Nature PEI

This weekend Brendan Kelly will be leading a field trip focused on feeder birds, gulls and waterfowl “around town”.

Saturday Jan. 12th, 2019
– Winter Birds Around Town – Nature PEI birding field trip focused on feeder birds, gulls and waterfowl with field trip leader Brendan Kelly. Meet at Charlottetown Rural High School parking lot at 8:00 am.

Bundle up because we hear its going to be cold!

As mentioned at the Nature PEI meeting recently here is the link call for entries to the craft exhibition, Celebration of Craft being organized by the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation based on the theme of nature. The exhibition is open to Island craftspeople, both amateur and professional. The deadline for Expressions of Interest is Friday, January 11, 2019. Prizes will be awarded for the top three entries. Jurors will be looking for special crafted pieces rather than work that might be regularly offered in shops. In addition to craftsmanship, other criteria are innovative design, skillful execution of the concept, and uniqueness. All pieces should be new work, functional, inspired by the selected artifact, and ready for display. All work must be finished and presented at Eptek Centre in Summerside by mid-May 2019. The exhibition will be on display from June until October.

All interested artisans should contact Eptek Centre to submit an expression of interest by email at eptek@gov.pe.ca and provide artisan’s name, postal and e-mail addresses, phone number, and medium. The PEI Crafts Council has promoted the making and appreciation of handcrafts on PEI for over 50 years. For more details on the submission process or the exhibition, please call 902-888-8373. There is no fee to enter.

The Hillsborough River Association in conjunction with Go! East PEI and the Community of Mount Stewart is holding a snowshoe walk at Pigot’s Trail led by field interpreters on January 26th. Please share this with others that might wish to participate. All are welcome.

• Note January 2019 meeting will be held on the second Tuesday of the month due to New Year’s Day falling on the 1st of January.
• Tuesday Jan. 8th, 2019
• Nature PEIs January meeting will feature a rare look into the secret life of moths with Bob Harding.   “Since most moths fly under the cover of darkness, many people think of them as drab and colourless – and not nearly as interesting as their butterfly cousins” notes Bob. “But when they settle down after flying in dizzying confusion at the porch light, they reveal striking patterns and colours”. Bob will share his fascinating photos of these seldom-seen creatures, many taken at his own porch light.  Through his stories and knowledge, Bob will help us understand and appreciate these nocturnal visitors. Bob will also show us how anyone can become a citizen scientist and contribute to the body of knowledge of PEI moths. Bob has been studying dragonflies and damselflies for over 25 years, but his contributions to natural history also include surveys for spiders, birds, amphibians and reptiles, and several insect species. He continues to share his enthusiasm and knowledge of nature with young and old alike.  Bob has been awarded the PEI Environmental Award, the Lieutenant-Governor’s Greenwing Conservation Award, and the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation’s Natural Heritage Activity Award.  Bob is currently the acting Public Outreach Education Officer for Parks Canada in PEI and serves as Secretary on the board of Nature PEI.

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  Luna Moth at North Granville, PEI June 20, 2018 – photo credit, Kathryn Large

• All are welcome at the Carriage House on January 8, 2019 to meet Bob and learn what may be found at your own back door.  The meeting starts at 7:30 with highlights of Nature PEI’s year, a raffle and refreshments. The feature presentation starts at 8 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, corner of West and Kent, Charlottetown. Suitable for young naturalists – please encourage any budding scientists to come along.   Hope to see you there.

Christmas is not only a time for family get togethers and extending best wishes and generosity, the period between December 14th and January 5this the time when bird watchers (birders) assemble for their annual Christmas Bird Counts. This year, Islanders and visitors have an opportunity to participate in four bird counts either at their home feeder if they live within one of the 24 km diameter circles or in the field as a member of a count team.
There are four Christmas Bird Counts scheduled for PEI, namely: the East Point CBC on
December 15th ; the PEI National Park Count on December 16th, the Hillsborough CBC on
December 26th, and the Montague CBC on December 30th. It is winter and the counts are weather dependent so any of these might be rescheduled should storms intervene. If you are interested in a particular count, please contact the volunteer coordinator for the area through Nature PEI at
http://www.naturepei.ca
Christmas Bird Counts are run across Canada and the United States, as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and some Pacific Islands. Bird Studies Canada and the National Audubon Society help coordinate and support the efforts of more than 2,500 counts throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Beside the fun of watching and listening for birds, the number of birds of each species seen or heard during these four counts are published in Nature PEI’s Island Naturalist newsletter and the data for the first three counts are submitted to Bird Studies Canada and the National Audubon Society for online access. The data from this year’s surveys will be added to the data from the previous 118 years, They form an invaluable data set on bird population trends in North America.
The Hillsborough Count has been conducted for the past 46 years, the PEI National Park Count for 45 years (stormed out one year), and the Montague Count for 33 years.
Many people are travelling during the Christmas Bird Count period. Should you be interested in participating a Christmas Bird Count outside PEI, visit Bird Studies Canada’s website at
birdscanada.org/volunteer/cbc 2018-19 Christmas Bird Counts – coordinators and map

A cooperative project between Nature PEI, the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation and the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre has been launched as a Key to Orchidaceae of Prince Edward Island

The key indicates:

A total of 32 Orchid species and two hybrids across 12 genera occur on Prince Edward Island. An additional two species that are reported but not confirmed are included in square brackets. An identification key is presented in a simple illustrated form and traditional dichotomous form. The illustrated key below is designed to make identification accessible by providing visual examples of the characters in each couplet. Species accounts are provided with reference to Prince Edward Island and the Maritimes. 

Check it out: Key to Orchidaceae of Prince Edward Island

Take a break from the winter weather and learn more about the fascinating array of orchids that are found on PEI with Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre (AC CDC) botanist Colin Chapman.  AC CDC has made dozens of exciting botanical discoveries on Prince Edward Island over the last 20 years, including new provincial records of everything from stunning orchids to cryptic sedges! With such an increase in our plant biodiversity knowledge of the Island, we needed an updated flora. To start addressing this need, the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation, Nature PEI, and the AC CDC partnered in the development of the first section of a new online Flora of PEI. Colin Chapman will talk about the first installment: a fully-illustrated online key to the Orchids of PEI, including diagnostic pictures and distribution maps.

Colin is originally from Ottawa, where he made many significant discoveries during biological inventories in the Carolinian and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest zones. He studied at the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto, where he investigated hybridization between Arctic plants.

All are welcome at the Carriage House, Tuesday December 4, 2018 to meet Colin and learn more about our Island orchids.  The evening kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with the Nature PEI public meeting, raffle and refreshments. The feature presentation begins at 8:00 p.m.

This event would be suitable for young scientists so please consider inviting younger family members or neighbours who share an interest in nature.

The Carriage House at Beaconsfield is located at the corner of West and Kent St. in Charlottetown.