Petrel Point Accessible Boardwalk Unveiling

Join us on Saturday May 26 from 11:00am to 1:00pm as we unveil our new 200-metre wheelchair-accessible boardwalk at Petrel Point Nature Reserve. Located on the southern Bruce Peninsula, Petrel Point is often described as a garden of wildflowers. But we’re not stopping there. We will continue working this summer to extend the boardwalk so that people of all abilities will be able to enjoy this incredible property.

Help Wasaga Beach Park’s Piping Plovers

Are you a plover lover? If so, Wasaga Beach Provincial Park wants you to join its Piping Plover Recovery Program. Becoming a program volunteer is a great way to learn about this endangered bird while helping to protect its nesting sites and chicks. A training session for all volunteers is scheduled for Friday May 25 at 5:00pm at the Nancy Island Historic Site (119 Mosley Street) in Wasaga Beach. For more information contact Patricia at wasagaplover@gmail.com.

Lend a Hand with Our Special Spaces

Join Ontario Nature’s Youth Council for the 2018 Our Special Spaces events. You can help create habitat for wild pollinators through a series of planting events this spring in your community. Last year, hundreds of volunteers planted nearly 2,700 native wildflowers, shrubs and trees to help create healthy homes for pollinators. Don’t forget to check back for more plantings as they’re added!

We Want your Snake Observations

Ontario Nature is partnering with Natural Resource Solutions to learn about eastern foxsnakes, gray ratsnakes and eastern hog-nosed snakes in Norfolk, Haldimand and East Elgin counties. We are looking for observations not previously reported to the Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas as well as recent sightings of these at-risk snakes. Please share your knowledge - so we can improve ours - and submit your sightings using the atlas app, through our website or by email.

Step into Nature with Healthy Hikes

Conservation Ontario’s sixth annual Healthy Hikes campaign invites Ontarians from all backgrounds to #StepIntoNature, hike and explore at Ontario’s nearly 300 Conservation Areas. The Healthy Hikes social media campaign runs from May 7 until October 31. The theme of this year’s campaign is Nature and Mental Health and it will focus on the health and well-being benefits of nature throughout different life stages. Visit the Healthy Hikes website to learn how you can get involved.

And the Nominees Are…

Please join us in congratulating Ray Ford whose summer 2017 ON Nature article, Blinded by the Light, was nominated for a National Magazine Award. Ray is a veteran ON Nature contributor who has written numerous short and feature articles for the magazine. His spring 2016 feature article, The Cutting Edge, won silver two years ago. Well done, Ray!

Events

• Spring Birding Hike to Matchedash Bay, Saturday May 26 @ 7:00am; meet at Zehrs to carpool at 6:30 a.m. and bring a lunch and binoculars; for more information contact Arni Stinnissen at 705-329-0515.
• Chimney Swift Night, Tuesday June 5 @ 8:00pm; meet in the Orillia Public Library parking lot; for more information contact Leanore Wiancko at 705-326-5261.
• Spring Birding Trip to Nonquon Lagoons in Port Perry, Saturday June 9 @ 8:00am; for more information contact Barb Ryckman at 705-242-4026.

• Feathered Friends Festival, Saturday June 2 @ 10:00am at the General Motors Headquarters in Oshawa; the celebration will feature family-friendly crafts and activities, guided bird hikes, informative displays and much more; for more information visit secondmarsh.ca.

• Birding Barrie, Saturday May 26 @ 8:00am; meet at Little Lake Park parking lot in Barrie; for more information contact Jim Coey at 705-543-1866.
• A Night with Whip-poor-wills, Saturday May 26; for more information contact Alex Mills at 647-208-3935.
• Swift Night Out in Barrie, date and time TBD; for more information contact Phyllis Tremblay at 705-737-2580.
• Eastern Bluebird Nest Box Trail, Wednesday May 30; for more information contact Dorothy McKeown at 705-817-9572.
• Oro Rail Trail Flora and Fauna, Saturday June 2 @ 8:30am; meet at Little Lake Park parking lot in Barrie; for more information contact Brian or Lynne Gibbon at 705-721-4599.
• Birding Carden Alvar, Saturday June 9 @ 7:30am; meet at Little Lake Park parking lot in Barrie; for more information contact Brian Gibbon at 705-721-4599.

• Warbler Walk in Camp Oliver Forest, Saturday May 19 @ 9:00am; meet at the Sugarman home; visit saugeenfieldnaturalists.com for more information.
• Prairie Ecosystems with Nikki May, Monday May 28 @ 8:00pm at St. James Anglican Church in Hanover; visit saugeenfieldnaturalists.com for more information.

• Community, Conservation and Primates with Jackie Prime, Thursday May 24 @ 7:00pm at Stevensville Conservation Area (2555 Ott Road) in Stevensville; for more information contact Lynda Goodridge at 905-871-5856.

• Birds and Wildflowers Outing to Ruthven Park, Saturday May 19 @ 8:30am; meet at Shoppers Drug Mart in Fonthill to carpool and bring a lunch; for more information contact Marlene Sanders at 905-414-9233 or Carol Horvat at 905-687-8562.
• Evening Walk in St. John’s Conservation Area, Tuesday May 22 @ 6:30pm; park in the small parking lot before the gate (gate closes at 8:00pm); for more information contact Bob or Jean at 905-688-1260.
• Norfolk Sand Plain Restoration Tour, Wednesday June 13 @ 7:00pm; meet at the dam parking lot just west of St. Williams Nursery on the north side of Highway 24 to carpool; for more information contact Mary or Peter at 519-586-3985.

• Spring Migrants in Backus Woods, Saturday May 19 @ 7:30am; meet at the Backus Woods parking lot off of the 3rd Concession Road; for more information contact Bernie at 519-427-9969.
• Outing to University of Guelph Arboretum, Sunday June 10 @ 8:00am; meet at the north end parking lot by Winner’s Store in Simcoe to carpool and bring a lunch; for more information contact Len at 519-428-6796.

• 20th Annual BioBlitz, June 15 & 16 at the Helen Quilliam Sanctuary, north of Sydenham; for more information contact Anne Robertson at 613 389 6742 or n8ture.anne@sympatico.ca.

• Native Plant Sale, Sunday May 27 at Christie Pits Park in Toronto; for more information visit the NANPS website.

• Late Spring Migrants on Toronto Islands, Saturday May 19 @ 8:00am; meet at the Toronto Islands Ferry Docks at the foot of Bay Street south of Queen’s Quay; for more information visit torontobirding.ca/site/outings
• Whimbrels and Other Migrants at Colonel Samuel Smith Park; Saturday May 26 @ 7:30am; meet at the most southerly parking lot at the foot of Kipling Avenue south of Lakeshore West; for more information visit torontobirding.ca/site/outings.
• Songbirds, Waterbirds and Waders at Earl Bales Park, Sunday June 3 @ 7:30am; meet at the Earl Bales Community Centre parking lot; for more information visit torontobirding.ca/site/outings.

• Birds and Windows: What We Know, the Human Component and Current Collision Prevention Options with Dr. Daniel Klem Jr., Thursday May 24 @ 7:00pm at Metro Hall (55 John Street, Room 308) in Toronto; visit eventbrite for more information.

• Helping Wild Animals in Need of Care with Elizabeth Trickey (Procyon Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Centre), Tuesday June 12 @ 7:30pm at River Drive Park Community Centre (20 Oak Avenue) in East Gwillimbury; for more information visit facebook.com/YorkSimcoeNatureClub.

Upcoming Deadlines

The next issue of the Nature Network News will be sent on June 15, 2018. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2018. Submissions can be sent to naturenetwork@ontarionature.org. Please note that events can be listed up to two months in advance – allowing others to put it on their calendar well in advance.

 Ontario Nature publishes the Ontario Nature Network News every month with contributions from its member groups and staff. Ontario Nature grants permission for use of the information above in member group newsletters. Please credit either Ontario Nature or the member group.