Nature PEI

There is a very exciting weekend ahead!
Nature PEI will continue celebrations of its 50th Anniversary with a “Picnic Weekend” from Friday August 23 to Sunday August 25th, 2019 that will include a series of special events and walks. A schedule and details of events are attached.

In addition to the Nature PEI festivities there will be a special presentation on Insects on Friday August 23 at the Farm Center, that may be of interest to you.

50th Anniversary Picnic Weekend
in Association with PEI National Park

Celebrating 50 years of Citizen Science on PEI

August 23-25th, 2019

Friday August 23, 2019

• 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Reception, Ravenwood, Experimental Farm, Mt Edward Rd.
• 7: 00 pm – 7:45 pm Nature Walk on the Confederation Trail. Meet at Ravenwood.

Saturday August 24, 2019

• 1:30 pm All About Dragonflies, Southport Rm, Stratford Town Hall. Nature PEI welcomes Robert Harding of Parks Canada, an excellent teacher and a student of these superb hunters/fliers. After the presentation, weather permitting, we hope to capture (and release) some dragonflies at Pondside Park. All ages are welcome.
• 6:00 pm Mackerel Fishing, Charlottetown waterfront. Meet at the red 2019 sign by the Delta Hotel at 6. Pre-Register with leader Gerald MacDougall eagle.dynasty@gmail.com Gerald will provide a limited number of rods, or bring your own fishing rod. No license is required.

Sunday August 25, 2019

• 6:00 am Birding trip Charlottetown to East Point. Meet at Provincial Administration Building parking lot by 11 Kent Street Charlottetown for car-pooling and departure at 6:00 am. Travelling to East Pt. with stops along the way and returning via Greenwich, PEI National Park for the Nature PEI – Natural History Society 50th Anniversary Picnic at noon. Led by: Dan McAskill, Dwaine Oakley
• 10:00 am Greenwich Walk. Meet at Greenwich Interpretive Center PEI National Park. Walk through woods, wetland boardwalk and dunes to the beach with leader, Senator Diane Griffin.
• 12:00 Noon Greenwich Barbecue and Picnic at the Greenwich Interpretive Centre, PEI National Park. Bring your own picnic lunch or consume favorites from the barbecue and salad table.
• 1:30 pm Greenwich Walk. Meet at Greenwich Interpretive Center. Walk through woods, wetland boardwalk and dunes to the beach with leader, Robert Harding of Parks Canada.

Everyone is welcome to attend all these free events – please spread the word and bring a friend along.

Showy Lady’s Slipper, Confederation Trail Photo Credit by Rosemary Curley

Members of the Natural History Society (Nature PEI) refueling after a field trip, in the 1970’s. Photo Credit Margaret Mallet copyright Margaret Mallet Collection of Nature PEI

It is with great pleasure that Flora of PEI team consisting of representatives of Nature PEI, PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre announces  the release of the second section of the Online Illustrated Flora of PEI.   The new section features the Ferns, Clubmosses, Horsetails, Conifers and Lilies and builds upon the Orchids section released in 2018. It uses visual examples of the plant characteristics to walk an individual  through the identification on the various plants.  Checklists of each group and a technical text-only key are also available for those that prefer them.

This release was made  possible because of a Wildlife Conservation Fund award of $5,555, a grant of $2,500 from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, donations of $300 from Nature PEI and $500 from the Island Nature Trust and in-kind contributions from ACCDC, Nature PEI, PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, Island Nature Trust, and PEI Forests, Fish and Wildlife Division.

Over the next few years, it is hoped that the complete Online Illustrated Flora of PEI will be finished.  A fund raising campaign is now underway to raise the necessary funds and in-kind support.  Anyone wishing to assist should contact Nature PEI at jdmcaskill@pei.sympatico.ca or cell 902-393-4385.  Charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations and these can be made on-line through Nature PEI or via mail.

Below are examples of the Online Illustrated Flora of PEI.

At Nature PEI’s June meeting join award-winning poet Ariel Gordon as she reads from her new book, Treed: Walking in . With intimacy and humour Ariel walks us through the streets of Winnipeg and into the urban forest that is, to her, the city’s heart. Along the way she shares with us the lives of these urban trees, from the grackles and cankerworms of the spring, to the flush of mushrooms on stumps in the summer and through to the red-stemmed dogwood of the winter. Ariel then travels to BC’s northern Rockies, to Banff National Park and a cattle farm in rural Manitoba, and helps us to consider what we expect of nature. Whether it is the effects of climate change on the urban forest or foraging in the city, Dutch elm disease in the trees or squirrels in the living room, Ariel delves into our relationships with the natural world with heart and style, and will inspire us to reflect on the value of our own Island forests and our relationship with them.  Ariel Gordon is the author of two collections of urban-nature poetry, both of which won the Lansdowne Prize for Poetry. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

All are welcome at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, June 4 at 7:30 pm, for a walk on the wild side. There will also be an opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Ariel’s new book.

As part of Nature PEI’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the Society is offering a birding trip along the south shore of PEI. Dwaine Oakley will be our tour leader for this field trip which will feature stops at Hyde Park in Cornwall, Victoria, and the Noonan’s Marsh, lagoons, and beach in Borden-Carleton. It is anticipated that the field trip will conclude around noon.
Participants will meet at 6:20 am at the Provincial Administration Building Kent Street Parking Lot (opposite Beaconsfield) for car pooling with departure at 6:30 am sharp. While there will be an least a few telescopes, participants should bring their own binoculars, a guide to birds and, if they have one, their scope.
This field trip is free but donations or Nature PEI memberships will be gladly accepted.
For more information on this and other field trips, please see our website at http://www.naturepei.ca or visit our Facebook site.