Editor’s Synopsis of CFN 137(3)

Free Online Access to Feature Article

The latest issue of The Canadian Field-Naturalist (CFN) will soon arrive in the physical mailboxes of those with printed copy subscriptions. The Canadian Field-Naturalist is the official journal and publication of record for the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club (OFNC). The current issue is already posted online.

Issue 137(3) follows the double Special Issue 137(1–2), dedicated to a remarkable Canadian scientist and naturalist, Dr. Donald F. McAlpine. Don is the lead author on a compilation of stranding incidents of beaked whales from the inshore waters of eastern Canada and a Tribute to Laurie Murison, an internationally renown whale conservationist and scientist who died in 2021. An honorary OFNC membership was bestowed on Don in April 2024 for lifetime achievements in Canadian natural history and long-time service with CFN (see https://ofnc.ca/about-ofnc/awards and https://ofnc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2023-Honorary-Member-illustrated.pdf). Other manuscripts on diets of ciscos, invasive Himalayan Blackberry, aphid galls being a novel food source for Red Squirrels, newly discovered range extents for two ant species in Saskatchewan, and a new caddisfly species for Canada found in southern Manitoba and Ontario, among other topics, round out the 11 articles and notes. Of particular poignancy is a study on the non-target birds and mammals that were killed during the strychnine poisoning program in Alberta from 2005 through 2020. Data collected for that study were instrumental in Health Canada’s March 2024 decision to prohibit the use of strychnine as a predacide in the last province in Canada that allowed its use.

Beginning with CFN 136(3), the OFNC Publications Committee decided to make one manuscript per issue a Feature Article. The Feature Article for 137(3) is the compilation of stranding incidents of beaked whales by McAlpine et al. The monumental undertaking documents the 78 known stranding incidents involving beaked whales in eastern Canada’s inshore waters from 1934 to the end of December 2021. The location of the stranding incident and seasonality, sex and age, and causes of death for each of the 84 individuals of the five species now known for Canada are summarized. While the documentary photos can be difficult to view and the deaths are sad, they also provide an abundance of data that would otherwise be impossible to collect.

In this issue there are five book reviews. These include a review of Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong’s recent bestseller, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. Another review of The Canada Jay: the National Bird of Canada? looks at the compelling argument this book makes for this small corvid becoming a national symbol. For readers interested in the world of insects, Stephen Marshall’s ambitious and thorough Hymenoptera: the Natural History and Diversity of Wasps, Bees & Ants is also reviewed.

OFNC members can freely access the entire current and past issues online. Contact Bill Halliday to obtain instructions on how to create an account on the CFN website.

Enjoy!

Dwayne Lepitzki, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief