a variety of native shrubs to replace the invasives. The fall of 2005 saw this planting 
continue on the eastern edge of the Old Field. Many thanks to Colin Freebury and 
Claudia Burns for helping out. 
Pond 
Over the last few years we’ve been increasingly concerned with the health of our 
pond. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are fewer aquatic invertebrates than in 
previous years and this was borne out by some dip net sampling David Flobden did 
in 2005 which he compared with results from 2003. We know that we need to 
conduct systematic monitoring of the pond but haven’t quite decided how to 
proceed. A Carleton University student did some water and benthic organism tests 
in the pond during the spring and summer of 2005. We don’t yet have the results 
from her work but perhaps future updates will have more news. 
In the meantime, we have asked other people for their opinions. Several suggested 
that the pond needs to be deeper otherwise it is well on its way to becoming a marsh 
rather than a pond. This can only be done by bringing in heavy equipment for 
excavation. Others have noted that the pond is fed by nutrient rich water, run-off 
from the farm fields across the road. Another problem is that the water flows in very 
close to where it flows out thus there is little circulation. Also a concern are the 
cattails that have increased and spread substantially over the last three years 
although they are dying out in some parts of the pond (And we'd like to know why 
that is too). In late summer and fall Sandy Garland and Diane Lepage spent 
considerable time removing quantities of the dead cattails. We don’t want to remove 
all of them because they attract nesting Red-winged Blackbirds. Looking back at 
my notes I see that in 1996 there was no evidence of this species nesting at the 
FWG. At the same time, cattail growth was limited. As the cattails spread creating 
good nesting habitat, the blackbirds began nesting with at least eight pairs by 2005. 
Ideally we’d like to maintain this nesting success while at the same time helping the 
health of the pond. 
Managing the Site 
Bill Holland Trail 
The trail from just south of the parking lot down to the pond and up the slope on the 
south side was laid with gravel to help alleviate the muddy, slippery conditions that 
come with wet weather. We had many positive comments on the improvement and 
thanks go to all the volunteers who helped with the task, especially Sandy for 
organizing it all. 
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