NewmarketToday continues its annual tradition of marking the giving season by celebrating Newmarket's Community Angels — the people whose kindness, compassion and community spirit help make our town one of the best to live in the country.
Newmarket biologist Aileen Barclay is known to want to strike up a conversation about surrounding wildlife.
As she spends hours observing and documenting nature in the area, she will often tell passersby or neighbours about something interesting she is seeing, such as the many bird species that fly overhead.
“I like to educate people about how fascinating it is,” she said. “It’s really hard to look around and see the damage people do knowingly or unknowingly to nature … There’s so many lessons and values to nature I just really want people to appreciate.”
The program director with the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust has gained acclaim in the nature community for her many volunteer efforts. She founded and managed the Facebook group York Region Nature to celebrate and inform about wildlife, which earned her a conservation authority award in 2021.
"Through this group, she promotes respectful appreciation and knowledge of nature, which is key to helping restore the watershed and our planet,” the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority said of her efforts. “Aileen not only uses this outlet to correct inaccuracies, but she is active in a variety of social spheres, helping to correct misinformation and speak for nature.”
Barclay has also spent her spare time helping to protect local turtle nests and collecting data for a provincial breeding bird atlas.
Nature has always fascinated the Newmarket native. She went to university for biology and soon after found a role in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Fishery.
“I find nature fascinating. There’s always something to discover. It is so cool to have that wow moment out in nature, which happens probably far more for me than most people,” Barclay said. “I just love to share what I know and what I found fascinating with nature. I think I’m very passionate about it, and that passion can be quite contagious.”
Her career took her to Algonquin Park and the Innisfil area, but she eventually moved back to Newmarket, in part to be closer to family. She said there is a lot to nature to love in the area, including the York Regional Forest.
It was a snowy owl coming over to her house and living in her neighbourhood for a season that inspired her to want to share more of her observations with an audience. That led her to start what became the York Region Nature Facebook group.
“I was just blown away (that) there was a snowy owl over my house,” she said. “I was so excited, and I went and told all the neighbours … I just started documenting, paying more attention to the birds around and the critters and the animal tracks. We’re really fortunate.”
Barclay has also worked to get natural areas recognition. Last year, she spurred the Town of Newmarket to recognize the greenspace near her home and name it Firefly Marsh, with a plaque and webpage highlighting all the wildlife in the area. She said she hopes to highlight more green spaces worthy of recognition by the town.
“We don’t often go out walking at 10 p.m. at night in June,” she said. “People forget, and they don’t realize how close they are, and fireflies are one of those amazing, magical things that bring you back to your childhood and the awe of nature.”
Barclay said she is happy that others are willing to listen to her, and she takes pride in helping educate others about nature.
“I still have a lot more to do. I love what I do. Sometimes, I’m a little overzealous about it because I’m so passionate about it,” she said, adding that the “more people that can learn about and appreciate and experience how incredible nature is, the better. I’m not going to stop.”
