Nature Club News for September 2026
by John Dickson
The Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) club is ready to kick off its 2026-2027 season with the internationally celebrated, award-winning potter, artist, naturalist and photographer Steve Irvine, and his presentation
Exploring Nature Close to Home.
For many years Steve has done almost all of his photography and nature studies within two kilometres of his home near Big Bay.
Using a variety of cameras and techniques, he has found a rich natural environment with endless possibilities. I have been a fan of Steve Irvine’s works, and the ways he shares them, for close to thirty years now, marvelling at his innovative ‘pin-hole’ pottery cameras, and exquisite, detailed images, whether through a microscope, or of a flying squirrel peering in a window; or drone photographs of his ethereal Keppel Henge installation during a sunny solstice event, or of a Kingfisher exploding out of the water, his in-depth knowledge of the night skies, and of fireflies and so many other inhabitants of the natural world around him, and us.
Steve Irvine’s photographs have appeared in such publications as National Geographic Magazine, LIFE Magazine, Canadian Geographic Magazine, and in numerous other magazines and texts used in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia. Recently, his photographs were included in the book, Photo Viz, an international survey of contemporary photography by the Berlin based publisher, Gestalten. Irvine’s amazing photography is represented worldwide by National Geographic Stock Images, and by Getty Images.This event is scheduled for 7pm, Thursday September 10, in the Bay Room, at the Bayshore Community Centre. Doors will be open by 6:30pm for membership sales and renewals, along with sales of OSFN merchandise including field guides, and articles of clothing too. The event will also be available on Zoom, with a link available at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/GAwRos4NQ1CiUsw6qEbctw
The Young Naturalists Club is also getting ready for another year!!
The Young Naturalist Club Coordinator is Amanda Eriksen and you may email her at this address youngnaturalistsos@gmail.com to confirm the schedule and pose any questions you may have.
The Young Naturalists’ Club is primarily for children aged 7 to 12 years old. They typically meet on the last Sunday of the month from 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm, but for some events the times may vary. The program operates from September to June but with no meeting in December. Parents and guardians are required to stay and participate.
The Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory’s Station Scientist Stéphane Menu, has recently begun monitoring the southbound migration of birds at Cabot Head. Some of the many warblers seen there may have been resident there this past summer, and others may be arriving from further north, on their way to their winter destinations. In addition, shore birds and raptors have been observed working their way southward too. Here is an excerpt from his recent blog:
“Diversity of warblers was relatively good during this time, notably on August 28th. That day also marked a high point in banding with 47 birds of 19 species, following 44 birds of 13 species on the 27th. Nashville and Bay-
OSFN’s Audrey Armstrong and Patti Byers were on hand for the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy’s (EBC) Monarch Festival at Tobermory on August 29, teaching about the Monarch butterflies’ life cycles and food requirements, and also tagging some of these long distance flyers who will be embarking on the longest journey of their lives, to their winter home in Mexico. Audrey told me she is very encouraged by the abundance of Monarch sightings these days and noted that the increasingly widespread swamp milkweed and common milkweed plants have provided a strong foundation for a healthy start in the butterflies’ early stages.
The Bruce Birding Club (BBC) held its first tour on September 2, after their summer break, and the dozen club members on hand enjoyed seeing and hearing the diverse birdlife at Shallow Lake, led by Rob Wray. In addition to the many egrets, trumpeter swans, plovers, sandpipers, and greater yellowlegs, sightings included Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers and Bald Eagles too plus many Monarch butterflies everywhere we went. I also enjoyed re-discovering the many stunning Cardinal Flowers and Orange Jewelweeds on hand there. And that was just the first stop for the day!
OSFN will also be offering September field trips, first to club members, with chances to look downwards – one with a focus on mushroom/fungi identification, and another will highlight the diversity of ferns in this area, along with some of their history too.
Another September bonus is that Steve Irvine’s pottery will be included in the Pottery and Glass Show in the Legacy Gallery of the Owen Sound Artists Co-op, until October 28
Many Naturalists in the area have also been turning their eyes upwards lately to see some of the visual treats in the night skies, whether meteor showers, or the recent delight of the partial lunar eclipse.
To close, then, here is a Nature quote from An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield, who “had the opportunity to see our planet from afar… The shimmering, dancing show of the northern and southern lights, the gorgeous blues of the shallow reefs fanning out around the Bahamas… Space travel has made me feel I have a personal obligation to be a good steward of our planet and to educate others about what is happening to it … the deforestation in Madagascar… But we make matters infinitely worse through poor stewardship. We need to take a longer-term view of the environment and try to make things better wherever we can.”