Fall Colours Outing – come join us in the Valleyfield Woodlot to enjoy blazing colour and other signs of plants and animals getting ready for winter.  Bring your camera!  The walk is short (1-2 km) but there will be lots to see, including mushrooms!

Leaders:  Kathleen and Dave MacNearney;

Date:  Saturday, Oct. 13 (rain date, Sunday, Oct. 14); 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Meeting Place:  Meet at the corner the Valleyfield Road (Rte 326) and the Dalmaney Road (Rte 354)  at 10:00 am, then adjourn to Robbins Trail parking Lot where we will start the walk.

Nature PEI’s October meeting will feature a discussion with Brendan Kelly on the decline of songbird populations and what we can do at a local level to ensure that the birds keep singing.  Through stories of his personal experiences and a look through his camera lens, Brendan promises to “shed a light on the travesty that is happening to our feathered friends”.  Brendan’s hope is that by sharing the work he has done, he will motivate others to make individual contributions towards conserving birds and their habitats.

Since elementary school, Brendan has been an environmental activist and conservationist, working with local governments and organizations to protect and conserve birds and their native habitats. He continues to actively volunteer for a number of organizations including Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Canadian Wildlife Service. In 2012, Brendan received the title of a Newalta Wetland Hero by Ducks Unlimited Canada and later in 2014, received the Newfoundland Environmental Award.  After many years of building and monitoring over 100 nest boxes across Newfoundland Labrador, Brendan successfully documented the first and second nesting record of Northern Saw-Whet Owl for the island of Newfoundland!  Currently, Brendan Kelly is a student in the University of Prince Edward Island’s Bachelor of Wildlife Conservation program.

All are welcome at the Carriage House, Beaconsfield at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 to meet Brendan and learn more about the birds around us and how we can help.

Refreshments will be served – suitable for all ages. Please bring any younger naturalists in your family or neighbourhood who would benefit from this presentation.

Once again my eyes were delighted to see the amazing nature photography from naturalists across the Island today in the Island Naturalist. We do live in an amazing place and the 36 vivid colour images throughout the 24 newsletter attest to that. For many of us the paper copy comes in very handy but for enjoyment of the colour images the digital version takes home the medals.

Among the longest standing publications on PEI,  Island Naturalist has documented  species sightings and provided nature-related news since 1974. The back issues are now available through the efforts of the University of Prince Edward Island.

But, to stay up to date, and to support the citizen science activities of naturalists across the Island you really need to signup or renew membership in Nature PEI. We appreciate your continued support, and wish to acknowledge the epic level of commitment that Island Naturalist’s long-serving editor Dan McAskill has provided in bringing the publication to press once again. Here is a sample page:

Shorebirds and Waterfowl Field Trip

When: Sunday, September 9th, 2018 at 7:00 am

Where: Meet at Covehead Wharf , continue to Tracadie Harbour  and finish at Allisary Creek, Mount Stewart.

Your Leader: Brendan Kelly, offering photography tips, gear advice  and the importance of using ebird

A shorebird identification event is planned by Nature PEI:

• When: Saturday August 4th, 2018 at 7:30 AM.
• Where: Meet at Wharf Road , Covehead Wharf
• Your Leader: Brendan Kelly (709-691-3987)

Learn the tricks of identifying shorebirds. All are welcome, please share this event and consider inviting a friend.

Confederation Centre: Art Gallery

Island at the Centre of the World—John Calder

Sunday, July 15, 2018, 02:00pm

Acorn Press has released Island at the Centre of the World by John Calder, a look at the geological history of Prince Edward Island.

PEI has a history. But its story begins far, far beyond the birth of the nation, the arrival of European settlers, the Mi’kmaq, or even the first humans. Its story is older than the Island, which was born of climate change and rising seas 7,000 years ago.

The red cliffs of the Island have their origins in a world some 290 million years ago. The rocks of the island province were deposited as rivers coursed their way through the tropical heart of Pangea, a giant landmass formed by moving continents. The part of the Earth that would one day become PEI lay at the centre of this world, and felt the its intense monsoon rains and withering dry seasons. This was the beginning of the Age of Reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs, and the landscapes, dryland forests, and animal life of that time are all recorded here across PEI. The L’Nuk, or Mi’kmaq, witnessed the birth of this Island thousands of years ago.

Dr. John Calder is an internationally recognized scientist/geoscientist/geologist, author, educator, commentator and photographer. His passion is sharing the  story of the Earth, for which he was awarded the H.R. Ward Neale Medal of the Geological Association of Canada for excellence in communicating geoscience to Canadians. He was the lead scientist in the designation of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs of Nova Scotia as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. John is author of The Joggins Fossil Cliffs: Coal Age Galápagos and more than 200 scientific publications on the region’s geology.

Dr. John Calder will launch Island at the Centre of the World at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, July 15 at 2 pm. All are welcome to attend.

Location Details:

Confederation Centre: Art Gallery
145 Richmond Street
Charlottetown

(902) 628-6111
http://www.confederationcentre.com/en/home/artgallery

info@confederationcentre.com

Eagle Banding – Sunday June 17, 2018 With Gerald MacDougall

Sunday morning 10:00 am. Meet at Orwell.

Eagles build their nests high in P.E.I.’s tallest trees, usually white spruce. (Submitted by Gerald MacDougall )

Driving Directions to Orwell

Orwell Corner Historic Village is located just off the Trans Canada Highway, Route #1 midway between Charlottetown (28 kms-20 minutes) and the Northumberland Ferries Terminal at Wood Islands (32 kms – 25 minutes).
From Charlottetown

Take the Hillsborough Bridge and follow the Trans-Canada Hwy East.
Head southeast on the Trans-Canada Hwy toward Bunbury Rd and continue for 25 km.
Turn left onto MacPhail Park Rd and take the first right into the parking lot.

From Montague – 18 kms or 20 minutes

Take Route 210 across to Kinross and down to the Trans Canada. Turn right and then take your first right and follow the signs.

From Cavendish National Park – Approximately 70 kms or 45 minutes

GPS coordinates are latitude 46.256626, longitude 62.834892GPS N46 9.48 W-062 50.106

For more information contact Gerald MacDougall at eagle.dynasty@gmail.com