We can’t believe that the summer is half-way over already! It caught me by surprise as I sat down to write this week’s edition of Friday Field Notes. Nevertheless, there is no time to slow down and contemplate the passing of time, here’s what’s been going on around the HLC!
Our Seaweed Identification Workshop with Dr. Megann Bruce was a Wild Weekend success! During low tide we toured around the tidepools here at the HLC, collecting seaweed and checking out the local marine ecology. We took our seaweed specimens back to the Centre to make art presses that both preserve and highlight the beautiful sea grass that we learned so much about to take home! We want to give a huge thank you to Dr. Bruce, who came all the way from New Brunswick to facilitate this workshop! Thank you to our participants for coming out and wading through the world of seaweed with us!
This week Shauna, our Field Station Manager, and Dirk, our founder and property owner, attended the Keji Stakeholder meeting held at Keji Seaside. Eleven representatives of organizations based in the area, including the Region of Queens and NS Lands and Forestry, as well as three additional Parks Canada officials (Including Gabrielle Beaulieu, Project Coordinator for Keji Seaside and one of our board members!) were present. The meeting was held to discuss a vision and plan for Keji Seaside in the coming decade. It was an incredibly informative meeting and was helpful to bring the community together to talk about the future of a beloved national park on the South Shore. The HLC was thrilled to be present for the initial meeting and we are eager to hear of the coming planning sessions for Keji!
We learned yesterday that we are recipients of the MEC Grassroots Product Grant, a small grant for non-profits to strengthen their initiatives of environmental stewardship and outdoor activity! We are so privileged to have the opportunity to update some of our outdoor gear around the property! A deep thank you to MEC for allowing us to continue to grow and bring new and exciting things for you folks to try out!
As for our animal of the week, which is now practically become a weekly segment of Friday Field Notes. This elegant dragonfly was happily buzzing around the centre yesterday; so happy in fact that he couldn’t sit still for a nice picture! Is it me or does he look like a dragon boat too?
Make sure to follow our social medias at Facebook: @HarrisonLewisCoastalDiscoveryCentre, and on Instagram @harrisonlewiscentre for all the activities coming up this August, and to keep up with all the happenings around the property! See you guys next week!
Written by: Mackenzie Blanchard
Edited by: Shauna Doll