Join us on June 17th (weather permitting) for a butterfly excursion as we explore what butterflies are out and about. John Walas will lead our group to the area of Stanley and Kakabeka to see what butterflies might be flying in the area in mid June.

We expect to find the northern cloudy wing skipper, dreamy dusky wing skipper, roadside skipper, and we may even find the salt and pepper skipper. The checkerspots, some of the commas, blues, bronzes copper and elfins should also still be out.

This should be a fairly easy outing with regard to trekking and footwear.

We will meet at the Movati Athetlic Club parking lot just to the east of the Scotiabank parking lot at 10:30 am, and car pool to meet up at the Stanley Hotel as our starting point.

Given that this is tick season, it would be highly advisable to wear light coloured clothing and use the appropriate insect repellants.

Register with John by email at johnw@tbaytel.net or call or text (807) 474-7633.

Join Ashley as we hike TBFN's picturesque nature reserve, Pictured Lake. The general meeting place in Thunder Bay will be near Scotiabank on Arthur Street at 9:30 am or at the Oliver Lake Fire Hall at 10:00 am. Contact Ashley Veurink at (807) 633-6915 to register.

Join Marian Childs and family to see what is happening in the bog with all the recent construction, drainage issues and weather conditions. Meet at Scotiabank on Arthur Street at 9:30 AM.

Contact Marian at (807) 577-1324 to register.

Saturday, July 15th

Rain Date, Sunday, July 16th

Members and friends will be treated to an energetic hike with highly eclectic habitat features highlighted by a provincially significant wetland and Lake Superior shoreline.

The Caldwell Lake Nature Reserve (over 100 acres) includes mature second growth black spruce, cedar and white pine forests. Other habitats include a floating bog mat, a beaver pond and meadow, Lake Superior shoreline, and cliffs. Sixteen species of orchids grow around Caldwell lake, many of them in large numbers. Arctic alpine disjunct plants are found along the Lake Superior shore.

*** Note: This outing is now full. ***

Join us (Monika Holenstein, Bryan Loop and Dr. Rob Foster) for a hike through the TBFN Terrace Bay Nature Reserve! One of TBFN's largest reserves, the Terrace Bay reserve protects over 1,200 acres of pristine Lake Superior shoreline. The Casque Isles Trail crosses the property. We will be hiking the 6-kilometre Lyda Bay section that includes raised cobble beaches, Pukaskwa Pits, spectacular look outs and beautiful rocky coves along Lake Superior. Leaving from the Hydro Bay Road and finishing at the Terrace Bay Beach, this hike covers some challenging sections of large cobble beaches and tricky rocky sections, as well as a ladder to get up one cliff area. We plan to hike from 10 am until 4 pm, with lots of stops to enjoy the views and look for the plants and animals that call this unique area home.

Join Brian Philips and Fred Dean on this outing. The excursion will assemble at 9:00 am at the Arthur Street Mall for departure in convoy at 9:30 am. Car pooling is encouraged. The excursion will end at the Arrow Lake Narrows, mid afternoon. A route map, with stops marked, will be provided.

Most stops will be roadside stops, with the occasional short walks to others.

Bring a lunch and suitable clothing and footwear for the weather on the day.

Note: The area has nothing in the way of gas stations, public toilets, etc. Please ensure that vehicles have sufficient gas to make the 200 km round trip. Bush rule is men on the left, women on the right (because they are always right!)

Note: This outing is now full.

Join Len Hutchison as we walk within George Burke Park and area looking for mushrooms. This will be a 2 to 3 hour outing. Registration will be on a first come, first served basis with a participation limit of 30 individuals. Please register directly with Len Hutchison by contacting him via email at leonard.hutchison@lakeheadu.ca. We will meet at George Burke Park prior to the outing.

This is the first "official" field trip to this new reserve acquired in August, 2022. The reserve is located at the far eastern end of Thunder Bay. The reserve has no road access. The total lake frontage is about 3,200 feet, with area around 80 acres.

Preliminary visits have established how to get to the reserve and what to expect there. More visits before the field trip will add to this.

While shallow, sand bottom water access to the shore of the reserve is available, doing so with a group would require extensive preparation and logistics and the dangers of wind and waves before and after make this unfeasible as there is no launch point within a reasonable distance of the reserve.

Our field trip will therefore access the reserve by land. A dead end road terminates about 400 yards from the nearest corner of the reserve. We will walk from there along an old survey line which runs along the souther boundary of the reserve. It's another 400 years or so from this corner to the waterfront.

Join Marian Childs for an outing to Chippewa Ridge, which overlooks the city and Lake Superior. We will walk along […]