As we come to the end of the year we look back on our accomplishments, I think it has been a very good year.  To start the new year off on the right foot, we are planning a New Year’s walk at the Sanctuary.   Please join us in the parking lot at the Sanctuary at 11:00 a.m. on January 1.  We hope we can make this a New Year’s tradition.

I want to give a special thank you to those members who came out to help clear the trails after our first snowfall caused considerable damage.  Thank you to Dave Young, Ray Cormier, Scott Helman, and Dorothy Kutt (our Supervisor).

I also want to thank Erwin Meissner for keeping us up to date on the discovery of the Black Guillemot in Massey.  People came from far and wide to view this juvenile (first year) plumage bird which came down from the Eastern Arctic.  This is only the fifth inland Ontario record for this bird.

On Friday, December 15, 2006, the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists, Elliot Lake, will be conducting their 11th Annual (8th Official) Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

More than 45,000 people participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing over one hundred years of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas.

Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, or "CBC", is Citizen Science in Action.  To register and for further information please call (before December 12) Terry Carr at 461-9123.

Trip leaders should be contacted for specific dates and particulars.  There will be sign-up sheets available at the appropriate General Meetings.  Should there be any changes necessary, they will be posted on the PHFN website.

All outings will leave from Brunswick Walk except where noted and we will car pool as much as possible).  Please bring binoculars, camera, and field guides if possible.  Remember to dress for the weather and to wear appropriate footwear.  Bring a lunch or snack and hot drink.

Every Saturday walk through Sherriff Creek Meet at the Sherriff Creek parking lot at 10:00 a.m. for the walk. Duration of the walk: 2 hours.

Friday, January 12, Sherriff Creek Snowshoe/Walk
Leader: Naomi Maggs and Dave Young.  Meet at the Sherriff Creek parking lot 10 a.m.  Duration 2-3hrs.

Friday, January 26, Boom Camp X Country Ski  Outing
Leader:  Naomi Maggs.  Meet at Brunswick Walk at 9 a.m. to carpool to Blind River Cross Country Ski Club   The trails are 3, 5 and 10 km in length and have interconnecting loops of easy and intermediate skill levels. The length of this outing will be determined by individuals or by car-pool groups.

> Wednesday, January 31, Iron Bridge Deer Observation Outing
More information to follow.

This month's picture is from the photo album presentation "Things Great and Small, A Look at Nature Through the Lens of the Kissau's Digital Camera" and is titled "Peeking Deer".

Fascinating stories of Sanctuary activity are revealed when snow covers the ground and the comings and goings of my residents and passers-through are recorded in it.  Familiar to all are the straight line footsteps of the fox, or the four tiny prints of the deer mouse with an indentation made by its tail running down the middle between them.

And what about the tracks of hares as they bound through clearings and bush at night, large back paws clearly indented in the snow ahead of their smaller front ones?  In the daytime, so many of their tracks are seen to criss-cross each other near the entrance to the beaver meadow and by the birch grove that my human visitors are tempted to camp out overnight to watch the fun.

One New Year’s Day, a group saw tracks they weren’t able to identify with certainty.  They were clearly defined \/\/\/\ with sharp edges.  Reference to guide books and discussion followed.  Then someone turned around to see where the tracks went – and there was the porcupine still making them!  This particular critter was an artist, its route being beautifully sculpted in the snow in contrast to the fuzzy guide book illustrations.

Last winter, some of my Penokean stewards saw the outline of large wings in the snow combined with the sudden end of a small four-footed creature’s tracks.  What a story that tells!  Sometimes the tracks aren’t seen, and the animal itself provides a memorable moment, as when Penokeans on a Saturday saunter met a curious ermine which popped up several times from under a large rock that was clearly its home.

I am so pleased that there will be a Penokean Sanctuary walkabout on New Year’s Day, 2007!  The bird feeding stations should provide some excellent observing, and if there’s snow, there will be a variety of tracks and perhaps also some animals to be seen.  I look forward to having your tracks added to those that will surely be there.  In the meantime, very best wishes for a safe and joyful holiday season.

Stop the spread of destructive pests by not moving firewood or other types of wood from regulated areas.

These include: Trees, Nursery Stock, Pruned Branches, Logs and Forest Products with bark attached.

A particular threat is the presence of The Asian Long-horned Beetle in the Toronto/Vaughn area in Ontario, and The Emerald Ash Borer in Southwestern Ontario.

For further information visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website at www.inspection.gc.ca (after entering site choose "Invasive Alien Species" from the "Hot Topics" menu)