I can't believe it's that time again. We're getting revved up for our first KW Field Naturalists' Young Naturalists meeting in a week and a half, and it's one I'm really excited about for more reasons than one!
Everyone on our snail mail list should have received this year's events brochure by now. If you haven't, I'll post a summary of our plans for this year here, but please get in touch with Pat (via comment here, if you don't have her email or phone number) to get your full copy.
September
Steve Patterson, aka The Flying Squirrel Guy, will let us into the wonderful world of Canada’s native flying squirrels! This is a joint meeting with the Guelph Young Naturalists. Be prepared for an evening hike.
October
This will be our Fall Bird Count meeting! Bring binoculars if you have them, and be prepared to spot and identify as many birds as you can.
November
Still to be decided... (If you have anything you really want to do, let us know!)
January
One of the January or February meeting will be a snowshoe trek, but we'll have to wait on the snow.
February
Still to be decided... (If you have anything you really want to do, let us know!)
March
Maple syrup time! We’ll be meeting at the sugar bush and sugar shack just around the corner from the Nature Centre.
April
Spring is sprung, and so are the spring wildflowers. We’ll go on a field trip to one of the many beautiful natural parks in K-W. This spot has beautiful trails, lots of wildlife (a great horned owl nesting site and a beaver dam, among others!) and amazing displays of spring wildflowers.
May
Bring your rubber boots and a sense of adventure – we’ll be testing the waters the creek to find and study the creatures that live there! We’re also going to provide a bbq lunch for an end-of-year celebration.
See everyone in a couple of weeks, ready to meet some squirrels! Bring your registration forms along, but if you don't have one, just show up and we'll make sure we have a few extras. Bring some friends, too! There's lots of room in the program for more people this year.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Blog for Vultures
This isn't the post about the schedule. That's upcoming. We're going to have one, never fear! No, this is a post about International Vulture Awareness Day. Did you know there was one? Because there is! I've written a little piece about my love of turkey vultures over at my other blog, so I thought I would link to it here. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
new primate species discovered in Germany!
Paleontology is a very interesting area of natural science. As a naturalist, I love to think about the plants and animals that were alive on the planet thousands and millions of years ago, and it's interesting to me to think about how different (or similar!) our current natural world is.
I thought I'd point to this article about a very cool new discovery in Germany: a new genus of [extinct but fossilized] primate believed to be at some point in the evolutionary scale between early primates and early humans. It's named after Darwin (her species name is Darwinius masillae) and the discovery is published in what is known as an "open access" scientific journal -- that is, it's free to anyone who wants to read it and learn about this very cool discovery. I haven't linked directly to the article, but you can find it from the page I've linked to. It's pretty long and very dense, so I kind of like the condensed version myself!
I like this story in particular because it's both about a nifty new paleontological discovery as well as being from a group of scientists who want to share their discoveries freely with the world. Awesome.
I thought I'd point to this article about a very cool new discovery in Germany: a new genus of [extinct but fossilized] primate believed to be at some point in the evolutionary scale between early primates and early humans. It's named after Darwin (her species name is Darwinius masillae) and the discovery is published in what is known as an "open access" scientific journal -- that is, it's free to anyone who wants to read it and learn about this very cool discovery. I haven't linked directly to the article, but you can find it from the page I've linked to. It's pretty long and very dense, so I kind of like the condensed version myself!
I like this story in particular because it's both about a nifty new paleontological discovery as well as being from a group of scientists who want to share their discoveries freely with the world. Awesome.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
sightings April 2009
Lots happening this month! I had a very exciting morning: I've heard my first warbler of the year! It was a black-throated green warbler. I didn't see him, but his distinctive zee zee zee zoo zee! was loud and clear.
I'm posting our sightings from the April meeting, but shortly I'll be sending directions to our May meeting to emails. If you don't get the direction in your inbox by May 10, please let me know and I'll send them again. Sometimes mass emails get caught by spam filters, and I'd like to make sure everyone knows how to get to the bird banding station.
Now on to more exciting things! During the month of April, Young Naturalists saw:
I'm posting our sightings from the April meeting, but shortly I'll be sending directions to our May meeting to emails. If you don't get the direction in your inbox by May 10, please let me know and I'll send them again. Sometimes mass emails get caught by spam filters, and I'd like to make sure everyone knows how to get to the bird banding station.
Now on to more exciting things! During the month of April, Young Naturalists saw:
- ruby crowned kinglet
- moles (hairy-tailed?)
- fox sparrow
- rabbit
- white moth
- muskrat
- deer
- cardinal
- kingfisher
- Blanding's turtle
- red-tailed hawk
- squirrel
- mourning cloak butterfly
- comma butterfly
- Milbert's tortoiseshell butterfly
- red-winged blackbird
- robin
- turkey vulture
- bloodroot
- trout lily
- wild leek
- mallard duck
- osprey
- white-throated sparrow
- field sparrow
- fairy shrimp
- wood frog
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Nature Contest for youth
Hi Young Naturalists
I received an email about an art contest that might interest some of you.
Find the beauty of nature in your own backyard!
Youth are invited to submit original artwork, writing or photography in the Robert Bateman Get To Know Contest. This year’s theme is biodiversity, celebrating the connections between all living things and their environment. Contest deadline is May 27, so enter today!
The contest runs until May 27, 2009. Visit http://www.gettoknow.ca/en/kids/contest/ for more information and to submit your entry.
I received an email about an art contest that might interest some of you.
Find the beauty of nature in your own backyard!
Youth are invited to submit original artwork, writing or photography in the Robert Bateman Get To Know Contest. This year’s theme is biodiversity, celebrating the connections between all living things and their environment. Contest deadline is May 27, so enter today!
The contest runs until May 27, 2009. Visit http://www.gettoknow.ca/en/kids/contest/ for more information and to submit your entry.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Save the Frogs Day
Guys! Save the frogs! This is a really interesting website that may interest you. There are a couple of contests coming up that you can enter, such as a frog art contest and a frog poetry contest. But most of all, the idea is to spread the word about how the world's frogs are struggling. Raising awareness is the first step to getting people to protect our frogs -- by protecting habitat, limiting pollution, and other important steps.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April program
All right! On Saturday we'll be having our next-to-last meeting for the year. And I won't be there! But you guys will get to have lots of fun with Marg, Heather, Pat, and Tigan and Kristina.
April's a great month to play catch up on some of the things we've been wanting to do -- like owl pellets, and visiting the pond. I believe that you guys will also get to be the second group ever to attempt the brand-new Treesure Hunt. Should be fun!
Remember to bring your sightings -- we should be getting some pretty spectacular creatures now that spring migration is going full steam ahead. I've seen bluebirds and kingfishers, great blue herons, turtles, garter snakes, and lots more this month.
So remember: 10am at the nature centre. Dress for the weather, although it is supposed to be sunny and very warm so you should be good! I am still working out details for May's outing -- our final outing of the year -- which if all goes well will be for us to get a private bird-banding demonstration at rare Charitable Research Reserve on May 30. Will let everyone know as soon as I've got details confirmed.
April's a great month to play catch up on some of the things we've been wanting to do -- like owl pellets, and visiting the pond. I believe that you guys will also get to be the second group ever to attempt the brand-new Treesure Hunt. Should be fun!
Remember to bring your sightings -- we should be getting some pretty spectacular creatures now that spring migration is going full steam ahead. I've seen bluebirds and kingfishers, great blue herons, turtles, garter snakes, and lots more this month.
So remember: 10am at the nature centre. Dress for the weather, although it is supposed to be sunny and very warm so you should be good! I am still working out details for May's outing -- our final outing of the year -- which if all goes well will be for us to get a private bird-banding demonstration at rare Charitable Research Reserve on May 30. Will let everyone know as soon as I've got details confirmed.
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