IBA event, Never-2-Old workshop and more

Hello folks, Jamiel here to fill you in on my final week at the HLC!

On Sunday we hosted an informal gathering to discuss the significance of the Port Joli IBA area. We began with a wonderful presentation from Bird Studies Canada which brought everyone up to speed on what an IBA is and how they are classified. This was followed by a presentation on the MOTUS Wildlife Tracking System antenna that has been installed at the HLC. Attendees joined us for a walk to Sandy Bay Beach to scope out any shorebirds that could be seen. We finished the event with some corn on the cob in the main building, courtesy of Dirk, and some discussion. It was a great turn out. Thank you to all who joined us!

On Tuesday we hosted our August N2O workshop on weaving with discarded and reclaimed fishing rope. The event started with some refreshments in the main building before heading down to Sandy Bay Beach to do a quick beach cleanup. Everyone walked away with a beautifully weaved item and a smile on their face. Many thanks to Yvonne of C Y Knot for leading the workshop and all the attendees that came out! 

This week our Wild Wednesday event was held at the beautiful Carters Beach. We prepared some touch tanks with a variety of creatures collected by Jessica in the nearby water. After learning a little about each creature, we headed for the dunes to hear about migratory birds, insects and mammals that inhabit this ecosystem. A productive discussion was held about the importance of dune conservation and ways to possibly mitigate dune damage. It was a very successful event. We appreciate all the interested individuals who came out to learn about the ecological significance of beach and dune ecosystems. 

Join us for our next Wild Wednesday event to learn about the bats that surround us!

I’d like to say farewell to the readers of our blog, to everyone who came out to our workshops and events, and most importantly the team here at the HLC. It has been an amazing summer and I will be sad to go. This field station is truly unique, and I will never forget my time here. Jessica and Kaitlyn have been fantastic coworkers and I wish you two the best. To Dirk, thank you for all the knowledge, books and accommodations you so graciously provided. I’ll leave you with some of the better pictures I’ve taken over the summer. Hasta la vista pals!

Ticks in our backyard, a Wild Walk on Coastal Ecology and more:

Jamiel here to tell you about another week at the HLC!

On Tuesday, Shelley and her family paid us a visit to talk about upcoming tick research that will be conducted at the Harrison Lewis Centre. According to the provincial website: “Everyone who spends time outside in Nova Scotia – even in urban and suburban areas – is at risk of being bitten by a tick.” The rare ticks we’ve caught on our most recent walks have been placed in a veil, with plans to set them in resin for better viewing. There are several kinds of ticks in Nova Scotia, but only the black legged ticks carry the bacteria and virus that cause tick-borne diseases. You can clearly see the differences between species in the picture below.

Another fun and successful Wild Wednesday took place this week at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park led by Sue Penney, an experienced Education Coordinator with Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park. The topic was “A Wild Walk on Coastal Ecology”. Throughout our hike Sue introduced us to many trees, shrubs and other wildlife that surrounded the trail. She helped us identify Bunchberries (Cornus canadensis) and insisted that we try them. They are often thought to be tasteless, but we found if you chew them slowly they have a subtle sweet taste. 

Sue was most passionate about all the different species of lichen that could be found on rocks and trees alike. A magic trick was preformed on one species of lichens growing on a tree, after pouring some water and waiting a few seconds, what used to be a brown withered lichen turned a luscious green colour.

After pointing out some poison ivy and how to identify it, we finished our walk by cooling off at the beach. We learned about green crabs as we attempted to catch them in our butterfly nets. A handful were caught, shown mercy and released back to the environment to reek havoc on the eelgrass.

One of the attendees brought along their traveling buddy Bettina, they take her on all their trips and photograph her doing amusing things. It was quite funny, and you can check her Instagram page out here. Much thanks to Sue Penney for guiding us on this very informative walk.

Bettina Noodles

This Sunday we will be hosting an Important Bird Area (IBA) gathering to discuss the significance of Port Joli and other IBAs. There will be a presentation from Bird Studies Canada, an update on waterfowl data that has been captured by the MOTUS Wildlife Tracking System antenna installed at the Harrison Lewis Centre, and a guided walk to Sandy Beach to observe migrating waterfowl. There will also be refreshments and snacks after the walk. For more information contact info@harrisonlewiscentre.org

Tuesday we will be hosting another installment of our Never-2-Old workshop. This workshop, led by Yvonne Sovereign, introduces participants to the wonderful art of weaving with discarded and reclaimed fishing nets. Attendees can create small take-home projects and there will be a complimentary lunch at noon. For more information on scheduling and registration, click here.

Next Wild Wednesday will be held at Carters Beach where we will look at the ecological significance of beach and dune ecosystems. We will be examining migratory birds, insects, and mammals that inhabit the dunes and beachs. For more information on the event and registration click here.

We are still selling raffle tickets for the beautiful watercolour painting of the nearby Sandy Bay Beach donated by local artist Roger Savage to raise funds for our organization. The tickets are $2 each, or three for $5. The draw will take place at the end of September. To purchase tickets, contact Jessica Bradford at (902)-440-5503 or by email at info@harrisonlewiscentre.org

Stewardship at Carters Beach and more!

Happy Friday Folks,

Jamiel here with another edition of our Friday Field Notes, let’s get right into it!

On Wednesday we headed to Carters Beach to host another installment of our Wild Wednesday event. Kaitlyn created an ‘idea catcher’ which was a great tool to get participants thinking about what actions they could take to improve and protect Carters Beach for future generation. We handed out brochures and spoke to many beach goers, asking for their input and suggestions on ways to help maintain the beauty of the site. Questions ranged from “what do you think makes Carters so special?” to “what can you do to be a responsible beach visitor?”. My favourite answer was "Three for the Sea", an idea that everyone should pick up three pieces of garbages when visiting a beach. 

Dirk taking a stroll down the beach

This week we welcomed back Morgan Rice and her research partner Iain Wilson. They were collecting data on vegetation communities and structure diversity of forested-wetlands throughout Atlantic Canada as part of a 3-year research project. Funded by the Atlantic Ecosystem Initiative, they hope to help in the development of strategies to mitigate anthropogenic impacts and to preserve the ecosystem services provided by forested wetlands in Atlantic Canada.

Unrealistic fear of sharks? Me too.

Hilton is a 12.5-foot, 1326-pound Great White Shark that has been cruising off our coast, snacking on seals along the way. He made his first appearance along Nova Scotia’s south shore back in August of 2017. You can track Hiltons movement on this website, he must surface long enough for the satellite to pick him up and read his location. His Twitter is a good laugh too, check it out.

Not far from us 

Join Sue Penney and our team on Wednesday for an educational walk at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. As part of our Wild Wednesday series, this week’s topic is “A Wild Walk on Coastal Ecology”. Participants will learn about local rocks, lichens, mosses, trees, shrubbery, tidal pool life, and more. Don’t miss out!

Next Tuesday we will be hosting another installment of our Never-2-Old workshop. This workshop, led by Yvonne Sovereign, introduces participants to the wonderful art of weaving with discarded and reclaimed fishing nets. Attendees can create small take-home projects and there will be a complementary lunch at noon. For more information on scheduling and registration, click here.

We will also be hosting a Chainsaw Use & Safety workshop here at the HLC over the weekend of August 17th. We still have spaces to fill, so if you or anyone you know would like to participate click here for more information.

That’s all for this edition of our Friday Field Notes, enjoy your weekends.

A Harrison Lewis Lecture & Low Tide Scavenger Hunt

It’s Jessica here keeping you in the HLC loop this week!  Thanks to my colleagues Kaitlyn and Jamiel for taking care of the blog these past few weeks. First, I really must say what a privilege it is working with these two smart, hard-working and positive people. If you have had the opportunity to meet them at the HLC or an event this summer so far, then you would certainly know what I mean!

Moving on to some events that took place this week. On Tuesday, we co-hosted a first Harrison Lewis Lecture with our friends at White Point Beach Resort. This was a fantastic opportunity to connect the local community with a visiting scientist and give them the opportunity to discuss and share their research. Our speaker for the evening was Dr. Franziska Broell, a marine biologist and co-founder of Maritime bioLoggers. For a crowd of 35 people who came to the talk, she discussed her work using new technology or, more specifically, modular high-resolution bio-logging sensors, which are used to study marine wildlife that is typically difficult to access. Dr. Broell shared two examples of her work, involving grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) off Sable Island and narwhal (Monodon Monoceros) in the high Arctic.

It was amazing to hear about she and her team have learned about these animals using this technology. Much of what she shared is entirely new information to the world of science and has yet to be published, so it was truly a treat for the crowd who attended. Thank you to White Point for this opportunity. We hope to see more Harrison Lewis Lectures in the future!

We also saw our next installment of Wild Wednesday – a low tide scavenger hunt to learn about some different marine critters at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park! There was group of 16 who came to the event, including some campers at the park.

Using one of our handy brochures as a guide, the group scavenged the shoreline, finding an abundance of intertidal life, including moon snail, soft shell clam, dog whelk, common periwinkle, rock crab, Jonah crab, razor clam, blue mussel, and slipper snail. There were a few invasive species found as well such as the European green crab and violet tunicate from Asia. Everyone came together and shared their findings at the end and then there was a draw for prizes donated to us by our friends at A is for Adventure. It was a fantastic day. Thanks to all who came along.

Next week’s Wild Wednesday is at Carters Beach and involves a focus group for Kaitlyn’s research to help get youth voices in the conversation around coastal zone management. If you or you know someone between the ages of 14-19 who might be interested in this opportunity, then please get in touch! We will also be looking forward to what August brings, including our next Never-2-Old workshop in which we will be learning to weave with discarded fishing line. That is all for now, folks. Happy weekend!

Crafting, exploring, appreciating & more!

Hi Folks!

It’s Kaitlyn here, back for another edition of Friday Field Notes. I has been an exciting week at the HLC, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

This week we said farewell to the one-and-only Nick Hawkins as he continues to travel around the province documenting why Nova Scotia’s marine and ocean environments are so special. It was great to have him here- I think we all learned a lot about marine ecosystems, photo journalism & what we have right at our back door! Before Nick left, HLC staff joined him for a field trip  to Cape Sable Island to visit the Hawk Beach and explore the Drowned Forest.

One of the many tree stumps we found in the drowned forest

The Hawk Beach is home to the tallest and most southerly lighthouse in all of Nova Scotia and is also home to an eerie and mystical coastal environment- the drowned forest.

The Drowned Forest is made up of preserved tree stumps, some of which experts have dated back 1500 years. The walk along the beach almost feels apocalyptic- but despite this, is something not to be missed!

Jamiel & Jessica exploring the drowned forest

This week we hosted our second instalment of the Never-2-Old workshop. We were joined by a group of folks eager to get crafting and make some nature-focused jewellery pendants. The workshop was led by HLC Manager Jessica Bradford, who picked up the craft as a hobby, and is now preserving some of her most treasured finds in beautiful necklace pendants. The group at the workshop turned on their creative juices and made some diverse and beautiful pieces of jewellery! Join us for our next Never-2-Old happening on August 14th where we’ll be turning discarded fishing rope into mats, coasters, plant hangers & more!

A few of the lovely pendants crafted at our latest Never-2-Old workshop!

Unfortunately, a foul weather forecast led us to cancel our Wild Wednesday program for this past week- but that just means we’ll be back next week better than ever! Speaking of next week- we’re planning a low tide scavenger hunt at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park AND there will be PRIZES. Come on out and explore with us!

Finally, you’ll soon have a much easier time finding the HLC as we’re getting new signage! Here’s a quick preview of what to expect as you approach. Hope to see you soon!

Jamiel here with another edition of our Friday Field Notes

First, with an exciting wildlife sighting just outside our main building. On Thursday, a mother bear and her young cub dropped by to say hello. Thankfully, we had wildlife photographer Nick Hawkins on site to capture some excellent photos of the encounter. 

We have been hosting Nick Hawkins for just over a week now. Here on assignment for SeaBlue Canada, Nick is shining a light on some of the most important marine areas of Atlantic Canada. SeaBlue is a movement of Canadians holding government accountable for protecting our oceans and fragile sea life that lives here. He has given us the opportunity to see many of the impressive photographs he has taken of the surrounding local wildlife and landscape as he documents the coastal and marine beauty of our region. Getting to see what's above and below the water reminds us of the interconnectivity of it all and that our actions on land can have impacts on the sea. 

A successful first Wild Wednesday of the summer was held at the HLC this week, the topic was DIY Forest Terrariums. We took a short walk around the centre and down to the beach, collecting many small plants, fungi, soil and some gravel to create miniature take home ecosystems. Some participants even included small insects, such as ants or snails in their jars.  It was a fun learning experience for the children and their parents, big thanks to everyone who came out.

This past week, we also got to be involved with Kejimkujik National Park’s BioBlitz. This is an event held every year across Canadian Nation Parks and is intended to bring people of all ages outside to experience the beautiful wildlife that surrounds us. At Kejimkujik Seaside National Park, we had to chance to participate in the Tidal Pool Tour and Estuary Encounter. With the help of an expert in marine life, we identified some species that get left behind by the receding tides. We also had a second opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the invasive European Green Crab, to learn more about the destructive crab check out last weeks post where we attended the Gone Crabbin’ adventure. 

On Tuesday, we attended a meeting hosted by the Friends of Port Mouton Bay for the reveal of the findings in a local research paper which investigated the possible impacts open-pen fish farms have on lobster catch rates. The results came from an 11-year study that brought to light the decline in market lobster catches when fish farms were actively raising fish. The study suggested that odour plumes and fecal waste produced by fish farms contributed to this issue. I currently reside in Ontario, so this was a great moment to learn about a topic that would normally never cross my mind.

Next Tuesday, Jessica will be leading the Never-2-Old Resin Jewellery Art workshop where you can learn to embed and preserve tiny pieces of nature into beautiful necklace pendants. All materials will be provided but feel free to bring anything unique you want to embed into your jewellery. A lunch will also be prepared for all participants. Click here to view registration and scheduling details.  

Our second Wild Wednesday, Where the Seas Meet the Trees, will be held at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. Attendees will learn about coastal forest ecology and much more. Click here for more information. Another great week ahead. Make sure to get in touch and join us for an event! 

Gone Crabbin' at Kejimkujik and more:

This past week our team travelled to Kejimkujik Seaside National Park to learn more about their Gone Crabbin’ program. The exciting activity allows participants to experience how the park is working to restore ecosystems impacted by the invasive European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas). We began our trip with a guided walk led by  Colleen Anderson, Interpretation Officer/Coordinator with the Park. She pointed out many interesting flowers and the unique coastal barrens landscape that surrounded the trail, which isn’t actually ‘barren’ at all. One nifty flower seen throughout the day was the Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea), a carnivorous plant found primarily in bogs. As the name implies, at the bottom of the leafless stalk, it has a pitcher filled with nutrient rich water that attracts soon to be eaten insects. The flower may be familiar to you as it is the floral emblem of the province of Newfoundland. 

The initial crab invasion occurred across Atlantic Canada in the 1950’s. It was followed by a more cold-water tolerant and aggressive Green Crab invasion in the 1980’s, which was attributed to the collapse of several shellfish fisheries across North America’s eastern seaboard. Green Crabs are now known to out compete native species for food resource, high reproductive capacity, their unending appetite for shellfish and destruction of eelgrass beds. They are often referred to as the cockroaches of the sea. 

By 2010, the eelgrass coverage in Little Port Joli Estuary had been diminished to less than 2% of its historical expanse. Through the efforts made by the Conservation and Restoration Program, the estuary has returned to 38% overall eelgrass coverage. One key to success was an efficient trap design developed with the help of local fishing expertise. The trap was so efficient, it once caught 1000 crabs overnight.

Much about the molting cycles of the green crab is still unknown and a large part of the effort being made at Kejimkujik is in studying the crabs.  The pictures below show some of the holding pens they currently use to study molting and how factors such as water temperature play a role in the process. If crab molting can be correctly predicted it may increase the marketability of the crab, which in turn increases the efforts to lower populations.

The Gone Crabbin’ program was a fantastic opportunity to experience first hand a strategy that has shown itself successful in reducing an invasive species population, while also returning Little Port Joli Estuary to its previous glory. We would like to thank Kejimkujik Seaside Nation Park and encourage anyone in the area to attend this seacoast adventure. Click here for more information on the program. 

Earlier this week, we welcomed Nick Hawkins, a wildlife and conservation photographer, to the centre. He will be staying with us for close to two weeks as he documents different coastal and marine areas while showing what makes this region special. Nick has produced feature articles for Canadian Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine and Canadian Wildlife Magazine. We are very excited to have one of the world’s top wildlife, nature and culture photographers spend some time with us this summer! The next edition of our Friday Field Notes will highlight his work and the amazing photographs he has already taken. Here is a sneak peek of what’s to come.

On Wednesday, we visited the Lillian Benham Library in Lockeport, where we set up a small display to promote the Centre and our summer Wild Wednesday program. We will be returning in September for a presentation on our action-packed summer. On behalf of the Harrison Lewis Centre, I’d like to thank the very kind and accommodating library staff.

Come join us for our first Wild Wednesday of the summer! Every week we will be hosting free educational activities, for all ages, on various nature topics.  This week is the DIY Forest Terrarium where you will learn about our local ecosystem by creating your very own take-home terrarium. 

Finally, here are the interns enjoying a much-deserved break after a tough day at work!  

Until next time,

Jamiel

Schools out! Jamiel here with week one of a super exciting summer at HLC:

On Saturday, the crew, along with our very knowledgeable board member Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, collaborated with White Point in hosting a guided nature walk along a beautiful coastal forest trail. Participants learnt new tricks to identify local plant species, the geological history of Nova Scotia and much more. Along the walk, we saw a little redbelly snake on the path, Soren kindly held it for a quick photo. He also explained the interesting fact that due to Nova Scotia and Morocco being connected in the pre-existing supper continent, Pangea, they share similar geology today. It was a very informative walk!

Monday afternoon we said goodbye to the last of the Dalhousie Seaside students for the summer. While here, they enjoyed the open space and natural lighting that the main HLC building had to offer. After a successful week of ecology-based GIS work, the students returned home for the summer. GIS stands for Geographic Information System and can be used to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present many types of geographical data. Throughout their week, they spent time hiking, paddling and occasionally driving to data collection sites to complete engaging projects.

Currently, I am enrolled in an Environmental Technician program and I’m very excited to expand my knowledge at HLC this summer as Field Station Assistant. To read more about my role here and a short biography click the blue lettering. This is also my first prolonged stay in Nova Scotia and the beauty surrounding our Centre is mesmerizing. I’ve been working on taking more pictures to remember this adventure by. Here are some fun ones shot by yours truly.

Always breathtaking views to capture at the Harrison Lewis Centre. The second photo is a Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) snacking on a Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens). Yum!

As a fun side project, I’ve been setting up and testing different locations and techniques to capture some of the abundant wildlife around our location.  On the first night we caught a feisty raccoon taking an early morning stroll to the beach. The following day our friendly neighborhood bear stopped by for a short video. The trail camera gives us the perfect opportunity to continuously monitor local wildlife and see what they are up to when no one is looking.

On Wednesday, Jessica, Kaitlyn, Dirk and I transformed two mounds of upturned roots by the main building into beautiful garden beds. One garden received lavender, coneflower, butterfly bush and bee balm - all fantastic for pollinators. You have all most likely heard that pollinators are critical to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The second garden bed will be transformed into our permanent natural dye garden – a partnership with Shelburne-based artist Cindy Hagen who will use the plants for natural dying of textiles! . It was the perfect day to do some gardening! 

On Thursday we partook in a lovely guided walk at Kejimkujik Seaside National Park to learn more about their invasive species program, local wildlife, and some interesting plant species. We will be sharing more about this in next weeks blog!

We are excited to be kicking off our Wild Wednesday event this July, so make sure to check out our calendar for more information on these upcoming events. 
 

… and here is the weekly intern update

they quickly outgrew their old home!

Until next the edition of our Friday Field Notes,

– Jamiel

Workshops, Seaside Classes, and Wildlife!

Jessica here for another edition of Friday Field notes. First of all, Happy Summer Solstice! It has been non-stop here at the HLC since my last post. We saw our second installment of the Never-2-Old (N2O) program, which was a workshop focused on Nordic Pole Walking – a quickly growing low impact physical fitness activity that helps to get people moving more muscles and burn more calories, while also taking pressure of ankles and knees. We had a wonderful group of 15 in for this workshop, including our two lovely instructors James Boyer and Heather Leslie. The group got lots of instruction, had the opportunity to explore some trails around the HLC, and enjoyed a home-cooked lunch. We kindly thank Nordic Pole Walking Nova Scotia and the Keshen Goodman Public Library for supplying the poles for this workshop.

During this same week, we also had four researchers under Dr. Karen Harper, a plant ecologist and adjunct professor, staying here while they were studying/surveying forested wetlands in the region. Their project will help to gain a better understanding of forested wetland ecology in an effort to help in the development of strategies to mitigate anthropogenic impacts and to preserve the ecosystem services provided by forested wetlands in Atlantic Canada. Some members of her team will be back to stay later in the season as well. We hope to see lots more researchers coming in to use our space while they conduct their field work in the region!

Later that week, the HLC got 13 adorable new interns.

:)

We have also had our largest group yet (30 + people) come through the doors, with the Field Aquaculture course (MARI 3604) through Dalhousie University Seaside Summer program. This class was using the HLC as a home base, while visiting many different types of land and ocean-based aquaculture farms, research institutes, government offices, etc. along the South Shore. With this many people, a few tents had to be pitched on the property as well.

In the downtime between all these groups coming through, I have also had the opportunity to appreciate some of the abundant wildlife around me, including our resident black bear! In the evenings, I have even gotten to see glimpses of a Northern flying squirrel who likes to hang around the main building.

Next up, the GIS in Ecology course will be coming to the HLC for a few days and this will be our last Seaside course of the season. Today, we will be welcoming a new staff member in the Field Station Assistant position who will likely be writing our blog for next week. On Saturday, we will also be collaborating with White Point and hosting a guided nature walk on coastal forest ecology there with our board member Soren Bondrup-Neilson. Stay tuned for reports on those events!

Until my next Field Notes,

Jessica

Carters Beach & More

Welcome to the second instalment of the HLC’s 2018 Friday Field Notes, this time coming at you from Kaitlyn- the HLC’s Summer Public Outreach & Project Coordinator. I’ve been with the HLC for just over a month, and lots has happened over that time. Since Jessica’s last post we have had even more people pass through the HLC doors, including a weekend Birding-by-Ear workshop led by Dr. Sarah Gutowsky. This workshop included birdsong-filled days, with dawn chorus walks, afternoon field trips, memory retention tips & tricks, dusk walks & evening seminars. Coming up next week we have two Dalhousie Seaside courses coming through; Field Aquaculture and GIS in Ecology.s

Birding-by-Ear workshop participants on one of their dawn chorus walks

Although I’m involved with many things here at the HLC, my primary role is in overseeing the Carters Beach public outreach and stewardship project, which is jointly funded by the Clean Foundation and Nova Scotia Environment Protected Areas Branch. The Carters Beach project entails lots of pubic outreach, education and interpretation, and aims to cultivate a sense of stewardship amongst local people, and visitors alike. The folks in Queens County take great pride in Carters Beach, the area holds much social, cultural and ecological value, and this project aims to help protect such a special place. 

An example of some of the interpretive and educational material I'm working on for Carters Beach. This Project Update will be circulated to the community so that everyone can be kept in the loop! 

The Carters Beach Project also ties in nicely with my Masters research where I’m looking at tools for engaging youth and young people in natural resource management. There is a growing body of literature that highlights the tendency for natural resource management to be ‘inter-generationally blind’; meaning that the role of youth as users and stakeholders in natural systems is traditionally overlooked, and thus youth voices are not meaningfully included nor impacts on youth populations monitored. My research aims to combat this type of resource management by using Carters Beach as a case study for including youth perceptions in the management of coastal resources. Throughout the summer I’ll be exploring youth perceptions of Carters Beach, how local youth envision the future of the area, as well as their role in cultivating that future. 

I’m currently in the recruitment phase of this project, and am seeking youth aged 14-19 who have an interest in sharing their voice on the state and future of Carters Beach and our coastal environments in general.

If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved contact me at Kaitlyn.harris@dal.ca

Stewardship initiatives at Carters Beach

Until next time, 

Kaitlyn

Starting up Friday Field Notes

It has been quite some time since the last HLC blog post, so here we are with our first post of 2018! We’ve decided that we will take turns blogging weekly, with posts happening every Friday. 

Who’s ‘we’, you ask? The people behind the HLC blog for this year are Jessica, Kaitlyn, and, perhaps, a lucky new staff member who is hired for the position of Field Station Assistant that is currently open. If you would like to learn more about us, then please feel free to check out our bios on the staff page.

It is Jessica here first taking a stab at bringing you up to speed on all things HLC-related.  This past month was a very busy month, which included organizing, seasonal planning, having our first workshop of the year, and hosting two Dalhousie University Seaside courses and a retreat. Between all these events, we have already seen over 80 people come through the doors. 

This started off with top-to-bottom cleaning reorganization of the main building or “The Cookhouse” to get things ready for the season. 

We also hosted a Spring Cleaning/Prep Day with staff, board members and volunteers to get the bunkhouses and surrounding property ready. Our youngest volunteer, Carmel, the daughter of one of our board members, Grant McNeil, agreed that it really was the best day ever! 

"Best day ever!" according to Carmel's shirt :)

Our first workshop of the season was a day workshop through the Never-2-Old Program called a “A Garden to Dye For,” which taught participants about plants that can be used as natural dyes and also gave people the opportunity to plant their own dye garden. We graciously thank Cindy Hagen, owner of Studio 138 in Shelburne, for leading this workshop. We also thank the Shelburne County Arts Council for their support of Cindy’s involvement with us! Cindy will be leading part 2 of this workshop in September during which we will actually be harvesting the dye plants and learning to dye textiles with them. Please also stay tuned for establishment of a permanent dye garden at the HLC! 

Next up, we had two Dal Seaside courses in – medical entomology (BIOL 3328) and ornithology (BIOL 3622). For the field component of their course, the medical entomology students were here for just one day and night to identify and collect various insects of medical significance. It is no secret that the South Shore of Nova Scotia is a hotspot for ticks, so the students were able to collect a number of ticks (mostly dog tick [Dermacentor variabilis] and just one deer tick [Ixodes scapularis]) to bring back to the lab. 

Vials of ticks with your morning coffee, anyone?

Ornithology students had a longer stay of six days at the HLC, allowing them to learn all about a variety of bird species in an immersive field setting. This included a packed itinerary of dawn chorus walks, surveys at nearby Keji Seaside and Thomas Raddall Provincial Park, and work on their field projects. 

This past weekend, we had a group in for a get-back-to-nature wilderness/wellness retreat. This was co-hosted by the Halifax Social Network and A for Adventure. Let me tell you, this crew had quite the impressive itinerary and packed A LOT in over the course of two days.  This included a smudging ceremony thanks to Kinsey Francis and her dad Andrew Francis of the Acadia First Nation, workouts and yoga on the beach, a hike at Keji Seaside Adjunct, bonfires, music, spoken word poetry, a brewery tour at Boxing Rock in Shelburne, and, what as a first for the HLC, a podcast taping right from our main lodge! They certainly made the most of their time here in beautiful Queens County.

If this is any indication for what the rest of the summer and fall will be like, then we are in for a real treat! For those interested in getting involved or learning more about what we do here at the HLC, please do not hesitate to get in touch at info@harrisonlewiscentre.org. Until next week!

2017 Year-end Report

Forest terrarium dispels winter blahs

The date for the Harrison Lewis Centre’s September Never Too Old program — build your own forest floor terrarium — has been changed from Tuesday Sept. 26 to Tuesday, Sept. 12 — this coming Tuesday, 10 am to 2 pm!

All free, including soup and salad lunch (although donations always welcome).

We have a small number of glass gallon jars. However, if you or your favourite restaurant has one to bring along — with top — please do, or bring along a small aquarium with top. A small trowel would also be useful.

It will help plan lunch if people let us know by email if they plan to attend. 

dvledit@eastlink.ca/  or 138create@gmail.com/ 

AUGUST 22 & 23

Events this week! 

N20: Never-2-Old! 

Free!

The N2O Program is a monthly day-trip to the Harrison Lewis Centre for those 55 and older, and their friends and family for short presentations and to take part in guided nature walks, hands-on activities, led discussions, and a lunch. 

THIS WEEK: Have you ever discovered an ancient “artifact” on the beach or in the ground? Would you like to learn about what you’ve found? Archaeologists from the Canadian Museum of History and the Nova Scotia Museum are on the South Shore region of Nova Scotia searching for endangered archaeological sites, and you can help. 

Bring your found items to the Harrison Lewis Centre, in Port Joli, on Tuesday, August 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. An archaeologist will identify the object and tell you its approximate age. In return, they’ll photograph it and ask you where you found it. You’ll be helping them discover new archaeological sites, and may help them to preserve important sites endangered by climate change. 

Mattew Betts
Curator, Atlantic Provinces Archaeology
Canadian Museum of History
Matthew.Betts@historymuseum.ca

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Wild Wednesday!

Every Wednesday afternoon (1-3 pm)  the Harrison Lewis Centre hosts Wild Wednesday guided nature walks at neighbouring Thomas Raddall Provincial Park.  

This week we'll have Mattew Betts from the N2O giving a short version of his presentation to the campers at Thomas Raddall!  Come share the fun - rain or shine! These two hour walks are free. Just stop by the administration building at the park entrance to sign up and find out where each walk begins. All ages welcomed. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

YOU CAN BOOK THE HLC!

Everyone who visits the Harrison Lewis Centre inevitably comes away with a love for the amazing landscape we're a part of; student groups, workshop participants, park goers, & researchers have been discovering the allure of our natural history down here at the HLC for years. Now you can have the same opportunity! We are opening up our cabins and our centre for any group of up to 20 people to rent during the summer season! Be it a youth group, staff retreat, field work, a family trip, or simply a love of the outdoors with friends, we can host them all!  See our page "Book Your Retreat" under the EVENTS tab for more details on what the HLC has to offer, as well as the surrounding wilderness areas. Soon this page will be available for online booking, but until then, contact Dirk @ 902.646.1554 with any booking inquiries, or email info@harrisonlewiscentre.org, or message our Facebook page! "Harrison Lewis Coastal Discovery Centre"! 

Hope to see you soon!

CANCELLED: NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Unfortunately, we've had to cancel our Nature Photography Workshop due August 11-13. The HLC apologizes for any inconvenience. With luck, we will be able to offer a similar workshop next summer! 

Backyard Forestry Workshop

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Backyard Forestry workshop this past weekend! It was amazing to have like-minded participants come in and share their experiences and their knowledge with each other. Every time we host a group I'm always awed by the inspiration and friendliness of the people that come by. Our friends and colleagues are truly some of the best!  

Our three instructors, Jaime Simpson, Donna Crossland, & Dale Prest, delivered a phenomenal two days of material. Jaime, originally from New Brunswick, is a forester, lawyer and published author. Forest ecologist Donna Crossland works for Parks Canada in Kejimkujik National Park, and is a brilliant, outspoken advocate for sustainable & healthy forestry practices. Dale Prest is part of Community Forest International (NB), has a Masters in Earth Sciences, and who's life goal is to simply be in the woods and spread the idea of forest carbon sequestration. Each of these presenters were incredibly knowledgable on all aspects of forestry and the ecology of those ecosystems. The topic of the weekend was managing personal woodlots, but as it turns out, there is much more to that then one would think. Not just how to do things, but why you should do them, and how they benefit the natural ecology of your forest. In Nova Scotia, 50% of our land is owned by the public on individual woodlots. Given this, the rural woodlots owners of the province have a lot of power in deciding the future of our forests. Learning why sustainable forestry practices are of utmost importance, not just in our province, but for the planet overall, can help woodlot owners make better choices with their land. The participants took part in lectures, outdoor field classes, and a roundtable with their forestry peers to discuss solutions to the current mismanagement of forestry in Nova Scotia. Overall, a surprisingly emotional learning experience, with lots of great food throughout. 

We look forward to next summers forestry workshops, and hope to have another group of passionate intelligent people take part! Be on the lookout for Level 2 Forestry Management Workshops! 

-Alex

(check out our Facebook for videos from the presentations!)

Backyard Forestry, July 29th

JULY 25: N2O!

This past Tuesday was another N2O (Never-2-Old!) seniors activity day, and it was a blast! The weather was wet and windy but did not hamper the determined folks at all. :) Our instructor this time was Richard Mcbride, the resident biologist, who is also on our board!  We explored the outdoor area with Richard (and got very damp), had an intriguing discussion about the ecology we encountered, as well as examined some of Richards fungi & tree specimens. It proved to be helpful to have a group diverse in interests and experiences. Among the wonderful folks who joined us, there were scientists, geologists, ornithologists, people with decades of knowledge, and people like me, that have barely started acquiring knowledge of any field, and who loved the chance to listen to our participants talk about nature from their perspective. As usual, we had the lovely Melissa cooking for us, and of course, it did not disappoint. With lemon quinoa spinach salad, squash soup, and fresh bread rolls, I think I can say everyone thoroughly enjoyed having time with good food and good people.  Join us for our next N2O, August 22, and remember that retirement means you're just getting started!

-Alex

Dalhousie SEASIDE Summer Courses at the HLC

A large part of what the Harrison Lewis Centre does is host student groups, giving them a space for learning, living, and access to the natural history of Nova Scotia through the surrounding landscape we're lucky enough to work with.  June 18-26 saw Dalhousie's summer SEASIDE program (link after article) take full use of our facilities. SEASIDE is for biology and marine biology classes to have the opportunity to do real fieldwork in the environments they're studying! We had the privilege of hosting BIOL3622 Ornithology with Sarah Gutowsky earlier in the summer, which a previous post discusses, and the last few weeks we've had MARI3604 Feild Aquaculture with Diego Ibarra, BIOL3328 Medical Entomology with Tatiana Rossolimo, BIOL3664 Intertidal Ecology with Isabelle Aube, and BIOL3633 GIS in Ecology with Peter Bush & Jen Strang. Every one of these groups was amazing, and a joy to have at the centre! Thank you all for being considerate tenants & incredibly fun people; we always look forward to hosting the SEASIDE summer students and faculty! We hope you all had a great a time as we did meeting everyone, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn out here! Until next year :D 

-Alex

SEASIDE info ----- https://www.dal.ca/faculty/science/biology/seaside-program.html

Intertidal Ecology!

Intertidal working hard.. :)

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GIS in Ecology crew!

Medical Entomology, looking fly.. (: 

Intertidal doing research on the beach.. 

Ornithology!

Field Aquaculture!

Chainsaw Use Workshop!

Our first weekend workshop is almost upon us, have you registered?! 

Don't cut off your toe to fill your woodbox; join us at the Harrison Lewis Centre Aug 18-20 for two days of learning how to operate a chainsaw properly and SAFELY. 

This hands-on course with certified instructor Patrick Allan covers all aspects of basic maintenance and safe use of this powerful tool. Saturday morning focuses on the saw’s engine, how it works and how to keep it tuned for top performance. Chain sharpening gets plenty of attention. Next the class moves outdoors to practice limbing, bucking, and notching in preparation for felling. Sunday participants move into the Harrison Lewis Centre’s woodlot where they learn-by-doing to drop trees where they want them to fall, plus the dos and don’ts of working with both downed and standing wood.

You must bring your own chainsaw boots. All other safety gear can be provided. You are welcomed to bring your own saw, if you have one, as well as any of your own protective clothing, etc.

Maximum of eight participants! 

August 18, 7pm-August 20, 3pm

339 Sandy Bay Rd, East Port L'Hebert, NS B0T 1S0, or contact Dirk at 902-646-1554 for other inquiries! See more info on pricing under our Events page and to register!