PGNC News & Notes, 2026-04-22

• PGNC Memberships: New and Renewals
• PGNC Next Executive Meeting
• PGNC Spring Cleanup at Hudson’s Bay Wetland, Sunday April 26, 10 a.m.
• PGNC Spring Nature Walk, Saturday May 2, Cottonwood Island Park, 8:30 a.m.
• BC Nature is looking for EXPERTS just like YOU!
• Landscapes Through Time, Keynote Presentation, Monday April 27, 7 p.m., Canfor Theatre, UNBC
• Moore’s Meadow Park Preservation
• Birdwatching Backpacks at Prince George Public Library
• Volunteer at PGNC Events!
• Gardening with Nature in northern BC
• Breeding Bird Survey
• About this newsletter

Club News and Events

PGNC Memberships: New and Renewals

Thank you to everyone who is joining the PGNC or renewing memberships for 2026.

Your membership supports the Prince George Naturalists Club and BC Nature, our parent organization, in all their good work.

E-Transfer is available by sending an email that goes directly into the Club’s bank account. No secret word is needed. Payments by cheque can be mailed to Prince George Naturalists Club, PO Box 1092, Prince George BC V2L 4V2. 

Memberships run from January 1 to December 31. Cost is $25 per calendar year for individuals, $40 for a family, and $15 for students. Benefits of membership: Subscription to the online version of BC Nature magazine, liability insurance coverage for Club work parties and field trips, and access to popular events limited to Club members only. Add $5 if you wish to receive a printed version of the quarterly BC Nature magazine in the mail.

“To be a naturalist is to be joyful, inquisitive, and at home in the world. To be home is to treat every life form as a family member.” – Marina Richie

PGNC Next Executive Meeting

From September to June executive meetings are scheduled for the second Wednesday of the month. All members are welcome to attend the meetings. If you wish to attend, send an email to the Club to obtain meeting details.

Report: PGNC Annual Curlew Field Trip, Saturday April 18. 

We had a lovely morning on our annual Curlew field trip. 20 people joined us from all around PG. We saw around 13 Curlews, but the highlight occurred at the very end when we saw a Curlew with a leg tag from when people from Birds Canada came and banded some. Welcome back to PG, Lane! Thanks to Kalum for the Lane photo! 

PGNC Spring Cleanup at Hudson’s Bay Wetland, Sunday April 26, 10 a.m.

Want to contribute to our community and nature? The PGNC will host a cleanup at Hudson’s Bay Wetland. We will meet at the Hudson’s Bay Wetland parking lot on Queensway Street. Garbage bags will be provided. Bring gloves, water and a snack. For more information contact Sandra Kinsey by email or phone 250-963-8381.

PGNC Spring Nature Walk, Saturday May 2, Cottonwood Island Park, 8:30 a.m. 

It’s that time of year again – join us for a Spring Nature Walk at Cottonwood Island Park. We are naturalists, and we always find things to look at, so don’t expect a fast walk! We will have people there who can identify birds, bees, trees, butterflies, other wildlife, and many other things we might see. May 2, 2026, at 8:30 AM. We are meeting at the southern parking lot behind the stone company, NOT the main parking lot. Hope to see you there!

BC Nature is looking for EXPERTS just like YOU!

Do you or someone you know want to help with conservation in BC?
Our parent organization, BC Nature, is seeking contacts for input regarding a variety of conservation issues. If your experience aligns with an issue under review they would love to hear from you!

You are under no obligation to take part in this and it is non-binding. Please fill out the form with a row of your information on this Google Docs Form, or download the attachment and email our club or directly to BC Nature. This will add you to a list of experts who may be contacted by BC Nature about a conservation issue you are knowledgeable about.

The information you will be providing is:

Full name:
Email address:
Phone (optional):
Primary Area of Expertise:
Conservation Topic 1:
Conservation Topic 2:
Conservation Topic 3:
Geographic Area of Knowledge:
Type of Expertise:
Notes:

As always, we are grateful for supporters of our organizations!

Other News

Landscapes Through Time – Keynote Presentation, Monday April 27, 7 p.m., Canfor Theatre, UNBC

Registration is now open for the geo conference, Landscapes Through Time (LTT), being held in Prince George on April 27-29, 2026. The event is broadly aimed at academia, the public, government and industry, and can be attended at a nominal cost. Presentations and field trips will introduce us to the fascinating landscapes around us, and will include a presentation on the recently identified Glacial Lake Dzulh Stun in the Rocky Mountain Trench and Robson Valley to the east of us. The just-published paper, ‘Glacial Lake Dzulh Stun in east-central BC,’ is available here.

The keynote presentation will be given by Dr. John Clague on the Geomorphology, Geology, and Geohazards in North-Central BC on Monday April 27 at 7 p.m. in the Canfor Theatre. Admission to the keynote is free and there is no need to register for this.

Details of the conference, including presentation schedule, field excursions and dinner, are on the LTT website. You can register for just the presentations or for all three days. Thanks to Mike Nash for sending this information for the PGNC newsletter.

Moore’s Meadow Park Preservation

We invite you to tour our newly expanded website. Explore our park history and park photos, both historic and present day. Learn more about early settlers in the area and their stories; nature and wildlife values; and enjoy fun-loving moments in the “meadow.” The tour is not complete without visiting the “Recommended Zoning” page to see where the future may lead us. Please share our site and encourage others to sign our petition. Happy reading! Contributed by Cheryl Wehr.

Gardening with Nature in northern BC

Here are two graphics about Gardening with Nature:

Birdwatching Backpacks at Prince George Public Library

Prince George Public Library, Bob Harkins Branch, has five birdwatching backpacks available for checkout. Here’s the link.

Volunteer at PGNC Events!

The Club is successful due to the extent of the volunteers in our community and from among our members. We value feedback and suggestions from those who want to contribute. If you or someone you know has ideas, wants to volunteer for events or contribute to our AGMs or Board meeting conversations – please let us know!

We will also be taking part in WalkPG, leading our popular bird walk through the trails of Cottonwood Island, as well as hosting yet another informative presentation at the Library in May – this time about plants. We will then be splashing into the Annual Salmon Send-off at the Hatchery in early June.

Later in the summer, we will be partnering with NWIPC for the Annual Community Weed-pull to preserve biodiversity in the Hudson’s Bay Wetland and Shane Creek drainage.

Want to share a nature story or photos in our newsletter? We’d love to showcase your work!

Breeding Bird Survey

The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service to monitor the status and trends of North American bird populations. The surveys follow rigorous protocols and are collected by dedicated participants annually.
Criteria for adopting a BBS route are:

1. Access to suitable transportation to complete a survey
2. Good hearing and eyesight
3. The ability to identify all breeding birds in the area by sight and sound. Knowledge of bird songs is important, because most birds counted on these surveys are singing males
4. New BBS participants must successfully complete the BBS Methodology Training Program before their data will be used in any BBS analyses. The training program is available from the national BBS offices and the state, provincial, and territorial coordinators
   Ideally, we ask that BBS volunteers adopt a route for at least a two-year commitment if possible. However, we have more sophisticated models now, so we can also use single runs of routes to generate trend information. You can see a map of all vacant routes across the province. If you think you match the criteria and would like to adopt a route in BC, please email Chloe Boynton.

About This Newsletter

The newsletter is sent from the PGNC mailing address. We welcome contributions from members and supporters about matters of interest to naturalists. Feel free to send us your stories and links.

PO Box 1092, Prince George, BC V2L 4V2