Halifax Field Naturalists

At WRWEO’s AGM on Feb. 17th, 2010, biologist David Patriquin and canoeist Dusan Sudek will provide a conceptual and pictoral tour of the Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area, designated a Candidate Wilderness Area on Oct. 19th, 2009. Meeting is 7-9 pm at Tantallon Public Library. Read more

“Adam”, the Great Horned Owl that was rescued on Jan 1 has now been released!
Read more, see the release.

A variety of issues that affect conservation in NS have been in the news recently and important decisions are in the offing. Make your voice heard on items you care about. It helps! See our Issues and Opportunities page.

Today, the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced an agreement between the Nature Conservancy of Canada and J.D. Irving Ltd described as “the largest private land conservation initiative ever in Nova Scotia”. Read more in a Canadian Press article by Keith Doucette. In early January, the Government of Nova Scotia committed $40 million to purchase land in the same area. Read more in a Canadian Press article by Michael Macdonald.

MTRI (Mersey-Tobeatic Research Institute) is seeking volunteers to help them with their flying squirrel studies, January to April, 2010.
Details

Over the past several months, rumours have circulated about possible development of the privately owned lands which HRM had committed to obtain for the planned Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes Regional Park. On January 8, HRM staff hosted an information session to clarify what has been happening. About 75 people attended, including seven of the 23 HRM councilors… Read more

David Chaisson forwarded a wonderful story about the rescue of Great Horned Owl, courtesy of a hiker and the Hope for Wildlife Society, on the Saltmarsh Trail, Jan. 1, ’10. Read story

A public lecture sponsored by NSIS: Land protection in Nova Scotia – How do we get to 12%?. Four panelists discuss this topic at 7:30 p.m. in the Scotia Bank Conference Theatre, Sobey building, Saint Mary’s University.

In our first talk of 2010, Laura Bennett will describe sea turtles in Nova Scotia and the efforts of the Canadian Sea Turtle Network to conserve these animals. Read more

Karen McKendry of the Nova Scotia Nature Trust forwarded a special invitation to join the Christmas Bird Count at the Purcell’s Cove Conservation Lands on Sunday, Dec. 20, and tells us about an ideal gift for naturalists. Read more

The Nova Scotia government’s report on the state of our coast was released on Dec. 9 and is available online. It’s a first step in development of a Sustainable Coastal Development Strategy by the end of 2010. In a press release, The Coastal Coalition of Nova Scotia, of which HFN is a member, applauded the event and expressed its wish to help drive the process forward.

We had to make a last minute switch between our Dec and Jan talks. This week will be Jeremy Lunholm who will talk about the work he and his SMU group have been doing in Point Pleasant park (monitoring post-hurricane recovery), spontaneous urban vegetation in Halifax and Dartmouth, insect communities in vacant lots, and green roofs – along with green- roof ecology, followed by our Christmas Social. Read more