WHFeb2008

Mission Statement: The Penokean Hills Field Naturalists exists as an organization to educate and promote interest, knowledge, conservation and preservation of the natural history, habitat and environment of our region for its members and the community at large.

Please join us at the Moose Family Centre for our meeting on February 12th at 7:00 p.m.
Our Speaker will be Terry Carr with a presentation entitled “Winter Birds of Elliot Lake and the Principles of Bird Identification”
To keep up to date, please check our message board – http://www.penokeanhills.ottawaweb.com

President's Message
Please join us for our meeting to hear Terry Carr 's presentation. Terry is a former PHFN president, and lifelong naturalist both professionally and informally. Terry is known to many members through his ongoing involvement in numerous activities of the club. He is always ready to share his knowledge and love of nature. .

This meeting is the inaugural launch of our new laptop computer and multi media projector which were purchased from some of the proceeds of the calendars. Thank you to everyone for making this venture a success. Without the assistance of Debbie Berthelot and Rio Algom and the tireless work of your Calendar Committee this project would not have been possible. Thank you everyone for selling and buying over $8,000 worth of calendars. Thank you also to Carolyn Seguin and her staff at C&R Variety and Ev and Reg Brooks at Grams and Kilos who sold many calendars in their stores. Thank you also to Todd and Diane at the Chamber of Commerce and Darla at the Mining Museum for their assistance. We were very pleased to present a cheque for $800 to St. Joseph Hospital on January 21.

As I mentioned at the last meeting, the PHFN will have a monthly column in the Standard newspaper. A Committee will be responsible for editing and selecting each months column taking special care not to identify locations of endangered flora and fauna. We hope we will get lots of input from our members. Let's all start writing. More info on this Committee will be in the next Wolf Howl.

We are pleased to welcome our new members who joined at our January meeting: Roy Beauvais, Fred Forsyth, Myrna Gordon, Judy Mason-Spadavecchia, and Fran Young. Welcome and please join us in some or all of our activities, it's great to have you on board.

Our winter bird feeding program is a great success - the redpolls, woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, pine grosbeaks, and blue jays thank you. Our bird feeders are a great place to go out and view the birds and you never know, you may see a rare hoary redpoll or boreal chickadee. Thank you to Roy Beauvais for his donation of bird feeders and over 140 pounds of bird food. And thank you to Debye's Pet World for her continuing support. A reminder that Debye will give our members a 10% discount on the 50 lb. bag of sunflower seeds. Also a special thank you to all the people who keep the feeders full.

Upcoming Outings: We all look forward to these outings, they are a lot of fun and we always see and learn something new. If you would like to participate in any or all of the outings, please ensure that you have signed up so that you can be contacted with the exact date and time. If you are unable to sign up you can call the leader to ensure your name is on the list.

February 5, Blind River Boom Camp X Country Ski Outing - Leader: Naomi Maggs 848-5656 Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 9 a.m. to carpool to Blind River Cross Country Ski Club. The trails are 3, 5, & 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. Duration: 6-7 hrs.

February 10, Photography in our Winter Season - Leader: Dan Humeniuk 848-0940 Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 1:30 p.m. to carpool to chosen location. Duration: 2-3 hrs.

February, Snowshoe Mississagi Provincial Park - Leader: David Young 848-9590. Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 9 a.m. to carpool to the park. Duration: 5-6 hrs.

February, Sherriff Creek Sanctuary Snowshoe/Walk. Exploring Nature - Leader: Ray Cormier 848-7979 Meet at the Sherriff Creek Sanctuary parking lot at 1 p.m. Duration: 2 hrs.

Please note: The Penokean Hills Field Naturalists Club, its officers or agents will not be held responsible for any accident or liability whatsoever incurred as a result of participation in any meeting, activity, or field trip organized by them. Come to outings dressed appropriately for the day (check the weather forecast). Trip leaders have the right to refuse people who are not properly equipped. Participants must make leaders aware of any serious medical condition that may arise during an outing. Bring water, a snack, or lunch depending on duration of outing. Also, your binos, camera, and field guides. For general outing information, call Hans Kamps at 461-7737. For scheduled outing information, please call the leader of the outing. Sign up sheets will be available at the PHFN general meeting, and any member interested in participating in any activities should obtain more specific information by calling the trip leader(s).

WETLANDS - DID YOU KNOW?
"Water is the lifeblood of all living things, and wetlands cleanse, cool, and protect this most valuable resource." David J. Hawke, Wetlands, Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd., Toronto, 1994

More than twice as many threatened or endangered species are associated with wetlands than any other habitat.
70% of ducks and geese in North America start their life in wetlands.
Wetlands also act as flood control, erosion control, and a filtration system.

SHERRIFF CREEK SANCTUARY SPEAKS……………
As I write, we are in the midst of a cold snap. The snow is deep; it sparkles brilliantly in sunlight and moonlight and crunches loudly underfoot. It’s hard to believe that anything as fragile as a butterfly could withstand such conditions. But, as I wrote last month, Mourning Cloak butterflies – adults from last summer – are hibernating in the sanctuary right now.

Tucked into bark, log or rock crevices they snooze the time away until the first warm days of spring call them out, but a return of cooler weather will send them right back for another nap, and when the weather is consistently warm they emerge for good. They like nectar from catkins and sap from broken twigs and tree stumps.

At this point their mission is to mate. Often, the mating period involves a male and female spiralling around each other 30 or more feet into the air before the male drops to the ground while the female glides down slowly. As the female of this pair has usually already mated, it is believed this aerobatic display is her attempt to divert an interested male so she can get to the job of laying her eggs.

The eggs are laid in clusters on willows and poplars. After 2 weeks the caterpillars emerge, and 4 weeks of feeding later, they find a protected spot to form a chrysalis. Two weeks after that, the adult Mourning Cloak emerges. This is the butterfly which over winters to produce a new generation the following year.

With large, beautiful wings of dark purple-black containing bright blue spots along the outer edge, and bordered with a broad yellow band, they are truly a welcome sight in spring.

Penokean Hills Field Naturalists Club Board of Directors

*Executive*	*Directors at Large*	*Advisors*	*Wolf Howl Pub/Dist*
Gerard MacGillivray President	Ray Cormier Membership	Heather Fulford	Joan MacGillivray
Gerrit Hamer Vice-President	Hans Kamps Outings	Peter Kennedy
Shelley McLennan Secretary	Liz Powell	Jim Lindamood
Bob Montgomery Treasurer		Elizabeth Matheson