Learn all about the celebrity hawk on Central Park

Posted on 2012.01.10, Tuesday by Michlt

Join us for our first meeting of the new year. We will watch a video on the famous Pale Male, the red-tail hawk that took New York City by storm. For more details see the Meetings tab above.

Posted in Birding, Meetings | Comments Off

Visit to Hermit’s Cave

Posted on 2011.12.9, Friday by Michlt

Located on a hillside above the Wissahickon Creek near Hermit Lane, it may simply be an old springhouse. But tradition and a marker placed by the Rosicrucians brotherhood proclaims that this is where Philadelphia’s first mystical guru came to meditate and await the Second Coming. Johannes Kelpius and his followers arrived in newly-founded Philadelphia from Germany in 1694 and chose the wild and beautiful Wissahickon as the best place to await the millennium. The mystics became known as “the Hermits of the Wissahickon,” “The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness” or the “Mystic Brotherhood.”

Join us for this very local field trip to Fairmount Park along the Wissahickon. As we make our way to Kelpius’ Cave, we will enjoy the large yellow poplars and other trees in this corner of the Park and discuss how invasives have altered the character of these woods.

See the Field Trips tab above for details.

Posted in Botany, Ecology, Field Trips, Geology | Comments Off

Annual Solstice Party and Year in Review Program

Posted on 2011.12.5, Monday by Michlt

Please join us for our yearly traditional Winter Solstice Celebration Party — everyone’s favorite meeting.

Bring your favorite dish to our potluck dinner and be ready to taste a variety of fine foods. Then sit back and enjoy as Michael LoFurno presents the annual Digital Image Review of meetings and field trips from the past year.

Bring a friend and share with them a year’s worth of Humboldt Society programs and field trips!

See the Meetings tab above for details.

Posted in Meetings, Photography, Special Event | Comments Off

29th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on 2011.10.23, Sunday by Michlt

COME CELEBRATE
IT’S OUR 29TH ANNIVERSARY

We will again be holding our annual

Anniversary Dinner Party and Fund Raiser

for the Humboldt Society on:

Sunday October 30, 2011

12 Noon to 3 p.m.

at Ruby Buffet

1100 S. Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA

( It’s in a shopping center at the intersection of Columbus Blvd. and Washington Ave., and since there’s a parking lot you can drive and park right in front of the restaurant. SEPTA can also easily take you there by bus).

Take a minute now and mark you calendar-Sunday October 30, 2011.
Show your support for the Humboldt Society by attending our “All You Can Eat Buffet” Anniversary Party and Fund Raiser event. We’ll have food, wine, beer, historical images slideshow, the always popular silent auction and much more!

Tickets available for only $25.00 – includes the “All You Can Eat Buffet“.

Bring a friend and introduce them to the wonderful world of natural history.

Please RSVP by email to Stephen Maciejewski: teciu@verizon.com

Posted in Special Event | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Stephen Takes Us To China

Posted on 2011.10.10, Monday by Michlt

Stephen Maciejewski is the presenter for our Oct. 13 meeting. Please join us as he treats us to a travelogue titled:

China: Disappearing Mountains, White Bees, Venomous Caterpillars and Grandma’s Chirita.
Stephen and Professor Wei Yi-Gang, author of Gesneriaceae of South China, traveled 3,000 kilometers together in search of beautiful, rare and still unnamed species of gesneriads. You’ll see plants never seen before: many Chiritas, other gesneriads and plants like the cave growing iridescent blue Begonia edulis. The landscape was filled with spectacular scenery, including otherworldly karst mountains, caves larger than ball parks, elaborate rice fields and quaint villages.

For more details see the Meetings tab above.

Posted in Botany, Meetings, Natural History, Photography | Comments Off

Happy Birthday, Dear Alex…

Posted on 2011.09.7, Wednesday by Michlt

Humboldt Penguin - shared on Flickr.com under Creative Common Rights reserved by Ginger Me.

 

Alexander von Humboldt was born on September 14 (1769). That’s 242 years and we are going to celebrate! Every year our September meeting is a celebration of Alexander von Humboldt’s birthday, complete with cake and candles. It is also an opportunity to share our own observations about nature with each other as he shared his with the world. We confine ourselves to a much smaller audience than he did though. Our preference is to put on a Show-And-Tell.

As with all of our meetings, this one is open to the public. When you come, please bring an item of natural history interest — a feather, rock, plant, animal, book, …anything that interests you and that you would like to share. This is one of our most popular, relaxed, and informal meetings of the year. It’s like sitting around your living room talking about cool stuff you found outside.

For details see the Meetings tab above.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Arleen Dascola Philadelphia Zoo Docent Presents

Posted on 2011.08.5, Friday by Michlt

We are very happy to have Arleen Dascola as guest presenter for our August 11th meeting.

Arleen has been a docent at the Philadelphia Zoo for 22 years.  From her experiences as a guide in the Reptile House and as a teacher of taxonomy and herpetology, she will give us a program on the Zoo’s reptiles with particular focus on snakes.

This will be a very special meeting. We hope everyone can make it.

See the Meetings tab above for details.

Posted in Natural History | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

NOTICE: DATE FOR FIELD TRIP CHANGED

Posted on 2011.08.5, Friday by Michlt

PLEASE NOTE:

As we informed you at the July meeting, our next field trip will be a Salt Marsh Safari trip in Cape May aboard the boat the Skimmer.
Earlier announcements about this trip indicated it would take place on Sat. 8/13.
Unfortunately, that date was book out for a group of our size.

We have re-booked the same trip for Sat. 8/20.

Please see the Field Trip tab above for full details!

SALT MARSH SAFARI-Cape May, New Jersey

The tour explores the coastal salt marsh. Itinerary includes natural history, fish, crustaceans, shellfish, marine mammals, plant life, tidal flows, and bird life. Tours remain on placid inland waters. Your fare promotes a non-consumptive use of our environment.

Explore the Cape May Coastal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area aboard the 40′ SKIMMER. Tour one of N.J.’s densest populations of nesting Ospreys. Nearly a dozen nests are visible at once! The SKIMMER routinely visits these spectacular natural areas.

The striking Black Skimmer is proof that the most exotic wildlife lives right here in New Jersey. See the world’s largest colony of Laughing Gulls. Visit a heron rookery. Cruises offer an up close look at salt marsh ecology.

“The SKIMMER can navigate through waters that are only 2 feet deep! Those that suffer from sea sickness will find these trips an enjoyable alternative.; All trips are naturalist guided and narrated. The SKIMMER is covered for protection from sun and rain. A marine restroom is located on board the boat. … A frequent question is ‘what about mosquitoes?’. The SKIMMER does not encounter them…our route is on tidal salt water marshes.”

Tours are 2 hours long.
We are taking the 6:00 pm tour (this tour is also a ‘wine & cheese’ tour — BYOW(ine) and they supply the cheese and fruit platter.) Expect to be back in Philadelphia roughly 10:30 pm.

Posted in Birding, Ecology, Field Trips, Natural History | Comments Off

Field Trip to Gesneriad National Convention

Posted on 2011.07.5, Tuesday by Michlt

The 2011 national convention of the Gesneriad Society is in Philadelphia this week and we’ve been invited to attend their Show and Sale. It is a great opportunity to see some beautiful plants and even take some home with you.

The convention is taking place in the historic Loew’s Hotel, 1200 Market St.

For more details see the Field Trips tab above.

Posted in Botany, Field Trips, Horticulture, Special Event | Comments Off

Strolling with Dinos

Posted on 2011.07.5, Tuesday by Michlt

Join us at our July 17th meeting where we will be viewing the incredible BBC productions Walking with Dinosaurs. This series delivers animations so realistic that you’ll think you are actually in danger of getting stepped on. See the Meetings tab above for more details.

As always – everyone is welcome at our meetings, members and non-members alike.

Posted in Meetings, Natural History | Comments Off