Members of the Westman Naturalists are looking forward to the upcoming presentations already scheduled for the next few months. The presentations take place each month, the second Thursday of every month at the Brodie Building on the Brandon University campus. Naturalists President, Alex Koiter, is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at BU. Koiter says he is so pleased at how these presentations are very engaging for their members and anyone else who would like to join. "You do not need to be a member to join us on an outing or presentations. It's free for everyone," he adds. Professor Koiter is quick to note that their leadership and presentations is all volunteer led. "This is all volunteer done. And I think that it really speaks to the Westman community and people's enthusiasm because everyone has their kind of little expertise of what they find really interesting. And it is really kind of rewarding to find these people and then invite them in to share their experiences." "For many of these folks this isn't necessarily their job, it's their hobby, it's their passion. It's what they do after work, and so it's really, really neat!" Yesterday the group travelled to southwest of Boissevain to Whitewater Lake for a birdwatching venture, hoping to see flocks of birds in migration. Upcoming Events Saturday, Oct 04: Birding & Exploring Hosted by Westman Naturalists Join them on a trip to explore the area near Baldur, south of Glenboro. Last year they found more than 50 bird species and a very nice coyote! At this time of year they should see a variety of waterfowl, sparrows, and lots of other migrating birds and other creatures of interest! The area is about 1hr 10m away from Brandon, so they'll meet in Brandon once it is light, for anyone who wants to carpool. Dress for the weather, this is October… and consider bringing a lunch! Once they are in the target area, most of the roads are gravel. Most of the nature watching will be from or beside the car. Don’t forget your binoculars, camera and telescope if you have them. They will have extra telescopes available. Participation: Please visit the Westman Naturalists' website to sign-up for this event. They will email you with specific details a day or so before the event. Carpooling might be available. Time: 9:00 AM Location: Baldur Area Thursday, Oct 09: Spooky Creatures of the Prairies Hosted by Westman Naturalists "One of our members, Megan, is also a fantastic photographer. And I'm excited to see all her awesome photographs," shares Koiter. "She travels throughout Manitoba and throughout Canada and into the US and she is just a fantastic naturalist and a fantastic photographer and a fantastic storyteller! So, I think the Spooky Creatures on the Prairies should be a really great addition to our talk series." "And I suspect also, it may be really neat for families who with their kids, they may want to participate as well. Who doesn't love the creepy crawlies of the prairies, right?" he adds. It’s the season for spooky prairie creatures! Megan Hamill will introduce participants to some of the prairies most unique, spooky, and therefore often misunderstood creatures. Join them for a thrill and a beautiful photographic journey into the secret lives of these unique creatures. Megan Hamill is an avid Naturalist, searching for and documenting rare and hard to find plants, insects, arthropods, reptiles and amphibians throughout the Manitoba and beyond. She’s an active leader of Orchid society walks and a Westman Naturalist council alumnus. Participation: This is a hybrid event! Feel free to come in person to meet Megan and see the talk or join us via Zoom. Please visit the Westman Naturalists' website to sign-up for this event. Time: 7:00 PM Location: Brodie Building Rm 4-34, Brandon University & Online Thursday, Nov 13: Carnivorous Plants of the North Hosted by Westman Naturalists On this Thursday evening, one of their members, Sean Church-Bornkessel, will guide them through carnivorous plants found in Canada and their ecological relationships with the unique habitats they come from. Church-Bornkessel is a wealth of information about carnivorous plants in the wild and as houseplants. He has been interested in the natural world since starting to walk and has been learning everything possible about all living things and their interactions ever since. Participation: This is a hybrid event! Feel free to come in person to meet Sean and see the talk or join us via Zoom. Please visit the Westman Naturalists' website to sign-up for this event. Time: 7:00 PM Location: Brodie Building Rm 4-34, Brandon University & Online Membership Opens New Doors for Nature-Loving Community In addition to exploring nature, the Westman Naturalists became an incorporated entity which has allowed them to, from an administrative perspective, to have a bank account and bylaws and they can now offer a full membership to the Westman Naturalists for a nominal fee of $10 a year. "And with that $10 you support our club activities," explains Professor Koiter. "It also gives you an opportunity to vote in our AGM (Annual General Meeting) Which will be happening this spring. But kind of like I said earlier, our events, our outings, our walks, our talks and presentations, you do not need to be a member to attend. Our events are always open to everybody and there's no fee associated with that. But people are welcome to pay the $10 and actually become members if they would like to. So that was also kind of a neat thing that happened this year," he adds. "A lot of work kind of behind the scenes by some of our Board of Directors in terms of kind of getting all that paperwork sorted out and registering our club name and all that. But yeah, it's kind of kind of exciting. "We're growing, growing as a group and hopefully with this little influx of money, we will be able to bring in experts from outside of our region to help, you know, teach us about something new. We can help cover things like mileage or speaker fees or anything like that. So, it's exciting that we'll kind of have those opportunities to expand what we're currently doing," says Koiter.