Sunday Oct 22, 2023: Chebucto Moose Field Meeting

Details & Registration Here

More about the Chebucto moose Here

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On the Stewiacke River Paddle in July 11Sep2023

On the Stewiacke River in July

Visitors to the website might have noticed a new header image. It’s from our Stewiacke River Paddle Back in July, Courtesy of our President,  Bernie McKenna.

Read more about that venture under Photos

Thx Bernie – and Gareth Harding, who led this very successful expedition,

———

Repeat Visitors might notice other changes in the website. I was finally able to properly update the WordPress installation, made in 2009. ‘Working on other updating, improvements.

Note that under “Archives” at right, all “posts” are listed by month going back to 2009. This is quite different  from Archived Newsletters
– david p

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Saturday Aug 26, 2023: Chebucto Peninsula Moose Meeting

UPDATE AUG 25: EVENT POSTPONED (weather – rain would make the field component very difficult)

On Nature Nova Scotia website:

Register here.

For some background info. about the Chebucto Moose, see NS Forest Notes page on the Chebucto Moose.

By working to bring back/reinvigorate the Mainland Moose population on the Chebucto Peninsula, we would also be improving conditions for a much wider array of species. We might think of it as the terrestrial equivalent of the Sackville Rivers Association efforts to bring back/reinvigorate  the salmon population in the Sackville River Watershed.

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HFN’s Regular Meeting time changed to third Tuesday on the month

As of September 2023 our regular meeting time has been changed from the first Thursday of the month to the third Tuesday on the month.

They are still being held at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, beginning at 7:30 pm.

First meeting for the fall of 2023:

Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
The Mainland Moose: A Species At Risk
Presented by Bob Bancroft and Jess Lewis of Nature Nova Scotia

View Walks & Talks for more details, meetings, walks.

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Art Meets Nature and Activism at Sandy Lake – art show opens Thursday July 13th, 2023 !

Sandy Lake at Peverill’s Brook, by Jeremy Vaughan. Click on image for larger version.

A wonderful collective of artists has been creating works based on their experiences at Sandy Lake Regional Park.

Their gorgeous paintings and drawings will form part of a 2-week long art show at Second Gallery (Upstairs at 6301 Quinpool Road, Halifax), called “Sanctuary – Save Sandy Lake.”

The show opening is on Thursday, July 13, from 6 pm to 8 pm and ALL are invited (so is everyone you know). It  runs for 2 weeks.

Read more about the artists’ inspiration and how it relates to the campaign to save critical lands – including important wildlife corridors connecting the mainland and lands of the Chebucto Peninsula – and protect Sandy Lake in the press release about the show.

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Some thoughts about the Merlin Bird Sound ID App 30May2023

By Bev Wigney*

I’ve been using the Merlin app pretty much since it first became available. Before that, I had done quite a bit of experimenting with its predecessor, BirdNet, and with a couple of other bird song ID apps – I think Sunbird was one of them.

I occasionally hear people commenting that the Merlin app isn’t as accurate as a human who is ear birding. I’m not going to get into that too much – I know the app has its critics. However, I use the app very frequently, often to locate birds that I wish to photograph, and have found that it is rarely wrong. It also picks up birds that are very quiet or that sing in frequencies that I can’t hear and that, apparently, many humans can’t hear.
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*Editor’s note: Annapolis Valley naturalist Bev Wigney posted this piece on her FB page, and kindly gave us permission to repost it here.
Continue reading

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June 1, 2023 (Thursday): Insects of Asia & Australia

Click on image for larger version

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Sat Apr 29, 2023: NS Wild Flora Society hosting iNaturalist/City Nature Challenge hike on Osprey Trail

Click on image for larger version

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Thurs May 4, 2023: Andrew Hebda on bats of Nova Scotia

Click on image for larger version

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In Kjipuktuk/Halifax Today (Sat Apr 22, 2023): The People’s Parade for Life on Earth

From EAC:

Join us for a joyful community parade on Earth Day, April 22, 2023! Let us all come together to celebrate Mother Earth, to celebrate water which is life and to celebrate our beautiful communities and our continued resistance for love, justice and life on this planet.

Date: Saturday, April 22, 2023 (Rain Date: Sunday, April 23, 2023)
Parade Start Time: 2:00 p.m.
Post-Parade Celebration: 3:00-5:00 p.m.  Continue reading

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City Nature Challenge Apr 28 to May 1, 2023

Photo from Canadian Wildlife Federation page on the City Nature Challenge

Halifax is participating in the iNaturalist-based City Nature Challenge again, this year over the days Friday May 28 to Monday May 1.

HFN has devoted a specific field trip to this event for members on Sat Apr 29, 2023. View details under Walks & Talks

But we encourage all nature-friendly folks to contribute to Halifax’s effort to document our natural world and illustrate citizen’s love of that world over the 4 days of the event (Fri Apr 28 to Mon May 1, 2023).

It’s pretty simple.

Participants photograph a nature observation of a “species” (e.g.a robin, or a flower) within the boundaries of HRM within the Apr 28-May 1 timeframe and upload it to iNaturalist. (HRM refers to Halifax Regional Municipality, now just called Halifax. It encompasses all of Halifax County.)

The only requirement on the iNaturalist end is that one must first sign up to be a member of iNaturalist, and with the photo observation provide a location (approximate or precise), and a guess at the species name.You can give your own guess for the name of the species, but iNaturalist can also offer its own guess at the species name and you can just select one. (Over time, the name is reviewed and eventually the correct is given or confirmed.)

The iNaturalist App can be put on a smart phone or computer. If the photo is taken and uploaded with a smartphone and is automatically location (GPS)-tagged, the location will be automatically uploaded – so both the location and the species name can be given by iNaturalist. If the photo is taken with a camera, it can be uploaded separately via a computer. While the photos must be taken over the interval Apr 28 to May 1, they can be uploaded April 28 through May 7, 2023

There’s lots more info here:

City Nature Challenge |Canada 2023| Défi nature urbaine

About the City Nature Challenge 2023: Halifax Regional Municipality, NS, Canada

 

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Wednesday, Mar, 1, 2023: AGM & Members Slide Night

AGM & Members Slide Night

Date: Wednesday, Mar, 1
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History

Note this meeting  is on Wed, not our usual Thursday evening

The Annual General Meeting takes place first, where reports on HFN’s activities over the past 12 months are presented followed by the election of the next Board of Directors, including that of a new President. Then we view and hear about a variety of members’ photos. If you are an HFN member and would like to share some of your favourite nature-oriented and/or vacation digital images, but are reluctant to give an extensive talk, this is a chance to give an eight-to-ten-minute mini-presentation. Six presenters can be accommodated on a first-come-first-served basis, with up to three first-time presenters having priority. If interested, please contact Clarence Stevens by February 23rd!!

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