Cedarcroft

Cedarcroft

There was a storm mid-September 2021 which downed several trees over the trails. Folks on the committee were able to clear them.

We had a map of the trails and property made in 2021 by folks at UTRCA. It now is on a post near the cabin. In August 2022 Tammy Gunn brought us a Middlesex-London Health Unit sign re ticks which is now hanging beneath the trail map.

We posted a sign by the pond thanking the three companies (PV-Ex Construction, Arroc Aggregates, and LaFarge Canada) that contributed to correcting the drainage issue with the pond as well as improving the main trail from the road to the pond.

Herb Bax continued to plant trees out at Cedarcroft. In November he planted tulip, catalpa, butternut, and hickory trees which had been donated by Brian Wheeler. He has been able to label some of the many trees he has planted.

Jeff Paul did some repair work on Bridge #1 in December.

In mid-December, we had two old willow trees fall on the trail at the east end of the pond. They were particularly massive and dangerous for the committee volunteers to deal with. We hired Davey Trees to deal with them in early January.

Members of the committee volunteered to take turns walking around the property to check on things during the winter months from December to April.

Throughout the winter Daisy McCallum went out to Cedarcroft regularly to keep an eye on the birdfeeders and fill them as needed.

In February 2022 a teak bench being donated to Cedarcroft by the Stonehill family finally was delivered after much delay due to covid. It was assembled by Cole Herglotz and was in use by the spring.

In March we applied to have a free survey of the birds and forest at Cedarcroft done by Birds Canada in conjunction with The Ontario Woodlot Association. It was done in June and the results were received in September 2022.

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There was a very bad storm in May which ended up with a big old sugar maple belonging to Cedarcroft hanging dangerously over the Fowlers’ home. The Fowlers live at the end of the lane where we turn into Cedarcroft from Westminster Drive. The maple was being held up by an oak tree, but the bottom of the maple trunk was only connected to its roots by a few fibers resulting in this entire tree being able to move as the wind blew. So, a speedy resolution was needed. We eventually had a removal of the maple by Davey Trees using special equipment that wouldn’t damage the Fowlers’ paved driveway.

We purchased a brush cutter for use in clearing brush and also to be used along the trail to keep it open.

We had needed new shingles on the cabin roof for a few years. This summer we hired Harold Vanderlie to replace the shingles.

Evelyn Rogers has continued to be committed to cutting the grass over the summer months.

We are looking forward to welcoming members to group activities again as we move on from covid. Jim Jarrett has volunteered to lead hikes out at Cedarcroft in October 2022. As well, Jim has been instrumental in setting up webcams with help from Kathleen Holland. They have recorded sightings of various animals on the Cedarcroft trails. This video is now on the website and available to Nature London members.

Barb Kaiser