Vermilion River Naturalist Society

BY IRIS DAVIES

In the spring of 1987, a group of Vermilion-area residents who shared a love for natural history banded together and formed the Vermilion River Naturalist Club. In July of that year the club applied for Associate status with the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, now known as Nature Alberta. The first executive members were Stu Heard (President), Gordon Moore (Secretary/Treasurer), and Andy Klar (Executive Assistant). The club was incorporated as the Vermilion River Naturalist Society (VRNS) on December 22, 2004.

From the beginning, the VRNS mandate has been to provide an opportunity for those interested in the natural history of Alberta to participate in fun and educational programs. One of the first projects the club took on was to build nestboxes suitable for mountain bluebirds and tree swallows. These were used to start a nestbox trail south of Vermilion that the VRNS still maintains. 

Throughout the club’s history, members have facilitated and participated in many local workshops and field trips. These have included winter bird identification workshops, local geology and archaeology workshops, winter animal track identification outings, trips to a local garter snake hibernaculum, and trips to local bogs and eskers for hiking, canoeing, birding and plant identification. Club members have also participated in trips further afield. They have travelled from the Mud Buttes and Neutral Hills in southeast Alberta to the Great Sandhills in Saskatchewan, the Whaleback in the southwest, and gone dog sledding near Cold Lake.

Members have been involved with the Town of Vermilion Environment Committee and helped plant the low-maintenance gardens around the railway station at Vermilion Provincial Park.

In 1989, the club held its first Christmas Bird Count, and we started participating in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count several years later. We have been fortunate to have dedicated volunteers willing to brave whatever weather Mother Nature throws at them. Some volunteers travel several hours to join us. The day is always finished off with a delicious potluck supper that has been hosted by the same member for many years. Over the course of the evening, we put together a preliminary tally of the count results and get in lots of visiting.

The VRNS holds a second bird count in Vermilion Provincial Park every year in early June. Chris Olsen leads this count and encourages all new and experienced birders to join him during the day. The first group of the day starts at 5 a.m. and the last finishes around late suppertime. The results of this count are submitted to eBird and help maintain an up-to-date list of birds in the provincial park.

The VRNS has been fortunate to have members willing to share their expertise in various areas of natural history and we look forward to holding more activities with those members, bringing in speakers to present on fascinating topics and travelling on more field trips.

You can join the adventure by visiting the VRNS’s Facebook page to find upcoming activities: facebook.com/VermilionRiverNaturalistSociety.

Iris Davies serves as the President of the Vermilion River Naturalist Society.