On April 9th, 2022 The Sydenham Field Naturalist held their annual banquet at the Everest Convention Centre. They were honoured to present Robert and Nancy Lozon the Sydenham Field Naturalists’ 2022 Friend of Nature Award.
In 2018, Robert (Grizz) and Nancy Lozon retired a small field at the front of their property to create a wetland and the native prairie that surrounds it. They enjoy it a great deal, but that is a small part of why they are this year’s Friends of Nature.
They also own and operate a duck hunt guide business at Mitchell’s Bay. This year will be the 60th year for Grizz as a guide. He has spent much of his life in the marshes, hunting, trapping, and doing the variety of work required to keep the marshes functioning for waterfowl and for other wildlife. All of this provided the basis for a unique set of skills that has made him the wetland construction supervisor for many conservation groups and individuals that wanted to enhance nature on their lands.
For more than 20 years he has been in demand to help landowners make the most of the land they are setting aside for nature. He is not just a contractor, but a wetland specialist who works with existing conditions and landowner’s desires to establish projects which will quickly evolve into high quality wetland habitats.
Many members of the Sydenham Field Naturalists have had the wetland projects constructed by Grizz. He has lost track of the number of projects he has completed and has a conservative estimate of between 600 and 700 wetlands in south west Ontario.