Parry Sound Nature Club
Parry Sound Nature Club Events
Regular presentations are the third Wednesday of each month. Special events are held year round.
January 18th, 7:00pm EST
Here & Gone: Migration
Catch it before its gone! We're joined by David Bree, former natural heritage leader at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, for a look at look at the phenomenon of migration, how “we” discovered it (banding+) with some specific example of birds, dragonflies and of course must talk about the monarch story.
February 15th, 7:00pm EST
The Natural History of Hummingbirds
This presentation was inspired by a trip to Colombia where you can find 192 species of hummingbirds. There are many ecological niches in the Americas, which have contributed to hummingbird development, adaptation and evolution. The presentation will review where you can find hummingbirds and how they have adapted to their various environments. General traits have been known for many years about hummingbirds, but there is also great deal of recent research still being done. This recent research, some of it Canadian, will also be presented.
March 15th, 7:00pm EST
Meet the Mosses (Zoom)
Hundreds of mosses, liverworts and hornworts grow in Ontario. Heck, there could easily be hundreds even within your favourite park! Being smaller than other plants, bryophytes (such as mosses) often fly under our radar ‘til we take time to stop and look closely. Sometimes it can be intimidating to pick up that hand lens and get started...but now’s your chance to be warmly welcomed on a guided adventure in beginner bryology:
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Learn how to know if you have found a moss, a lichen, or something else entirely.
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Take a ride on the “bunny hill” of moss identification, and put a few names to familiar mossy “faces”.
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Arm yourself with answers for those who might initially question the value of noticing mosses and taking measures to protect them.
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Get starter tips for self-directing your own moss adventures!
April 19th, 7:00pm
Films That Make You Think: First We Eat
Mary St. Centre, 24 Mary St, Parry Sound
First We Eat is a documentary by Parry Sound's filmmaker Suzanne Crocker about eating only locally-grown food around Dawson City, Yukon, in Canada's North, for one year.
*Friday* April 21st, 7:00pm
Why Garden with Native Plants
Mary St. Centre, 24 Mary St, Parry Sound
Paul Heydon started Grow Wild in 2001 to supply southern Ontario native plant species for restorative and gardening purposes. He has a forestry diploma from Sir Sandford Fleming College and a Biology degree from Trent University. Why Garden with Native Plants talks about the different benefits of doing so, different species you can use will be highlighted, how to grow and care for these plants, information on invasive species, and a Q/A period.
April 29th, 1:00pm
Turtle Tally
Rose Point Trail, Seguin Township
We'll meet at the Rose Point Parking Lot for a leisurely hike to spot basking turtles. Led by Kenton Otterbein, Discovery Program Leader at Killbear Provincial Park Provincial Park
May 17th, 7:00pm
Off the Rails: Going a Little Batty in Georgian Bay
Mary St. Centre, 24 Mary St, Parry Sound
Much is still unknown about our bats in Ontario. Ever wonder where our bats go during the winter? Where they go during the day? How about their movements on the landscape throughout the summer? Steven Kell will be talking about recent research and population monitoring conducted out of Shawanaga First Nation and completed across Georgian Bay looking at newly discovered hibernation sites as well as tracking bats on a regional scale and conservation efforts to fill knowledge gaps on these declining species.
May 27th, 9:00am
Atlas Square Bash
The goal of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas is to map the distribution and relative abundance of Ontario’s approximately 300 species of breeding birds. This Atlas Square Bash will help increase the amount of information from one of the Atlas Squares along Highway 518. We will be pair experienced birders with others to ID birds by sight & sound, all experience levels are welcome. Registration will be required (link provided in March) so that groups can be made in advance. We encourage participants to come together after for lunch and to share stories, what they saw, and connect.
June 7th, 7:00pm
Films That Make You Think: This Mountain Life
Mary St. Centre, 24 Mary St, Parry Sound
The awe that mountainous landscapes evoke is universal. Yet in a place that is 75% mountains, most of us seldom venture into true wilderness. Living amongst us is a special breed of people. They are undefined by age, gender, profession or background, but for them, the draw of the mountains is so strong that their lives must revolve around it. Shot in cinematic detail, This Mountain Life is a riveting examination of human passion set high in the peaks of British Columbia.
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June 21st, 7:00pm
History of Invasive Carp
Mary St. Centre, 24 Mary St, Parry Sound
There's the story we hear on the news any time invasive carp threaten to break through the electric barriers put in place in Chicago to stop them from reaching the Great Lakes about how these voracious invasive fish arrived in North America - and then there's the story we don't know of what events led a cadre of fisheries experts from a small Arkansas county to import the continent's most notorious invasive species. Andrew Reeves is an award winning environmental writer whose first book Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis was reviewed everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to the Literary Review of Canada. (Note: The common name Asian carp has been changed to invasive carp).