Halifax Field Naturalists

A PLANifax video provides a good overview of recent events related to Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park, and the background to those events. It includes a visit to the area with Akhtar Abbasi. View View Video on the PLANifax Facebook page, or below (small version),

Researchers call for increased protection as the federally protected Boreal felt lichen population decline in Atlantic Canada shows links to human impacts on the environment. Read article

A ‘speed-dating style’ learning event at Dalhousie University (6100 University Ave) Why do parks matter to you? They matter to many people for many reasons and we have an exciting group of presenters lined up to tell you why parks are important to cities, the people who live in them, and the environment. Groups of […]

The Maritime Butterfly Atlas had its last field season in 2015. Read their 2016 newsletter for the latest additions, an overview of the results of the whole project, and next steps. If you have additional records from the past that are supported by either a photograph or a specimen, those can still be submitted up […]

In his spring report, Auditor General Michael Pickup says the Department of Natural Resources needs to make the 60 species at risk a bigger priority. It is often late in developing and updating plans to recover species. Monitoring of species at risk also needs improvement to know whether progress has been made. The full report […]

Learning bird songs can be daunting but even experienced birders spend time each spring tuning their ears to the songs they already know. This workshop will jump start your audio-recall by teaching the basics of how to listen, how to recognize song types for common bird families, and how to start building a song repertoire […]

Illustrated Presentation by Cole Grabinsky and Rachael Groat, Graduates, School of Planning, Dalhousie University.(Supervisor: John Zuck of Purcell’s Cove) When: Thursday May 19th 7:30 PM Where: Purcells Cove Social Club, 505 Purcells Cove Rd, Halifax. Click on image for larger version

A CBC news item reports on studies by Bird Studies Canada monitoring the rate at which owners leash their dogs at provincial beaches, the focus of concern being piping plovers. “We’ve seen the highest levels of dogs being off leash at Conrad’s Beach in Halifax and Martinique, as well as Glace Bay beach.” Read CBC […]

Our HRM Alliance is hosting a session to help anyone give input on the Green Network Online Map at the Ecology Action Centre on Thursday May 5. They will also be offering pizza 🙂 4:30—7:00. (Drop in anytime at your convenience.) Ecology Action Centre, 2705 Fern Lane, Halifax

Based on her travels to Rapa Nui in 2015, in her photographic presentation HFN member Barbara O’Shea will discuss some of the mystery surrounding the island, along with a few current theories used to explain and understand the history of Rapa Nui and its moai. 7:30 p.m. at the NSMNH (All Welcome) Read more

From Our HRM Alliance: The Green Network Maps are now available online. Please share with your networks and ask people to leave positive comments for the natural areas you care about that the maps have recognized as valuable. It’s a big, interactive map so you will want to use a good internet connection. Here is […]

David Patriquin (left) is presented with the Colin Stewart Conservation Award by Richmond Campbell At the April meeting of HFN, the Colin Stewart Conservation Award for 2016 was given to HFN member David Patriquin. From the presentation: “My nomination is based on three categories of unremunerated conservation effort: (1) Protection of the Five Bridge Lakes […]