Partnering with Penta Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre May 2014 www.asawright.org Tel: (868) 667-4655 Email: [email protected]By Peter O’Connor It was a chance encounter that grew into partnership benefitting both entities. While at the AGM of the T&T Hotel and Restaurant Association last year our CEO Veronica Simon- Wallace met Sean De Souza, who was attending the meeting on behalf of ANSA Coatings Limited. Veronica invited Sean, who is the Sales and Marketing Manager of the Penta Paints Division of ANSA Coatings, to visit Spring Hill to see what opportunities could be developed between the Arima-based company and Asa Wright. On his visits here Sean noted that beyond the inspirational colours of our birds and flowers, there was the pragmatic need for maintaining our building stock, including, of course, the 106-year-old main house of the Estate. Each year we need to paint portions of the main house and other buildings, to protect and keep them attractive. Even as we were discussing how they could partner with us in the supply of a range of paints and coatings, Penta donated all of the paint requirements for our 2013 annual maintenance. Then in April this year, Asa Wright Nature Centre signed a Partnership Agreement with ANSA Coatings whereby Penta would be the supplier of our painting needs. For AWNC it was an opportunity to acquire much needed product at no cost, and for Penta, it gave them the opportunity to meaningfully support the work of the Centre in conservation and education, by allowing us to redirect resources to our Mission. We welcome ANSA Coatings and Penta as our partner in conservation, and are pleased to know that our buildings are now “Protected by Penta”. Photos courtesy Penta The group AWNC/Penta CEO and Penta signing
Transcript
Partneringwith Penta
Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre
May 2014www.asawright.org Tel: (868) 667-4655 Email: [email protected]
By Peter O’Connor
It was a chance encounter that grew into partnership bene� tting both entities. While at the AGM of the T&T Hotel and Restaurant Association last year our CEO Veronica Simon-Wallace met Sean De Souza, who was attending the meeting on behalf of ANSA Coatings Limited. Veronica invited Sean, who is the Sales and Marketing Manager of the Penta Paints Division of ANSA Coatings, to visit Spring Hill to see what opportunities could be developed between the Arima-based company and Asa Wright.
On his visits here Sean noted that beyond the inspirational colours of our birds and � owers, there was the pragmatic need for maintaining our building stock, including, of course, the 106-year-old main house of the Estate. Each year we need to paint portions of the main house and other buildings, to protect and keep them attractive.
Even as we were discussing how they could partner with us in the supply of a range of paints and coatings, Penta donated all of the paint requirements for our 2013 annual maintenance. Then in April this year, Asa Wright Nature Centre signed a Partnership Agreement with ANSA Coatings whereby Penta would be the supplier of our painting needs. For AWNC it was an opportunity to acquire much needed product at no cost, and for
Penta, it gave them the opportunity to meaningfully support the work of the Centre in conservation and education, by allowing us to redirect resources to our Mission.
We welcome ANSA Coatings and Penta as our partner in conservation, and are pleased to know that our buildings are now “Protected by Penta”.
Photos courtesy Penta
The group AWNC/Penta
CEO and Penta signing
Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre
M AY • PAGE 2 March 2014
Nurturingthe ‘Saplings’In between the hustle and bustle of operating the Nature Lodge, our work of Education, Conservation and Outreach continues. This month we feature the work of the third member of our “Engine Room”, Johanne Ryan, who among other things is teaching our younger citizens the value of our environment.
Having visited the Centre on several occasions as a student, Johanne was eager to have a career at a place where she had learnt so much. Far from walking the trails as an impressionable youth, she now works as a Conservation O� cer.
Johanne read for a Bachelor of Science degree with majors in Biology and Environmental and Natural Resource Management at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Johanne started working at the Asa Wright Nature Centre in 2010 and is currently responsible for the Valley Schools Outreach Programme (VSOP), the Asa Wright Nature Centre’s educational outreach programme. This programme targets primary schools in the Arima Valley, Asa Wright’s catchment area, with the aim of stimulating interest in our local � ora and fauna. She visits schools to teach topics which align with the primary school curriculum. She thoroughly enjoys interacting with these children and always learns something new from them. She has recently
started o� ering presentations on
preserving the environment, to schools outside of the Arima Valley, along the East-West corridor.
In 2011, she was given the opportunity to attend the Hog Island Audubon Camp’s Educator’s Week – a 5-day camp which allowed other Educators to meet, learn and discuss ideas in teaching nature education.
Johanne also works on the School Camp Safari which started in 2012. It is a day programme which is run during the July-August holidays, for camps who visit the Asa Wright Nature Centre on � eld trips. Camp activities include trail walks and making craft from natural and recycled material all done in a way to encourage children to appreciate our local � ora and fauna.
Johanne is delighted to work under the guidance of Education O� cer Denise Etienne, in accomplishing her tasks at AWNC. She enjoys taking visitors on tour, when her help is needed,
Johanne with students of the Arima Centenary SchoolPhoto by Kenneth Fournillier
representing the Centre at exhibitions and assisting with other projects being carried out at the Asa Wright Nature Centre. A keen writer, she regularly contributes the monthly bird/wildlife feature to the Bellbird Newsletter.
Johanne continues to enjoy being a part of the team that can often be found working right under the verandah, in the Ian Lambie Education Unit.
Johanne at AWNCPhoto by Denise Etienne
Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre
M AY • PAGE 3 March 2014
Readers of our issue last month may recall an article featuring the Trinibats visit to the Asa Wright Nature Centre. The � nal results have come in and the tally for the bat species found at the Centre during their studies is highlighted below.
Photo by Vishnu Debie
Family Common Name Species Name Number Recorded
Emballonuridae Lesser White-lined Bat Saccoperyx leptura 3(Sac-winged Bats) Greater White-lined Bat Saccoperyx bilineata 1 Mormoopidae Ghost-faced Bat Mormoops megalophylla 1(Leaf -chinnedBats Common Mustached Bat Pteronotus parnelli 5 Vespertilionidae Riparian Myotis Myotis riparius 3(Plain-nosed Bats) Hairy-legged Myotis Myotis keaysi 2 Natalidae Trinidadian Funnel-eared Bat Natalus tumidirostris 1(Funnel-eared Bats) Common Tent-making Bat Uroderma bilobatum 5 Seba’s Short-tailed Fruit Bat Carollia perspicillata 65 Tilda’s Yellow-shouldered Bat Sturnira tildae 2 Gervais’s Fruit-eating Bat Artibeus cinereus 4 Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat Artibeus jamaicensis 3 Phyllostomidae Great Fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus 2(Leaf-nosed Bats) Heller’s Broad-nosed Bat Plattyrrhinus helleri 5 Geo� roy’s Hairy-legged Bat Anoura geo� royi 5 Common Long-tongued Bat Glossophaga soricina 14 Striped Hairy-nosed Bat Mimon crenulatum 2 Pale Spear-nosed Bat Phyllostomus dicolor 1 Niceforo’s Bat Trinycteris nicefori 1 Stripe-headed Round-eared Bat Tonatia saurophila 1
By Kimberly Chu Foon
Trinibats Report
Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre
M AY • PAGE 4
YOUNG ENVIRONMENTALISTOF THE MONTHIf you think your child has done something helpful to preserve the environment, please feel free to share it with us. Either write a short story, or send a few pictures to [email protected]
He/she may be selected as our Young Environmentalist for the month! Once your child is featured in our monthly newsletter, he/she and two adults will be given a complimentary day visit to Asa Wright Nature Center, which includes viewing birds/animals on the verandah, a nature tour and use of the clear-water pool. Ages 5-16.
March 2014
Earth Day By Denise Etienne
Did you know that the earth provides us with everything we need in order to survive? Take a deep breath…the oxygen we inhale is a necessity of life. It is generously supplied to us by the plants and trees. What did you eat for breakfast this morning? Was it doubles, bacon and eggs, or bake and smoked herrings? Did you realize that all of our food originated from plants? Think about all of our drinking water, it basically comes from either of two sources ground water or surface water. Last but not least, the earth provides us with space in which to live. This is why every day should be considered Earth Day!
O� cially, Earth Day is celebrated around the world on 22nd April. This year for Earth Day we at Asa Wright Nature Centre, spent the morning thoroughly cleaning out our water catchments tank system. This is where we collect all of our drinking water. For our guests and visitors “A Sea Change” video documentary was shown. It featured the e� ects of climate change on three communities in Trinidad.
So if you have not yet paid tribute to the earth for your mere existence, it’s not too late to do so!
Our catchment area Photo by Denise Etienne
Design and Layout courtesy Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Ltd, a friend of the Asa Wright Nature Centre
M AY • PAGE 5 March 2014
Ocelot(Leopardus pardalis)
By J. Ryan
The last time we wrote about an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at Springhill, we recounted our sighting of its tracks along our Bamboo Valley Trail. That was back in 2011; the 27th October to be exact.Today we bear good news, the ocelot has once again reared its head… and we have a video to prove it!On the 3rd February, the trail cameras set up by our Asa Wright Board member Mr. Mike Rutherford, caught a ‘Tiger Cat’ in action. This Tiger Cat was on an early morning walk, again around the same area on our Bamboo Valley Trail, at (4:20 a.m.) So while learning about this useful sighting, we will provide
you with some ‘ocelot facts’.• The ocelot belongs to the family Felidae (Cats) of which there are 37 species worldwide (Reid 1997).
• The ocelot’s range spreads from south Texas to north Argentina• As the largest of the small, spotted cats, an ocelot can measure about (3.5 feet) in length with a thick, trailing (16 inch) tail. A large individual weighs on average about 25 pounds.• Their dappled coats of black and yellow-brown, which serve ascamou� age, were once used in the fur trade. This is now prohibited by international law. • Ocelots are mainly nocturnal. Sometimes, however, they will hunt during the day in dense forest cover or if the weather is overcast. While they have a preference for the forest they may even inhabit agricultural areas, once the canopy is thick enough.• They mainly keep to the forest fl oor but can skillfully climb trees, where they may rest during the day. Not to mention, they are good swimmers.• Ocelots prey on small animals like small rodents, opossums, land crabs and armadillos. They will also occasionally take birds, lizards and larger prey. • These stealth creatures do not roar like the lion or jaguar, but in fact move
Photo by Jason-Marc Mohamed The ocelot at AWNC, spot it in the top right-hand corner of the photo
mostly in silence. They are also quite shy.• The average litter size is 1 to 3 babies.• As territorial as other cats, they will spray to mark their territories.• Ocelots have been extinct from Tobago for over one hundred years. While it is illegal to hunt or capture an ocelot in Trinidad, these animals continue to be threatened by hunting and greatly, by habitat destruction. To see the video of the ocelot on its Asa Wright stomping ground, visit the U.W.I. Zoology Museum’s Facebook Page.
References:
Reid, Fiona. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central Mexico and Southeast Asia. Oxford University Press. 1997.
Kricher, John C. A Neotropical Companion: An Introduction to the Animals, Plants and Ecosystems of the New World Tropics. Princeton University Press. 1990.
We would like to correct the reference for last month’s article on the Blue Morpho article. Butter� ies of Trinidad and Tobago is in fact authored by Malcolm Barcant and not Micheal Barcant as was mistakenly written.
