The Thunder Bay FIeld Naturalists offer walks (field trips), talks (general meetings/indoor lectures) and workshops depending on the time of year. There is also a selection of youth programs for the young and young-at-heart.
Use the arrows in the top corners of the calendar to navigate to the month you wish to view.
Explore the Nature Conservancy of Canada trail in the beautiful municipality of Neebing. This large mesa overlooks the Pearson Wetlands and is a designated conservation reserve. The trail starts with a difficult 210 m (0.21 kilometres) climb up a rocky cliff to the top of the mesa that has a 5 km moderate loop trail. Bring a lunch.
Meet at 10:15 AM at the Movati Athletic Club on Arthur Street for a 35 minute travel to the parking lot at the trail head. The hike begins from the trailhead at 11:00 AM. Travel south on Highway 61 to Highway 608, turning onto Highway 597 with the trail head just past Moore's Creek.
Pre-register with Pam at (807) 625-5495 or email pcainP7L0G7@gmail.com.
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.
In February of 2023, Cathy Paroschy-Harris and Allan Harris toured Argentina including the east slope of the Andes and northern Patagonia in search of birds, mammals, plants and human culture. We will hear of their trip, with travel tips, and see photos of their adventures. Tango lessons not included!
*** Note: This outing is now full. ***
Visit the southern portion of the Ward Lake Nature Reserve with Gerry Racey and Cameron Curran Saturday September 30. We will be walking into Ward Lake following the southern trail (an old logging road) off Sturgeon Bay Road, enjoying the fall colours. Once within the nature reserve we will visit some accessible and interesting ecosystems as well as enjoy a great view. We will also be discussing some of the stewardship challenges.
This is a day-long hike. It is a 2 km walk into the reserve along the south trail and the total amount of walking for the day will be about 7 km with some steep slopes and difficult terrain encountered. A high level of physical exertion can be expected in some segments of the hike. Sturdy hiking footwear is strongly recommended. Access to the nature reserve is along an old logging road with a packed surface and some wet patches. Other portions of the hike are in areas without a trail and participants will encounter shrub thickets and woody debris. Dress appropriate for weather conditions and terrain. Meet at the Movati Centre Parking lot on Arthur Street for a departure at 9:00 am. Parking on site is very limited and car pooling is strongly recommended. Please register with Gerry Racey 807-939-1620 (gdracey@tbaytel.net). Registrations will be limited to 16 participants due to limited parking.
