Monday, May 17th, 2010
I am pleased to welcome you to the Owen Sound Field Naturalists website.
Last year, the club celebrated twenty years of successful activity, focussing on the shared appreciation and understanding of the local landscape. Indeed, the club is fortunate to be located in Owen Sound which is set on the shores of Georgian Bay where the Sydenham River flows through a superb glacial re-entrant valley. The Niagara escarpment frames the community with outcrops of its signature Silurian / Ordovician sedimentary rocks. The combination of immediate geographic features, and others in the surrounding region, means that the city is set within a spectrum of remarkable natural wonders, a biodiversity that is recognized for its richness and for the presence of many rare and endangered species.
In fact, the title of the club’s newsletter, The Hart’s Tongue Herald, celebrates one of the specialties found in our region. I invite you to explore our forests, fens and fields, both through our website, and through personal explorations. You are also invited to join the club either as a visitor, when you are in the area, or as a full member if you live locally. There is no better way to get to know the natural wonders of this area than by joining in club activities.
Indoor meetings of the Owen Sound Field Naturalists are held on the second Thursday of each month, in the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library, at 7:00pm. Field outings occur once or twice each month. Upcoming programs are outlined on the website.
The key to the future is through the young people who will follow us. The Owen Sound Junior Field Naturalists meet from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the last Sunday of each month at Grey Sauble Conservation’s Administration Centre. The programs introduce aspiring young naturalists to the wonders and diversity of living things. They also provide hands on experiences, such as building bird houses and planting shrubs for wildlife, that introduce them to the liflelong concept of stewardship.
Living as we do in Owen Sound, surrounded by a natural richness and diversity of plants and animals, presents regional naturalists with a unique challenge to welcome others who come to discover and enjoy the beauty of nature in the region, while also speaking and acting as stewards for the future. The beauty of our region, and the species that live within it are a heritage we received in trust, and one of which we are intensely proud. It is a gift we wish to share with others and to pass on to future generations, as we found it, wherever possible.
Together, let us as naturalists celebrate this amazing earth. Let us share with others the joy, understanding and respect that we find in the natural world. Without it we would not be here as a species. With it, we are alive. As Thoreau noted “In wildness is the preservation of the world . . .”
Hear the birds, smell the flowers, observe the seasons as they pass and enjoy the gifts each day provides.
Peter Middleton, President, OSFN
