A journey to Madagascar

The Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) invite you to visit the Bayshore Community Centre at 7pm on Thursday October 10, and to ‘Come Celebrate World Lemur Day’ with a presentation by explorer, author, and conservationist Dr. Keriann McGoogan and explorer, anthropologist, and conservationist Dr. Travis Steffens. They will take us on a journey to Madagascar to learn about the amazing wildlife and landscapes, the challenges of field research, and how they are working to create sustainable forest communities through their charity Planet Madagascar. Madagascar is truly a place like no other and is the only place lemurs are found naturally — sadly these primates are the most endangered animals in the world. 

Keriann and Travis will also have copies of Keriann’s book, Chasing Lemurs and some products from Madagascar for you to purchase if you want to help support lemur conservation in Madagascar, and its special wildlife, including Lemurs.Admission is free, and donations from non-members are welcome. Doors open by 6:30pm, and OSFN publications, along with the new Fern Buff (a great gift idea!) will be available too. This presentation will also be available on Zoom. To receive a zoom link, please send an email, in advance, to web@osfn.ca with lemurs on the subject line.For more information about OSFN, membership, field trips, Young Naturalists  and more, please visit www.osfn.ca

 Beth Anne Currie of the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory invites you to take in their upcoming Fall Dinner and Fundraiser, with special guest speaker  

Dr. Dan Mennill:

It’s Time!!! Banquet for the Birds… Who Gives a Tweet?! 

Saturday, October 26,  5 to 10:30 p.m. at the Best Western, Inn on the Bay,Owen Sound.

BPBO is looking forward to seeing and connecting with you all. All funds raised go to supporting the work at the Cabot Head Research Station. Tickets for the evening are $100 ($40 tax receipt) And we thank you! 5:00 to 6:00 – Meet and Greet. Enjoy music and pre-dinner drinks. Visit the ongoing fundraising activities. 

OSFN Board member Marsha Courtney tells us of the Young Naturalists event on September 22 “I Took two of my Grandchildren to the Young Naturalists event on Sunday. We opened, removed and examined the seasonal nests from 10 birdhouses that are placed along the walking trails at Grey Sauble Conservation. Then we were off to see the Salmon heading up stream, which means they had made it up the fish ladder at the Mill Dam. Next, a visit to the arboretum was a chance to learn of the native trees there too.”

Yes, there is room for more youngsters, 7-12, to participate in these monthly learning/adventure gatherings. To learn more please contact Amanda at youngnaturalistsos@gmail.com

James Turland shared this report on the Bruce Birding Club’s (BBC) October 2 tour – 

“Doug Pedwell led this outing, starting at Sauble Beach Community Centre. Here a groomed trail and boardwalk offers a look at Carson Lake. 

Carson Lake is becoming a bog by slowly filling with plant debris. Bogs take hundreds of years to develop.  Once the lake is full of debris, sphagnum moss, as well as other plants, grow out from the lake’s edge. The vegetation eventually covers the lake’s entire surface. Bogs have a unique plant community and the Winterberry was in its full glory today. Winterberry is a native holly with showy red berries that birds will eat. White-crowned and White-throated sparrows were both seen at this stop. Next we visited the mouth of the Sauble River where there were several Bald Eagles perched in the treetops and we puzzled over distant swans. Then we drove the Huron Lake shoreline from south to north Oliphant. Shorebirds were hard to find and only Greater Yellowlegs were seen. A red fox at Lonely Island causeway grabbed our attention as it trotted up the road and hunted in the marsh grasses. We had lunch at Berford Lake and then visited Isaac Lake. At Isaac we had close up views of the resident Trumpeter Swans. We finished the day at the Wiarton Lagoons with a couple of Coots and a selection of ducks. Thanks so much to Doug for leading today and Marilyn Ohler for keeping the eBird list. Following is a complete list of the birds seen.

For a complete breakdown to where the birds were seen check out Marilyn’s ebird Trip Report. https://ebird.org/tripreport-invite/279527/editor/zEnI8y2utiQAcWcXcxr2_H5LEAU   Thanks to all the members who came out to enjoy the camaraderie on this day.”    To learn more about the BBC please contact James at jaturland@gmail.com

To close, a quote from Keriann McGoogan in response to learning that I was recently reading a comprehensive biography of naturalist and author Gerald Durrell who, through his writing, generated sufficient income to create his own zoo, with a clear mission of saving species from extinction. This four word mission statement still remains today. He opened Jersey Zoo in 1959 and in 1963 established a charitable trust to oversee the zoo and carry out the conservation work worldwide.

  “Glad you are enjoying your biography about Durrell — his legacy plays a role in the national park where we work, as there is a conservation project run by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust on the ploughshare tortoises. Planet Madagascar partners with this organization on several other conservation projects too.”