Recent Events | Bruce Trail

Bruce Trail Conservancy 2020 Annual Meeting

Webinars for BTC Members

Recordings & Slides of Past Webinars:

All Season Tree and Shrub Identification (Nov. 12, 2020)
What's that plant? Botany on the Bruce Trail (June 11, 2020)
The Bruce Trail Inspires (June 4, 2020)
Ancient Seas, Glaciers & Waterfalls: The Geologic History of the Niagara Escarpment (May 28, 2020)
Getting started with eBird (May 21, 2020)
Exploring Canada Along The Great Trail (May 14, 2020)
Tips on Hiking the Bruce Trail End-to-End (May 7, 2020)
Volunteer Vacations on the Sendero Pacifico (April 30, 2020)
Rare Species of the Niagara Escarpment (April 23, 2020)
Native & Invasive Plants in Your Backyard (April 16, 2020)

All Season Tree and Shrub Identification

NOV. 12, 2020

Presenters: Brian Popelier (BTC Land Stewardship Coordinator & Ecologist) & Adam Brylowski (BTC Manager Conservation and Trail).

Learn how to identify some of Ontario’s native trees and shrubs throughout the seasons. This webinar will provide you with an overview of techniques that will help you to expand your knowledge of species along the Bruce Trail. Join BTC ecologists to unravel the mystery of tree ID!

Download the webinar slides [pdf] or watch the recording:

What's that plant? Botany on the Bruce Trail

JUNE 11, 2020

Presenters: Brian Popelier & Adam Brylowski (BTC Land Stewardship Coordinators & Ecologists).

Join us for a virtual walk to learn about some of the native flora found along the Bruce Trail and how to identify it. This webinar focusses on common growing season ID features such as leaves, flowers and fruit as well as some dormant characteristics such as buds, branching and bark. We also explore some common “look-alike” plants and how to tell them apart.

Download the webinar slides [pdf] or watch the recording:

The Bruce Trail Inspires

JUNE 4, 2020

Meet 3 artists who have been inspired by the Niagara Escarpment on their explorations along the Bruce Trail: Suzanne Dyke (suzanne-dyke.wixsite.com/portfolio), Kristina Maus (www.kristinamaus.com), and Victoria Pearce (www.victoriapearce.ca) Take a stroll through a virtual gallery of their paintings and learn a bit more about their work, their process, and how the Bruce Trail has become their muse.

Download the webinar slides or watch the recording:

Ancient Seas, Glaciers & Waterfalls: The Geologic History of the Niagara Escarpment

MAY 28, 2020

Presented by: Dr. Carolyn Eyles and Rebecca Lee, School of Geography & Earth Sciences, McMaster University.

In this webinar we explore the fascinating geological history of the Niagara Escarpment. The rocks we see exposed along the Escarpment today were deposited in an ancient tropical sea that covered large parts of Ontario between 400 and 450 million years ago. The sea teemed with marine life and these ancient animals are now preserved as fossils within the limestones, dolostones and shales that accumulated on the sea floor. These ancient sedimentary rocks have been eroded over time as glaciers and rivers repeatedly scoured the landscape; the steep Escarpment face we see today continues to evolve as waterfalls cascade over its edge.

Download the webinar slides [10 MB pdf] or watch the recording:

Getting started with eBird

MAY 21, 2020

Host: Amanda Bichel (Ontario Important Bird and Biodiversity Area Coordinator, Birds Canada)

Join Amanda for a live demo of eBird and learn how our own bird observations can contribute to scientific understanding of Important Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). She'll share insights from her work at Birds Canada and reveal how we can each start our own life list of birds.

For more great info, subscribe to Bird Canada's Ontario IBA Newsletter.

Download webinar slides [4MB pdf] or watch the recording:

Exploring Canada Along The Great Trail

MAY 14, 2020

Hosts: Sonya Richard and Sean Morton

Sonya and Sean are long-time BTC members and End-to-Enders who've begun a #hike4birds along The Great Trail, formerly the Trans Canada Trail, promoting diversity in outdoor activities and striving to inspire youth to reconnect with nature through birding and Citizen Science. In this webinar, they share stories of their time on The Great Trail, and highlight how Citizen Science can be a way to bridge the divide between our digital landscapes and our natural ones.

Download the webinar slides [33MB] or watch the recording

Tips on Hiking the Bruce Trail End-to-End

MAY 7, 2020

Get advice on planning an End-to-End hike of the Bruce Trail and tips on what to expect on your journey. If “hike the whole Bruce Trail” is on your bucket list, either as a thru-hike or in stages over time, this is the session to watch.

Host: Ruth Moffatt (Bruce Trail End-to-Ender, BTC Member, Volunteer, Donor & Avid Hiker)

Download the webinar slides [8MB pdf] or watch the recording:

Volunteer Vacations on the Sendero Pacifico

APRIL 30, 2020

Discover Costa Rica’s Sendero Pacifico – one of the BTC’s 9 international Friendship Trails – and learn how you can be part of a future volunteer vacation or customized tour to this beautiful trail.

Hosts: Nat Scrimshaw (Chair, World Trails Network-Americas) & Ros Rossetti (Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club Past President)

Download the webinar slides [14MB pdf] or watch the recording:

Rare Species of the Niagara Escarpment

APRIL 23, 2020

Find out what rare and at-risk species make their home on the Niagara Escarpment. From bugs, to birds, to botanical oddities, learn about these unique creatures and why protecting them is so important.

Hosts: Brian Popelier & Adam Brylowski (BTC Land Stewardship Coordinators & Ecologists)

Download the webinar slides [pdf], or watch the recording:

Native & Invasive Plants in Your Backyard

APRIL 16, 2020

Learn how you can improve biodiversity and wildlife habitat in your own backyard, through the protection and planting of native plants and the identification and management of invasives.

Hosts: Lyndsey Wilkerson (BTC Landowner Stewardship Coordinator) & Brian Popelier (BTC Land Stewardship Coordinator & Ecologist)

Download the webinar slides [pdf], or watch the recording: