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Nature Club News, Uncategorized

Nature Club News March 2020

Nature Club News March 2020

by John Dickson

Please note – This NCN Originally Submitted March 10th. Due to COVID-19, most of the March events were postponed or cancelled. Please see individual listings for their current status.

There are many Nature related activities – for humans, that is – lined
up over the next while. Here are some which may be of interest to you
and/or your entire family:

This Thursday March 12, the Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) host
their Members’ Night, featuring as many as seven brief presentations
as diverse as Bill Moses using Phragmites to enhance habitat choices
for bees; David Morris pointing out “armed and dangerous” plants that
should be avoided; Bruce Peninsula wildflowers and photography
guidelines with Lyn Reket; Forest Bathing and Nature Therapy with Neil
Baldwin; Dorcas Bay Road wildflowers with Barbara Palmer; a Piping
Plover update with Norah Toth; and shades of green and gold with John
Dickson. Starting at 7PM, in the Bayroom of the Harry Lumley Bayshore
Community Centre, everyone is welcome, and encouraged to arrive early.
Admission is free, although donations are very welcome. For more
details please visit www.osfn.ca

Then on Sunday March 15, begins a four part lecture series featuring
Dr. Thorsten Arnold, a local farmer scientist, plus climate and food
systems advocate.

The entire series is entitled How Can Food Systems Regenerate Our
Earth? The lecture begins at 1:30PM at the Harmony Centre, located at
the corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue east, and the topic is
Biosphere Self Regulation of its Climate. Admission is on a Pay What
You Can basis.

The dates and topics of the other three lectures, all at 1:30PM are
Sunday April 5, Regenerative Agriculture and the Biosphere; Sunday
April 26, Food Systems for the Biosphere; Sunday May 3, Making
Holistic Land Use Decisions. Arnold is known for the eloquence and
substance of his talks and his articulate presentations.

Support for this lecture series has been provided by Eat Local Grey
Bruce, Climate Action Team of Bruce, Grey and Owen Sound, Grey Bruce

Sustainability Network, OSFN, and St.George’s Anglican Church

On Friday March 20 at 2PM Grey Roots Museum and Archives, as part of
their March Break feature Back to Your Roots, is offering a chance to
“Learn about moths and what they do in the winter” with a fun
presentation by Brian Robin, in the Grey Roots theatre, co-presented
by the Young Naturalists club.

On March 24 Grey Roots begins its Spring Lecture Series with Dr. David
Holah asking  How Green is Green Energy?

Our hopes of moving away from fossil fuels lies with the increased use of green energy (solar and wind) and the production of batteries for
electric cars. Success will largely be dependent on a few metals of
which most people have never heard and which come with a significant
environmental cost. This presentation is part of Grey Roots’ Spring
Lecture Series taking place on Tuesday afternoons following March
Break, March 24 through April 14, in our Theatre and are Free with admission. Talks take place at 1:00 p.m. and are repeated at 2:30 p.m. Complimentary refreshments following this talk, are provided, courtesy of Owen Sound Field Naturalists. 

On Saturday March 28, Grey Roots is also presenting a chance to learn
more about hibernation, with popular speaker and naturalist Jenna
McGuire, also co-sponsored by OSFN.

The Grey Sauble Conservation Foundation is hosting its 5th Annual
Earth Film Festival. The Festival will be held at the Roxy Theatre in Owen Sound on Thursday, April 30, 2020.This year the festival follows one week after the Earth Week Celebration. The theme for the Earth Film Festival is the beauty of the monarch butterfly. 

During the day, there will be two school matinee performances at the
Roxy. Students from grades 6 to grade 8 will be invited to attend. The evening starts with a social from 6pm to 7pm, during which guests can view displays, view draw prizes, and participate in a silent auction. At 7:00 pm the night will begin with an interactive butterfly presentation by Audrey Armstrong and photographer Willy Waterton. Following which the featured movie “Flight of the Butterflies” will be shown.

All funds raised benefit local conservation projects and student education grants supported by the Grey Sauble Conservation Foundation. Tickets are $25 and are available from the Roxy Theatre, contact 519-371-2833.

For further information, please contact Don Sankey, Chair, Grey Sauble Conservation Foundation at 519 376-1348

Also celebrating Earth Week, OSFN presents renowned ecologist and
singer/songwriter Jarmo Jalava, on board the Chi Cheemaun, starting at
2PM, Saturday April 18. Entitled Relationships with Nature, as told through slides, stories and song, tickets for this event, which has limited seating,
are only $5 each and are still available at these ticket outlets –
Ginger Press, OS Farmers’ Market and the OSTC office at Springmount.
Ticket sales are starting to pick up again, now that Spring is in the
air. Sponsored by Caframo, proceeds will be directed to OSFN Youth
Projects.

There have been many special sightings in the area recently. Jim
Hastie from the Leith area, reported his first Redwing Blackbird on
March 4th.

First year male King Eider Duck.  March 9, by David Turner

The Juvenile King Eider is still seen regularly at Southampton Harbour. Many Red-Tailed Hawks have been observed busily engaged in breeding activities; 

Red-tailed Hawk, Photo By Bruce Edmunds

Tundra Swans are showing up in LambtonCounty, and in South East Grey. David Turner sighted nine Tundra Swans at Lake Eugenia, March 10, following a parallel path towards crossing Lake Huron.  Peter Middleton was successful in photographing a pair of Golden Eagles in Bruce County. Along with many Bald Eagles, HornedLarks and Robins have been seen throughout the area, and at least a couple of chipmunks have been observed, out of hibernation.

Tundra Swans, Mar 9th, Thedford Bog, Photo by Peter Middleton

Stew Hilts had a very nice sighting with a Red-tailed Hawk, to see the full story, head to his Seasons in the Valley blog.

Red-tailed Hawk, Photo by Stew Hilts

A tracking hike led by Jeff Kinchen last Saturday drew this assessment
from Julie Lamberts –

“I really appreciated Jeff’s insight around interpreting animal tracks
to understand not only the type of animal but how an animal is
behaving.  This insight gives you the opportunity to more deeply
understand that animal’s story, forming a deeper connection with them.
This was a very informative and enjoyable experience!” And, from Marilyn Betteridge – “Jeff was so enthused to share his experiences and accumulated knowledge it made learning and retaining so rewarding. Personally, I went out the next day looking for tracks and an otter slide he told us about. Finding two wildlife treasures was a highlight!!” 


Jody Johnson reported that on February 23, the Young Naturalists Club
spent a beautiful afternoon exploring the area around Jones Falls, led by Judy Robinson. The kids experienced life as either a porcupine, fox, skunk, coyote or rabbit – looking for food, shelter and avoiding prey. They also created nature art of their selected animal.

Young Naturalists’ Artwork, Photo By Jody Johnson

Also, looking back to February 13, Peter Middleton, in immense gratitude and warm recognition of his outstanding legacy,  received a lengthy standing ovation from the assembly of 200, who were on hand for his final lecture/presentation at the Lumley Bayshore.  They had been enthralled by the story of his recent trip to Brazilwith his wife, Jan. The trip had been well researched in advance and they were successful in observing most of the target species they were aiming for. Along with Peter’s superb photographs he made their adventures come alive for the audience as he imitated the sounds of Howler Monkeys and various anteaters and shared stories of behaviours they observed. Thank you, Peter, for generously sharing your nature experiences and gifts with us!

To close, a Nature quote from Sam Llewellyn’s The Sea Garden – “From
the foot of the donjon walls the gardens sweep away. They are
twenty-one acres of Paradise, of flowers and scents gathered from the
Cape of Good Hope, and the Canaries, Australia and the Azores….”

Announcements, Uncategorized

Webinar Series: How Can Food Systems Regenerate Our Earth?


A webinar series by Eat Local Grey Bruce, featuring Dr. Thorsten Arnold. For tickets and more information, please visit Eventbrite.

About this Event

Targeted to farmers and non-farmers, this talk series is designed to lay out why regenerative agriculture has massive potential to benefit our planet at large – healthy people, healthy biosphere, healthy climate, resilient community. Recent insights in microbial science give new rigor to what keen nature observers have suspected for long. A series of talks offer a hopeful message that is much needed in today’s world, with many intervention points for communities, entrepreneurs, and governments.

THE LECTURES

The webinar series includes four lectures, hosted at 1:30pm on four separate Sunday afternoons. See content and days below.

Each lecture will take 60 minutes of in-depth knowledge in an accessible format, plus 30 minutes of discussion, questions, and brainstorming. Talks build on each other. While there will be a repetition of core concepts as a refresher, regular attendance is recommended. Payment is on a sliding scale, please support Thorsten’s and our organization’s [Eat Local Grey Bruce] work as you can.



1) How the biosphere self regulates its climate: April 5th 2020

Did you know that vegetation actively builds a soil “sponge” that regulates watershed functions? With a functioning soil sponge of a landscape, rainfall events hardly ever lead to flooding and drought. Also, plants cool their own environment by transpiring water – between 250 and 500 times stronger than the global greenhouse does, at least locally. Temperature, moisture, wind patterns, and rainfall are all influenced by how we manage our landscapes — an overlooked opportunity in the debate how we can confront the global climate crisis.

2) Regenerative agriculture for biosphere self regulation: April 19th 2020

Agriculture covers more landscape area than any other land use. How we do agriculture thus also defines our landscape’s biosphere functions and climate resilience. New findings in how the soil actually works are leading to a massive shift in understanding of how we can grow plants – with deep implications for how we farm and manage our lands. Learn about the mycorrhizal revolution, about regenerative farming principles for crops and livestock, and hear about local leaders in this regenerative revolution!

3) Food systems for biosphere regeneration: April 26th 2020

Farm businesses require markets, and the “rules of the game” of their markets define what farmers can do and what they cannot do. Biosphere regeneration through agriculture can only happen if food systems send the right signals to farmers, or at least do not pose market barriers. This talk discusses barriers, opportunities and steps for establishing a food system that works for regeneration, with considerations for regulators, citizens, small businesses, donors,and regional governance.

4) Transforming land management and ourselves for biosphere regeneration: May 3rd 2020

Humans are very effective in engineering and managing complicated systems – it took us one century form using a steam engine to setting foot onto the moon. At the same time, we struggle with managing complex systems that self-regulate at all scales, starting with our immune system and guts or soil, community and watersheds dynamics, up to the global climate. This talk highlights strategies how we can holistically manage complexity and how we may better align our personal impacts with the needs of our only planet.

Each lecture will take 90 minutes of talk, plus 30 minutes of discussion, questions, and brainstorming. All talks are providing in-depth knowledge in an accessible format. Talks build on each other. While there will be a repetition of core concepts as a refresher, regular attendance is recommended.

The event is Pay what you can, no one will be turned away due to a lack of funds. Please be in touch if you have any questions or access needs.

Who is apart of organizing the series: – Eat Local Grey Bruce – Climate Action Team Bruce Grey Owen Sound – Owen Sound Field Naturalists – St George’s Anglican Church Owen Sound


About Thorsten: Thorsten Arnold has dedicated his work-life to promoting climate resilience in its various facets and seeks to build strong communities by sharing his learnings with others as writer, consultant, and educator. With his wife Kristine Hammel, they co-own Persephone Market Garden, an ecological vegetable farm that produces healthy, fair and simply good food. They have big goals of building the farm into a community hub and have already integrated a summer farm camp, farming workshops, and now a private farm & forest school that offers holistic education in sustainable living.

Thorsten received academic training in environmental engineering (BTU Cottbus) and Earth Systems sciences at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the sea (ICBM) in Oldenburg, Germany. He later pursued a dissertation in watershed sciences and agricultural economics (Uni. Hohenheim, Germany). His academic training uniquely bridges the two pillars of climate dynamics: the global greenhouse gas forcing and the role of regional land use and agriculture. Thorsten advocated against selling public water utilities to international investors and against some destructive aspects of global trade deregulations and worked with national and international development agencies around climate change and sustainable agriculture.

Some resources sent by Thorsten:

In order to get up to date and understand some of the concepts that I am using, please consider watching the following videos:

If you have more time and interest, some movies I highly recommend, but you have to pay a little for these:

  • Symbiotic Earth (link)
  • Fantastic Fungi (link)
Admin - Programs and Events, Nature Club News

Nature Club News February 2020

Nature Club News February 2020

by John Dickson

Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) will feature Peter Middleton’s  “A Break From Winter” at 7PM this Thursday February 13, at the Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. This is expected to be Middleton’s final lecture, after decades of stimulating talks with wonderful photographs, commentary, and often a touch of poetry. Middleton brings to his talks a deep knowledge of the natural sciences, including botany, zoology, ornithology, geomorphology, and many more.

Peter Middleton

Clarke Birchard has shared this description about Middleton:

“Peter Middleton spent most of his professional career sharing his extensive knowledge and passion for nature with others. He was a teacher at the Toronto Island Natural Science School, a teacher and later the Director of the Outdoor Education Centre for the Bruce County Board of Education and the Bluewater District School Board. During those years he inspired thousands of students, colleagues as well as teachers and parents that accompanied the classes.

He led nature tours for adult groups on weekends and during summers. Following retirement, nature tours grew into almost a second career for Quest Nature Tours and other agencies. These tours took him to the Arctic, the Antarctic, India, South Africa, his birthplace of Scotland and numerous other locales. He played a major leadership role in the early years of the Saugeen Field Naturalists and later became active in the Owen Sound Field Naturalists, and was President 2010-12. 

He has had numerous speaking engagements and led nature walks in Owen Sound, Grey, Bruce and beyond. He has also been a director of Ontario Nature and chair of the nature reserves committee.”

This “A Break from Winter” presentation replaces the originally scheduled “Horses of Sable Island, etc.”, with Marg Gaviller,  post-poned due to family commitments, and to be held at a later date. Reminder – OSFN monthly meetings are now being held at the Lumley Bayshore, and are no longer at the Library.

Everyone is welcome, and encouraged to arrive before 7PM for a social time with coffee and refreshments. Admission is free, though donations are welcome.

As we head towards Spring, several local organizations are offering their annual programmes and festivals.

Grey Roots is including this nature-themed talk in its Spring Lecture Series with Dr. David Holah – How Green is Green Energy?

“Our hopes of moving away from fossil fuels lies with the increased use of green energy (solar and wind) and the production of batteries for electric cars. Success will largely be dependent on a few metals of which most people have never heard and which come with a significant environmental cost.”

Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Chemistry at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Dr. Holah held numerous teaching and research positions at research facilities, governmental agencies and universities in the US, UK and Canada. Dr. Holah’s presentations can be enjoyed by science and non-science attendees alike.

This presentation is part of the Spring Lecture Series taking place on Tuesday afternoons following March Break, March 24 through April 14, in the Grey Roots Theatre. Talks take place at 1:00 p.m. and are repeated at 2:30 p.m. Complimentary refreshments following each talk. Free with admission. Members free as always. To learn more please visit https://greyroots.com/

The 23rd annual Huron Fringe Birding Festival will be held May 22 – 25 & May 28 – 31, 2020 celebrating birds, birding and nature. The Festival is based out of beautiful MacGregor Point Provincial Park, where events explore the rich niches of the Park, and also venture throughout the ‘Huron Fringe’ of land along Lake Huron’s shore, up the bountiful Bruce Peninsula, and to many significant natural areas of Bruce and Grey Counties.
The Festival offers an incredible 95 events over two 4-day weekends in late May! This time of year captures both the end of migration and the beginning of the nesting season, ensuring an abundance of birds. Morning, afternoon, all-day and evening events are offered daily. You can choose to attend one, some, or pick a full-Festival package! All events are led by top local, provincial and global tour leaders.

ONLINE REGISTRATION is active March 1 (6am) to May 21 (6pm) & May 26 to May 27. To learn more please visit https://friendsofmacgregor.org/page/huron-fringe-birding-festival

Upcoming 2020 forum “The Climate Is Changing – Will We?”

The annual Sources of Knowledge Forum, April 24th – 26th, 2020 at Tobermory, is intended to demonstrate how research in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Fathom Five National Marine Park, and the surrounding community contributes to knowledge of the Bruce Peninsula’s natural and human history. This event has been held in Tobermory since 2009, and is a regular means of presenting research activities, their results and their implications for decision-making. It provides students, educators, researchers, citizens, business operators and policy-makers with access to networks, information and ideas through which local knowledge can be integrated into their respective interests 2020 Forum registration has opened as of Feb 1st. The early bird price is $80 if you register before April 1st. After April 1st it rises to $90. To learn more please visit – https://www.sourcesofknowledge.ca/

Kate McLaren shares this report of the the OSFN Young Naturalists Club activities Sunday February 9:”While Elaine van den Kieboom and Jody Johnson prepared the bonfire to heat hot chocolate and apple cider, Doug van den Kieboom led a long string of 12 children and just as many adults on winding trails through the forest in Sydenham township.

Their property is a haven for birds including Chickadees, Ruffed Grouse plus Hairy, Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers. Within the mixed forest are some butternut trees, although most showed evidence of the fungus that is killing them throughout their range. Doug pointed out the stripped tree bark on cedars that was evidence of the resident porcupines. Coyote tracks criss-crossed with deer and skunks, although we didn’t spot them. We were a talkative group! Some followed Doug on a second loop while others chose to remove their snowshoes and cozy up beside the fire.

Elaine had previously prepared snow benches for everyone to sit on as they toasted bannock and marshmallows over the fire and talked about what they’d seen and heard.”  

To close, a Nature quote from The Magnetic North, by Sara Wheeler – “The extent to which man, for the first time in history has become the central force in shaping both climate and ecosystems is reflected in the term anthropocene, coined in 2000 by the Dutch chemist and Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen.  His suggestions that the influence of human behaviour on the earth constitutes a new geological epoch is gaining ground.”

River Otters, Saturday February 8, at Southampton Harbour. Photo by Pam Binnendyk