THE WOLF HOWL

President’s Message
As we move into Spring and Summer, our Annual meeting will be May 8, 2007. We will be voting for our new Board Members. Thank you to everyone who has helped to recruit and those who have accepted and allowed their names to be brought forward. We have a lot of work to do and
we can only do it with your help. We receive many good ideas and requests
but can only do them if we have the people to assist.

We welcome all our members to this meeting to hear a presentation by two
of our members, Terry and Nick Van Hattem. We look forward to seeing
their slides and hearing about their wonderful adventures as they sailed to
many ports around the world.

This has been a busy week. Sunday, for Earth Day, many members came out
and cleaned up Sherriff Creek. The response from our members was
outstanding and we picked up a lot of garbage. Thank you to everyone who
helped. Thursday on our Spring North Shore Outing we saw 37 species of birds and discovered some new areas for walking and viewing wildlife. Thank you to all who came and for helping us to identify the birds.

This will be our last meeting and Wolf Howl until September but that doesn’t mean that we will be idle. We have a lot of good outings planned over the summer including our annual pot luck picnic at Westview Park. Our Saturday Nature Strolls at Sherriff Creek continue at 10 a.m. and we will begin our Tuesday evening walk on May 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Thank you to those who have helped us with our trail maintenance. Several members of the PHFN and Debbie Berthelot from Rio Algom walked the red trail looking at areas that need improvement. With the assistance of Rio Algom and the city, we hope that these improvements will be worked on shortly. We are also working on the beaver baffle that Rio Algom has agreed to install once a suitable location is found.

Upcoming Outings
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).

Monday, May 14th, Bus Tour, Former Mines Waste Management Areas (weather permitting) Leader: Hans Kamps 461-7737. Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 1pm to bus to sites. Tour will cover a selection of Mine sites in the Elliot Lake area. Duration: 3-4 hrs.
Wednesday, May 23, Wild Flowers and Plants at Old Hydro Rd. (weather permitting) - Leaders: Naomi Maggs 848-5656 and Marg Reckahn 461-3505. Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 10 a.m. to carpool to Spragge. Duration: 5-6 hrs.

End of May, Early June, Chutes Prov. Park Trillium Tour (weather permitting) - Leader: David Young 848-9590 and Hans Kamps 461-7737. Meet at Brunswick Walk parking lot at 9 a.m. to carpool to Massey. Bring a bug jacket/repellent. Duration: 6-7 hrs.

Friday, June 1st, Medicinal Flowers, Plants & Trees at the Sherriff Creek Sanctuary - Leader: Naomi Maggs 848-5656 (weather permitting). Meet at the main entrance of the Sanctuary at 1p.m. Duration: 2-3 hrs.

Month of June, Canoe the Mississagi River Delta (Blind River) (date will depend on weather conditions)
The Mississagi river is unique with its classic Delta. Along the back river we will see a cemetery with markers of early settlers dating to the early 1800’s. There are also many species of birds and aquatic wild life including Sandhill crane nests.
For further information contact Norm Black 461-1563.

August 24 – 5 – 7 p.m. Annual PHFN Pot luck Picnic, Westview Park – Please bring your dishes and cutlery and a dish to share.

SHERRIFF CREEK SANCTUARY SPEAKS...................
Wow! Spring is busting out all over! Each day some new reminder of the season makes its debut within my borders. Even when patches of snow remained on the ground, mourning cloak butterflies, some of our earliest reminders of spring, woke from hibernation to flit about in the sun.

Our turtles have emerged from their winter sleep, too. Any sunny day, you can watch the Painted Turtles catching rays on logs close to shore in the cattail marsh. Six – two of them a considerable size - were on one log on Earth Day. And if you sit for a bit on the bench past the bridges, you might meet the snapping turtle who lives in the pond there.

The week of April 16, before the ice had entirely melted from the cattail marsh, enthusiastic Penokeans sighted Canada Geese, buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, and common and hooded mergansers. Those were the ones that landed, even briefly. But eager eyes have spotted loons flying over, and on Earth Day, PHFN clean-up groups were delighted to hear and see sandhill cranes in flight. Back for another season, swallows are again swooping over the marsh waters.

Early bloomers are appearing too. It wouldn’t be spring without pussy willows or catkins, and various kinds are to be seen in the Sanctuary right now. Several varieties of trees, such as willow, alder, aspen, poplar produce pussy willows, and you’re probably aware that they are the flowers of those trees. As you walk along, enjoying the warmth and the signs of the new season, you might hear what sounds like a chorus of ducks. Investigation will reveal male wood frogs who have come from the woods to a quiet stream, and are letting all female wood frogs know their whereabouts. The wood frog chorus serenading Earth Day was pretty vocal, but their song lasts only a few days and stops with mating, to be followed by spring peepers, small tree frogs with a piercing peeping sound when they all get going. Last week, the two species of frogs seemed to be doing their songs simultaneously although they were in different areas, each location just right for their needs.

So come on down for a visit. You’re sure to experience something that means spring. It’s just possible the ruffed grouse who drummed so vigorously on Earth Day will do a repeat for you.