Windsor and ERCA are looking for 'marsh monitors' to keep tabs on area wetlands

The City of Windsor and the Essex Region Conservation Authority is recruiting citizen monitors to keep tabs on wildlife at local marshes.

An information workshop is being held Thursday night for potential recruits of the Marsh Monitoring Program, which is funded through an organization called Bird Studies Canada.

• ERCA working with Caldwell First Nation to create wetland habitat

"We're reaching out to birders, bird lovers, nature lovers, even lovers of amphibians, because we have an amphibian monitoring project as well," explained Jennifer Nantais, a naturalist at Windsor's Ojibway Nature Centre.

Nantais explained that that there is only a small percentage of wetland left in Windsor-Essex. 

"A lot of them are being altered through human activity or through natural processes [such as] invasive species ... so a good way to keep an eye on these really important ecosystems is to monitor the populations of the species that live there."

No formal background in biology or environmental sciences is required. Bird Studies Canada provides materials — including recordings of animal sounds — that help monitors identify the species in the marsh.

"You just keep track of all of your site visits, and then at the end of the season you send your information in a package to Bird Studies Canada," Nantais said, noting that a typical marsh visit takes about an hour to complete.

Thursday's information session starts at 7 p.m. at the Ojibway Nature Session on Matchette Road.

Tap on the audio player to hear Afternoon Drive's Jonathan Pinto speak to Nantais about the project.