Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve

April to December 2024 Regular stewardship occurs twice a week for 4 hours. Ongoing programs include 1. Spring cleanup of litter and garbage throughout the natural area and then ongoing litter and illegal dumping cleanup as needed. 2. Invasive plant control and removal. 3. Planting and seeding of native plants in several selected locations including soil improvements mulching and watering. 4. Outreach and education ...we lead field trips and nature oriented events for many groups: Toronto Nature Stewards Lead Stewards Toronto Master Gardeners Seniors for Nature and for several groups of the public to learn to identify native and non-native plants and to see the activities and ecological restoration practices at the site. 5. We continued the Safe Trail Project by monitoring trails for any problems and closing unofficial trails. 6. We attended to our Oak Hill Satellite site by clearing weeds and adding seeds and monitoring the growth of the plants at this dry exposed area. 7. We continue to work with the city to reduce impacts from vandalism and unauthoriized activities. 8. Our 'Preserve Patrol' program continues which is a random drop in by stewards at the site to check if everything is OK and report any problems or issues to 311. 9. We welcomed students from York University to planting events in May. In 2024 our stewards spent over 1000 hours of volunteer work in the natural areas of the site. Monitoring of the Plots and Mini Plots created in 2021 was part of our ongoing activities in 2024. To assist with better communication we created a 'social' google group in which stewards can report sightings of wildlife or share information with each other - this continues in 2024 In 2023 we are monitoring the Chimney Swifts through the Swiftwatch program. We are also collecting data for our Bird Project in which we identify resident nesting and migratory birds that use the site.