorse, Yukon
Canada Y1A 1X6
Tel: (867) 668-5678
ycsed@ycs.yk.ca
www.yukonconservation.org

People (2) Dorothy Bradley

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Bioblitz July 4/5, 2015

One of the key community events this summer is the first annual Bioblitz, which is an intensive blitz of biological surveys. This is a great opportunity for community members, neighborhood associations, school groups, naturalist clubs and other organizations to band together to collect information on the environmental and social features of the area over a two-day period.

Presently, we are anticipating this event to occur over the July 4/5th weekend. The weekend will be led by a variety of professional biologists with whom participants can join to study various environmental components such as birds, plants, insects and mammals. The intent is to run this event in subsequent years so that the information collected can be compiled and compared between years.

This event is being run by Yukon Conservation Society in the McIntyre Creek area.

For more information contact the YCS.

Annual General Meeting - May 19, 2015 7:00 pm

The Friends of McIntyre Creek Annual General meeting will be held May 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm at the Yukon College, Glass class room on the lower level.  Everyone is invited to attend.  These events always have great treats provided by Board Member Celeste Sundquist-Bendall.

We will be electing the Board members, and will have some other things of interest, that we will be keeping a surprise for now.

Please come out, invite your friends, and join us.  We promise it won't be boring!

New sightings

On the trail in Middle McIntyre Creek area, on February 23, 2015 we spotted tracks int he deep snow, and scat along the pathway.  The snow was too deep to see prints, but the scat was about 1 inch across, so not sure which undulate would have left them.

 

On our hike today, we spotted a pair of bald eagles on the topped off tree that I call the "eagle perch", as it is a popular spot for the eagles to hang out and survey the area.  I guess we will have to watch and see if they plan to make this their nesting area, or are just passing through.