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Nature Calgary Bird Study Group – Lyn Hancock

Sep7

Posted By Bob Lefebvre

The 2021-2022 Bird Study Group Speaker Series begins on Wednesday September 8th with a special presentation by Lyn Hancock, honouring Gus Yaki. This will be a virtual presentation using Zoom, and you have to be a Nature Calgary member to link to it.

(Nature Calgary memberships are available on their website here. If you already are a member, you should have received an email with the Zoom invitation.)

Almost forty years ago, Lyn Hancock took part in a 30,000-mile trip around North America led by Gus Yaki, the renowned naturalist who passed away just over a year ago. Gus lived in Calgary for the last twenty-seven years of his life, and he was an inspiration to many local birders.

Gus Yaki
Gus Yaki. Photo by Dan Arndt.

The trip in 1983 followed the route taken by Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher thirty years prior, in 1953. Lyn documented the trip in her book Looking For the Wild.

Looking For the Wild

From Nature Calgary:

Lyn’s special interest was the exciting climax of the trip on the remote Pribilof Islands in Alaska where she had close encounters with fur seals, murres and puffins, species she had raised as orphans in British Columbia in the 1960s and led to her interest in wildlife.

Lyn is the author of 20 books about her experiences with wildlife including THERE’S A SEAL IN MY SLEEPING BAG, LOVE AFFAIR WITH A COUGAR, TABASCO THE SAUCY RACCOON and THE RING: MEMORIES OF A METIS GRANDMOTHER, the pioneer love story of Sam Livingston and Jane Howse, the first settlers in Calgary.

The meeting begins at 7:30 pm and the Zoom link will open at 7:15.

Details of future Bird Study Group meetings and other Nature Calgary events and field trips can be found here.

Note: the books below have all been spoken for. Thanks for your interest. – Bob

If you live in Calgary and would like a copy of Lyn Hancock’s book Looking For the Wild, I have four copies to give away. They are all signed by Gus, and one is also signed by Lyn. I will give them to the first four people who respond and who agree to make a donation to either The Nature Conservancy of Canada or Birds Canada in whatever amount they wish. (These were two organizations that Gus supported.) The books are used, and one is a former library copy, but they are in good shape. Just email me at birdscalgary[at]gmail.com and we can make arrangements to get the book to you.

Shaganappi Point and Edworthy Park – A New History

Jan31

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Many Calgary birders are familiar with the book Treasures Of The Trail, a beautifully illustrated nature guide to Edworthy Park, Lawry Gardens, and the Douglas Fir Trail. It was published in 2002 by the Edworthy Park Heritage Society. Now the society is planning to publish a new history of the area with much previously unpublished information. You can pre-order a copy, and once enough people have ordered it, publication will go ahead and you will then be contacted for payment. It is $30 for the new book and a copy of Treasures Of The Trail will be also be included! A great value, especially for those of you who do not have a copy of the older book.

Here is the information about this from the society:

Shaganappi Point and Edworthy Park: A New History by the Edworthy Park Heritage Society.

Edworthy Park
C.P.R. Quarry  outcrops along the Douglas Fir Trail. Photo courtesy of Anna Sanders © Anna Sanders, Edworthy Park Heritage Society

The Society has written an extensive history of the park area with much previously unpublished information gathered from historic newspapers, diaries, and archives across Canada.

Part I discusses Indigenous and Métis culture and history of the area, including the three Blackfoot names for this ancient territory, plus whether there was a Métis settlement at Shaganappi. Was there an indigenous trail in the area? And much more…

Part II discusses settlement, colonization history including unpublished information about the Government of Canada quarries at Shaganappi Point (Quarry Road Trail), and the C.P.R. quarries (next to the Douglas Fir Trail), the Thomas Edworthy quarries and the four brick plants of the park, the struggle between William Pearce vs. John Lawrey, the “old lime kiln”. It has many fine black and white photos and  a few hand-tinted vintage postcard photos.

Very few copies of the book will be published and we expect to almost sell out through pre-orders. In order to raise the money to print it, we are taking pre-orders.  The book is only available in a package with the Society’s nature guide, Treasures of the Trail,  included as a bonus, free of charge. It is $30 per copy plus postage where applicable. To pre-order, please send us an email at: eparkhs[at]gmail.com We will acknowledge your pre-order. If we have enough funds to print it, we will then contact you for payment. (P.S. The book will not be put on the internet).  Please support the Society and its new book!

Treasures Of The Trail
Treasures Of The Trail