St. Francis Valley Naturalists' Club

06/16/2026

Brian and Margot at our table in St Antoine school at the friendship day event on Saturday June 13th.

06/05/2026

IMPORTANT NOTICE: POSTPONED SFVNC Field Trip - Heather's Place, Saturday, June 6th at 8:30am

Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

As many of you are aware, the weather tomorrow looks very poor with rain forecast for the entire day. As a result, tomorrow's outing to Heather's place has been postponed to Saturday, June 27th at 8:30am. I'll send a reminder out as the day approaches.

Thank you, Heather, for hosting us in a few weeks.

Have a good, weekend - stay dry,

06/04/2026

Reminder: SFVNC Field Trip - Heather's Place, Staurday, June 6th at 8:30am

Good morning all SFVNC members and friends,

This is a reminder to let you all know that the St. Francis Valley Naturalists’ Club’s next field trip is this Saturday morning (June 6th @ 8:30am). Our destination will be Club member, Heather Ross’s, place. Once again, Heather has generously invited the Club to explore her farm where we will set about investigating the varied habitats on the farm.

Please Note: The weather forecast for this coming Saturday is not good. It’s calling for a 95% chance of light to moderate rain all morning. There is a good chance that the outing will be cancelled but if it isn’t, please dress accordingly, and wear appropriate footwear for the muddy parts of the paths.

I will send out an email if the field trip is cancelled.

Also, the beginning of the walk is all downhill, all the way to the swamp about 1.5 km. She will have a car at the swamp for anyone who might like a drive back since it will be all uphill on the way back.

Directions: 372 ch Smith Cookshire-Eaton.
From Lennoxville on the 108, turn right just past the Resto 108 on to ch. Harvey, and then right again on to ch. Smith. Heather’s house is past the railway tracks on the right at the top of the hill.

Let’s hope the weather forecast improves,

06/01/2026

This is the event that dropped off the “”events”
REMINDER: SFVNC Field Trip Lennoxville Walking Path (Sentier récréatif de la rue Samuel-Gratham) Wed. June 3rd - 6:30pm


Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

The next St. Francis Valley Naturalists' Club outing will be this Wednesday, June 3rd at 6:30pm, to the Lennoxville walking path (Sentier récréatif de la rue Samuel-Gratham).

We’ll meet at the start of the path on rue Samuel-Gratham, not far from the Amadee Beaudoin Community Centre. It’s an easy walk of roughly 2-3km along the St. Francis River, where we hope to see plenty of warblers, thrushes, and an occasional surprise or two. – I’m thinking nighthawks.


The weather looks good for the day – partly cloudy, with a high of 26C.

05/31/2026

I could not resist showing this video of a Virginia Rail from today at the Réal Carbonneau marsh. Thanks to Camille for being our leader. Video by Sheila Maclean

05/28/2026

SFVNC Saturday Outing, Marais Réal D.-Carbonneau Marsh - Saturday May 30, 2026 at 7:30am

Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

Our next field trip will be to the Marais Réal D.-Carbonneau Marsh, this coming Saturday, May 30th at 7:30am. As you can see in the attached poster, there is a special ‘open-doors’ event being held there. Our leader, Camille Dufresne, would like those planning on coming to observe the birds, to arrive at 7:30am rather than our usual 8:00am so that we can get a head start. The Marsh is one of, if not the best birding spots in the area and so we can expect to see plenty of birds during the outing. We will also be free to take advantage of some of the activities planned afterward.

If you are planning on going on Saturday, Camille requests that you let her know beforehand. You can contact her directly at [email protected] for more information.

Directions: Located on Rue Lévesque in the north end of Sherbrooke. It is accessible from rue St-François Nord along the St-Francis River. We’ll meet in the parking lot and proceed from there. Parking is free.

The weather for Saturday looks good, with mostly sunny conditions and with a cool-ish high of 12C.
The walk is an easy 2k or so.

05/26/2026

Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

The next St. Francis Valley Naturalists' Club outing will be this Wednesday, May 27th, to the Johnville Bog (Parc ecoforestier de Johnville).

We’ll meet in the parking lot on 6:30pm. The weather looks good for the day – partly cloudy, with a high of 21C. The walk is an easy 2km – give or take a few hundred meters.

3999 Chem. North, Cookshire-Eaton, QC

Directions: From Sherbrooke, take route 108 direction eastward and turn right on Route 251 south, towards Johnville.
At the entrance to the village, turn left onto Chemin North. The entrance is 1 km away on the right.

See you on Wednesday
(Photo from Parc Ecoforestier de Johnville website)

05/21/2026

REMINDER: SFVNC Field Trip -Burroughs Falls Trail/ Park Saturday, May 23rd at 8am

Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

The next St. Francis Valley Naturalists' Club outing will be this Saturday, May 23rd to Burroughs Falls and the recently opened park and trails. We'll meet at 8:00am at the parking area in the park and proceed from there to explore the trails and look for a variety of forest birds.

The directions to the Park are not too difficult. It is located on the 143 just north of the intersection with the 141 in Burroughs Falls. You can see the park and parking lot from the highway.

https://massawippi.org/burroughs-falls-trail/

The trails are not too long but I would describe them to be of moderate difficulty as there are several up and down areas with some stairs along the way. The forecast for Saturday morning is calling for cloud and temperatures ranging from 10 to 15C, with a high of 20C for the day.

See you on Saturday,

Gary
Below is a map of the park and it’s trails a clearer map may be available on it’s website

05/21/2026

I think that you may have received this, but here is the announcement again for the chimney swift conference in Sherbrooke.

Le 27 mai 2026 de 19 h à 20 h
Musée de la nature et des sciences de Sherbrooke

225, rue Frontenac
Sherbrooke (Québec) J1H 1K1

Découvrez le martinet ramoneur, une espèce menacée au Québec, et les efforts du Zoo de Granby pour sa conservation lors d’une conférence captivante.

05/18/2026

REMINDER: SFVNC Field Trip to the Curry Pond, Wednesday, May 20th at 6:30pm.

Hello, all SFVNC members and friends,

The next St. Francis Valley Naturalists' Club outing will be this Wednesday, May 20th to the Curry Pond at Bishop's University. We'll meet at 6:30pm at the parking area by the observation area and start from there to explore the pond and fields around it. Depending on the time and weather, our leader Willa, may take us further afield. We hope to see swallows, flycatchers, sparrows, and perhaps some more uncommon field birds such as the bobolink.

The walk is quite easy. And the weather is supposed to be mild with a high of 23C, and cloudy.

See you on Wednesday,