Swampy Sanctuaries EarthCache
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The town of Moosonee, located on the Moose River is Ontario’s only saltwater port, & the gateway to the Arctic. Here the Arctic tides rise and fall twice daily, varying as much as 2.5 metres from high to low.
Southern James Bay is a Canadian coastal wetland complex in northeastern Ontario bordering James Bay and Quebec. It was designated as a wetland of international importance via the Ramsar Convention on May 27, 1987. The shallow waters of the James Bay region represent an important late autumn staging area for migratory, Arctic-breeding waterbirds. This area plays a significant role in the annual cycle of waterfowl. The funnel-shaped outline of Hudson and James bays causes birds migrating from the Arctic to concentrate at the southern end of James Bay each autumn, particularly in the late autumn, where the extensive coastal wetlands provide critical staging and moulting areas for migrating Lesser Snow Geese, dabbling ducks and shorebirds such as Red Knot, Short-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, and American Golden Plover.
The terrain here is flat, and the poor drainage encourages the creation of wetlands and bogs. Palaeozoic and Proterozoic sedimentary bedrock slopes gradually towards Hudson Bay.
Access to the town of Moosonee can only be done by rail, air or canoe through the tributaries that drain into the Moose River. The major ones include:
• Cheepash River
• Frederick House River
• Kwataboahegan River
• Mattagami River
• Missinaibi River
• North French River
• Abitibi River
Two migratory bird sanctuaries are located in the complex: Moose River Bird Sanctuary is at the mouth of the Moose River, and the larger Hannah Bay Bird Sanctuary on the eastern coast of Hannah Bay.
As many as 75,000 geese of various species may simultaneously use the staging area in autumn, and large populations of ducks are also easily observed. "Substantial numbers of diving sea ducks occur offshore." The sites are located on Ontario Crown land, except for outlying islands that are part of the Northwest Territories, which are federal Crown land. They are demarcated to prevent hunting within their boundaries, a policy which is enforced. Hunting is permitted in adjacent land.
Southern James Bay lies within the flat sedimentary basin of the Hudson Bay lowland in the Hudson Plains ecozone, and its coast is "characterised by a sequence of mudflats, intertidal marshes and supertidal meadow-marshes, which grade through a willow-alder shrub area into a drier forest interspersed with fens and bogs". Gradually rising inland from sea level, it attains elevations of no more than 50 m.
Questions to research and information to gather:
1. How many square km is the Moose River Bird Sanctuary?
2. How many square km is the Hannah Bay Bird Sanctuary?
3. What is your elevation standing on the public docks at the Moose River (or the shore if you are here in the winter when the docks are removed)?
4. What is your elevation at the railroad platform in front of the sign with all the distances to the coastal communities marked on it? What are your thoughts on the differences in elevation from the river to the tracks?
Email me your answers to the above 4 questions and post a picture of you/group at the “Port of Moosonee” public dock site with something identifiable in the background, such as the picnic shelters, docks/water taxis, sign, etc. and of course the river! You may need to do some internet research or visit the MNR interpretive Centre while in Moosonee to find some answers.
You don’t have to wait for a response to log the find, but incorrect or missing emails with responses logs will be deleted.
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