MVFN Young Naturalists Fall 2012 Program Explores Nature at Mill of Kintail
Now in its second year, the MVFN Young Naturalists, headed by Patty Summers from the Wild Bird Care Centre in Nepean, will hold a series of four monthly sessions at the Mill of Kintail, from September to December. Registration for these sessions is open for children 7 to 12 years of age with an interest in nature and a willingness to explore!
Each month we explore a different topic. Take a peek at what we have planned:
Scavenging Species in September will provide an opportunity for new and returning members to get to know each other. Sporting new, personally decorated nature hats, we will try to locate and identify some items and species found in the forest and the Indian River which runs through the property.
October’s session will explore Invisible Nature. Working with the developed observation skills from September, the group will look even closer at some of the aspects of nature not easily spotted. The members will head out on a nature walk with a wool sock over their shoes to collect some of nature’s hitch hikers. Spider webs, mushroom spores and organic specimen found in mud puddles will be examined.
Bones will be the November topic as the youngsters will examine and compare a variety of different bones from mammals and birds. We will even turn a bone into a rubber bone! We will then try to piece together a skeleton from the bones dissected from owl pellets!
The autumn sessions will conclude in December with a nature ramble, complete with cameras for a “Fall photo finish”. The group will head out on a scavenger hunt focused on looking for signs of the changing seasons. A photo display will be produced and shown at MVFN’s indoor lecture series. We will then make some holiday snacks to take home for our back yard visitors!
Program leader Patty Summers began volunteering at the Wild Bird Care Centre (WBCC) at the age of sixteen and continued working there during the summer months while pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Zoology at Laurentian University. With a particular interest in birds, Patty focused her Master’s research at Carleton University on the effects of roads and traffic noise on bird abundance in the Ottawa area. She has participated in local bird counts and has been a volunteer bander at both Innis Point and Long Point Banding Stations. Patty has since returned to the WBCC to implement an educational outreach program and care for sick, injured and orphaned wild birds. Patty has been instrumental in developing and leading these exciting MVFN Young Naturalist sessions for an enthusiastic group of children.
The MVFN Young Naturalists Club is a function of the MVFN Environmental Education Program (EEP) and is headed by MVFN EEP Chair Brenda Boyd. For more information on this and other EEP program, contact Brenda at 256-2706 or bjboyd@rogers.com.
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