In Canada there are 74 species of native, wild orchids. Ontario is home to 63 and Bruce & Grey counties- amazing- has 49 or three quarters of all Canadian species, the greatest abundance and diversity (outside Florida) in North America.  Join us on our  two-year quest to photograph all the wild orchid species in Bruce & Grey.

Audrey Armstrong
 Audrey graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in experimental art and
textiles, for ten years she ran her own weaving business Watercress Weavery.
Graduating from the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto with an honours
BA and B.Ed. Audrey taught elementary school with the Bluewater District School
Board for 25 years, receiving the Teacher of Excellence award.  A presenter with the
Monarch Teacher Network, Audrey has led in-depth workshops on monarch butterflies,
habitat development and Voices from the Land workshops, developing visual and
literary interpretations of nature in Canada and the USA. She continues her love of
teaching by leading workshops for Ontario Parks and Parks Canada staff.  She is active
in many community volunteer organizations including the Owen Sound Field Naturalists
and Huron Fringe Birding Festival. Audrey shares her passion and interest in habitat
creation with the public. She is also the Ontario Nature representative for OSFN.

Willy Waterton
A creek still bears the family name where Willy’s ancestors settled in northern Grey
County during the 1840’s. A self-taught photographer, Willy Waterton spent 35 years as
a fulltime photojournalist at the Owen Sound Sun Times. During his tenure as chief
photographer, he oversaw the transition from black and white to colour then finally to
digital. His newspaper photographs won over 100 provincial and national awards. In
1990, Willy was named Ontario News Photographers’ Association Photographer of the
Year. His photographs have appeared in national and international magazines,
newspapers and books including the Globe and Mail, New York Times and National
Geographic.  In the past, Willy was a contract photographer for both Ontario Parks and
Parks Canada. His work is in public and private collections. Willy’s lifelong love for
Bruce & Grey Counties along with recent expeditions to polar regions has led to a
commitment through his photography to interpret these special parts of the world for
you to enjoy and help to protect. He is active in many community volunteer
organizations including the Owen Sound Field Naturalists and Huron Fringe Birding
Festival.  He is also the OSFN representative for the Bruce Peninsula National Park
and Fathom Five National Marine Park advisory committee.

Audrey and Willy have each earned a Master Naturalist Certificate from Lakehead
University and both are certified Ontario Recreation Canoe Association (ORCA) Canoe
Tripping Leaders. The couple have spent the last five years volunteering with the OSFN
to rephotograph the Orchids, Ferns, Asters, Goldenrods and Fleabanes of Bruce &
Grey for the clubs very successful series of guidebooks.

We will be meeting at Emmanuel Anglican Church, 287 Harrington St., Arnprior. Please note that this is an accessible location.