Halifax Field Naturalists

When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after being absent nearly 70 years, something astounding happened. View Video

At our regular monthly meeting, Peter and Gillian Webster will talk about their June, 2013 trip to the Masai Mara, Serengeti, and other national parks in Kenya and Tanzania. Continue reading →

RINGING HERE & THERE: A NATURE CALENDAR
By Brian Bartlett
Book Launch & Reading Tues, Apr 15, 7:00 pm
Spring Garden Road Memorial Library
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This talk by Dal ornithologist Cindy Stacier to the NS Bird Society will be of interest to many HFNers. “There are 5 species of Landbirds at risk which breed in the forested landscapes of Nova Scotia: Canada Warbler, Chimney Swift, Common Nighthawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Rusty Blackbird. This talk will present a summary of their status, population, trends, life history, ecology, threats to their populations and habitat stewardship actions that can help conserve their populations. ” 7:30 pm at N.S. Museum of Natural History on Summer Street.

The Backlands, sometimes known as the Pucell’s Cove Backlands, are lands enclosed by Herring Cove and Purcell’s Cove Roads, extending from Williams Lake at the northwest to Power’s Pond at the southeast. Protecting as much as possible of the Backlands would add an important chunk to the set of protected areas and parks on the Chebucto Peninsula. The Board of the Halifax Field Naturalists recently voted in favour of becoming a member of the Backlands Coalition, becoming one of the ten founding members. See Backlands Coalition website for more about the coalition.

A snowy-owl bonanza, thanks to a stubby-legged Arctic rodent: the lemming. Article by
Darryl Fears for the Washington Post Guardian Weekly, Monday 24 February 2014. Read article

Sean Basquill will give a presentation to the N.S. Wild Flora Society on “Karst: Rare plant communities, characteristic rare plants and ecological determinants” at 7:30 pm at Auditorium, N.S. Museum of Natural History, Summer St., Halifax, all welcome. See NS Wild Flora Society

A highlight was definitely a moving collection of photos by Lesley-Jane Butters. She has given us permission to post them for all. See Lesley-Jane’s Nature Close-Up

The Williams Lake Conservation Company has issued a report which documents the plant communities of the Williams Lake backlands. Prominent amongst them: the rare, Jack Pine/Broom Crowberry barrens. These are well known to NS Wild Flora Society folks because the best stands anywhere occur on the Halifax mainland, but they are nationally unique, occurring only in a handfull of windswept, exposed barrens along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and at a few sites in Maine and nowhere else. Read more

Climate Change: Evidence and Causes (PDF Booklet) ( 2014 ) available at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18730 US:National Academy of Sciences & UK Royal Society. A quick, sobering read.

The Halifax Field Naturalists’ brief AGM takes place first. It includes reports of HFN’s business and activities over the past 12 months, election of the next Board of Directors, and presentation of the Colin Stewart Conservation Award. Then it is time to view and hear about a variety of members’ chosen photos. Read more

The OurHRM Alliance has news that a number of councillors plan to fundamentally undermine the Regional Plan at the regional Council Meeting on Tuesday, Feb 25th and urges that “Anyone and everyone who believes residents should have a say in how and where HRM grows should contact councillors and attend council on Tuesday Feb. 25 at 10:00am at city hall.” Read more