Please join us on Monday, October 24th at 7pm at Lunan Hall, St. Paul's United Church for a talk and slide show by Marian Childs about the Quebec Aquarium.  This public aquarium is a 16-hectare facility that hosts 10,000 specimens of native and exotic fish, amphibians, invertebrates as well as marine animals. 

The first talk of the season (Monday, Sept. 26th at 7pm) will be an  informative presentation about the William Bog Nature Reserve and other nature reserve news. Sue Bryan, Nature Reserve Chair will speak about TBFN's recent acquisition of the  privately owned 100-acre parcel in William Bog and the field trip this past August.  Marian Childs, Reserve Steward will also be sharing her knowledge and photos. During the evening Sue will also highlight some of the other projects the nature reserve committee have been involved with.

Join us as Dr. Matthew Scrafford, Conservation Scientist with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, shares his unique insight into wolverine biology, behaviour and conservation challenges across the boreal forest of North America. Dr. Scrafford will describe his work near Red Lake, Ontario and Rainbow Lake, Alberta where he has used GPS collars to track wolverine movement, foraging, and survival in industrial landscapes. He also will discuss how this work has informed habitat management for the species.  His research in Alberta was featured on the CBC Nature of Things documentary “Wolverine: Ghost of the northern forest”.   
After Dr. Scrafford’s talk, there will be a short presentation on the City Nature Challenge 2022 (CNC) along with a demo on how to use iNaturalist.

We are pleased to announce that the speakers have been confirmed. A presentation will be made by Brian Ratcliff, Allan Gilbert and Susan Craig, entitled “The Rhythm of Birding in Thunder Bay District”. The presentation, in play form, will tell how birders engage in their passion through the seasons, with humorous stories about the 2021 Brian Moore Trophy competition. A slideshow will accompany this passionate camaraderie of our local Thunder Bay birders.

Get an introduction to an increasingly popular phenomenon: Naturalization of open spaces. Everyone will have noticed evidence of this somewhere, even if only along the highway.

This program will show details of a presentation to city council by Kyla Moore advocating that Thunder Bay should join a large number of other Canadian jurisdictions that actively encourage the practice of urban naturalization.

There will be a showing of slides, including photographs of examples of urban naturalization already underway in Thunder Bay and the extent of this may surprise you. The slides also include commentary on the history and advantages of the practice. 

Included in the presentation will be comments from TBFN member Marg Schweitzer who practices naturalization on her rural property and has published two accounts of her experience in Nature Northwest.

Join us for a change for a change of pace evening presentation on Iceland: A Land Well Worth Visiting.
David Legge and Shelley Crawford recently circumnavigated this amazing country (by road), rich in scenery, with dazzling adventures at every turn.
They will show slides illustrating exceptional diversity in nature, art and culture and a warm, hospitable population little more than that of northwestern Ontario: very progressive, environmentally sensitive yet facing challenges and unique vulnerabilities of interest to our members.
COVID-19 screening will be in place. Maximum of 75 participants.

This summer, TBFN relaunched its Youth Programming with three new program streams: the Wolf Packs, the Efts, and the Nature Explorers With Technology (NEWT). We will give an overview of these new programs which together provide educational nature and science-themed events for children, families, and youth up to 19 years of age. We will share some highlights from this summer and a sneak peek at what's to come this year.  Speakers will include Courtney Moudoux and Gene Kent.

Several TBFN members will present brief updates on community science initiatives that have been undertaken by the TBFN. Meeting participants will hear about the Gray Fox Project, Thunder Cape Bird Observatory, the Bluebird Project, and several other TBFN initiatives, as well as potential future projects. Speakers will include Rob Foster, Allan Harris, Susan Robinson and Ted Armstrong.