Observation at Quarry Park

For this project I chose to observe Quarry Park and the details of same are below;

Location: Stonewall Quarry Park, 166 Main Street, Stonewall, Manitoba, R0C 2Z0

Date of Observations: September 24, 2023 at 11:30 am CST

Seasonality: 17 degrees Celsius, Cloudy with a light mist and 42 km/h winds. (typically Manitoban fall weather)

Size: 80 acre park

This is park that was once a limestone quarry when the town was being built in the early 1900’s. The original kilns used in that time are still around and are located around the park (pictures below). With the conversion from quarry to park, there is still many rocks and limestone present, however now there is more wooded forest area as well as a pond on the outer edge of the park. Many plants and animals call this place home including but not limited to, deer, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and sometimes bears.

Obviously there is more human interactions than there was in the past so there is garbage cans and many information stands linking the heritage of the spot to what it looks like now throughout the trails in the park. There are also bird nesting sites throughout as well to try and maintain the habitat and ecosystem with the increasing human activity.

Some research questions for this location are:

1. How do all the organisms adapt to the changing seasons in this rocky wooded area?
2. Many dogs also love attending the park and will run around the forest area and cool off in summer with a dip in the pond, what are some advantages and disadvantages of allowing dogs to wander this area, off leash, with their owners?
3. What effect does having the pond on the outer edge of the rocky forest have on the ecosystem and the organisms found there?

Pictures of observations:

IMG_2186 IMG_2189 IMG_2191 IMG_2197 IMG_2198 IMG_2203 IMG_2206 IMG_2208 IMG_2209