West Marsh Boardwalk Site 1- Westminster Ponds ESA (adjacent to Wellington Road)
London, Ontario, Canada
This marsh lies just east of Wellington Road - a High Speed North - South Corridor road that experiences high rates of traffic throughout the day. There is a significant amount of wind blown garbage from surrounding businesses (Tim Hortons Cups...). Additionally in some areas there are also large items that have been dumped here as well as a consistent presence of transient camping activity & drug paraphernalia. Our students are concerned about the sensitivity of this wetland and wonder how the runoff of salt and all of this garbage & noise pollution might be influencing local aquatic and terrestrial life.
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Location created by
Jennifer Trampleasure H3-ELP Environmental Leaders Project TVDSB
- Group: Water Rangers and Freshwater Alliance : Lake Erie Guardians
- Site ID: Site 1
- Lat: 42.9497321
- Lng: -81.2275028
- Waterbody Type: Wetland
- Timezone: America/Toronto
Latest photos
Garbage: No
Invasive Species: Phragmities
Concerns: Dead tadpoles
Changes since last visit: Area is more exposed and dry.
7 pieces of garabage were found in the area.
Invasive species: Phragmites, Buckthorn
Wildlife: Spring peepers
There is too much plant life in the water here to actually see the bottom.
While I did not personally see any birds other than Redwinged Blackbirds (and even they were really quiet), a couple of birders well known in the area had spotted a Green Heron in the Reeds. I unfortunately could not locate the bird. Others have seen Green Herons here as well.
There were many male gypsy moths fluttering all around everything. Quite annoyingly in my face, into the backpack and more. Not a good sign.
There seemed to be a lack of birds, turtles and fish today, but I heard the first Cicada of the season here. 10:30 am I expected more, but spotted a pair of downy woodpeckers on my way over to the water testing area.