Dragonfly and Butterfly Counts Posted on June 20, 2007 at 11:21:49 AM by Bob Bowles
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) invites you to join us outdoors in 2007 and make a meaningful, on-the-ground difference to help conserve rare species and habitats across Ontario. Opportunities to work alongside expert conservationists are available from April through November at some spectacular natural areas ranging from alvar to savanna to Carolinian forest.
NCC's new Conservation Volunteers website is up and running at www.conservationvolunteers.ca. Here you can learn more about NCC's volunteer program and register to help with high priority stewardship on NCC properties across Ontario through our 2007 Calendar of Events. We are offering a variety of activities for all skill levels to address our most urgent conservation needs. You can help remove invasive species that threaten native forest and savanna, inventory butterflies and dragonflies on the fragile Carden Alvar (see details below), collect prairie seed and plant oak acorns as part of restoration to enhance biodiversity hotspots, and contribute to other important activities that further stewardship on NCC lands. Some events have a minimal participation fee to help cover costs associated with project materials and tools, equipment rental, and planning and promotional activities.
A Decade of Lepidoptera
10th Annual Carden Butterfly Count
Date: Sunday, July 8, 2007
Closest Town: Dalrymple, ON
Meeting Time: 9:00 am
Special Features: globally rare alvar, 64 species of butterflies
Cost: free ($5.00 fee to North American Butterfly Association)
Trip Description:
Traverse the Carden Alvar in search of butterflies and contribute important inventory data for habitat management and continental butterfly monitoring. The unique and hardy plants associated with the alvar’s thin soil over limestone bedrock attract a spectacular variety of butterflies to this region located east of Orillia. You will learn about their life history while exploring globally rare habitat. Local naturalist and ecotourism specialist, Bob Bowles, will be leading the butterfly count for the tenth year, sharing his expertise and enthusiasm about this ecological jewel.
Hosts: Nature Conservancy of Canada and Bob Bowles
To register for this event, click here:
https://secure2.convio.net/ncc/site/Ecommerce/1648178965?JServSessionIdr004=mlpf2o8tk1.app8a&VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1381&store_id=1281
Searching for Damsels and Dragons
11th Annual Dragonfly Count
Date: Saturday, July 14, 2007
Closest Town: Dalrymple, ON
Meeting Time: 9:00 am
Special Features: globally rare alvar, provincially significant wetland
Cost: free
Trip Description:
Dragonflies and damselflies have been described as the ‘glittering jewels’ of the entomological world. While ancestors of today’s “Odonates” flew more than 300,000 million years ago, current populations are in decline, due largely to loss of wetlands and other niche habitats. Led by local naturalist and ecotourism specialist, Bob Bowles, volunteers will count dragonflies and damselflies on the globally rare Carden Alvar - contributing important observations that help monitor the health of dragonfly and damselfly populations.
Hosts: Nature Conservancy of Canada and Bob Bowles
To register for this event, click here:
https://secure2.convio.net/ncc/site/Ecommerce/1648178965?JServSessionIdr004=mlpf2o8tk1.app8a&VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1401&store_id=1281
Wendy Cridland
Conservation Coordinator, Volunteers
Nature Conservancy of Canada
115 Front Street, P.O. Box 520
Port Rowan, ON N0E 1M0
Tel: 519-586-7773 x 202
www.natureconservancy.ca