Malaspina Naturalists

Events

The following events take place at Trinity Hall, United Church, corner of Duncan St and Michigan Avenue, 7 pm – 9 pm. Tea and cookies are provided at 7 pm; speaker starts at 7.30 pm.

September 30, 2010 Susan Mackay – Cetaceans seen locally. This was a fascinating exploration of the dolphins, whales and porpoises found in our local coastal waters. Excellent photos, great audio and very eloquent presentation added up to a great evening to celebrate our AGM. Judy Watts is now president of the club.

October 28, 2010 Heather Harbord – Antarctica. For anyone who has yet to explore Antarctica, Heather provided a wonderful taste of what to expect. Penguins, penguins and more penguins, icebergs, and more icebergs, plus fascinating history. It made Powell River winters seem simply balmy.

November 18, 2010 Liz Gillis – Eastern Grey Squirrels on BC’s west coast. Currently researching the phenomena of these squirrels taking over red and douglas fir squirrel expanses, Liz explained the differences in terain, food and biological details of the different squirrels. Greys, and black form of grey, are twice the size of our douglas fir squirrels and prefer deciduous rather than coniferous forest. Research is ongoing and Liz would like to know of sightings here of Eastern grey squirrels. Use website http://web.viu.ca/eagillis/squirrels.htm.

January 20, 2011 Ted Leischner – Bees. Ted recently moved to Powell River and is spreading the word about simple measures each one of us can take to help increase the bee population. Not only honey bees, but bumble bees and various other types of bees are dwindling in numbers.  By reducing the amount of lawn we have, and increasing the amount of colourful blooms, we can help provide sources of food for these insects, thereby helping with the vast work bees do in pollination.

February 24, 2011 Pat Trask  – Paleaontology. Pat led us through 4.5 billion years of earth history to illustrate the significance of fossils to today’s understanding of evolution. In an entertaining talk, he brought million year old fossils to our fingertips, illuminating the world of dinosaurs, and showing us how truly insignificant we actually might be, unless we die by falling into a clay pool, at exactly the right temperatures, and are covered instantly (before limbs are chewed off by hungry animals) in the right kind of material.

March 24, 2011 John Dove - Karst formations and caving. John did, what many of us would be afraid to do…instead of presenting with co-host Kevin Stanway, he presented on his own using his own information plus Kevin’s prepared information, and carried it off well. Due to illness, Kevin could not attend, but John led the group through limestone formations and their effects on the landscape we see today, especially on Texada.

May 5, 2011 Vanessa Kilburn – Western Painted Turtles

May Andy McKinnon – Spring Flowers Date TBA

As more speakers are booked, more events will be posted. Please check back often. These events are open to the public. Membership is $10 per person, $20 per family. You may also attend by donation.

If you have a suggestion for a speaker or talk subject, please let us know at any of the above-mentioned meetings.

We organize field trips, but those are mostly only for members. Become a member and find out more. Visit our Archives posts for info on past field trips.