• October 2, Sunday, 2:00pm. The Nature Conservancy owns 800-acre Ives Road Fen near Tecumseh, Michigan.  It contains prairie, wetland, floodplain forest, and a multitude of species.  Chuck Pearson leads volunteer workdays there and will be showing photos of the plants, animals, and stewardship activities that are conducted there. We will be meeting at the Royal Oak Community Center at 2:00 pm.  The address is : 3500 Marais, Royal Oak. 

 

• November 6 Sunday, 2:00pm. William Luitje, HVC member, will share with us "The Mystery of the Rotting Fruit."  Some plants produce bumper crops of nutritious fruit that fall to the ground and rot.  Why would they do that?  The answer is simple and surprising and there are many fascinating stories and bits of information to be told.  He will also cover these themes: Why seed dispersal is important for plants and what are the many and ingenious ways they accomplish it, How the large animal population of North America was almost entirely different towards the end of the last ice age than it is now. How some plants and animals seem to be adapted to extinct animals in surprising ways and how that has affected their fortunes. 

 

• December 4,Sunday, 2:00pm.  HVC member and nature photographer, Caryl Spence will show us her program about Isle Royale.

 

• February 5, Sunday, 1:00 pm. 

Our annual Gourmet Dinner.Bring a special dish to share and your own table service.  Join us for “Humbug Marsh: Past, Present and Future.” This program will feature the history of the area and the seven year effort to protect it, the satellite projects it has spawned such as the linked greenways, the Heritage Water Trail, the "Pathways to Nature Program," its relationship to environmental education and education in general, and of course, future Congressional funding.  Our speaker will be Bruce Jones of the Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy.  He is also a member of the Interim Board of Trustees for the International Wildlife Alliance, whose function is as “Friends of Humbug Marsh.”  Bruce has played a major role in the preservation of this property. This meeting will be held at the Birmingham Unitarian Church, 38651 Woodward, Bloomfield Hills.  The church is located on the west side of Woodward, just north of Lone Pine.  The parking lot is accessible from both southbound Woodward and Lone Pine.  We will be meeting in the Commons Room.  As you approach the main entrance door from the parking lot, take the sidewalk on the left and watch for signs on the small door.

• March 4  Saturday, 2:00 pm  Our March speaker will be  Sierra Club  member Michael Sklar who will treat us to his program entitled "Into Africa: A Photographic Tour of Southern Africa." Based on a 3-week trip through Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Swaziland, it is a slide show on Southern Africa's awe-inspiring wildlife and landscapes and the challenges associated with protecting them.  Join us for an afternoon sure to brighten any Michigan day.  We will try a new meeting location for our March and April programs.  We will meet at the Carl Sandburg Branch Library in Livonia.  It is located at 30100 W. Seven Mile Rd.  This is just west of Middlebelt.  These two meetings will be on SATURDAY since this library is not open on Sunday

• April 1  Saturday, 2:00 pm  Our speaker will be Anne Bray, a  citizen environmental advocate in the City of Birmingham and a native plant specialist.  She leads volunteer projects in the Rouge valley (including Booth Park and Linden Park) including the removal of invasives and nature walks.  She has transformed her home landscape from grass to a sustainable landscape.  She will share some of the successes and failures, both in the wild and domestic landscape. We will possibly follow up this program  with a spring wildflower walk in Booth Park in May.

FIELD TRIPS

• Saturday, October 1, 10:00 am,  Humbug Marsh Preserve This exciting new preserve along the Detroit River is part of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. It is relatively unexplored and even though any parts are very disturbed, there are some wonderful natural features. Not only do we have a special opportunity to look around for interesting plants and other natural features, but what we find will help to shape the future of this preserve. Following our field trip in the morning, there will be public tours from 1 p.m. Individuals are encouraged to stay on as guides for the public ( you don't have to be an expert to help the curious public).

  Meet at 10 a.m. at the open field (former Chrysler property, 5437 West Jefferson, Trenton) north and adjacent to the Humbug Preserve. Bring a lunch if you wish and clothing/shoes appropriate for the weather. Field trip leaders: Bruce Jones and Larry Noodén (734) 663-5667.