Founded in 1863 (and incorporated in 1879), the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club is the oldest natural history club in Canada. Over 800 members have interests in all aspects of the natural world, from birding to botanizing, investigation to publication, conservation to advocacy. We hope you’ll find something here to suit your interests.

Our monthly meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month (no longer Tuesdays) except July and August. After three years of meeting online, the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club has resumed in-person monthly meetings  at 7 pm while presentations begin at 7:30 pm.  The new venue is City View Church, 6 Epworth Avenue (off Merivale near Meadowlands).

Watch past OFNC presentations on YouTube.

Most weekends all year round, we go for nature walks to the many conservation areas in our region. Some presentations are given online via Zoom. Learn to identify the birds that frequent our lakes, fields, and forests; wade through a marsh searching for amphibians; or take a leisurely stroll with fellow nature lovers.

Objectives

  • To promote the appreciation, preservation, and conservation of Canada’s natural heritage
  • To encourage investigation, publish the results of research in all fields of natural history, and diffuse the information as widely as possible
  • To support and cooperate with organizations engaged in preserving, maintaining or restoring environments of high quality for living things.

The Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club is a volunteer, non-profit organization. An Annual Business Meeting of Club members elects the Board of directors, which oversees operations during the year. Individual activities are undertaken by many club members, participating in committees. Traditionally, most chairs of the various committees sit on the Board of Directors. Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting, annual reports of the committees and financial statements are found here.