OSFN Programs
Please note that all Programs, and schedules are subject to change. To avoid disappointment, please check with this site for updates and changes to dates, speakers, locations, etc. We thank you for your understanding in these matters.
Download our 2023/24 Schedule (pdf, 210kb)
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Introduction to How to Attract and Identify Moths.
Friday, June 9 @ 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Introduction to How to Attract and Identify Moths.
Friday June 9, 2023 @ 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm
A Moth Night – An Introduction to How to Attract and Identify Moths
When: Friday June 9, 2023
Leader: Alan Macnaughton
Time: 9 pm – 11:15 pm plus Saturday morning June 10 at 7 am to open Moth traps for ID, Photos and Release
(possible extra Moth Nights June 8-11 and Rain Dates TBA )
Where: Grey Sauble Conservation Administration Centre and Arboretum, 237897 Inglis Falls Road, RR 4, Owen Sound, Ontario N4K 5N6
Alan Macnaughton has good equipment and techniques for attracting moths, and he can show other people how to do it. He will set up several stations and use several lights (black light) and bait (rotting bananas). It will be an excellent opportunity to learn various methods of attracting moths.
We will want to identify and record the moths as they arrive, perhaps by uploading observations to the www.iNaturalist.ca website — it can identify observations to species with at least 90% accuracy.
Last year’s moth night was a wild evening with close to 100 species, including 7 species of the charismatic sphinx moths.
This year we are holding the event in mid-June, prime season for silk moths — the largest moths in our area. Bring either phones or regular cameras.
To register – so we can contact you if there is any change in plans, please contact John Dickson via email jwdickso@gmail.com
Extra information – Guests of OSFN – Area members of the Toronto Entomologists’ Association (TEA) may be joining us.
Equipment –
Bring cameras or phones for taking pictures and perhaps some transparent pill bottles to temporarily capture the moths for handing around to others before they are released. Phones are often best because they may have an internet connection (is this possible in the park?) to allow uploading observations to the www.iNaturalist.ca website for automated (image recognition software) species identification. Also, if they happen to have it, bring the Leckie and Beadle book, Peterson Field Guide to the Moths of Northeastern North America. One of the lights is bright and some people might want sunglasses when they get near it.
OSFN Indoor Meetings are normally held on the second Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Bayshore Community Centre, 1900 3rd Ave E Owen Sound. There are no Indoor Meetings in July and August. Please see the individual event listings below for more details.
We invite speakers with a wide range of expertise from Grey/Bruce and other parts of the province. These evenings are open to the public. The auditorium is open by 6:30. The meeting gets under way at 7:00, and may include brief announcements by other organizations as well as OSFN club activities, club business, social time, nature sightings and reports.
The club also offers a full schedule of outdoor activities during the year. Through these outings, members learn more about the birds, plants, mammals and geology of this part of Ontario. We also keep a protective eye on our precious natural areas.