It was recently brought to our attention that we haven't been posting results of our annual butterfly count. The last time we shared the data was for 2020 (see blog post). Here are the numbers for the latest years and updated totals for all counts since 1998. 2021 2022 2023 - rained out, no data [...]
Free Online Access to Feature Article in 138(2) is at https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v138i2.3301 Free Online Access to Feature Article in 138(3) is at https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v138i3.3391 Photo: Dr. Tom Reimchen recording data on the coast of British Columbia. While I and others received print copies of volume 138, issue 2 of The Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) some time ago—and issue [...]
Text and photos by Jakob Mueller Recently, a report of a “rattlesnake” in a local greenspace got some media attention. The observer reported that the blotchy snake, when found by her dog, shook its tail and made a sound – as a rattlesnake would – so she urged caution. This was a case of mistaken [...]
We still need your help to protect the Endangered Species Act! Bill 5, which contains a provision to eliminate the Ontario Endangered Species Act, has been referred to the province's Standing Committee on the Interior. The committee has already held one hearing on May 22, and another is set for Monday, May 26. The proposed [...]
We Need Your Help to Protect the Endangered Species Act! Please read this Action Alert from Ontario Nature. Sign the petition to the Ontario government here. Pictured to the left: The Spotted Turtle is one of many Endangered species in Ontario that relies on legislated habitat protection for its survival. The primary threat to most [...]
*** Update: Speaker Announcement! *** At our next meeting on Tuesday, May 27 at 7 p.m. (via Zoom) we are excited to welcome Jennifer Doubt, Curator of Botany at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Jennifer will be talking about the National Herbarium of Canada, which she manages. A herbarium (plural: ‘herbaria’) is essentially a library for plants. [...]
Two important documents have been updated to December 31, 2024 and are now available on the OFNC website. Thank you to Greg Zbitnew for his efforts at keeping this information current. One is an annotated checklist of the birds in the Ottawa-Gatineau district. This document lists all 379 species that have been seen in the [...]
Editor’s Synopsis of CFN 138(1) Plus: FREE Online Access to Feature Article at https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v138i1.3195 The latest issue of The Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) should arrive soon in the physical mailboxes of those with print subscriptions. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is the official journal and publication of record for the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club (OFNC). The current issue [...]
Bird Safe Campus Summit February 26, 2025 - #BSCS25 You’ve likely heard some variation of the proverb “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.” This speaks to our obligation to look after the environment — the land, the water, the skies, and all of their inhabitants. A [...]
OFNC Book Club Reads: The End of Eden by Adam Welz Instead of ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming,’ South African naturalist and writer Adam Welz prefers the term ‘global weirding’. The ecological disaster of our times is both unprecedented and strange, a maddening demonstration of ‘the butterfly effect’ where snow melt in the Arctic changes [...]
