Willow Beach Field Naturalists Events Teach About Natural World

Nature Notes for September 30, 2016

“In the late summer of 1953 a little group of naturalists who often happened to meet while strolling along the railway embankment that runs beside the marsh at Willow Beach conferred together along the pathway and decided there were enough interested people to warrant forming a naturalist club. The little group included Dr. and Mrs. C.B. Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Reeve, Peter Landry, Ted McDonald, Stella Bennett, Louise Steele.” This is a quote from a history of Willow Beach Field Naturalists Club, written by Louise Steele, one of its founders.

This meeting led to the founding of the club which still exists today, to study and celebrate our natural heritage. Initially, this club’s area included both Port Hope and Cobourg, as well as Hope and Hamilton Townships. Through the intervening years, the club has evolved to include all of Northumberland County. 

The Whimbrel used to be called Hudsonian Curlew. This bird is the logo for Willow Beach Field Naturalists because they used to arrive in numbers at Willow Beach around Victoria Day weekend during the spring migration. The club's newsletter is called The Curlew, referring to this bird.
Photo  © Rob Lonsberry Photography

In the early years, meetings were held in member’s homes and outings were quite informal. Now, there are seven indoor meetings per year, at present, all at the Cobourg Public Library.

In recent years, speakers at these meetings have included ornithologist Bridget Stutchbury, professor at York University and author of Silence of the Songbirds and The Bird Detective; bee biologist Laurence Packer, professor at York and author of Keeping the Bees; geologist Nick Eyles, professor at U. of Toronto and known to many through a 5-part series on the Nature of Things, Geologic Journey. Sheila Colla, now an assistant professor at York, spoke to WBFN when she was a graduate student, about her research on the Rusty-patch Bumble Bee.

Meteoroligist Dave Phillips spoke to us about weather legends. Gord Vogg, seasonal naturalists at Darlington Provincial Park, made a presentation about fungi and the next day led a very successful outing to Peter’s Woods to search for and identify fungi. Hummingbird bander, Cindy Cartwright made a presentation on these fascinating birds. Rory Quigley, Arborist for the Town of Cobourg presented about urban forestry.

WBFN also has many knowledgeable people in the membership who have done presentations about birds, plants, insects, animal bones, and animal tracks.

The club organizes at least one outing per month. Some are within the county at locations like the A.K. Sculthorpe Woodland Marsh (also known as the Lake Street waterfront trail) in Port Hope, Cobourg Harbour, Lucas Point Park, Garden Hill Conservation Area, Laurie Lawson Outdoor Education Centre, Peter’s Woods, Rice Lake Conservation Area, Seymour Conservation Area, Northumberland Forest, Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Nature Conservancy of Canada properties, NorthumberlandLand Trust properties, and Alderville Black Oak Savanna. Some outings have also been held on private property, at the invitation of the owners.

Others outings are to more distant locations. Destinations have included the CardenAlvar in search of the endangered Loggerhead Shrike, November trips to Niagara in search of unusual gulls, trips to Amherst Island in search of wintering owls, Algonquin Park in winter, Lost Bay Nature Reserve north of Kingston, and the Menzel Nature Reserve north of Napanee in search of butterflies.

Some trip leaders are members of our club, some are from outside organizations. The objective is to learn more about our natural heritage and develop awareness of what is around us.

Early in its history, WBFN held an annual Christmas bird census. This has evolved into an official Audubon Christmas Bird Count, with different boundaries than the original census. Now, three Christmas Bird Counts are held in the county, each one covering a different circle. Some members take part in all three counts. For the past twenty years, the club has also organized a Summer Bird Count to monitor breeding birds.

WBFN helped to purchase Peter’s Woods Provincial Nature Reserve, and part of Carr’s Marsh, now managed by Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority. Because land ownership is quite a different mandate than nature study, WBFN created the Northumberland Land Trust twelve years ago. NLT now owns five properties and holds a conservation easement on a sixth.

The first indoor meeting for the 2016-17 is tonight, Sept. 30 at the Cobourg Public Library starting at 7:30 p.m. The guest speaker is Chris Ketola, whose topic is Masters of the Sky: Raptor Biodiversity, Biology and Behaviour.  Perhaps you would prefer to join us for a walk on Saturday morning (Oct. 1) along Cobourg’s West Beach, from 10 a.m. to noon, led by member Eleanor Sartisohn. Visitors are welcome at all WBFN events.

For more information about WBFN, check the website at http://www.willowbeachfieldnaturalists.org/ or follow the club on Facebook.