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A n interest in the past Orono Weekly limes. Wednesday, July 13, 1988-3 Kathy Oberholtzer points to some interesting artifacts unearthed in an archeology including pieces of Dating back A team of six university archeology archeology students last week completed completed a six week stint in the hills of west Hope Township unearthing history dating back to the early 1480s. ; The group was headed by Lawrence Jackson, associated with Trent University. He has stated that it is a fairly rare site for Ontario and especially being this far east. The site is midway between Garden Hill and Elizabethville, south of the county road and is located in a young maple bush on a hilltop. week said they estimate that the Indian Indian Village did have a possible population of 400 to 500 people in the late 1400s and possibly remained remained at the site for a period of ten years. She pointed to the site being on a hill for protection and yet close to food and water. The site is divided into squares and then each square further sub-, divided allowing for detailed location location of finds as the site is unearthed. Oberholtzer said everything, is, recorded. It was stated that the group were looking for a pattern for the pallacade and it was evident that through scrapping off the top layers of soil.were able to locate the post moulds that were evident. The largest find was in What was the garbage pile of the village. The group have recorded a well preserv- ed corn cob of the era 'and individual individual corn kernels, also well preserved over the 400 year period. Teeth of deer as well as bones from chipmunks, squirrels and toads have been found as well as a bone from a passenger pigeon. * Many radiocarbon artifacts have been found, washed and catalogued from the site noting the presence of Iroquois Indians. Pottery pieces also note design and help to establish the era when the land was settled by the native people. The site Was found when. Ken and Elizabeth Gibbs, owners of the property, property, were about to prepare a driveway but first called about the artifacts they had found. , A preliminary dig in 1983 established the fact that an archeology site had been found. It was not until 1988 that funds became available to proceed proceed with the present unearthing of ' artifacts.*. - : / ' Kathy Obcrholiger said it was not known when they would continue with the dig which would he dependent dependent on funds being available. pottery with distinctive designs, stone tools, well preserved corn kernels dating back some 400 years and a host of other items. Students spent some six weeks working it the Hope Township site in June and the forepart of July. The Federation of Ontario Naturalists FON Conservation Centre, Moatfield Park / 355 Le.sr&iil Road,. Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 2W8 Phone: (<M6) 444-8419 by Marion Strebig An Ecological Puzzle The older I get the more of an anachronism I feel. Things that seemed unchanging in my youth are disappearing fast. Years ago at tny grandmother's farm near Lake Sim- coe, my father used to call my attention attention to a bird which was often perched on bare branches or fences. It was a chunky bird, spectacularly patterned in grey, white and black, including a black band through the eye like a mask. My father's tales of this fierce little bird, which he called the "butcherbird" because it often hung its prey on thornbushes, made me shiver. It's real name was the Loggerhead Shrike, a reference to its large head. I learned later that its habit of hanging prey probably stemmed from its lack of talons with which to grasp its meal as it ate. I got used to watching for it coming coming and going in the hedgerow, or perching motionless on à bare branch, or zooming down fo-snatch prey. Its song, a series of wheezes, grunts and rattles interspersed with melodius trills, often fooled me into looking for a Brown Thrasher. This handsome bird used to be as much a part of the open' country and farmland of Southern Ontario as the bobolink. It has been branded as a .villain because it sometimes ' takes, small birds. Bût during those long ago summers 1 applauded its tireless consumption of insects, especially grasshoppers which had the nasty habit of hopping down the front of my shirt. Actually more ' that 75% of the Shrike's summer- diet consists of insfeets. ' But it's been years since I've seen one coming and going from a nest in a hedgerow. The Loggerhead Shrike is now on the list of threatened threatened species determined by the Committee Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEW1C), and is considered by the Ontario Ministry of Natural; ' Resources as threatened in Ontario. It has been reccfmmended that it be placed on, p'F. the,Endangered Species list. Wh 'has happened in the 40 years since watched Loggerhead Shrikes in ghe ... hedgerows near Lake ShncOc. Widespread but never really coin mon in Ontario, the l oggerhead Shrike was first recorded iti Ontario in I860. A bird of open grassland ai d pasture, it extended its range : y v WrAAMA-ÆA \ eastward With the clearing of land for agriculture. It was probably most abundant in the 1940's. By the 1950's its range had contracted and between 1967 and 1982 the Breeding Bird Survey indicated an alarming population decline of 50-90% along its survey routes. In any decline of species the main cause is usually loss of suitable habitat. Although recent changes in agricultural practices, such as the removal of hedgerows and shelter belts and scrub growth like hawthorn have made some areas unattractive to this species, there is still much apparently suitable habitat in marginal farmland which is unoccupied. The Shrike frequents roadsides where it gleans insects attracted to warm, road surfaces or flushed by traffic. This habit plus its tendency to swoop down very low have made it a frequent victim of roadkills. The COSEWIC report by Michael Cadman notes that reports from Ontario, particularly from the area between Lake Simcoe and Kingston where the Loggerhead Shrike was once fairly common, tended to blame the practice of cutting and spraying herbicide along roadsides as a factor in the decline. Such spraying destroys potential nesting sitès and cover both for the shrike and its prey species. But there is still no obvious reason for the rapid decline of this species until now ' (here are fewer than 200 individuals ■ and only about 70 breeding pairs in Ontario. The Ontario Rare Breeding Bird Program, a new project sponsored / jointly by the Federation of Ontario ■- Naturalists and the Long Point bird Observatory, and an offshoot of the work on the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, hopes to ; help solve the puzzle. Michael Cadman. Cadman. one of the compilers of the Atlas, describes the project this way: "The Atlas project provided the best ever assessment of the relative abundance and distribution of Ontario's birds. We are now in , a good position to add considerably to our knowledge of those species considered to be under threat." , This year's program will concen- ■ irate on the Loggerhead Shrike to get an accurate population assessment assessment which will serve as a base for monitoring any changes. , Here is where the program needs Museum to host car rally, July 31 On Sunday, July 31 from 2 to 6 p.m., the Clarke Museum & Archives Archives will be presenting the Third Annual Antique & Classic Car Show. The special feature of the show will be the 1933 Orono Fire Truck. » Anyone with an antique or classic càr is welcome to participate. There is no fee for taking part and light refreshments will be'served. Please call the Museum at (416) 983-9243 for more details. As always, ADMISSION IS FREE. Clarke Museum & Archives is located on Hwy 35/115 at Regional Road #9 (Clarke 7th Cone.) in the Hamlet of Kirby. Just 5 minutes off Hwy 401 (take the Peterborough/Lindsay Peterborough/Lindsay turn off), only 40 your help. If you have-seen a'Loggerhead a'Loggerhead Shrike this season, please phone me collect at the FON (416) 444-8419. Any Shrike sighted in Southern Ontario from April on will almost certainly be a Loggerhead, Loggerhead, as the Northern Shrike is a winter visitor nesting in the boreal forest near the tree-line. Please be as specific as possible about the location of any sighting. Amateur naturalists have a long history of contributing to the expansion, expansion, of knowledge about natural history. Here is your chance to help solve a-biological puzzle and perhaps contribute to reversing the decline of a species.* minutes wouth of Peterborough. Conic and spend a Sunday afternoon afternoon with Us, we're waiting to welcome you, ""Remember** our exhibits change monthly so there is always something new to see! Mark Jackman, Curator A new idea for Seniors in Port Hope Several members of the St. Mark's Church in Port Hope have been meeting to organize a fairly new idea for seniors modelled after the Abbeyfield House concept which has found great acceptance in England. The proposal is for an affordable house where five to ten people of retirement age live in their own bedsitting bedsitting rooms furnished with their own furniture and belonging and share the two main meals of the day prepared by a housekeeper. The live-in housekeepers cares 'for the residents and the daily running running of the house including meals, laundry and shopping. It is a regular home on a regular street and not an institution. ' The government pays for two- thirds of the costs while residents pay for the other third. Residents are to*be of retirement age, 65. applications are now being sought to see if such is needed within the Port Hope community. ORONO FAIR PARADE ENTER A FLOAT, VEHICLE, BE A CLOWN Orono Cemetery Corner Sat., September 10th 11:30 a.m. Contact: ' CAROLE BAILEY at 983-5058 or RON HADLEY at 983-5623 FOR LIST OF PRIZES AND ENTRY FORMS BILL 113-RETAIL BUSINESS HOLIDAYS ACT, 1988 AND BILL 114 ~ EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS 00SSBS iKfllliBKKl The Standing Committee on Administration of Justice will meet to consider BiHs 113 and 114 commencing Wednesday, August 3, 1988 in the Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario and other locations throughout the province as may be required. - ♦ , . . jp, * * The Committee invites written submissions from individuals, groupé or organizations wishing to comment on .the above- mentioned Bills. All briefs should be deposited with the Clerk of the Cdmmittee no later than Wednesday, September 14, 1988. Requests for appointments to appear before the Committee to make an oral presentation should be directed to the Clerk of the Committee not later than Friday, AÎigust 5, 1988 for consideration consideration of the Committee. ROBERT CALLAHAN, M.P.P. Chairman /DEBORAH DELLER Clerk of the Committee Room 472, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, • Toronto, Ontario M7A1A2 Telephone: 416/963-2977 <- ' Collect calls will be accepted. ; ■'T- Legislative Assembly of Ontario' ' ;! m A ;\y t.i .y" 'i-f : /. V y,F :: V;-' V'f>