Prince George Naturalist Club Notes & Events – January 22nd, 2013

1. Livingstone Springs Snowshoe Trip, this Sunday, 27 January The annual PGNC snowshoe trip to Livingstone Springs take place this coming Sunday. It’s a gentle trip, so don’t worry if your snowshoeing skills are rusty. It’s a fun half-day, and there’s always a chance of seeing otters, moose, swans, American dippers, eagles and more, while learning about animal tracks in the snow. As usual, meet under the large Spruceland Shopping Centre sign at 9:00 am and bring suitable clothing in layers, snowshoes or cross-country skis and a lunch. For more information, contact sjkinsey@direct.ca .

2. Bear Awareness AGM, Thursday, 31 January, 6:00 pm The Northern Bear Awareness Society will be holding its AGM at Art Space, upstairs from Books & Company at 1685 – 3rd Avenue: all PGNC folk are invited to head along and learn more about bears in the city and how the Society protects and researches the local bear population.

3. Celestial matters We are currently seeing this month’s full moon – it is called the ‘Wolf Moon’ a name popularly attributed to first nations, who, according to popular culture, chose the name because they heard hungry wolf packs howling outside the villages at this time of year. On another note: On Feb 15, asteroid 2012 DA14 (130,000 tons) will pass the Earth at an anticipated distance of 21,000km. That’s really close – so close that the asteroid will be viewable from quite small amateur telescopes.

4. For Birders and Birdwatchers Ethical considerations give me pause, but as a friend said: “there’s no point having a trumpet unless you blow it occasionally” so take a look at http://traybonbooks.com. There’s not a lot of competition, but at the moment you’ll find out about the top-selling birding humor book in Canada. (OK, there really isn’t a lot of competition.)

Clive Keen

Prince George Naturalists Club Important meeting – October 11, 2012

Naturalist folks:

1. Important Club Meeting, Thursday October 11, 7:00 -9:00 pm, Atrium, The Exploration Place
Please make sure to add this meeting to your calendar, which will give a presentation on, and then discuss, the following motion.

To commit to a major Club project aimed at:

1. Working with community partners to create an interpretive centre;
2. Enhancing the Hudson’s Bay Wetland area, through rehabilitation and creation of a circular walk with a variety of observation features.

(Note the address for the meeting: not the usual 18th Avenue location, but The Exploration Place, Fort George Park.)

2. Membership
The above meeting will be of interest not just to current Club members, but to potential members and representatives of other groups, who are all welcome to be in attendance and to contribute to the discussion. Voting on the motion, though, will of course be restricted to Club members. Memberships valid to the end of 2013 can be taken out by completing the attached form and posting it to the address shown or giving it to the Club Secretary at the meeting.

3. Future Club Events
As previously mentioned, we’ll be holding a Gadgets Night later in the autumn, showing such things as trail cams and the wildlife photographs they have captured. We’ll also be holding a Show and Tell of members’ nature photographs: shots, which needn’t be of prize-winning quality, but which have an interesting story to tell. If you have either trail-cam shots, or other photos with a story to tell, please let us know to help with planning.

4. Shelley Shorebirds
The Club’s Guide to Shelley Shorebirds has been corrected and recast as a more-easily read 12-page booklet. If you’d like a copy (it has not been attached, to save clogging people’s inboxes) just send a reply to this email.

5. Other Organizations’ Activities
Club members may be interested in a presentation “Measuring the Effects of Changing Climate on Prince George’s Natural Areas” to be held in the Keith Gordon Room, PG Library, 12:00 -1:00 on Monday, October 1st.  RSVP dadamson@city.pg.bc if you plan to attend.

6. A Note from RASC Prince George
On Saturday 29th the Harvest Moon will rise over the eastern horizon at 6:20pm. It is an ideal time to test the ‘moon illusion’, where the moon appears to be larger at the horizon, compared to high in the sky. To test this illusion, hold an aspirin at arm’s length over the moon when is it at the horizon, and then a few hours later, and you will see the size is the same.

Clive Keen