Wild bees perform essential pollination services, facilitating the reproduction of wild plants and several regionally important crops, including blueberry, apple, and cranberry. However, wild pollinators in general and bees in particular are threatened by land use change, climate change, insecticide exposure, pathogen spillover from managed bees, and more. A further challenge is scarcity of data on species distributions.

In this session, Emily Austen will provide an introduction to wild bee biology and some major groups of wild bees in our region and will share preliminary results of a project aimed at documenting wild bee diversity in backyard gardens in Sackville. Participants will get to examine specimens up-close and will leave with a new (or renewed) appreciation for these small-but-mighty organisms.

Dr. Emily Austen is a biologist at Mount Allison University. A plant evolutionary ecologist with a special interest in pollination biology, her recent Wild Bee project has helped deepen her knowledge of the biology and diversity of the pollinators themselves.

This will be an in-person presentation at the lodge, but those who wish can join via Zoom. All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Click here to join via Zoom

Image: Jada Ripley 2024. CC BY-NC 4.0

You are invited to a Riverfront cleanup on Saturday, April 26, from 10 am – 12 pm. Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear, your Nature Moncton name tag, and bring work gloves. This initiative is in conjunction with the City of Moncton’s Earth week cleanup. The City will provide garbage bags and non-latex gloves to wear over our work gloves.

All ages are welcome, Nature Moncton members or not.

Apps:
📱Google Lens, a product of Google using your cell camera or saved photos.
📱Merlin, an app for identifying birds in the field. 
📱eBird, an app for sharing your observations to a database. 

⚠To get the most out of this workshop, please download the Merlin and eBird apps onto your phone and follow the prompts to create an account before the workshop.⚠ To use Google Lens, you will only need an internet connection and a browser on your phone.

Participants are also encouraged to join us for a walk at the Bell Street (Wilson’s) Marsh on Saturday May 10 starting at 10 a.m. where they can put their new skills to work. Saturday May 10 is Global Big Day, which is an annual global birding event where bird enthusiasts record their bird sightings and contribute to scientific research through the eBird platform.

🦆All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not

Click here to join via Zoom

We will enjoy a walk around the Bell Street (Wilson’s) marsh on Saturday May 10 at 10 a.m. Please meet at the corner of Bell Street and Bond Street; and parking is available along Bond Street. The trail is rated as easy to navigate and the terrain is level with the exception of the first 100 metres where we must descend from Bell Street to the marsh.

Everyone is welcome and participants of the apps workshop held on May 8th will be encouraged to use their newly acquired skills to identify and record our bird sightings to contribute to the Global Big Day citizen science event.

Please wear weather appropriate clothing and your Nature Moncton nametag (if you have one), and bring your binoculars. Extra pairs of binoculars will be available to borrow if needed.

Together, we’ll watch a 40-minute nature documentary and then Cathy and Wendy will have some questions for discussion afterwards. The May 14 screening will be “Arctic Blue with Peter Mansbridge.”

Click here to join via Zoom

This protected area is approximately 5 hectares in size and is now crossed by a network of 3 nature trails and smaller side footpaths, winding through the naturalized woodland and wetland area that has become a wildlife sanctuary. The rambling pathways total approximately a kilometer in length and may take us 1 to 1 ½ hours to cover at naturalist speed.

This park is a joint effort of the Tantramar Outdoor Club (TOC), Chignecto Naturalists’ Club, and Tantramar Heritage Trust, along with the Municipality of Tantramar, and their work on improving footpaths and providing interpretive signage is still underway.

Richard Elliot is the retired wildlife biologist coordinating this project for the TOC, and he’ll begin our visit with a 15-minute introduction on the incredible industrial history of this former sandstone quarry and recent progress to improve accessibility and awareness for visitors.

We’ll meet at the top of Quarry Lane, and folks should put Quarry Lane, Sackville in their phone or car GPS to get to the right place. Richard suggests that most use the Mount Allison Parking lot at the corner of Salem and Park Streets, though some can park at the end of Quarry Lane. A contact phone number, if needed, is 506-866-2752.

As always, all are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.