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Wednesday, May 4 at 7:00 PM
On Zoom and in person at the Orillia Museum of Art & History
Megan Bonenfant of the Nature Conservancy of Canada will join us to present on the Vidal Bay Forests and Shoreline Project.Located in Lake Huron, the internationally significant Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world. It supports some of the highest quality alvar habitat on the planet, interspersed within sand plain forests, wetlands, sand dunes, shoreline and the Niagara Escarpment. At the northern edge of southern Ontario, Manitoulin is home to wide ranging mammals, including black bear and gray wolf, and provides an important stopover area for migratory birds. https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/ontario/featured-projects/vidal-bay.html
Megan’s bio: After more than a decade in the provincial and municipal government sectors, Megan Bonenfant joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) team in midwestern Ontario as a conservation biologist, covering the Manitoulin Island Archipelago Natural Area. Megan has a soft spot for maligned species and is quickly developing an obsession with orchids and alvars. She lives in the woods on Manitoulin Island and spends her free time hiking, homesteading and reading murder mysteries.
A link to join the Zoom will be sent to the email list. To be added, please contact : orillianaturalists@gmail.com
Nature Book of the Month
The Orillia Naturalists’ Club is excited to announce the Nature Book of the Month Program!
And we need your help to make it a success.
We will be highlighting a new book every month that is nature-related and sharing with club members. The posting will include the book title and author, a short review (no more than 400 words please) and information on where the book is available.
The review will be found on the 15th of each month under activities.
We are looking for volunteers who have read (or will be reading) a book to contact Nancy (nancy.ironside@sympatico.com ) to coordinate the timing of the recommendation and review and answer any questions you may have.
We will try, if possible, to give some notice of book recommendations upcoming so you can join in by commenting – like a virtual book club.
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The March Nature book of the Month is Nature’s Best Hope, a new approach to conservation that begins in your yard, by Douglas W Tallamy. It is reviewed by Sharon Hancock, long time member of the ONC, and famous for her dinners, (with the help of Ron).
The April Nature Book of the Month is Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom and Knowledge and the teaching of plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It is reviewed by Kyra Howes of the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority and a long time friend of the ONC and the Couchiching Conservancy. ( look under activities)
The May Nature Book of the Month is The Entangled Life- How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our minds, and Shape our Future, by Merlin Sheldrake. It is reviewed by Sue Deadman, probably our best all round naturalist . It can be found under activities.
The June Nature Book of the Month is Under a White Sky; The Nature of the Future, by Elizabeth Kolbert. It is reviewed and enjoyed by Heather Ewing, an avid reader and very active in the Orillia Naturalists’ Club.
The July Nature Book of the Month is Underland by Robert Macfarlane. It is reviewed By Mark Bisset, Executive Director of the Couchiching Conservancy.
The November Nature Book of the Month is Jungle Peace by William Beebe. It is reviewed by Nancy Ironside. It was published in 1918, in a different era, but full of adventure and natural history. I loved reading it.
We hope someone will offer to review a book they are reading.
Happy Reading everyone!
At recent meetings, Rob Laidlaw has spoken about Bat Citizen, Mike Burrell about his book Best Places to Bird in Ontario, and Peter Mills about his book -Metamorphosis -Ontario’s Amphibians at all stages of development. Since these books have been summarized, under activities, in the meeting’s reports, they will not be a future Nature book of the Month.
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