With a trip to the Avonlea Heritage Museum and the Badlands coming up on Aug. 24, the Moose Jaw Nature Society is keeping its members busy with plenty of opportunities to get outside and experience the world around them.
Although the Badlands trip is full, field trip coordinator Kim Epp encourages people to book their own tours and experience the museum and guided hike the same way that Nature Society members will be.
The tour group will hike through parts of the Badlands and learn about the paleontology of the area, and hopefully see some unique wildlife. There is likely to be some great photography opportunities, as with any of the field trips the Nature Society plans.
Epp has really been getting members — and non-members — of the Nature Society out and about this year, planning at least one field trip each month. Some stick close to home, like the hike out to the Nicolle Flats Homestead in Buffalo Pound, or an impromptu trip to a local farm to witness some nesting owls.
Some trips venture a bit further for a fresh locale, like the trip to Eastend to the Nature Sask Spring Meet or up to Saskatoon to bottle-feed baby raccoons at Bandit Ranch Rehab.
No matter the plan, Epp says the goal of the Nature Society’s field trips is to get out and enjoy something new with a group of people who are just as in awe of nature as you are.
“Oftentimes these field trips are where you get to know people,” said Epp. “They are where we find new members, because they're interested in learning about nature but not just at a meeting, they want to experience it.”
Epp happily takes suggestions about places to visit with the group, and encourages everyone to drop by one of the Nature Society’s many events or even one of their meetings once they start up in September.
In the last while, membership has tripled within the Nature Society, and Epp would love to see more new faces join the group.
The upcoming chance to check out the Nature Society is their bee presentation in Wakamow Valley on Aug. 18, where they will be talking about — you guessed it — bees and their importance.
The presentation and walk is entirely free to the public, and those who want to join in on making a bee bath to take home will have a small fee for the materials.
The Nature Society does things like this often in the community, and Epp describes the group as one that appreciates both the beauty of nature and of each other.
They run a number of continual programs, such as the winter bird feeding program in Wakamow Valley and cleaning out the bluebird boxes annually in Buffalo Pound.
Meetings start up again on the fourth Friday of September, at St. Mark’s Church, and everyone is welcome to stop in — membership not required, although you may leave with one.
