by Lynn Ovenden
Expo at City Hall with Brenda McCrea and Barbara Riley
Backyard Biodiversity was the theme last Friday night (April 11) at City Hall. As part of the City of Ottawa Wildlife Speaker Series, the evening featured talks by two guest speakers. Sarah Kirkpatrick-Wahl from Nature Canada spoke about features that make a garden attractive to wildlife. Bill Dowd, CEO of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, demonstrated how numerous mammals gain entry to our homes and how they can be persuaded to take their babies outside, and stay outside.
Over 100 people attended the evening. In addition to the presentations, 21 organizations brought displays, among them, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ottawa Master Gardeners, Ottawa Bird Count, Let’s Talk Science, Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, and the OFNC.
Three volunteers from the Fletcher Wildlife Garden gave out OFNC bookmarks, fliers for the Native Plant Sale on June 7 and trail maps. We encouraged people to visit the FWG and volunteer. We also met people from the other environmental organizations. It was an evening of enthusiasm and camaraderie.
The next lecture will be August 18 at City Hall (7-9 pm). The topic will be white-tailed deer.
