StettlerLocal.com November 17, 2021 @ 1:25pm - Contributed by the Buffalo Lake Nature Club
Our 2021 regular monthly meetings were conducted via Zoom. We have continued learning about central Alberta nature through presentations from Battle River Watershed Alliance, Nature Conservancy Canada, Alberta Volunteer Amphibian Monitoring Program, and All Our Bees.
In March and April, we conducted our Owl Surveys, and in May, we did our annual count of the birds at Shuckburgh Slough. In June, we held our annual Lady Slipper Walk and Paddle, and later in the month, our Annual Picnic was held at Rochon Sands.
We had an active summer with an evening field trip nearly every week.
We started our summer outings with an amazing guided tour at DNA Gardens near Elnora. July was filled with the Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park butterfly count, a guided birding walk at an Alberta Conservation Association property near Botha, a walk at the Coulee at Donalda, a mushroom foray at Alix Lake, and a hike along the Pelican Point nature trails.
In August, we ventured to the Rachel Agnes Hayes Conservation Area, the Churchill Welsh property and enjoyed a walk along the trail en route to Potter’s Seep.
In September, members helped the Central Alberta Heritage Society clean out the nest boxes along the Linear Parks at Meeting Creek, Big Valley, Rumsey and Rowley. Also, in September, we met at Big Knife Provincial Park for a walk with our umbrellas, and we lunched at the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site.
Our September meeting was a club social held outdoors at West Stettler Park. We caught up on members’ summer activities, did some planning for upcoming meetings, then studied a dozen cut branches to see if we could identify and label the tree or shrub species. The gathering ended with much laughter as everyone participated in nature charades.
Buffalo Lake Nature Club will meet via Zoom on November 21st, where we will view a documentary of Phil French’s month-long journey down the Red Deer River. During roll call, we will, as usual, report on our recent nature sightings and experiences.
Christmas Bird Counts will take place on December 19th, 26th and January 2nd.
All ages and abilities are invited to join in celebrating nature with the Buffalo Lake Nature Club. We are a member club of Nature Alberta, which has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary! Nature Alberta has an excellent nature magazine, free for viewing online at https://www.naturealberta.ca
You may connect with us at buffalolakenc@gmail.com or visit our website at https://www.
Photos Credit: Claudia Lipski