UPDATE: AS OF 6 P.M. MONDAY FEBRUARY 26 2024 THE SHED USED AS A NESTING SITE BY SEVERAL BARN SWALLOW PAIRS HAD NOT BEEN TORN DOWN. HOWEVER DEMOLITION EQUIPMENT REMAINS AT THE SITE ON POINT TRAVERSE
A group of concerned Prince Edward County residents were at Point Traverse Monday off of Long Point Road hoping the federal Canadian Wildlife Service doesn’t tear down the five dilapidated shacks making up what was a commercial fishing village dating back to the 1800s.
One of those sheds is an annual nesting site for a handful of Barn Swallow pairs.
Members of such local organizations as the South Shore Joint Initiative and the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists have been pressing the government to leave the sheds alone, in particular the one that is a nesting site.
Barn Swallow pairs always return to the same site to nest, as do their young.
Naturalist Cheryl Anderson says if safety is a concern it wouldn’t take much work to rehabilitate the shed which is exactly what Quinte’s Isle Campark’s owners did last year in a similar situation.
“If a local business can rehabilitate a shed for barn swallows certainly the federal government can do that.”
So far the government has not agreed to save the shed or other sheds and heavy equipment is on-site Monday.
The Barn Swallow is listed as a species of concern.
