We have been participating in Gus’s botany walk for a couple of years. They are fantastic! If you are interested, let me know and I will forward you Gus’s information.
Here is Gus’s invitation.
The first report of a blossoming Prairie Crocus was on 02 April so I know spring is coming, even though winter still wants to persist.
I also know spring is coming as many former participants have been asking when we’ll start going out to see the plants in bloom this year.
And, “Yes” we will again offer outings to see and to learn the flora of Calgary. We’ll conduct most within-city outings as follow:
(1) 6:30pm on Mondays;
(2) 2pm on Tuesdays;
(3) 6:30pm on Wednesdays.
(4) and if there is need, and an available leader, at 9:30am on Thursdays.
All will be held in parks and natural areas. Each outing will last about 2.5 – 3 hours. The first outings will begin the week of 29 Apr 2013.
There are about 1000 species of plants growing wild within Calgary. If you attend every weekly session, expect to see at least 600 of them
this year.
We will also again offer out of town trips – to the prairies, foothills and mountains – on many afternoons on Thursdays, and
Saturdays (until late June); and full days on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays, to see many of the rarer species in the southern half of the province. These outings will be to both public as well as many private properties. There we’ll document the readily visible flora and fauna – the vascular plants, mosses, lichens, fungi, birds, mammals, invertebrates, etc.
As in former years, if it isn’t a hardship — as for an interested student or senior — I ask that you make a donation to an environmental organization that is preserving habitat so that you and others will be able to see these species well into the future. Please make cheques payable to either:
(1) NATURE CONSERVANCY CANADA – ALBERTA REGION; or
(2) ALBERTA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION; or
(3) CANADIANPARKS AND WILDERNESS SOCIETY – (CPAWS for short).
Minimum suggested donation – $50.00. You will receive an income tax-deductible receipt.
Because there now are over 300 people on this list, if you plan to participate, please advise your preferred day, selecting your 1st,
2nd and 3rd choices, so that we can best accommodate you. We’ll limit each city outing to about 20 registered participants – first come, first
served. Of course, if some weeks you are unable to participate on your assigned day, you are welcome to come on another, so that you do not miss
the species to be found there.
Prior to each week’s outings I will send, by email, details as to the meeting place, time, and a list of the species most likely to be seen in blossom.
After the outings, the photographers in the group often submit their best photos, and I will also forward these on to you.
If you know others that would also be interested in this activity, let them know — or contact me: I welcome their names. If you have further
questions, let me know.
Gustave J. Yaki