The Owen Sound Field Naturalists club is ready to kick off its 2026-2027 season with the internationally celebrated award-winning artist, potter, naturalist and photographer Steve Irvine and his presentation, Exploring Nature Close to Home.
For many years Irvine has done almost all of his photography and nature studies within two kilometres of his home near Big Bay. Using a variety of cameras and techniques, he has found a rich natural environment with endless possibilities.
I have been a fan of his work and the ways he shares them for close to 30, marveling at his innovative pin-hole pottery cameras and exquisite, detailed images, whether of a flying squirrel peering in a window, drone photographs of his ethereal Keppel Henge installation during a sunny solstice event, photos of a kingfisher exploding out of the water, his in-depth knowledge of the night skies and of so many inhabitants of the natural world around him, and us.
Irvine’s photographs have appeared in such publications as National Geographic magazine, LIFE magazine, Canadian Geographic magazine and in numerous other magazines and texts used in Canada, the U.S., the UK and Asia. Recently, his photographs were included in the book Photo Viz, an international survey of contemporary photography by the Berlin based publisher Gestalten. Irvine’s amazing photography is represented worldwide by National Geographic Stock Images, and by Getty Images.
This event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept.10, in the Bay Room at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. Doors will be open by 6:30 p.m. for membership sales and renewals, along with sales of OSFN merchandise including field guides, and articles of clothing too. The event will also be available on Zoom, with a link available at owensoundfieldnaturalists.ca/event/exploring-nature-close-to-home-presented-by-steve-irvine/
Everyone is welcome, with admission by donation, or free for OSFN members. To learn more, visit owensoundfieldnaturalists.ca/
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The Young Naturalist Club is also getting ready for another year.
The club coordinator is Amanda Eriksen and you may email her at youngnaturalistsos@gmail.com to confirm the schedule and pose any questions you may have.
The Young Naturalists’ Club is for children aged seven to 12. They typically meet on the last Sunday of the month from 2 until 4 p.m., but for some events the times may vary. The program operates from September to June, but with no meeting in December. Parents and guardians are required to stay and participate.
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The Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory’s station scientist, Stéphane Menu, has recently begun monitoring the southbound migration of birds at Cabot Head. Some of the many warblers seen there may have been resident there this summer, and others may be arriving from farther north on their way to winter destinations. In addition, shore birds and raptors have been observed working their way southward too. Here is an excerpt from his recent blog:
“Diversity of warblers was relatively good during this time, notably on the 28th with 12 species. That day also marked a high point in banding with 47 birds of 19 species, following 44 birds of 13 species on the 27th. Nashville and Bay-breasted Warblers were among the most abundant birds captured, but Red-eyed Vireos were also banded in significant numbers: 15 birds during these two days and a total of 44 Red-eyed Vireos banded in these first two weeks.”
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OSFN’s Audrey Armstrong and Patti Byers were on hand for the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy’s Monarch Festival at Tobermory on Aug. 29, teaching about Monarch life cycles and food requirements, and tagging some of the long distance flyers who will be heading to their winter home in Mexico.
Armstrong told me she is very encouraged by the abundance of monarch sightings these days and more the increasingly widespread swamp milkweed and common milkweed plants have provided a strong foundation for a healthy start in the butterflies’ early stages.
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The Bruce Birding Club held its first tour on Sept.2 after their summer break, and the dozen club members on hand enjoyed seeing and hearing the diverse birdlife at Shallow Lake, led by Rob Wray. In addition to the many egrets, trumpeter swans, plovers, sandpipers and greater yellowlegs, sightings included great blue herons, belted kingfishers and bald eagles too. I also enjoyed rediscovering the many stunning cardinal flowers and orange jewelweeds on hand. And that was just the first stop for the day.
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OSFN will offer September field trips, first to club members, one with a focus on mushroom/fungi identification, and another will highlight the diversity of ferns in this area and some of their history too.
Many naturalists in the area have also been turning their eyes upwards lately to see some of the visual treats in the night skies, whether meteor showers, or the recent delight of the partial lunar eclipse.
To close, then, here is a nature quote from An Astronomer’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Chris Hadfield, who “had the opportunity to see our planet from afar… The shimmering, dancing show of the northern and southern lights, the gorgeous blues of the shallow reefs fanning out around the Bahamas… Space travel has made me feel I have a personal obligation to be a good steward of our planet and to educate others about what is happening to it … the deforestation in Madagascar… But we make matters infinitely worse through poor stewardship. We need to take a longer-term view of the environment and try to make things better wherever we can.”