Current Issue
From the Editor
I am admi
ttedly a terrible birder. I enjoy birding, but I have no memory for bird characteristics or song. I also have a terrible time trying to get pictures of birds with my portable point and shoot. As such, I live vicariously through the Newfoundland Birdwatching Facebook Group. Their photos are amazing and they are great to learn from. Join them today. This past summer some members were posting about a black capped chickadee that was coloured white. I assumed it was albino, but discussions described it as “leucistic”. The true answer is even more complicated as detailed in the “White Bird Chase” (pg 13) where we discover what makes a bird white.
I’m more of a backyard birder like Michael Collins in the second part of his Encounters with Nature (pg 24). Watching the variety of birds at feeders or playing in water is probably one of the best “gateway” introductions to being a naturalist.
Some new naturalists got a treat on our annual Charlie Horwood Memorial Pink Lady Slipper Orchid Walk (pg 17). Although fewer than previous years, many orchid blooms were observed. Natural encrochement of trees and other plants have limited orchid habitat in comparison to previous years.
Wolf culls over the last year have been controversial in many environmentalist circles. Should we kill one species to save another? Carly Sponarski explores the justifications in “Can we have Wolves and Caribou too (pg 18)?”
Until the next issue, please send us your comments, photos, or articles. We always enjoying hearing from you!
Justin So
Editor, The Osprey
[email protected]