On the ground In cyberspace News from elsewhere Books The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is a project of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. It is located on 6 ha of land just south of the Arboretum in Ottawa, Canada. Check our Blog often for photos and notes on what's happening at the FWG. And, for a longer-term view, read our Progress reports	What's up at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden March 2009 Spring is coming and we are mobilizing our volunteers. If you'd like to spend time outdoors surrounded by beautiful plants, intriguing creatures, and congenial people, consider volunteering at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. We need a volunteer to cut the grass in our Backyard Garden (BYG) and on the Bill Holland Trail. We have a self-propelled, gas lawn mower; all it needs is someone to guide it. The BYG needs cutting every week in summer; the trail can be cut every second week. The volunteer can choose the timing, but not during Friday morning work in the BYG. E-mail us for more info or to volunteer Volunteers are welcome any time! The Friday morning group will be starting this week (13 March, 9:30 a.m. to about noon) to set up plant tables and pot seedlings. Learn how we propagate native plants and help us get ready for our annual plant sale. The Wednesday group - 6 p.m. to dark - will be starting in late April or early May. Watch for further information or contact us to volunteer.
On the ground	Herpetofauna (snakes and amphibians) Saturday, 28 March, 2-3 p.m. Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Prince of Wales Drive (see map). Oliver Reichl will lead this workshop, which is intended to familiarize participants with our local snakes and amphibians in hopes that they will then be able contribute to the Eastern Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas. Wildlife Festival As part of the National Capital Wildlife Festival, the FWG is planning two guided walks: Monday, 27 April, 1 to 3 p.m. and Sunday, 3 May, 10 a.m. to noon. International Migratory Birds Day Saturday, 9 May, 10 a.m. to noon Don't miss this annual event at the FWG. Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day with a guided birding walk through the garden. Free refreshments, displays and handouts. For more information: vanessa@magma.ca. Sponsored by the Ottawa Wildlife Festival and the FWG.
Garlic mustard in bloom, with long seed pods forming below the flowers.	International Day for Biological Diversity This year's theme is "invasive alien species," and FWG is partnering with the Canadian Museum of Nature for a day of education and work. On Saturday, May 23, 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m. the FWG is planning a blitz on garlic mustard. Please join us to learn more about this weed, which is having a negative impact on Canadian forests, and help us eradicate it from the FWG. An education session - "talk and walk" - to learn about this invasive species and how to identify it is limited to 50 people. Later, about 20 people are needed to weed out garlic mustard at the FWG. Please let us know if you would like to participate. If you think garlic mustard may be invading your neighbourhood, read the material on our web site on identification and control, then get a group of neighbours together to pull it out! Get in touch if you have questions. FWG annual native plant sale Save the date! This year's sale will be Saturday, 6 June, 9:30 to 12:30 at the FWG Interpretive Centre. More about the sale... | En français...
In cyberspace	More about pollinators Pollinators and their conservation keep coming to the forefront as scientists investigate the reasons for the decline in our bee populations. Now you can hear the presentation given by Dr Peter Kevan of University of Guelph at last year's Wildlife Festival Forum. Also of interest: A recent Quirks and Quarks segment on honeybees, entitled "Fruitless Fall" after the book by Rowan Jacobsen, was a real eye-opener for me. Download the sound file here and listen for yourself.
	Spiders galore We've just discovered the Nearctic Spider Database, an amazing online resource. Using a Google-map-based interface, choose the area you are interested in and generate a list of spider species found in that area or their photos. The database, which covers Greenland, Canada, the United States, parts of Mexico, and Bermuda, currently contains 78 thousand specimens of 2135 species. Check it out
	Ottawa Gatineau Watershed Atlas This new community-based watershed information and data atlas aims to bring together standardized data and information from multiple jurisdictions, agencies, and organizations in five sub-watersheds around Ottawa and Gatineau. The website contains loads of information about water, watersheds, actions you can take to improve your water, and data that will help you learn about the quality and quantity of the water in your local watershed, where it comes from, how it is treated, and much more. Click here
News from elsewhere	Native Plants Forum "Our home and native plants" is the theme for this 7th annual forum held during the National Capital Wildlife Festival. On Thursday, 14 May, find out what is meant by the term "native plant," take a look at the native plants of eastern Ontario, and discover how to help scientists learn more about the ecology of our native plant species. Details and agenda... Gardening Lecture Series Hosted by Friends of the Central Experimental Farm, presented by Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carlton. Take part in this exciting lecture series. The topics are: Gardening with Climatic Change (April 7), Daylilies (April 14), The 100 Mile Diet (April 21) and Herbs (April 28). Lectures take place in Building 72 Arboretum, east of Prince of Wales traffic circle from 7 to 9 p.m. For information, click here, call 613-230-3276, or email info@friendsofthefarm.ca.
Books	Field guide to dragonflies and damselflies of Algonquin Provincial Park and surrounding area This long awaited field guide replaces an earlier small version that was the bible of local dragonflies for many years. The new soft-cover, 263-page guide contains "detailed, full-colour illustrations of all species, including males, females and variants; additional close-up illustrations of features important in species identification; and key field marks." More...