“know nature and keep it worth knowing”€¦ · father dick) birdfinding in british columbia...

The Magazine of BC Nature

Flathead Bio-Blitz

FGM 2013 Cranbrook Registration & ScheduleInformation P. 32-33

www.bcnature.ca • Summer 2013 • Vol. 51 No. 2 • ISSN 0228-8824

“Know nature and keep it worth knowing”

Story of Moby Doll

BCnature Summer 2013

BcnatureVolume 51 No. 2

In This Issue:Objectives of BC Nature

(Federation of BC Naturalists)

• To provide naturalists and natural history clubs of BC with a unified voice on conservation and environmental issues.• To foster an awareness, appreciation and understanding of our natural environment, that it may be wisely used and maintained for future generations.• To encourage the formation and cooperation of natural history clubs throughout BC.• To provide a means of communication between naturalists in BC.

BCnature magazine is published quarterly by BC Nature - Circulation 5,100

Editorial Team: Penelope Edwards - [email protected] Betty Davison - [email protected] Editorial: Russell Cannings [email protected] Website: www.bcnature.caBC Nature Office ([email protected])We welcome your articles, photos and letters. Please send them through the office. BCnature reserves the right to edit submissions for length, style and clarity. For advertising rates, and cut-off dates, please email the office.

BC Nature - Heritage Centre, 1620 Mount Seymour Rd. North Vancouver, BC  V7G 2R9

Tel: 604-985-3057Fax 604-985-3059

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Cover photo Courtesy of - C. Wallace - Monarch Butterfly

BCnature is printed on 100 percent recycled stock

Feature articles are the sole responsibility of their authors. Opinions expressed therein are not

necessarily those of BC Nature.

In association with the Elders Council for Parks in Brit-ish Columbia, BC Nature¹s home office is located at the Heritage Centre in Mount Seymour Provincial Park. Please visit Elders Council website http://www.elder-scouncilforparks.org/

Color Version of BCnature is available online www.bcnature.ca

Departments:Guest Editorial - Russell Cannings....................................3Letters to the Editor......................................................... 4President’s Perch..............................................................5Conservation Report ........................................................7FGM Cranbrook Registration & Schedules......................32Club listings.....................................................................34

Regular columns:Natural Mistakes..............................................................6Book Review.. ................................................................12 Spotlight on BC Nature Federated Club.........................36

Features:Moles and Voles..............................................................9Garry Oak in British Columbia.......................................10An Invasive Lichen.........................................................13YNC Update...................................................................14Surprise, Surprise..........................................................15Iam an S.O.B..................................................................15Elton Anderson Award..................................................16BC Nature Recognition Award.......................................16BC Nature Regional Award............................................17Measuring Treasure - Flathead Bio-Blitz.......................18Rene Savenye Scholarship.............................................19WildResearch - Nightjar Survey.....................................19Protecting the World's Temperate Glasslands...............20Have you seen us - Fairy Shrimp....................................21BC Naturalists Foundation update.................................22Nanoose Activities.........................................................24Elders Council for Parks Outings....................................24Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society................................25Whimbrels, Whales, Wolves..........................................26Focus on IBA's................................................................27BC Magestic Thompson River.........................................27The Story of Moby Doll..................................................28Magnetoreception.........................................................29AGM 2013 Abbotsford Recap........................................30

Notices:Dates to Remember.........................................................4FGM 2013 - Cranbrook...................................................11

BCnature Summer 2013 3

Editor’s NotebookAre the kids alright?By Russ Cannings

If I asked any 10-year-old kid in BC today, “Hey, wanna see an owl?”

it’s a fairly safe bet they would say, “Umm YEEESSSSSS!” The fact is, owls are cool — birds in general are cool! But in today’s world of iThings, there are so many “cool” things out there,

so how can we encourage this inherent passion for the natural world in a way that actually keeps their attention and Heaven for-bid… makes them one of us.

There are very few young birders in British Columbia, and it goes without saying that there are even fewer young herpers, bota-nists, and (surprise!) fungi-enthusiasts. What’s wrong with these kids? Are they all locked in their rooms playing "Halo 4" or steal-ing their mom’s smartphone to have a crack at the next level of "Angry Birds," or any other activity that half of BC Nature's reader-ship probably haven’t a clue about. The truth is they are doing all sorts of things—as they always have. Sure kids don’t get outside as much as they used to, but I’m afraid to say that birding and other nature-related activities will never challenge paint-ball-birthday-parties or street hockey in the “Things young people want to do this weekend” list.

But I didn’t write this editorial to make anyone give up on the next generation. We need to relax. If you force-feed your child about how important it is to know the difference between juve-nile Long-billed and Short-billed Dowitchers, he/she is almost surely “gonna play at Jesse’s house today.” You need to pick your moments. Hours of scoping waders at a sewage treatment plant is probably not going to cut it—but perhaps an afternoon of watch-ing biologists band raptors near the airport will do the trick. Even something as simple and enjoyable as feeding ducks and chicka-dees at the park, and finding fun ways to challenge their identifica-tion skills (I’ll leave the bribes up to you) can be effective.

Above all, we need to recognize the ones that are already out there and hungry. They might not even know birders exist. We should all strive to discover these young stars, and help them as much as we can. Talk to any top-notch birder in their twenties or thirties and they’ll point to someone who gave them a fieldguide, offered rides to local bird patches, or simply introduced them to a local or online community. Try link them up with other young birders, and direct them to youth-oriented programs like “Y.O.W” in Long Point, Ontario. These kids will be the leaders of the next generation, and I’m not just talking about ID skills or life-lists. Bird-ers (more than most) can see first-hand how habitat degradation, destruction, and fragmentation impacts entire ecosystems, and so naturally most of us lend our voices to conservation initiatives both local and globally. We need that youthful enthusiasm, and it is out there. And on behalf of all the young male birders out there, is it too much to ask for a few birder-chicks as well?! Russell has traveled all over BC in search of birds, both profes-sionally and while attempting to set a new "Big Year" record in 2010. On June 15th, 2013, his first book (co-authored by his father Dick) Birdfinding in British Columbia will be released.

1-800-373-5678 [email protected]

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Quebec in Fall: Birds & WhalesSeptember 27 - October 6, 2013 with Pierre Richard

Splendid wildlife spectacles, from thousands of Snow Geese to Great Whales, seabirds, plus Quebec City and fall colours.

Saskatchewan Whooping Crane Quest October 10 - 14, 2013 with Rudolf Koes

Whooping Cranes amongst thousands of Sandhill Cranes!

South Africa: the Cape and Subtropics October 11 - 18 & October 18 - November 2, 2013 with Errol de Beer Very best of South African birding! Important endemic bird areas, fantastic pelagics, spectacularly scenic, the

Drakensburgs, Lesotho & Kruger National Park.

Peru: Abra Patricia & the Marvelous Spatuletail

November 2 - 10, 2013 with Richard Knapton Tranquillo tour to incredibly bird-rich area of Andes, for exciting birding including cotingas, guans, barbets, Royal

Sunangel, Long-whiskered Owlet and Marvelous Spatuletail.


Dates to RememberManning Park Bird Blitz - June 14-16, 2013 FGM Reports - September 1, 2013FGM: Sept 19-22, 2013 - Cranbrook, Rocky Mountain NaturalistsBC Rivers Day - September 29, 2013Club Grants - BC Naturalists Foundation Jan 31, 2014 Club Resolutions for the AGM February 28, 2014BC Nature Awards - nominations by February 28, 2014 Rene Savenye Scholarship - Apply by April 4, 2014Deadline for AGM Reports - April 15, 2014 AGM 2014 - Victoria Natural History Society and Rocky Point Bird Observatory co-hosting. (date to be confirmed)Tofino Camp - April 27 - 30, 2014Nicola Valley Camp - May 29 - June 1, 2013

As I read your enews, it saddens me the contin-ual stance that you have against economic de-velopment. For example the Northern Gateway Pipeline opposition is, in my opinion, incorrect. Organizationally you continually look at the imagined negatives and worst case possibilities versus looking at ensuring regulations and stan-dards are in place and the benefits to Canada at large. If you, as individuals or an organization, wish to go back to times when we did not have the conveniences of our current age, imagine what it was truly like to be without the standard of living we now have. I recently read a book - Abundance - that describes the progress we are making. I would encourage all of you to take a serious look at the underlying beliefs you have towards the future. The cup is not 90% empty but 90% full. As a society we are working towards solving the issues you are so opposed to. The first step is identifying the problem. The next is choosing positive alternatives to the challenge. Solving takes time - but we will solve the challenges. On our regular hikes with our club I am always amazed at how difficult it is to find old mine sites from less than 50 years ago. Nature has reclaimed them. Images of the Oil Sands always display the "desecration" - Never the thousands of acres that have been reclaimed. As an organization I encourage you to look beyond your entrenched values and encourage a broader viewpoint. Submitted by a BC Nature Member

Letters to the Editor

Fall Migration Field Camp Connect with the ocean at a special time of year

Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre September 3 – 7, 2013

$799 per person + GST (two/room) Includes all meals, facility and instructional fees,

as well as off-shore birding trip aboard the high speed, research vessel, Barkley Star.

To register: Check Public Education on www.bms.bc.ca Registration opens June 15. Maximum number 24. Minimum number 10

Volunteer OpportunityPassionate about nature? There is an opportunity to assist our fine BC Nature Executive in the upcoming year (2014) to serve on the ex-ecutive. You can live anywhere in the province - meetings are done every two months by Skype (except for the Annual General Meeting where we like to have a face to face meeting.)The opportunity to "job-shadow" with the current executive with no commitment during their meetings. This interaction will show you how rewarding it is to volunteer for nature! Definition of Volunteering - Generally considered an altruistic activity and is intended to promote good or improve human quality of life. In return, this activity produces a feeling of self-worth and respect; however, there is no financial gain. Volunteering is also renowned for skill development, socialization, and fun.


The President’s Perch By John Neville

I would like to thank everyone involved with our 2013 AGM! Special thanks to Henk and Alice Roos and the team of volunteers from our host club, Abbotsford-Mission

Nature Club. The sun shone throughout the weekend and the presentations, field trips, food and accomodation were all of a very high standard and enjoyed by all. Several people and communities were recognized with awards and the Elton Anderson Award was presented to Rosemary Fox our Conservation Chair.

Heather and I have been enjoying a wonderful spring. Not only has the weather been great, this spring brought us an abundant Herring spawn in the waters around Saltspring Island. This year the little fish created huge deposits of eggs on our beaches. In one Salt Spring bay alone a herring fisherman friend calculated 10,000 tons deposited. The spectacle of hundreds and in some cases thousands of water birds, porpoise, seals, sea lions and river otters was simply awesome.

BC Nature website update: We have been trying to populate (fill)the Members Only section. If you get the chance check this section out. It's far from finished but starting

to become very functional. How to login? Look on the address label on the back page of this magazine. Your username is your address name, exactly as it is printed on the address label. Surname, comma, first name, your password is the number printed above your name on the address label. You need to be exact and keep the password in a safe place.

Now that you know how to get into the members only area, you can explore Publications (current and past electronic cop-ies of our magazine are stored there and are available for download), under Club ResourcesClub Directors’ Manual, Tips for Club Membership, How to start a Naturalist Club, Sample Bylaws, Waivers, Field Trip Guide, setting up a Camp. The Bylaws/Minutes has our Constitution and Bylaws, Executive Minutes 2012. It will hopefully be updated enough to include all of the bylaw changes that were voted in at the 2013 Abbotsford AGM. Member Services is an important section for all of us. It allows you to change your mailing address, change your email address, renew your membership if you are a direct member and make donations. It also invites us to contact [email protected] or phone 604 985 3057 if you have any questions or suggestions, please ask for Betty. When you are browsing you will see that Archives, Correspondence and Surveys are not yet active. Please keep checking to catch the new developments. This is an ever expanding source of knowledge for all BC Naturalists. In the public section of the website, watch for Nature Knowledge. This section is scheduled to open in Septem-ber. It will contain Nature Knowledge with a geographical format from all over the province– from Botany to Zoology. We have contracted Sarah Weaver to coordinate this program. Sarah presented an update to your Club Directors at the AGM.

As you will see from all the written reports in the Annual Report, BC Nature has had another very active year. You will see elsewhere that out Foundation generated $9000 this year for six Club Projects. It's awesome to think of all the donations that you have made and the support you give to our clubs each year. Our thanks to all of the volunteers that have put the time and effort in to assist in the care of our environment and that of our wildlife and birds.I'm looking forward to seeing you all again in Cranbrook September 19th at the FGM.

Leave a Lasting GiftDonate to The Nature Trust of BC in your will to help conserve the natural diversity of wildlife, plants and their critical habitats for future generations.

For more information, contact Deb Kennedy at [email protected] or call 604-924-9771 or 1-866-288-7878

www.naturetrust.bc.ca

TNT Planned Giving BC Nature Ad.indd 1 2013-01-07 7:26 AM

Did you know? Ferns - Ferns are one of the oldest species of plants in the world. They are estimated to have existed for at least 400 million years, long before flowering plants came into existence.here are approximately 12,000 different species of ferns, according to Dr. Ray Rothenberger of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Missouri. Some ferns are large and fluffy in appearance, while other ferns may be small and compact. Some ferns are dense while others are more sparse in appearance. Though they can vary greatly in their overall appearance, the vast majority have the same requirements: high humidity and low or indirect light.


Natural Mistakes By Clive KeenRoses by Lots of Other Names

Being a caver as well as a birder, I have the inside scoop on how new discoveries get their names. When my club finds a brand-new cave, we get dibs on naming both the cave and the features in it. We don't always take the task terribly seri-

ously, particularly after a long beer-enhanced celebration of the new find. For instance, there's a thin vertical cave entrance I discovered that will be known forevermore as "Bodacious Chimney" because I'd just watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adven-ture. A rather ordinary section in another new-found cave is now known – because this time I was in a truly banal mood – as "Quite Nice Chamber." Don't expect cavers to take their responsibilities too seriously.

Naturalists, too, have had the job of naming their new finds, and might or might not have given it a lot of thought. Imagine someone wandering across Central America who comes across some new birds. A dreamy sort of fellow in a poetic mood, he calls one a "Sapphire-spangled Emerald" – very nice – while later, in a slightly more prosaic mood, he calls a bird with a white crown a "Snowcap." Still nice. Meanwhile, someone wandering across North America, who had originally set his heart on accountancy, names one bird a "Black-throated Green Warbler," and another – he's on a roll now – a "Black-throated Gray Warbler." You'll hardly believe this, but the performance gets repeated a third time with "Black-throated Blue Warbler." One gasps at the width of imagination. Sure, the latter names are helpful to the beginning birder, but I'd have much preferred it if we'd had more dreamy guys wandering around this part of the world. We might have had something like "Flame of the Canopies" for the Blackburnian Warbler, which would have been much more fun. Even more fun would have come from a bit of robust honesty, such as "Really-wacky-looking Sea Duck" for the Surf Scoter. Those Central American guys managed it, with "Scaly-throated Leaftosser."

Of course, many names were not given by the person in the field, but by officialdom back in the museum. Thus do we have names like "Sharp-shinned Hawk," which could only occur to someone cutting their thumb on the corpse rather than seeing the bird in life. A lot of names that are otherwise baffling, like "Bristle-thighed Curlew" and "Hairy" versus "Downy" Woodpecker, are due to the fact that they were named by people fondling a collected (i.e. shot) bird, not looking at the living, breathing, flying, creature. And it was surely not a field birder who came up with "Prothonotary Warbler". It takes an expensive education to know about the Golden-robed Prothonotari of the Byzantine Empire. There's additional pleasing erudition in "Flammulated Owl" and the various "Ferruginous" characters. The authors of "Falcated Duck" and "Lanceolated Warbler," though, should have worn their learning a little more lightly.

Some English-language bird names, of course, are based directly on aboriginal terms, which seems entirely fair. "Whis-keyjack," for instance, is an older and much more interesting name for the Gray Jay, being an Anglicization of the aboriginal Wisakedjak. I'm surprised there's never been a campaign to bring it back. By contrast "Budgerigar" has never been renamed, though it probably should be. The story of its naming, which is far too good to check, is that a white man in Australia pointed at the bird, asked an aborigine what it was, and was told "Bujjery gar" – "Good to eat." (Don't cite this in your PhD thesis. It might be true though.)

Onomatopoeia is the source of a fair number of worthy names. Whip-poor-Will, Bobolink, Killdeer, Veery, and Chukar are all pretty good. I always thought "Willet" a fine description of the bird's cry, but wish that some bird said "Won't it!" so we could have some symmetry. "Potoo" is a bit worrying. Was someone chewing tobacco when somebody said "What the heck do we call this one?"

I might have given the impression in the first paragraph that cav-ers have no rules for naming caves. That's not quite so. We aren't supposed to name caves after people, and exceptions are only made, and even then rarely, if they are recently departed. (There's a pitch – a deep shaft – in Canada's second deepest cave called "Pitch Blak", because Rick Blak died there. Don't worry, I'm not being insensitive. Rick would have thoroughly approved, and if there is such a thing as a hereafter, continues to chuckle about the name.) Bird people, by contrast, seem to have had no qualms at all about naming birds after people. Alexander Wilson did very well out of it, getting himself a Snipe, Warbler, Phalarope, Plover and Storm-petrel. J.J. Audubon, by contrast, only got himself an Oriole and Shearwater, which shows that you need to get in as early as possible to get immortalized. If you do get a chance at just one name, go for something really flamboyant, like "Middendorff's Grasshopper-warbler."

If you're like me, you might object to the name changing that goes on occasionally. I still tend to use "Marsh Hawk" rather than "Northern Harrier", and grumbled for quite a while about "Long-tailed Duck" which lacks the flair of "Oldsquaw". But perhaps name changes to remove sensitivities can be for the best. The Victorians weren't too comfortable about the name of what we now call the Wheatear, though that old name had a long and dis-tinguished history. It also made a great deal of sense if you saw the bird fly away from you. It was originally called "White-arse".

WILDERNESSC O M M I T T E E

Wilderness LoversWANTED

The Wilderness Committeeneeds you to help save wild places and animals.

Become a member and join one of Canada’s leading environmental organizations!Check out our website and sign up

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Canada’s largest member-based organization since 1980.


The past year has seen a massive assault by the federal government

on the natural environment, most notably by passage of its omnibus Bill C38 last June. Despite being the larg-est piece of environmental legislation ever passed in Canada, Bill C38 in fact weakens legislation intended to pro-tect our natural environment. Bill C38 exempts projects from environmental assessment, limits public participation in National Energy Board hearings to those able to demonstrate that they are directly affected by a project, limits the time provided for public and expert input into environmentally sensitive projects, and removeshabi-tat protection from the Fisheries Act by removing the responsibilities of resource developers to repair damage they cause to the environment and fish habitat. In addition, amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act reduce its scope to less than one per cent of Canadian waters. Bill C38’s intent to restrict public partici-pation was demonstrated on April 4 when the National Energy Board announced that anyone wishing to comment on the Line 9 pipeline proposal in Central Canada must fill out a 10-page application form within two weeks. The reason given for this draconian requirement was to ensure that the NEB would hear from those directly affected. The situation would be laughable if the implications for the environment, not to mention democracy, in Canada were not so serious.

It is more important than ever that BC Nature and its member clubs do everything we can to “keep nature worth knowing”!Northern Gateway Pipeline - Rosemary Fox

BC Nature’s participation, with Nature Canada, in the Northern

Gateway Pipeline Hearings received a major boost last summer when the Executive Director of the Environmen-tal Law Centre at the University of Victoria, Mr. Chris Tollefson, offered to represent us pro bono at the formal Final Hearings starting in Septem-

ber. Our focus in the hearings is the environmental impacts on caribou and marine birds, with wildlife biolo-gist Brian Churchill our expert witness on caribou, and marine bird biologist Anne Harfenist our expert witness on marine birds. Thanks to Chris and his team, we have been able to play a much more active role in the Hear-ings and to have a significant impact. For example, during the hearings into terrestrial impacts of the hearings, our legal team discovered that Enbridge had based its calculations on an ac-ceptable level of development in cari-bou habitat on an article that turned out never to have existed – a major blow to the credibility of the propo-nent. The Final Hearings concluded at the end of May, and will be followed by Final Arguments in June.Fraser River delta 2012 Conservation update - Anne Murray

Industrial development in the Fraser River delta continues to cause great

concern to naturalists. Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) announced plans this year to develop a large-scale, sec-ond container terminal at Deltaport (T2). When the Port developed the Third Berth, it avoided comprehensive cumulative impact assessments by stating that T2 was not being planned. Now with the Third Berth up and running, T2 has reappeared on the drawing boards. The economic ration-ale for this huge expansion is most unclear, given the relative stagnation in container movements and increas-ing capacity at Prince Rupert port and at existing PMV terminals, due to ex-tensive rail and road upgrades already underway.

Last year saw some progress in con-servation designations. Most notably, 20,682 hectares of the Fraser River Estuary were declared a Ramsar Site, or Wetland of International Impor-tance, in October.

Jeremy McCall, Nature Vancouver, Susan Jones and Mary Taitt, Bound-ary Bay Conservation Committee, and Roger Emsley of Against Port Expan-sion, APE, have done an excellent job compiling information on these issues. If you wish to have background infor-mation as an aid to writing letters to key decision makers regarding Delta-port Terminal 2, please contact Jeremy at [email protected].

The Lower Fraser River, downstream from Hope, has just been nominated B.C.’s second most endangered river by the Outdoor Recreation Council.The Wetland Stewardship Partnership - Peter Ballin

The WSP didn’t meet last year, but gathered in Victoria in April 2013.

Member organizations reported on their projects. The Modernization of the Water Act remains in progress, as the legalities are more complex than anticipated. More public engage-ment is planned for the fall. Many of the proposed changes will benefit wetlands and riparian areas. The Ministry of Environment, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service, BC Provincial Parks, the Grasslands Council, Ducks Unlim-ited, the BC Wildlife Federation, and BC Hydro all have ongoing wetland projects, as do some of our clubs. Gov-ernment agencies are busy grinding out policies, guidelines, and informa-tion documents that both update and consolidate previous ones.

A Wetlands Declaration for the Lower Mainland emerged from the BC Wetland Leadership Forum organ-ized by the David Suzuki Foundation. It is currently under review, and your conservation committee will con-sider whether to recommend that BC Nature should become a signatory to it.

We discussed the necessity of updat-ing websites, and the lack of funding for taking care of them. I am work-ing on an annotated wetland links site for BC Nature. Reports on wet-land involvement of our clubs would be desirable on such a web page, whether they be about projects, or images from field trips. Let me know: [email protected]. Species at Risk - Trevor Jones

BC Nature has observed that the federal government places a low

prior ity on moving on its responsibili-ties for species listed in the Species at Risk Act. It appears that only legal

Conservation Report - A year in reviewBy Conservation Committee

The complete conservation report is available in the AGM report on the BC Nature website. Below are condensed versions of the original reports.

By Clive Keen


action moves this government into action, albeit reluctantly. We have noted the successes of Ecojustice in its legal proceedings regarding Killer Whale, Nooksack Dace, Boreal Caribou and others. We there-fore initiated communications with Ecojustice, letting them know we are ready and willing to assist in their efforts through lending BC Nature’s good name as well as our expertise to their legal documenta-tion. Ecojustice has responded positively. Maybe next time you read in the newspaper that Ecojustice is initiating a proceeding on a spe-cies, supported by the usual organizations (Wilderness Committee, David Suzuki Foundation et al), you will find ‘and BC Nature’ included.Tree Farm Licenses - Trevor Jones

BC Nature sent a letter to the provincial government objecting to their proposal to facilitate large-scale conversion of forest licenses

and other volume-based licenses into tree-farm licenses. There were several reasons for our objection, along with most other NGOs con-cerned about provincial forest policy. Reasons include putting our for-ests into a greater degree of control by large forest companies at the expense of public oversight, leading to increased difficulty for efforts to reduce cut levels for species at risk, recreation, and forest ecosys-tem integrity. Lo and behold, within 24 hours of our submission, the government cancelled its proposal.Proposed South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Reserve - Eva Durance

On February 26, 2013, the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) re-leased their report “Building a Syilx Vision for Protection” Final

Report assessing Fesibility of a Syilx/Parks Canada Protected Area. The report, based on well over a year’s study by the four First Na-tions in the ONA deemed the National Park South Okanagan Lower Similkameen as feasible and that the ONA and four affected Bands feel there is now sufficient confidence to move ahead to the next phase of negotiations. New Prosperity Mine Project Near Williams Lake - Fred McMechan

The Federal Review Panel is waiting for a response from Taseko Mines on their Environmental Impact Statement(EIS). In Decem-

ber, 2012 the Panel issued a notice to Taseko Mines that its EIS is deficient in 50 different ways. 10 of the 50 deficiencies relate to the prediction of impacts on Fish Lake, especially regarding to drainage. With this new proposal Fish Lake will be sandwiched between the open pit and the large tailings impoundment. After the response from Taseko Mines the Panel will decide to request further information or to prepare for the public hearings. When the hearings begin the Wil-liams Lake Field Naturalists, with Interested Party Status, will prepare to participate. Ajax Mine Proposal for South of Kamloops - Jean Crowe, Frances Vyse

KGHM - Ajax Mining Inc. proposes to develop a copper-gold mine on the southern boundary of the City

of Kamloops. Sixty percent of the mine area would be within the City boundaries in an area of grasslands and forested hillsides immediately beside Jacko Lake, a popu-lar fishing lake. Two Kinder Morgan natural gas pipelines go through the area right beside the lake. Two massive rock piles 150m high, a pit 2.5 kilometre long and 600 metres deep, local lakes filled with effluent from the tail-ings facility and a large area of disturbed ground would be the legacy left to the people of Kamloops and sur-roundings. A 150 metre high rock-covered tailings facility three kilometres long beside the Coquihalla Highway just south of town would be the most visible legacy of this proposal.Killer Cats - Rosemary Fox

Scientists of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C. recently reported that free-ranging cats may

kill up to 3.7 billion birds each year in the United States alone (out

of a total of between 10 and 20 billion), and 20.7 billion mammals. They concluded that cats are likely to be the leading human-linked cause of death for birds and mammals, surpassing habitat destruction, collisions with structures such as buildings, and pesticide poisoning. Very large numbers of birds and mammals are likely being killed “in all parts of the world where free-ranging cats occur”. Stray cats are blamed for most of the deaths. There are about 30 million to 80 million feral cats in the U.S., each of which can kill upwards of 200 mammals a year alone. Pet cats, however, are far from innocent, causing 258 million to 1.5 billion of the bird deaths and 571 million to 2.5 billion of the mammal deaths. The report advocates that cat owners restrict their cats’ access to the outdoors.Proposed Peace Site C Hydroelectric Project a potential financial disaster - Trevor JonesNote: For many years BC Nature has been opposed to Site C because of its anticipated en-vironmental impacts on the Peace River (which has just been nominated B.C.’s most endangered river in 2013 by the Outdoor Recreation Coun-cil). We are indebted to Conservation Com-mittee member Trevor Jones for the following financial case summary against Site C

According to BC Hydro’s most recent data, Site C power is not needed in 2021, the year

the project is scheduled for completion. It is likely that all the power will be exported at a huge financial loss, estimated at $240 million in year 2022.

Construction is to begin in 2013, with com-pletion in 2021. The up-to-1,100 MW project would generate up to 5,100 GWh/year of energy under average water conditionsComplete tables can be found at www.bcnature.ca - AGM Report 2013 - under the Conservation Page.

Conservation report con't.

Mason Bee Box Building by a member of the North Okanagan Young Naturalists ClubPhoto courtesy North Okangan Young Naturalists


Mole or vole? These two native mammals have confus-ingly similar names but play quite different roles in our

local ecosystem. February is a good time of year to watch for signs of these small rodents. They are a seldom seen yet vi-tally important part of the food chain.

A sudden eruption of soil mounds on your lawn indicates the presence of coast moles. The wet winter season is an active time for moles and they will soon give birth to young, deep underground in their burrows.

As they dig beneath the surface, you can sometimes see the mole hill moving as fresh earth gets pushed up from below. In early summer, the young moles disperse above ground and are vulnerable to predators such as Barn Owls and cats. Coast moles have soft black fur, pointed snouts, and strong, paddle-shaped front paws, used for digging. They eat many earthworms, slugs and other invertebrates.

Voles also live in tunnels, but they create intricate runways that meander mostly above ground, burrowing through the thick, matted grass of fields and marshes. These burrows are easy to find, especially in old field habitats that can hold up to 800 voles a hectare.

Two species of vole are common locally: the Townsend’s vole and the smaller Creeping Vole. Both lead short lives and breed young, so populations of voles can increase rapidly. When this happens, coyotes and birds of prey will gather to feast on them, causing the vole populations to diminish, in an irregular

By Anne Murray

Moles and voles - The hidden life of small mammals

boom-bust cycle. Townsend’s voles are a key dietary item for many of the resident and wintering raptors for which the Fraser delta is renowned, including Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks. Even great Blue Herons survive the winter by hunt ing voles. It is an amazing sight to see one of these stately birds spear and swallow one whole!

The high number of voles contribute to making the Fra-ser delta the best location in Canada for numbers and diversity of wintering birds of prey. Farmland, old fields and marshes are vital habitats for them. Anne Murray is a local birdwatcher, blogger and author of two books on nature; see www.natureguidesbc.word-press.com and www.natureguidesbc.com.

TOURS FOR NATURALISTS

Leader: Tony Greenfield WHISKEYJACK NATURE TOURS BOX 319, SECHELT, BC, V0N 3A0Tel: 604-885-5539, E-m: [email protected]

Details & itineraries at website: www.whiskeyjacknaturetours.comBC reg #34425

***FALL COLOURS of the TUNDRA***Dempster Highway, Yukon

23-30 August 2013 (8 days) Cost $1800 (dbl occup) + GST from Whitehorse I have frequently been requested to offer a tour to the Dempster Highway in the fall (late August, early September at this

latitude) to view the tundra as it turns red and mauve, orange and gold. Poets and truck drivers alike wax lyrical about the magnificence of this iconic Canadian destination in fall. We spend 3 days on the Dempster, driving as far as the

Richardson Mountains, just north of the Arctic Circle. Tour also includes 3 nights in Dawson City & Top of the World Hwy.

***THE SUNSHINE COAST FOR NATURALISTS***22-26 July 2013 (5 days)

Cost $1475 (dbl occup) + GST from VancouverThe Sunshine Coast exemplifies the best of coastal British Columbia as the temperate rainforest meets the blue of the Salish

Sea in a confusion of magnificent fjords and green islands. We visit the Sunshine Coast’s scenic highlights, including a full day cruise to world famous Princess Louisa Inlet, We also visit Jedediah Island and take a sunset cruise to Hotham Sound.

Our base is the Rockwater Secret Cove Resort. The Sunshine Coast’s culinary offerings are an important part of this tour and we will sample the best available. All meals are included, except for 4 dinners.

***YUKON & DEMPSTER HIGHWAY***Land of the Midnight Sun

Tour I, 18-29 June 2013 (12 days) Tour II, 1-12 July 2013 (12 days)

Cost $3600 (dbl occup) + GST from WhitehorseThe Yukon is a fabled land whose very name evokes archetypal images of wilderness and a frontier populated by colourful characters. On this

tour we will experience both the natural and human landscapes of this fascinating and beautiful land,visiting the Klondike, the Dempster Highway, and the Mackenzie Delta. The Dempster is renowned as a naturalist’s paradise with its varied and beautiful landscapes, sought-after bird species, large mammals and we visit at the peak of the wildflower display. At latitude 66N we cross the Arctic Circle and enter the Land

of the Midnight Sun. We also fly across the Mackenzie Delta to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean.

By Markus Merkens

Townsend's Vole


Garry Oak in British Columbia: “Going, Going..” ?

A fraction of a fraction, but what a frac-tion! The Garry oak (Quercus garry-

ana) ecosystems are home to more than 100 species deemed “At Risk” by BC’s standards, including 42 listed in need of recovery under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA).

BC’s only oak species’ habitat was an impressive host to spring flowers and a mass of butterflies when James Douglas arrived in Victoria in 1842 to build the Hudson’s Bay Company fort. He saw it as “ …a perfect Eden.” Though the tree is native in the “inland” Coastal valleys of Washington and Oregon, to California, BC’s range is limited to a coastal fringe in Georgia Strait and two small areas in the lower Fraser Valley. A tree’s size belies its slow growth rate: a Victoria stump of 70 cm diameter displayed 192 growth rings, but such a tree can be a single mini ecosys-tem, hosting mosses, insects, bird-nesting cavities, etc. each contributing to the site’s biodiversity.

Mr. Douglas ordered land clearing for farming to feed his staff and military complement, resulting in the felling of many Garry oaks –which continues to this day via land clearing for urban uses or farming. During that time the many experienced naturalists arriving noted and described the amazing array of native plants and insects inhabiting the area. Col-lections and descriptions grew, and con-tinued when the Provincial government established a Museum in Victoria in 1886. Qualified staff was hired to conduct sur-veys and document the data, often assisted by enthusiastic nature lovers, resulting in a longer list of local biota - now 800 insects and 694 plant species - some with their nearest populations in Oregon.

By the early 1990s the continuous loss of habitat prompted naturalists and increased numbers of professional biologists to organise a campaign to protect Garry oak habitat while some areas of intact eco-systems remained. Thus, “GOMPS” (the Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Soci-ety www.garryoak.info) was founded in 1992 to “… preserve and restore Garry oak ecosystems ..”. Notable sponsors and charter members include Tom Gillespie, Drs. Pierre d’Estrube’ and Briony Penn, all still active in educating and advocat-ing for protection of natural habitats. GOMPS’ early activities included a 1993 Colloquium concerning the many species reliant on Garry oaks and associated eco-systems, a survey of all Garry oaks in the “Core” Victoria municipalities, (which

showed very few young trees to suc-ceed those commanding the skyline), plus a program of growing oak seed-lings to re-stock depleted areas.

Subsequently, we have persuaded some local governments to create suitable by-laws to protect Garry oaks from ill-considered removal, or impingement by municipal services, and sponsored a Colloquium in 1999 to broaden the appreciation of Garry oak ecosystems. That event led to the creation of an ecosystem-based Recovery Strategy to follow SARA. This Strategy is implemented by GOERT (the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, Canada’s first ecosys-tem-based Team). GOERT‘s Recovery Implementation Groups address Rare Plants (70), Rare Vertebrates (three mammals, two reptiles and 13 birds), Rare Invertebrates (24, including 13 butterflies). Consult www.goert.ca for a fuller list of activities. GOERT has documented the status of “intact” oak ecosystems (about 5% of those extant in the 1800s) and has sponsored recovery groups to restore native spe-cies and clean out invasive plants from many sites in all parts of Garry oak’s range, which extends from Victoria to the Comox-Courtenay area, plus to Sumas Mountain and the Fraser Canyon above Yale. This coordinated effort to restore an iconic natural sys-tem has engaged federal, provincial and local governments and many insti-tutions, such as Universities in Victo-ria and the lower mainland, schools

By Michael Meagher, Ph.D.

and non-profit organisations, such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Habitat Acquisition Trust and The Land Conservancy.

Despite the general support for ecosystem protection, and some requirements that oaks be planted to replace those cut, most Garry oaks planted near Victoria are imported from Washington State or Oregon, and are very expensive. This may produce a future forest susceptible to harsher weather than they can survive, and increases the threat that imported diseases, most notably “Sudden oak death” (caused by an introduced pathogen), can attack the current tree population and denude our landscape. GOMPS has returned to its roots by commencing a volun-teer-led program to grow annually 1000 affordable, plantable, trees from local acorn collections, thus assisting toward our goal of “restor-ing Garry oak ecosystems”.

If we succeed, and public protec-tion, planting and support expand, Garry oaks will not be “Going, going, gone”

Michael is a retired forest geneticist and tree planter with an interest in expanding and improving the status of Garry Oak ecosystems in BC. Mike is a member of both Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team and The Garry Oak Meadow Pres-ervation Society

10

The Garry Oak has a strong urban presence

By Mike Meagher


70% of natural wetlands near cities have disappeared. Along with their carbon storing capacity.

Native Species and Natural Processesprofessional specialization certificate program

Offered as a partnership between the School of Environmental Studies and the Division of Continuing Studies.

Shape your career with this accredited program designed for professionals working in fields related to landscape architecture, forestry, agrology, biology and environmental practice. Learn about cutting-edge approaches to ecological restoration.

Take the full four-course program or individual courses. Apply now!

Fall 2013: Design Principles for Natural Processes (Distance, beginning September)

[email protected] 250-721-8458www.continuingstudies.uvic.ca/natural

Learning that shapes who you are.

Cranbrook and the Rocky Mountain Naturalists are excited and proud to be hosting BC Nature’s 2013 Fall General Meeting.

Nestled between the Rocky and Purcell Mountain ranges, Cranbrook is gateway to the renowned Rocky Mountain Trench - one of the most bio-logically diverse areas in Canada.

Within a few minutes from Cranbrook you can go fly-fishing on pristine mountain creeks, visit a spectacular alpine lake or ramble through grass-

lands, while check-ing out native flowers... or add to your life list at Elizabeth Lake, a major waterfowl area within City limits!

Rocky Mountain Naturalists have lined up a fascinat-ing group of local experts to share the spirit of nature

through their unique and special knowledge.

Friday's program begins with Joe Pierre Jr. telling the Ktunaxa Creation Story. This is an event you will be talking about for years to come. The program continues with presentations on Native Plants, Air Quality, Eco-system Restoration, and Leopard Frogs.

The afternoon features a choice of six field trips featuring Native Plants, Monitoring Bluebirds, Ecosystem Restoration, Reintroduction of Leopard Frogs, Urban Stream Restoration, and a Butterfly Hunt. Four of these field trips are repeated on Saturday.

For full details and the registration form - visit www.bcnature.ca or see the back of this edition of BCnature with schedule and registration form.

BC Nature FGM - Cranbrook September 19-22, 2013

"Earth, Wind, Fire and Water; the Sprit of Nature"

View from Lone Pine Butte

By Jim Duncan

By Laura Duncan

Permaculture


Book Review

I’m a big Wade Davis fan. And it is his writing, documenting the largely unknown story of

mostly unsung First Nations people in their fight to save this immense, and stunningly wild part of BC, which makes this book a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf or coffee table.

When I first perused The Sacred Headwaters the photographs, taking up about half the volume, initially drew me in. They are spectacular. A few are familiar images of the Mountain Goats that live, it seems impossibly, along the walls of the truly awesome Stikine Canyon, but most are of unknown landscapes, staggeringly wild, and miraculously diverse, that many of us have not seen, and about which we likely know very little.

I travelled to Iskut and Dease Lake last summer on a bird atlassing trip, but knew very little about the history recounted here. I wish I’d read the book before I went.

No big name environmental group has mounted a campaign for preservation of this astounding land, but here it sits, Klabona, headwaters of three of our greatest rivers, and it’s under threat from massive industrial development – mining for metals, open-pit coal mining, and drilling for coal-bed methane – a potentially devastating trifecta of threats. Familiar story? Yes, but this book is about more than the simple conflict between fragile environment and traditional values, and rapacious corporations and government. While it is a plea to counter what could happen, it’s a story of a few people resist-ing massive forces. And the fight continues.

In Sacred Headwaters, Davis gives a brief history and insight into the complex situation on the land, which he knows well. He lives there with his family part of the year, and knows most of the protagonists personally. He writes about familiar issues: boom and bust cycles; betrayal of native people by money-grubbing whites from down south; lack of treaties and no extinguishment of aboriginal title; ignorant corporations acting with contempt; and accommodation and consultations more honoured in the breach than in the observance. But there’s the less familiar too: native people in favour of develop-ment; strong links between First Nations and corporations; inter-tribal, inter-First Nation rivalries; and the misrepresenta-tion and betrayal of native interests by other natives.

This heated mix leads to a kind of cultural rebirth for the few Tahltan people who still live on the land. They find their voice, strength, courage, and an immense pride. They stand up to the corporations and to government, occupy offices, create blockades, and do it all in the pursuit of saving the land. In the words of Lillian Moyer “We need your help to pro-tect this land. It is not just for the native people. It is for all people. Not just for us. And that is the way it should be. It is all connected. We are all connected.”

All royalties from The Sacred Headwaters support the continuing struggle to save the land. Through its words and pic-tures, this book eloquently explains why it’s worth it.

By Wade DavisPrincipal photography Carr CliftonForward David SuzukiAfterword Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 2012 Greystone Books145 pages - Hardcover - $50.00Reviewed by George Clulow

The Sacred Headwaters -The Fight to Save the Stikine, Skeena and Nass

Dates: June 29 - July 1 and July 5-7

River & Valley Getaway

For more information and details:visit www.kumsheen.com/naturalist

call 1 800 663 6667 or email [email protected] Sharing the wild side of nature since 1973

Along the Thompson River corridor between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge, beautiful birds, unique reptiles, intriguing mammals and a myriad of desert plants—sagebrush, prickly pear cactus, bunch grass, and kinnikinnick, for example—await discovery.

Day two of the getaway includes a visit to flora-rich Botanie Valley to explore unique mountain plants indigenous to the area.

12


Across the province there are many invasive species - plants, birds, mammals, insects and others. However, we never hear about lichens within that group. This situation has changed in the last few years, at least in the Lower Mainland. For we now have a lichen species that definitely fits within the invasive category. Most people do not notice lichens, but even the casual naturalist may notice this one as it is colorful, beau-tiful, and rapidly overgrowing its neighbors. It is Xanthoria parietina, sometimes called the Maritime Sunburst Lichen. Sunburst Lichens stand out compared to their relatives, which tend to be a grayish tint that blends into their sur-roundings. They are called sunburst lichens due to their bright orange color, and they differ from their relatives in another respect, as well. Most lichens prefer nutrient poor habitats, but the orange ones tend to like nitrogen and calcium rich sites. You often see them in places where birds perch. Xanthoria parietina belongs to this group. It is re-ported to be more resistant to air pollution than most other lichens, which would give it a competitive advantage in the Lower Mainland area. It is a species from eastern North America and Europe, and was not reported from British Columbia until about 15 years ago. The book on foliose lichens of British Colum-bia by Trevor Goward does not include this species. That publication came out in 1994, before the Maritime Sunburst

An Invasive LichenBy Terry Taylor

Lichen was found in the province. The first collection was brought into a lichen research project at UBC in the late 1990’s, from the Fraser Valley, and the people involved in the project had never seen it before. Since that time the situation has changed quite dramatically. In parts of the Fraser Valley it is now a common spe-cies. It has now been collected or observed from Galiano Isand in the west to the Coquihalla Valley in the east, and is becoming more and more prevelant. Its pre-ferred habitat is on the trunks of deciduous street trees. Sometimes large patches of orange can be seen from some distance away. If you look closely at tree trunks such as these you will usually see that they are covered by tiny lichens. The Xanthoria parietina is much larger than these small species and readily overgrows them. The result is that this newly arrived species is replacing other arboreal species. Is there a problem? Nobody knows. We tend not to notice micro-ecosystems. When large invasives such as giant hogweed enter an area, they are read-ily apparent. There are groups removing invasive plants from native ecosystems, but we have very little knowledge of what is taking place on the micro level. As this newcomer overgrows it neighbors it's not just displacing the lichens that grow there, it's is affecting the micro-organisms and small insects associated with those lichens. Very little is known about the ecosystem processes associated with such micro sites. How did this Xanthoria enter these areas where it is now thriving? Again, nobody knows, but its occurrence in Ambleside Park, West Vancouver, may supply the an-swer. There are a few oak trees planted at one spot in this park. They have healthy populations of this lichen on them, but a cursory search of nearby trees did not show any. It is probable that these trees were brought to the park after they had acquired their lichenologi-cal associates. Whatever its origins, this lichen is now well established in southwestern British Columbia, and its continued territorial expansion is probably a sure thing.

Xanthoria parietina

Introduction to BC butterflies: • Behaviour & appearance • Food plants • Atlas protocols • Field guides • Q & A Hands-on tips: • Catching • Handling • Identification • Photography

Date: Saturday, June 8, 2013 Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Location: UBC Botanical Garden 6804 SW Marine Dr Register: [email protected]

Sadia Ramirez

WildResearch BC Butterfly Atlas Workshop

at the UBC Botanical Garden

By RosemaryTaylor


Young Naturalists’ Club of BC May 2013 UpdateBy Kristine Webber

YNC Receives Silver Award! - YNC was presented with the Silver Award from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation during the BC Nature 2013 AGM. “The HCTF “Silver Award” is presented annually to the leader of the HCTF project that is considered to have made the great-est contribution towards conserva-tion and that best exemplifies the objectives of the Foundation. The award was established in 2006, both in celebration of the 25th Anniver-sary of the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and in recognition of the contribution of Rod Silver, longtime Manager of HCTF.” As a multi-year recipient of HCTF funding it was wonderful to have the dedicated work of the many YNC club lead-ers, volunteers, and staff that since 2000 have connected thousands of children with nature recognized this way. Thank you HCTF!Stream of Dreams at the Parks Heri-tage Centre - More than 30 young naturalists learned about watersheds and stream stewardship during a special Stream of Dreams Explorer Day at the YNC offices in North Vancouver in April. Then parents and children celebrated what they learned about the importance of healthy watersheds to all creatures -- including salmon by painting co-lourful wooden dream fish. Later the dream fish were installed above a dry river rock stream-bed volunteers had previously constructed in the native plant garden in front of the Parks Heritage Centre (YNC office). Thank you to Gail Ross and Louise Towell from the Stream of Dreams Society, BC Parks, BC Nature and the

Elders Council for Parks for helping this project move swimmingly along;). After the event one young naturalists made a youtube video- you can see Only Rain Down the Drain at www.ync.ca. Mini-Stewardship Grants - This spring YNC offered mini-stewardship grants to help clubs do stewardship-oriented Explorer Days with their members. Projects included building/installing mason bee homes, bird boxes, bat boxes, planting native species and even constructing Western Painted Turtle nest protectors. Some of these Nature Champions will be highlighted in up-coming issues of NatureWILD Maga-zine. Stewardship opportunities are an important part of the YNC Program, as YNC members recently commented in a membership survey: “(stewardship) increases our sense of community and highlight our responsibilities and opportunities to protect the environ-ment.” Stewardship activities “Help encourage my children to connect with nature with a more hands on approach, which strengthens their core values in connection to nature.” We agree, which is why we’re hoping to raise more funds to help clubs do stewardship projects in the coming year!Explore the Rocky Shore - A favourite part of many summer vacations is a trip to the beach and an exploration of the intertidal zone. This year YNC members will be able to take along a colour-ful resource to help them explore the intertidal zone. Thanks to a donation by the author and Nature Vancouver, Explore the Rocky Shore by Sheila Byers is being made available to all renewing YNC Families. New YNC Board of Directors - The 2013-2014 YNC Board of Directors was elected at our AGM May 4th, 2013. YNC welcomes John Keller, Sandra Bicego

and Vic Elderton to the Board and thanks returning Board Members, Daphne Solecki, Ian McKeachie, Eva Nagy, Ruth Foster, Vanessa Lee and Heather Chatwin. Thank you to de-parting Board Members Laura Estrada, George Bangham and Gail Ross. See the website for more details on the Board as well as current 2012 Finan-cial Statements and our Annual Report (infographic) for 2012. Office News - YNC welcomes Rebecca Baker who replaces Tracy Green as our Membership and Office Coordina-tor. Rebecca is in the office Tuesday through Thursday and can be reached at [email protected]. Thank you to Tracy for her work with the YNC over the past months! Welcome also to Betty Davi-son YNC’s new bookkeeper!Mark your calendars - Nature Play Day is June15 and the Child and Nature Alliance (and YNC) encour-age you to make plans to go outside and celebrate nature with the young naturalists in your life. Family Fishing Day is June 16 and YNC will be joining the Seymour Salmonid Society at Rice Lake in the Lower Seymour Conserva-tion Area (http://www.seymoursalmon.com/familyfishing.php for details). If you are in the Lower Mainland in August you may want to join YNC at the Stanley Park BioBlitz on the August 24/25th weekend (www.stanleyparke-cology.ca). YNC will be co-hosting a special program at the Heritage Centre for children and their grandparents to celebrate Grandparents’ Day on Sep-tember 15th. Look for details on the YNC Website early summer. If you’d like a free copy of the YNC’s Sharing Nature with your Grandchildren pam-phlet please send a SASE to the YNC 1620 Mt. Seymour Rd, North Vancou-ver, BC V7G 2R9.

14


Yes, it’s true. I’m the Spouse of a Birder.

Nearly everything I know about birds, I learned from my husband, Dave. He’s obsessed with them, has been for over fifty years. He knows their hab-its, their names, whether they’re common or rare, where they’re likely to nest. I’ve always loved the feathered creatures, but have never known their specific names, or the songs each bird sang.

I don’t have a life list; don’t mind which birds I see. They’re all lovely to me. I follow Dave up canyons and along stream beds, around lakes and marshes and puddles, as he searches for the bird he hasn’t seen yet. But I do not dismiss the Starlings. I am captivated by their iridescent feathers, and their mocking cries. Flocks of Pine Siskins, like clouds blowing from tree to tree, can take my breath away.

Still, my birder husband has taught me well. The knowl-edge I have gained has given me a deeper appreciation of ornithology. Now when I hear the buzzing call of the Varied Thrush, or the ethereal song of a Swainson’s echo-ing through the forest, I know to which birds these songs belong. I watch with rapture as the first hummingbird comes to our feeder, and forgive the Towhees digging up my snow peas. The dowdy brown Song Sparrow thrills me with his love call. He sits on our garden fence, and doesn’t seem to mind me, the S.O.B., at all.

I Am an "S.O.B"By Eroca Dancer

If you go into the wood today, you're in for a big surprise! At least that was my experience

earlier this month with an unusual wildlife en-counter that surely rated 9.5 out of 10 on the ‘ick’ scale. You guessed it – Tent Caterpillars. I’m no stranger to this tiny beast that ap-pears in large numbers every ten years or so, or of the sound of the gentle rain of their droppings as you walk through the forests. Indeed such was the case as I walked a steep side trail in McMillan Creek Regional Park in Prince George. However, as I got into an area of smaller trees and bushes I noticed for the first time a few caterpillars descending on silk threads. As I was walking relatively fast with dimming light under the thick canopy, I didn’t realize what was happening until I sud-denly found myself festooned by sticky silk and caterpillars that were instantly glued all over my face, hair, hands, clothes. The tunnel-like section of trail was a three-dimensional sea of silk and caterpillars with nowhere to turn. My instinctive reaction was to get away, which, of course only made matters far worse as I blundered through the real-life hall of horrors like a fly trying to es-cape a spider’s web.

Surprise, SurpriseBy Mike Nash

Tent Caterpillar nest on a branch in McMillanCreek Regional Park

Later, after showering and changing and beginning to feel normal again, I reflected philosophically that after encountering just about every possible critter in the bush in my three and a half decades in this fair city, it’s nice that I can still have new experiences in the local outdoors!

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Rosemary Fox has contributed extensively to BC Nature, over many years in executive positions, as a voice for conservation

in the north, and most recently as Conservation Chair.Rosemary is remarkable for her calm thoroughness and diplo-

macy, and her tenacious commitment to a cause. Her conserva-tion achievements date back to 1970 when, together with hus-band Irving, she played an important role towards securing Spatsizi Provincial Park and later Stikine River Provincial Parks. Rosemary wrote in the 1976 FBCN Newsletter, commending the establish-ment of the huge expanse of Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Park because this park: “provides an opportunity to preserve for future generations some of the true wilderness that once was Canada”. She noted that the Order-in-Council which established the park stated: “The area will be maintained as a wilderness landscape in which natural communities are preserved intact and the progres-sions of the natural systems may proceed without alternation.” Looking to the future, she added that if forthright action is taken to achieve these objectives, “the Canadian people will have forever a priceless wilderness in which the sheep, the caribou, the wolf and the grizzly live in a natural relationship to one another and to other elements of the environment”. Rosemary developed much of her love of the natural world during her early childhood in the foothills of the Himalayas, in India.

During the 1970s, Rosemary was a founding director of the Lower Mainland Sierra Club. On her husband’s retirement in 1983, they moved to Smithers in the Bulkley Valley, where she continues to reside and provide a voice for conservation. Rosemary has served on the Boards of Nature Canada, the Environmental Mining Council of BC, the Bulkley Valley Research Centre, Bulkley Valley Community Resources Board and Babine Watershed Monitoring Trust. Over the past 45 years, Rosemary has adapted well to electronic communications, from pen and ink written letters to email communication, track changes for editing, and Skype phone conference calls!

BC Nature was most fortunate in spring 1999 when Rosemary joined our executive as vice-president. Serving 10 years in that role, she provided ongoing support over the terms of three presidents. She also provided a voice for conservation in the north and contributed extensively to the work of the Conservation Committee, representing BC Nature on Stikine Country Parks Advisory Committee, Morice Land and Resource Management Plan, Lower Stikine Management Advisory Committee, and Cassiar-Iskut Stikine LRMP Table. In 2009 Rosemary took on the role of BC Nature’s Conservation Co-Chair and in 2010 became the Chair, where she has fostered a strong Conservation Committee of naturalists around with province, with expertise in different areas, and communication through email. The Committee is known for thoughtfully choosing appropriate issues in which to involve BC Nature and for preparing well reviewed letters, briefs and presentations.

Over the past three years the Conservation Committee has been deeply involved in opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project. Rosemary has led BC Nature’s opposition, in partnership with Nature Canada, as joint interveners. As well as following the hearings of the Joint Review Panel in detail, Rosemary has been involved with hiring the consulting biologists and working with our pro bono lawyers for representation at the hearings. Rosemary presented the scope of BC Nature’s involvement to our members at the recent Parksville FGM. We are indeed most fortunate to have Rosemary’s well researched voice for conservation to further the conservation aims of BC Nature.

Elton Anderson Award 2013 - Rosemary FoxBy Bev Ramey, Fred McMechan and Anne Murray

BC Nature Recognition Award Peachland Chamber of Commerce By Central Okanagan Naturalists Club

Peachland Chamber of Commerce were awarded the BC Nature Recoginition Award for their work in the preservation of bat habitat and the educational component associated with their efforts.

In 2010, the 102 year old Peachland Primary School was slated for demolition. It was known by local residents that bats inhabited the attic of this building. A biologist was contacted to consider moving the bats by providing bat houses or a new location. It was determined that there were 1500-2000 Yuma bats with possibly some little brown bats (including a large maternity colony and many juveniles) using the 6600 sq. foot attic during the summer months. This colony may be the largest in BC , so transferring the colony would be ill advised. This site has obviously been home for the bats for many years as the guano was three feet high.

The Chamber of Commerce president, a concerned environmentalist, along with the Peachland local government sug-gested that the building undergo renovations including the removal of harmful asbestos. The Provincial government pro-vided $40,000 and the Federal Government $50,000. The MP at the time said that he would "go to bat" for the project. After the guano was removed and totalled 300 pounds. As a fund raiser, it was bagged in 10 lb. bags and sold for $40.00/bag. The guano is especially good for house plants due to the nitrate content! Hoppers are now installed to collect the guano.

Fred McMechan and Rosemary Fox

By Rita Bot


By Lillooet Naturalists Lillooet Naturalists honoured Vivian's unflagging passion, dedica-tion and commitment to the natural world and its health by nomi-

nating her for the BC Nature Regional Award.In 2002, Vivian along with four other founding members started

the Lillooet Naturalist Society. She has been our illustrious presi-dent and leader since its inception. This group was primarily formed because of Vivian’s distress upon seeing the clear-cut logging during her hikes in what is now the South Chilcotin Provincial Park. She wanted to lend “officialdom” to her letters of concern to various political groups. At that time she had no idea that the Naturalist Society would grow to the size it is today. In a small town of 2,500 people, we now have 54 members; 35 families and 19 individuals. In large part due to Vivian’s drive and enthusiasm, most of these members are very active and working on projects for the group to protect our natural environment.

The Lillooet Naturalists’ first Canyon to Alpine hiking guide was published in 2005 with a second edition printed in 2011. Vivian spent hours and hours on this project and literally hiked every trail in the guide at least twice and sometimes three of four times, to

BC Nature Regional Award - Vivian Birch-Jones

make sure the descriptions and directions were accurate. She pulled many experts and volunteers into the project to take photographs, make signs, blaze and clear trails, and write about the local flora and fauna. She initially started with over 70 trails for the book and chose the best 25 to feature in the first guide and 32 in the second. On the back cover of the second edition is a photograph of the boots, now well-worn, that Vivian started the guides with, beside her new boots.

Vivian has a passion for bats. She is a one-woman ambassador for the bats in this area. She freely shares her knowledge of the bat species and was the driving force in providing bat houses and educational signage at the Old Bridge site in Lil-looet. She fought hard with BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (formerly the Bridge Coastal Restoration Program) to include bat studies for the Lillooet area. She won this battle after many years of watching funding go mostly to fish. Her dogged determination successfully secured funding through this program for Western Screech Owl, bats, Martin, Mule Deer and Grizzly Bear studies.

Through Vivian’s efforts, the Lillooet Naturalists have played host to a number of successful events. In 2005 Vivian along with a few willing volunteers hosted the BC Nature Fall Conference. Two well-attended and popular Nature Camps have been held in the area in 2011 and again in 2012. Vivian’s husband, Ian Routley, was interested in hosting the BC Field Orni-thologists’ meetings in Lillooet in 2005. He gives full credit to Vivian for taking this on and says if it weren’t for her, this would not have happened. All of these events are a wonderful way to showcase to members of other BC Nature Clubs the wildlife and natural environment in this area as well as raise awareness about local species at risk. Frequently Vivian and Ian also host many scientists and researchers in their own home and are wonderful representatives for our area.

Despite Vivian having written two hiking guides it may come as a surprise to learn that Vivian easily gets lost. Once while hiking up Nine Mile Ridge, Vivian took a wrong turn and ended up in a narrow canyon. She couldn’t get up and had difficulty getting down. As she describes it, “I had a lighter and one cigarette”. It was beginning to get dark when Vivian heard a loud crash. Clamouring over some dead trees, she finally came out on the Yalakom Forest Service Road without knowing where she was. To everyone’s relief she was found walking down the road much later by a local person in the area. She will be the first person to laugh about this experience. We are so happy to have such a dedicated power house in the Lillooet area, and if they could speak up in her support,, many plant and animal species would be grateful to Vivian as well.

Renovations were completed in the fall of 2011 and the building now houses the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Centre along with the Boys and Girls Club, and an art gallery. The interpretative centre has a live feed from cameras installed in the roost and there are regular programmes offered during the summer. Nightly during June through August, lawn charis are set up across from the school with eyes trained on the dormers watching for the emergence of the insect feeding bats.

Peachland has noted that the mosquito population is almost non-existent and has opted out of the Mosquito Control Programme in the Central Okanangan.

Bat counts took place in August 2012 and the numbers seem to be increasing. This count proved to be invaluable because billions of bats in North America have succumbed to white nose disease. A count will also take place this year.

C.O.N.C. congratulates the Peachland Chamber of Commerce on the foresight and completion of this project and especially on the education aspect.

Awards Con't - Peachland Chamber of Commerce

Fred McMechan and Vivian Birch-Jones

Peachland Chamber of Commerce accepting BC Nature Regional Award

By Rita Bot

By Rita Bot


Measuring Treasure: Discovering the Biological Riches of British Columbia’s Flathead River ValleyBy Royal BC Museum Staff and Volunteers: Robb Bennett, Claudia and Darren Copley, Robert Forsyth, Melissa Frey, and Dave Robichaud.

Tucked neatly into the southeast corner of British Columbia, the Flat-head River Valley is one of our province’s most important natural

treasures, hosting some of the highest levels of biodiversity and most magnificent landscapes in North America. The region, fondly referred to as “the Flathead,” encompasses a mosaic of unique environments, including spectacular mountains and ancient rocks, vast tracks of for-ests, extraordinarily beautiful lakes and ponds, and free-flowing and fish-filled rivers. But surprisingly, it was not the scenery of the Flathead that attracted our attention this past summer – it was the captivating micro-fauna.

The Flathead is renowned for its pristine waters, lush wildflowers, and high concentrations of wildlife. In an effort to protect this richness, several conservation organizations are campaigning for a Flathead National Park and Wildlife Management Area. A designated national park in the southeastern one-third of the Flathead would complete the missing piece of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, and together with a wildlife management area in the rest of the valley and adjoining habitat, would provide a critical corridor for wildlife moving through the Rocky Mountains. Previous surveys have confirmed that the valley hosts 22 species of charismatic macro-fauna – large carnivore and hoofed mammals, including Grizzlies, Wol-verines, and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. But a myriad of other organisms make their home in the Flathead and we know very little about these.

To determine who those unknown organisms are, Sierra Club BC, WildSight, and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative invited a team of biologists, photographers, and writers to participate in the first annual Flathead BioBlitz last August. The goal of the "BioBlitz" was to inventory or list as many species as possible, and to highlight notable discoveries, such as rare or unusual species. Biologists from the Royal BC Museum, Parks Canada (Peter Achuff), the American Bird Conservancy (Dan Casey), and the University of Montana (Ric Hauer) spent four glorious days sampling the mountains, forests, lakes and rivers of the Flathead. The Royal BC Museum team focused on the charismatic micro-fauna – insects, spiders, and other invertebrates.

Remarkably, more than 1,200 species of plants and animals have been recorded to date, confirming that the Flathead is indeed a hotspot for biodiversity. Using both historical and current records, Peter Achuff found that 685 species of vascular plants are known to live there. The RBCM crew found more than 200 insect species, 71 spider species, 29 species of snails

and clams, and 29 species of other invertebrates. Following our four days of sampling we spent more than 400 hours back home at the museum sorting and identifying the specimens. Discovering the hidden treasures in these samples is what biologists find so rewarding.

Among the invertebrates collected, we found many noteworthy specimens. The Flathead appears to serve as a refuge for many rare species. For example, we discovered a tiny Fingernail Clam that had not been documented in BC in more than 100 years. Perhaps even more exciting was the number of spiders that repre-sented either species new to science, first records in the province, or major range expansions. More than 30 of the plants recorded from the region are provincially red or blue-listed, and nine species of the 86 bird species reported dur-ing the Blitz are classified as rare regionally or provincially, or as “declining or rare” on the American Bird Conservancy watch list. These important findings are expected to assist conservation organizations and policy makers gain protec-tion for this biologically rich region of our province.

The Royal BC Museum team would like to acknowledge the incredible organizational effort that went into feed-ing and transporting us during the Flathead Bioblitz. Many thanks to the following people and the organizations they represent: Galen Armstrong (Sierra Club BC), John Ber-genske (Wildsight), Casey Brennan (Wildsight), Sarah Cox (Sierra Club BC), Robyn Duncan (Wildsight) Harvey Locke (Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative), Ryland Nel-son (Wildsight), Rhonda Turner (Mountain Range Catering).

We are also grateful for the creative support provided by the

18

Viewing British Columbia’s Flathead Valley at different scales: at landscape level versus (inset) Dr. Robb Bennett examining its micro-inhabitants.

Map of the area showing the various levels of protection - those already established and those that are proposed

By Jaime Rojo


Robin Strong was selected as this year’s Rene Savenye Scholarship re-cipient. Her background is impressive. She has a Forest Technology

diploma from Selkirk College, is a Registered Forest Technologist and has worked as a Community Forest Manager. Robin is a member of the Lil-looet Naturalist Society and has worked as a volunteer in several projects with them. Other volunteer work has been in conservation activities with biologists and the Xwisten First Nation in the Lillooet area. She returned to school in 2012 and did online courses through the University of Victo-ria where one of her school projects was a study of Lewis’s Woodpecker habitat on the Fraser River. She now resides in Pemberton and is doing online courses through the University of Victoria. Her volunteer activities there have included the preparation of a proposal to develop signage in Cheakamus Community Forest and with the Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations planting whitebark pine trees in the Whistler area. Robin’s primary goals embrace the motto of BC Nature: To know na-ture and to keep it worth knowing through her ongoing course work, field studies and her present and future work in the sustainability and restora-tion of lands and forests including First Nations lands. We are pleased to be able to assist her in these goals. Congratulations Robin.

Rene Savenye Scholarship - Robin Strong By Joan Snyder

Panama ~ Feb 15 to 26, 2014 Looking for a mid-winter tropical getaway? Join us in Panama for the birding & nature lovers holiday of a lifetime! Expect up to 300 species of birds as well as many rainforest animals. We will stay at the world famous Canopy Tower & Canopy Lodge on this tour. $4200 (CAD) from Panama City. British Columbia ~ Vancouver & the Okanagan

Aug 19 to 25, 2013 This tour takes us from Vancouver, where thou-sands of migrant shorebirds are an attraction, to the sunny Okanagan Valley, an area rife with ex-citing birdwatching. Up to 200 bird species are possible, along with numerous mammals. Our guides are based in BC so we are the area ex-perts! $1750 (CAD) from Vancouver, BC.

AVOCET TOURS, 725 Richards Road, Kelowna, BC, V1X 2X5, Canada, Phone: 250-718-0335

Email: [email protected] Web: www.avocettours.ca

AVOCET TOURS

‘Leaders in the field’ WildResearch Seeks Night-jar Survey Volunteers

Due to their nocturnal habits, little is known about population trends of nightjars in British Columbia (BC), including the Common Poorwill.

Detected declines of similar species in Ontario and degradation of breed-ing habitat suggest a need to monitor nightjars in BC.

WildResearch, a BC based non-profit organization, is seeking volunteers to survey Common Poorwills, Common Nighthawks and other nocturnal species in BC. Data collection follows U.S. Nightjar Survey protocols to allow comparison with other surveys conducted across North America.

Survey routes are located across southern BC in suitable Poorwill habi-tat. Each route will be surveyed once on a calm, clear night around the full moon (between May 17 – May 31 and June 16 – June 30, 2013). Routes are approximately 16 km in length and typically take less than two hours to complete. Survey routes should be conducted in pairs for safety reasons.

If you’re interested in participating in the WildResearch Nightjar survey, please check our website, www.wildresearch.ca for more information or email [email protected].

writers and photographers: Steven Gnam (Wildlife Photographer), Mike Roelofs (Wild-life Photographer), Jaime Rojo (Wildlife Photographer), Ben van Raaij (Science Writer). We had so much FUN!!UPDATE: The Flathead Wild team is busy preparing for the Second Annual Flathead River BioBlitz. This year the event will be held earlier in the year (June 21st-28th) in an effort to document different species. If you would like to be involved in protecting a vital link in the Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor and you have expertise in a par-ticular group of organisms, please get in touch. Mycologists, lichenologists, botanists, bryologists, ornithologists, herpetologists, ichthyologists – You’re needed! For more

Flathead River Valley - Con't

19

information or to register, please get in touch with Galen Armstrong at Sierra Club BC. To learn more about the Flathead, visit: http://www.flat-head.ca/ or www.sierraclub.bc.ca

Ramshorn SnailBy Jaime Rojo


Protecting the World’s Temperate GrasslandsBy Bill Henwood

A global effort to foster the conservation and protection of the world’s temperate grasslands got its start right here in British Columbia. In

the early 1990s, there was growing interest in protecting representa-tive examples of all ecosystems in the province through the Protected Areas Strategy, and the grasslands of the province were among the most poorly protected. Through land use planning processes in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, the Okanagan-Shuswap, the Kootenay-Boundary and the Lillooet regions, new proposals were put forward to protect grasslands. These early initiatives also led directly to the creation of the Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia in 1999 and, at the global level, the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative in 1996.

It is not commonly understood that temperate grasslands are one of the world’s great biomes, occupying about 9 million km2, or about 8% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, occuring on every continent except Antarctica. But after cradling the needs of humankind for countless centuries, the temperate grassland ecosystem is now considered the most altered on the planet. Globally, about 41% of temperate grasslands have been converted to agricultural use, another 6% to urbanization, and an additional 7.5% to commercial forestry and other disturbances.

As a result, these grasslands are now the most endangered ecosys-tem on most continents, especially in the prairie or plains of North America, the pampas of South America, the lowland grasslands of southeast Australia and New Zealand, the steppes of eastern Europe, and the grasslands of southern Africa. While not necessarily endan-gered, significant signs of stress are also appearing in the more healthy and intact temperate grasslands in parts of South America and the vast steppes spanning the breadth of Asia.

Opportunities to protect significant representative and ecologi-cally viable examples of this biome have been largely overlooked. In 1996, only 0.69% of the world’s temperate grasslands had any level of protection! In response to this conservation dilemma, the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) created the Grasslands Protected Areas Specialist Group in 1996. Through the Group’s Temperate Grass-lands Conservation Initiative (TGCI), the aim is to promote and facili-tate the establishment of new protected areas in temperate grass-lands throughout the world, hoping to protect 10% of the biome by 2014, the year of the next World Parks Congress. The TGCI focuses on the grasslands of North and South America, Europe, Asia, southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. These include the Great Plains and intermontane grasslands of North America, including those in Brit-ish Columbia, as well as the Chihuahuan desert grasslands in Mexico. In South America, the diversity of temperate grasslands includes the

pampas and campos, the paramos and puna along the spine of the Andes, and the steppes of Patagonia. The infamous steppes of Eurasia stretch from east-ern Europe, through Kazakhstan and western Russia, the high elevations of the Himalaya– Hindu Kush and Tibetan Plateau, to Mongolia, northern China, and Siberian Russia. The Specialist Group also works with the grasslands in the temperate latitudes of southeast Australia, New Zealand, and southern Africa.

Among these varied grasslands landscapes are four regions in particular that are key priorities for the TGCI. Here, there is still the opportunity to protect very large and relatively intact grassland ecosystems at the land-scape level, millions of hectares in size. These regions include the Daurian Steppe shared by Mongolia, Rus-sia and China; the Kazakh Steppe in Kazakhstan; the Patagonian Steppe shared by Argentina and Chile; and the Northern Great Plains shared by Canada and the United States. Important initiatives are underway in all four of these regions that should, over time, pro-duce significant results toward the protection and restoration of these ecosystems. These grasslands are the most at risk biome in the world. Even so, in some regions the rate of conversion of natural grasslands to other uses, primarily cultivated agriculture, are the

The lush snow tussock grasslands in the alpine of Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

These intermontane grasslands lie on the Ham-ilton Commonage east of Merritt in the Nicola Valley. Formed in the rain shadow of the Coastal Range, they are interspersed with wetland, ripar-ian areas, aspen copses and coniferous forest.

By Bill Henwood

By Bill Henwood

highest they have ever been. Climate change and desertification are increasing threats. Whether formally protected or not, the remaining natural areas of indigenous temperate grasslands take on a heightened importance for the range of essential ecological services they provide, including the yield of water, the mainte-nance of biodiversity through the protection of habitat, the con-servation of genetic diversity, recreation and tourism, areas of religious or spiritual significance, and as sources of natural foods and medicines.

The amount of the world’s temperate grasslands in protected areas has increased from 0.69% in 1996 to about 3.5% in 2012. While this increase of approximately 500% represents consider-able progress, we have only reached a third of our goal. While many new protected areas have been established and there has been a distinct rise in the level of awareness of and concern for the plight of temperate grasslands, much remains to be done.


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By Thalia Grant

Left - Mixed male and female and shows size versus pine needles. Middle - Close-up Male, Right - Close-up Female Below Right - Type of Pond you would find Fairy Shrimp

What are we? We are cool fresh-water branchiopod crustaceans. We swim on our backs and use our 11 pairs of thoracopods for propul-sion, respiration and to channel algae and other organic particles to our mouth parts. We can grow to over 3 cm long, but more typi-cally attain lengths of 2-2.5 cm. We are often orange, but sometimes green and blue, or grey, with red-dish abdominal segments. Our females carry a couple hundred eggs, which drop to the bottom of the pool, dry out during the sum-mer and hatch with the autumn rains. Our males have uniquely shaped second antennae, used to clasp the female during mating.Where do we live? We live in neutral to mildly acidic ephemeral ponds, in mixed or open woodlands with low turbidity, little or no flow, no fish, and few or no waterfowl. Our ponds retain water from October/November to April/May, and dry up in the summer. What’s our geographical range? We have a highly disjunct, coastal distribution in southwestern British Columbia, Wash-ington, Oregon and northern California, with a few populations in Oklahoma. Our highest concentrations are found in the Pacific Northwest. British Columbia is the northern extent of our range. We are the only fairy shrimp species found in the lower mainland, and on Vancouver Island and the Gulf islands.What’s our problem? We are becoming rare in British Columbia due to urban and agricultural development and drainage removing our required habitat. We can still be found in a few places on Vancouver Island, and some of the Gulf Islands. However, only two or three extant populations are known for the lower mainland, one of which will be built over in 2014. Can you help locate more of us? If you come across fairy shrimps anywhere in BC please contact UBC affiliate K. Thalia Grant - [email protected] or 604 221-9440 with location details. She will be very grateful…and happy to answer ques-tions about us.

Important Bird Area (IBA) Caretakers gathered at Cam-midge House in Boundary Bay-Roberts Bank-Sturgeon Bank (Fraser River Estuary) IBA for a workshop on November 7, 2012


By Bev Ramey

The BC Naturalists’ Foundation held its AGM and Directors meeting in

May during BC Nature’s Spring Confer-ence and AGM at Abbotsford. Greatly appreciated were the excellent pro-gram and many courtesies of the host club, Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club.

F O U N DAT I O N

A Strong Foundation is Good for Nature

Your donation or bequest to BC Naturalists’

Foundationhelps build a fund that willsupport the conservationand education projects of

BC Nature and itsmember clubs for many

years into the future

BC Naturalists’ FoundationTel: (604) [email protected]

BC Naturalists’ Foundation

WildResearch, a Vancouver based non-profit group is organizing a fundraising event to raise money for its scientific programs. The event will be a 7 hr pelagic birding trip that sails from Ucluelet, BC aboard the MV Frances Barkley to La Perouse Bank.

Come aboard and enjoy the experience! A great opportunity to view seabirds that are rarely seen from shore. Complete with indoor cafeteria and washrooms, this large and stable vessel should offer stunning viewing and photographic opportunities.

Visit www.wildresearch.ca for details about the trip.

Michael Ashbee

Join us for: Pelagic Seabirds of the Canadian Pacific Sunday, September 15th, 2013

Your new slate of Foundation Officers are: President - Bev Ramey, Vice-President – John Neville, Treasurer – Elisa Krel-ler, Secretary – Janet Pattinson, and Directors at Large - Tom Bearss, Bob Handfield, Heather Neville, Dick Stace-Smith, Frances Vyse, and Pat Westheuser. It is lovely to welcome the three new Directors to the Foundation’s Board and with representation throughout BC.

Reminder for Clubs interested in applying for Club Support Grants, the deadline for applications will be January 31, 2014, so start thinking about your projects for next year.

The Foundation encourages BC Nature members to con-sider planned giving, donations and bequests to grow its capital. The income from the invested capital provides a flow of income which in turn is used to make grants for projects of naturalists for years to come. Since its formation 22 years ago, the BC Naturalists’ Foundation has provided more than $125,000 in grants to BC Nature and its member clubs for conservation and education projects.


After co-hosting the very successful BC Nature meeting in Parksville last fall our club enjoyed a great winter of speakers and outings.

We began the year with a meeting that has become a tradition at the Club where members get a chance to talk about or show photos of interesting things they had done or been involved with. Lots of members participated with everything from fun things at the backyard feeder to birdwatching in Chile.

The rainy weather made our monthly outings a bit spare but the Feb-ruary meeting was a real highlight for all plant lovers. Andy MacKinnon the co-author of Trees of British Columbia, the accepted reference on the subject, was our guest speaker. Mr. MacKinnon had a new book about to be released on Alpine Plants. We advertised the event widely and drew a large crowd with the guests greatly outnumbering the club members. Andy held the audience captive with an entertaining and informative hour or so on the huge variety of fauna we can find here.

With this success we invited Jessica Wolfe to our March meeting to talk about the useful plants found on the island. Her incredible knowl-

Nanoose Naturalists’ - Activities By Joe Crichton

Seniors Nature Programs

• Monday June 24 - 10:30 am - “Art Inspired by Nature Workshop” with artist and retired forester Janna Kumi. • Thursday June 27 - 9:30 am - “Old Growth Conservancy Walk” with biologist, geologist David Cook. • Friday July 12 - “The Importance of Wetlands” – An enlightening walk with the North Shore Wetland Partners around

Goldie and Flower Lake. • Friday August 9 - 10:30 am - Photography Workshop with Rosemary Taylor. “Wildflowers in Full Bloom.” • Tuesday August 20 - 12:00 - 2:00 pm - “The Story of Herring” Interpretive Program - Summer Picnic. (Closed event

with Community Action Program for Children and Parent Advisory Group) • Sunday - September 15 - 10:30 am - Grandparents Day with the Young Naturalist Club– “Dream Catchers and Totem

Animals” What is your favourite local forest animal and how does it live? A program with storyteller Christine Kobel and Nature Interpreter Gwyn Thomas.

• Thursday September 18 - In celebration of B.C. Rivers Day: “Woman of the Bridge-a History of Capilano Suspension Bridge”- Elizabeth Rebbick was an entrepreneur, master gardener, and visionary owner of the Capilano Suspension Bridge. An authentic dramatization in PowerPoint, presented by Patricia Mason-Bell and Kevin Bell.

• Saturday Spetember 28 - 11:00 am - Culture Days “Interconnected: Writers & Artists Nature Walk & Talk” with Trevor Carolan. Editor, Cascadia: The Life and Breath of the World.

• Date: To Be Announced “The Story of Whey-ah-Wichen: A Cultural History of Cates Park” with Reuben George, Dirk and Irwin Oostindie

• Date: To Be Announced - “A Poetic Review of Seymour River Recollections” Dance performance and reading with Christine Elsey and Deep Cove Heritage Society. NOTE: Location at Seymour River on Riverside Drive at the Elsey’s home and heritage garden.

edge meant her talk ranged widely, from the difficulties of finding edible mushrooms, to the decorative uses we have for plants, and on to the vast number of medical qualities so many local plants process. Once again we encouraged many new people to attend and guests far outnumbered the members. It was gratifying to see that we can reach out to a wider com-munity and encourage them to appreciate the wonders that are around us.

Terry Thormin was our next speaker who took us into the fascinating world of Dragonflies. Who knew there were so many fascinating species on the island? Terry’s fantastic photos kept us entertained while he described the various characteristics and behaviours of these many species.

Despite the rainy weather this winter we did manage a few good outings including a very informative trip to the Sturgeon Research Centre at VIU. Those fish are massive. We were shown through the operation by the facility’s manager. There is a lot of excellent research going on there concerning this ancient fish. They were awaiting the arrival of a post-doctoral student to advance the program, so maybe a future talk about new research may be in the works.

Our last outing was to check out the wild flowers of Harewood Plains but spring was a bit late so we went exploring the nearby Harewood "abyss." This is a fascinating geological feature brought to life for us by our past president Tony Ransom who knows his geology. But an even more amazing discovery for our group, was the petroglyphs carved into the stone. Thought to be many centuries old they presented us with many more questions than answers.

Now we are looking forward to our summer break and more great education and promotion of nature on Vancouver Island.

Aeshna canadensis Canada Darner in Flight

By Terry Thormin

By Elise Roberts


Every year from mid-May through to the end of August, the Friends

of Semiahmoo Bay Society (FoSBS) provides a conservation minded marine interpretation in Boundary Bay. Full-time interpreters keep visi-tors, residents and school children informed about local beach ecol-ogy, fishing regulations and public health and safety issues.

The goals of the program are to inform citizens about public health and safety issues; educate the local community about the natural environment to promote steward-ship and knowledge; monitor rec-reational users and observe and report poachers and participate in local FoSBS conservation initiatives.

Specific program targets and the main learning objectives of activities and materials designed are for both chil-dren and adults are to: educate about fishing and harvest regulations, and the dangers of toxic shellfish harvest-ing; educate about pollution and water quality issues and local concerns such as swimmer’s itch and the regional shellfish harvesting closure; raise public awareness about the marine environ-ment and specifically about the global significance of the habitat values of the Boundary Bay Wildlife Management Area, (IBA, WHSRN, RAMSAR designa-tions); encourage positive, nonpolluting uses of the marine environment; involve all stakeholders in the local community to embrace stewardship, protection and conservation of the waters and shoreline and engage and interact with minority and aboriginal youth. During days of low tides, beach walks are given to inform beach goers of the variety of marine life and habitats. This program also focuses on interpretive and informational sur-veys directed at recreational fishers with a particular focus on the piers. The inter-preters are constantly on the lookout for shellfish harvesting activity regardless of tide level and have many opportunities to educate poachers about the dangers of shellfish harvesting as well as report violators to DFO’s Fisheries Officers.

In 2004, FoSBS was contracted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Resource Management to monitor for illegal clamming activity and conduct surveys of recreational fishing activities from May through August in the Boundary Bay Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Nature and marine interpretive services and educational outreach events were added to the program the following year. This Beach hero Marine Interpretive Pro-gram (BHMIP) built upon the resources

developed by the DFO Community Advi-sor. These resources included a Beach Hero logo applied to tattoos, stickers and buttons. Resource Management and our local Community Advisor provided fund-ing, shirts, hats, back packs, binoculars, interpretive materials and informational brochures to distribute. As the program grew, the need for paid summer staff was apparent. Initial funding came from DFO then Service Canada.

Volunteer support is crucial to the pro-gram to apply for funding, coordinate summer student applicants, hiring, stu-dent training and field monitoring. Train-ing includes ‘Be Safe’, DFO recreational use survey methods, regulations and observe and report protocol. FoSBS pro-vides student training in marine ecology through knowledgeable naturalists and the Shorekeepers program in which they attend a three day workshop in May and attend the annual surveys at six sites in the bay. Other opportunities include eel-grass monitoring, GPS mapping and inva-sive species removal of Spartina anglica.

In 2012, the BHMIP directly reached 11,000 individuals through recreational user surveys and at special events. An estimated 3,000 conversations explained water quality, swimmer’s itch and pollu-tion issues to the public. Due to excellent early media coverage at World Ocean’s Day, the official program launch, Beach Hero Interpreters had more private booking requests than ever. 16 groups requested private walks, ranging from small family groups to community orga-nizations.

The Interpreters offer numerous edu-cational activities at public events and festivals such as ‘touch and feel’ mate-rials, seaquarium, sculpin hat craft and a whale blubber model. With the death of a young Humpback Whale on White

Rock beach, the interpreters incorpo-rated an activity on how whales maintain their body temperature in cold ocean

waters. This lead to an opportunity to discuss how the whale died due to human activities.

FoSBS has participated in the Shorekeepers Program for the past eight years. This DFO program pro-vides the opportunity for citizen sci-entists to gather data on our local beaches with the goal to detect change over time. By offering the Beach Hero Interpreters this training and opportunity to practice specific methodology and identification they are more informed. Skills developed that are particularly useful in their work as marine interpreters include: knowledge of the tidal water move-ment in Boundary Bay; teamwork skills and recognition of the diver-

sity and knowledge of local area volun-teers; identification of marine species using magnifying glasses and identifica-tion charts; ability to distinguish differ-ent habitats within a designated area between the high and low tide lines; habitat classification criteria and meth-ods; the ability to recognize the diversity of habitats within the intertidal ecosys-tem and the biodiversity in each habitat.

FoSB continues to be committed to helping provide this programming, the nature of funding (year to year grants) and the availability and time commit-ment of volunteers are ongoing chal-lenges. FoSBS acknowledges and appre-ciates BHMIP sponsors: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region; Service Canada; TD Friends of the Environment Foundation; BC Nature; BC Naturalists Foundation; Choices Markets; City of White Rock and National Bank Financial and staff support from the City of Surrey Parks.

Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society Beach Hero Program By Marg Cuthbert

Beach Hero Interpreter in Shorekeepers

Beach Hero Interpreter showing participants a Sea Star

By M. Cutherbert

By M. Cuthbert


Our BC Nature Spring Camp in Tofino turned out to be a wonderful and thrilling outdoor experience.

In this beautiful area, we whale-watched on large ocean swells, wandered in quiet old growth forests, dipped in warm hot springs, visited salty beaches and watched for birds on expansive mud flats. During our four night, five day camp, the weather was sunny and dry. On one of our boat excur-sions, we were lucky to catch sight of Grey Whales, approxi-mately 30 Sea Otters, two River Otters, Harbor Porpoise, and Harbor Seals. We also came across a Pine Martin, two Black Bears with three cubs between them, three Coastal Wolves and one snake. According to our boat captain, the Coastal Wolves were a very special sighting as they are seldom seen.

Our bird count grew longer each day as we explored, end-ing up with a supersized count of 88 different species! We saw 11 species of shorebirds of which the small flocks of Whimbrels and Red-necked Phalaropes were main high-lights. In addition we saw five species of alcids with the most significant find were a small flocks of Cassin's Auklets just offshore of Tofino. All the other sightings of course were highlights too such as the heavy bodied Rhinocerus Auklets exploding out of the water upon take-off. The large flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese were also a surprise . On the wild beaches and expansive mud flats we had close-up observations of the down-curved beaks of large Whimbrels, the Red-beaked Black Oystercatchers, the Black-bellied Plo-vers and of a small group of Red-necked Phalaropes. Several flights of Western Sandpipers and Dunlin, plus a few mixed groups flew by every so often. We also watched in awe and amazement as an enormous mass of shorebirds displayed flocking behaviour in tight group formation - waving, bunch-ing and wheeling over the wide mud flats. Who says left, or right and who's the leader?

Our naturalist birding guru, Andy Murray and Viveka Ohman, shared many "bird facts" to accompany our many bird sightings, including that it is estimated that millions of shorebirds migrate through this area late April early May every year!

George Patterson walked our group through his lovely and unique Tofino Botanical Gardens that boasts several unusual and remarkable pieces of wooden carvings, sculptures and other different works of art. An enthusiastic Kim Johnston from the Raincoast Education Society took us on a wonderful

Whimbrels, Whales, Wolves, & Wonderful Weather!BC Nature Spring Camp Tofino BC April 27-May 1, 2013By Anne Gosse marine journey into the invertebrate environment of the

intertidal zone on a sunny beach. Meares Island's wooden walkways could be dangerous

and slippery as it badly needs repair, however, the thou-sand-year-old mossy, green huge cedar trees gave off a majestic solitude that made our wander worth it.

Several very informative slide presentations and speak-ers were heard. The first presenter, Dan Harrison, gave a very impressive quick overview of what the Raincoast Education Society does in one year. We discovered they wear many hats and contribute to the natural environ-ment of the Clayoquot and Barkley Sound regions with educational programs, interpretive programs, school pro-grams and walks, talks and slideshows for all residents and visitors. We enjoyed Josie Osborne's informative slide pre-sentation about those adorable-looking Sea Otters along with plenty of sea otter fun facts. Lastly, Pacific Rim Park. Ranger Pete Clarkson told us a few humorous stories along with his very interesting slide presentation about the "The Remarkable Offshore Islets of the Pacific Rim." His love and passion of his "study bird" the Oyster Catcher was very infectious indeed!

We had two mixer fun games in the evenings which everyone seemed to enjoy and gave everyone some good laughs, plus we enjoyed a "tall tale" night where stork-like activity was displayed and a quiz "answer" teasingly dis-puted - all with much laughter and ribbing.

Finally, the only rainfall of note was after we all got wet from a visit to Hot Springs Cove! We were very lucky to have had such great weather and great widlife viewing, bird watching and informative presenters!

Black Oyster Catchers

By Anne Gosse

By Anne Gosse

Pair of Black Bears on the beach sourcing out food.


By Bernie FandrichBritish Columbia’s Majestic Thompson River

Volunteer Caretakers are the eyes, ears and hands on the ground at Important

Bird Areas. Caretaker activities range from monitoring birds and assessing habitats and conservation threats to increasing local awareness and/or conducting conservation activities. IBA partners Nature Canada, Bird Studies Canada and BC Nature assist Care-takers by providing coordination, materials, support and guidance.

In May 2012, BC Nature received a grant from Mountain Equipment Co-op to help build the capacity of Caretakers and other volunteers. This grant provided IBA part-ners the resources needed to develop bet-ter materials for Caretakers, make materials more available through the BC Nature web-site, and provide guidance to Caretakers on using these materials.

The grant also provided an opportunity for Caretakers to network with each other through a series of three regional work-shops held across BC. The first workshop was held in Tsawwassen in November 2012, the second in Nanoose Bay in January 2013 and the third in Osoyoos in April 2013. In total, thirty-five Caretakers and volunteers participated in the workshops. Topics cov-

Focus on IBAs: Connecting BC IBA CaretakersBy Krista Englund

ered at the workshops included the process to update online site summa-ries, monitoring IBAs, using eBird.ca, and communications. With help from a team of BC Nature, Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada representatives, IBA Caretaker Coordinator Krista Englund continues to support the efforts of Caretakers across the province to promote conservation of their local IBAs.

Volunteers taking a break to take in some birding at an IBA caretaker workshop at the Little Qualicum Estuary looking out to Nanoose Bay

Excerpt from the Majestic Thompson River - Km by km guide, Events and TalesChapter 6 - Plants along the Thompson River - Balsamroot

Balsamroot (a.k.a. sunflowers) turns the dry flats and hillsides along the Thompson River a golden yellow. They are a sure sign of spring.

Each plant has a cluster of large yellow flowers that emerges once the snow is gone and the frost has left the ground. If the soil is very dry because of a low snow pack or lack of rain, the blossoms last for only a few days. However, if it is a cool, wet spring with a snowpack that has melted and percolated into the ground, the blossoms may last several weeks or more.The silver-grey leaves, which emerge from the base of a clump of stems, have tiny felt-like hairs. The leaves dry out in summer and turn brittle.

Balsamroot was one of the most important food sources for the Interior Salish people; every part of the plant is edible. They peeled and ate the tender inner portion of the immature flower stems in the spring. After the blossoms disappeared, dried seeds appeared. They were eaten raw or mixed with deer fat and boiled to tenderness using hot rocks and baskets.

The roots are generally very tough and pulpy. To tenderize them and make them more palatable, the Thompson women would bake them in a fire pit with round river rocks for several days.

Both the leaves and roots have medicinal value. The large, coarse leaves served as a poultice for burns. Once boiled, the root solution also served as a poultice for wounds, cuts, and bruises. A tea brewed from the roots was medicine for tuber-culosis, rheumatism, headaches, whooping cough, and even venereal disease.

Apparently (always be on your guard when you read the word apparently), bull snakes have discovered how to use dry balsamroot leaves as a defence mechanism. These non-poisonous snakes live in the same habitat as the Pacific rattlesnake; when threatened, bull snakes will sometimes hide in a clump of balsamroot and rattle the dry leaves with their tail, emitting a sound much like a rattlesnake’s rattle. "Rich in Canadian history and adventure, this is my kind of book. Having gotten me safely on and off the Thompson, Ber-nie's my kind of guy." --Rick Mercer - To order your copy, please visit www.kumsheen.com/majestic/

By Bernie Fandrich

By Krista Englund


The story of Moby Doll, the orca, is sad and short

Fifty years after the event, orca scientists and enthusiasts gath-

ered on Saturna Island where it all began. The story may be new to you, as it was to me, yet it is likely that Moby Doll’s capture and dis-play marked the beginning of a sea change in peoples’ attitude to killer whales.

Today, the sight of a pod of orcas cruising the Strait of Georgia brings ferry passengers rushing to the railings, cameras at the ready. In the 1960s, it was still thought quite acceptable to harpoon a whale.

The sold-out crowd of 200 people at the Moby Doll Orca Symposium on Sat-urna Island on May 25 wanted to reflect on “the changes in attitude and the deeper understanding we have devel-oped towards Orcinus orca in the past 50 years”. Those changes have been profound.

Orcas, or killer whales, were tradition-ally feared, revered, and respected by the indigenous people of the coast. That sentiment morphed with the growth of commercial salmon fisheries into one of dislike and aggression, as the so-called “blackfish” were seen as dangerous competitors for fish. No one thought it was safe to come near them and it was not uncommon to shoot them. Little was known about their natural history, and they were still scientifically unstud-ied by the 1960s.

In 1964, the Vancouver Aquarium, which had been in operation for eight years, planned to harvest a killer whale for dissection, study, and use as a model for a realistic statue at the entrance to their facility. A team from the aquarium headed to Saturna, the southernmost of the Gulf Islands, and set up a harpoon on the rocks of East Point, now part of the National Park Reserve.

In due course, a pod of orcas arrived, and the five-metre-long Moby Doll was harpooned. Unexpectedly, it failed to die, as two other members of the pod swam to support it at the ocean's sur-face. The aquarium team realized that they could bring the relatively calm ani-mal back alive, and towed it 65 kilome-tres back to Vancouver.

They called it Moby Doll, mistaking the young male for a female, and exhib-ited him in a pen in the harbour, where he created a sensation. The public and media flocked to visit.

This was the first ever captive orca and as described by the Saturna symposium

organizers, it “triggered a goldrush” on young orcas. Dozens were subsequently captured and put on display in aquari-ums around the world. The intelligent animals were often taught tricks, and would perform in shows.

Moby Doll was a member of the south-ern resident population, which eat fish, not marine mammals. This simple fact was overlooked when coaxing the cap-tive orca to eat, a problem that was solved once it was offered ling cod.

Southern residents, which roam southern B.C. and Washington State waters, are one of several populations of coastal killer whales. There are also northern resident orcas from Johnstone Strait northward, and transient orcas, which travel in small groups and prey on seals and other marine mammals. Off-shore populations, only discovered in the early 1990s, travel in large groups as they range from 20 to 50 kilometres off-shore, between California and Alaska.

Murray Newman, curator of the Van-couver Aquarium at the time of Moby Doll’s capture, was amazed by the orca’s gentle, docile nature. He realized that it was communicating with a series of whistles, grunts and squeals.

According to a newspaper account of the day, Newman considered his whale to be “the most magnificent of all ani-mals”.

Still going strong 50 years later, the researcher said: “I always believed that live animals are more valuable than dead animals, especially for teaching young children and changing our atti-tudes.” He was the first of a long line of dedicated scientists who became engrossed with orcas.

The late Michael Bigg pioneered the study of orcas in the wild during the 1970s, and enlisted public support in counting the 300 or so orcas on the B.C. coast. Along with other research-ers such as Pat McGeer, Graeme Ellis, John Ford, and Kenneth Balcomb, Bigg

dramatically changed public attitudes to orcas. Increasing discoveries were made about the complex communications of the whales, which allow them to stay in touch with their fam-ily groups, or pods, and maintain extensive associations between pods over generations.

As more became known about the whales, public sympathy flowed towards them. The sight of such large, free-ranging, long-lived, and intelligent animals cooped into display tanks or

forced to do tricks became anathema to many people, and reaction to the cap-ture of orcas grew. In 1976, a court set-tlement against Sea World in California halted the removal of any more whales from the wild, but those still in aquari-ums lived out their lives in captivity.

In the 1980s, whale watching was becoming a more frequent tourism activity for coastal visitors, creating intense excitement about marine mam-mals of all kinds but particularly orcas. The interest in wild whales coincided with a steep decline in the southern resident orca population. The causes are complex: the loss of whales taken for aquariums through the 1960s and 1970s, ocean warming and declining fish populations, degradation of habi-tats, industrial pollution and toxic con-tamination, particularly PCBs, and even sonar from naval vessels.

The southern resident orcas were listed as endangered species in Canada and, in the U.S., Ecojustice successfully took the Canadian government to court to enforce the habitat provision of the Species at Risk Act. Groups such as the Georgia Strait Alliance, People for Puget Sound, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and B.C. Nature advocated for protected areas for whales. Proposed sanctuaries include the Orca Pass Inter-national Stewardship Area around the southern Gulf and San Juan Islands, and the Southern Gulf Islands National Marine Conservation Area.

Citizen science contributes to obser-vations of whales. In the mid-1990s, the Orca Network’s whale sighting group began on Whidbey Island, Washington, and grew into a comprehensive net-work of over 1,500 participants across the Salish Sea. The similar B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network is a conservation and research program of Vancouver Aquar-ium and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

By Anne Murray

By B. Davison


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Moby Doll survived just three months in captivity but sparked an interest in orcas and other whales that shows no sign of decline nearly 50 years later. His death was national news. Twenty years later, Haida artist Bill Reid’s impressive bronze statue of an orca was erected outside the Vancouver Aquarium. Some of the scientists involved in the unprecedented capture and study of Moby Doll and subsequent years of research on orcas, were at the Saturna Island symposium. Murray Newman and Pat McGeer delighted the audience with their amazing memories of that time. Other participants included John Ford, Kenneth Balcomb, and Lance Barrett-Lennard, the current head cetologist at the Vancouver Aquarium. It was a historic gathering.

Magnetoreception is the impres-sive migratory and homing abil-

ity of animals (including vertebrates & insects)The ability to consistently navi-gate incredible distances (even migrat-ing from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year in some cases!) with impressive speed and accuracy. Mag-netoception has also been observed in bacteria. It has also been commonly hypothesized in birds, where sensing of the Earth's magnetic field may be important to the navigational abilities during migration; insects (including fruit flies and honeybees); and other animals such as turtles, lobsters, sharks and stingrays Through the 1950-1970's, a series of tests were performed in an attempts to determine how homing pigeons, among other birds, were able to do this. It was shown that they are able to use a number of impressive sensory capabilities. From being able to “hear” extremely low-frequencies (down to 0.1 Hz for pigeons), to seeing both ultraviolet light and linearly polarized light, to the demonstrations that they will use the positions of the sun and stars to orient themselves. Pigeons are sensitive to changes in air pres-sure with an accuracy of the pressure

What is Magnetoreceptiondifference due to altitude changes as small as 10 meters. In fact, the studies of how the birds were able to utilize the position of the sun were impor-tant in building significant interest in “biological clocks.” Determination of direction based on the location of the sun requires some ability to “know” the “time of day,” another ability dem-onstrated in these birds. Even with this impressive array of sensory capabilities, tests indicated that there was more to the bird’s sensorium than even this array of abilities. For example, when hom-ing pigeons were conditioned to a day-night light cycle shifted 6 hours ahead, this shifted their “biologi-cal clock” 6 hours, such that, when released into normal daylight, their directional sense was correspondingly shifted 90° (6hr to 24hr corresponds to 90° to 360°) because their seeing the position of the sun was correlated to a shifted sense of time. When the same experiment were conducted on overcast days, where the posi-tion of the sun could not be visually determined, the pigeons were able to navigate in the proper direction towards their home with no problems, despite the light-dark conditioning which had shifted their “biological clock.” This was the case even when

the birds were released in a location completely unfamiliar to them, and they had no indication of where they were being taken (at least no “indica-tion” in terms of the traditional five senses). Other tests with overcast condi-tions and/or impaired vision (as with frosted goggles which allowed the birds to see no more than a few meters at most) further indicated that the birds had another dimension of sensory capability. Experiments in the early 1970’s with magnets and magnetic fields quickly showed an ability expected by some for over a century, that the birds had some sort of magnetic sense.

This article reprinted from Wikipedia and is based on the studies of Dr. Benjamin Deniston.Moby Doll Story Con't

Snowy Owls have been known to migrate thousands of miles in iruption years

By U. Easterbrook

BCnature Summer 201330Cont. P 31

Our hosts, Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club kicked off the 2013

AGM with a pre-conference field trip to Stave Lake to experience the Mis-sion Interpretive Forest followed by a tour of the old Hydro powerhouse at Stave Falls.

Our First presentater of the week-end was Dr. Mike Pearson, who gave a deeply informative talk focused on the "Overview of Habitats and Wild-life of the Fraser Valley.”

In the 5,000 km2 of the lower Fraser Valley (0.53% of the province's area), 14% of all BC species are found. The complex Fraser River is a mosaic of wetlands and riparian marshes and its close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, coupled with glaciation on the Coast Range gives the area its sculpted landforms. The area is a rich and com-plex ecology. It is a land of the Green Sturgeon, Bald Eagles along the Harrison River (the highest concentra-tion of this species in the world) and the Oregon Spotted Frog. Before the draining of large, shallow Sumas Lake in the 1920's to expose the rich farm-lan, biodiversity was even higher.

The largest cottonwoods in the world grow on islands in the Fraser 'River. However, all of this has been threatened by wetland infilling, agri-cultural conversion and displacement, nutrient loading, toxins in agricul-tural sprays, urbanization, aggregate extraction andcat predation. Road construction without thought to species movements has also resulted in significant road kill at key crossing areas. In this area, there are 220 spe-cies at risk, 140 of which are vascular plants and mosses; however no spe-cies has yet to be driven to extinction here. Several extirpated species are the Pond Turtle, Puget Oregonian Snail, and the Pacific Gopher Snake.

On Friday morning, Dr. Jonathan Hughes gave us an insightful presen-tation on the "Flooding History of the Fraser" in which he highlighted the major flood years of 1876,82, 92, 94, 1948, 72 and 87. Ironically, it is the side of an aged barn that records all of the floods dating from 1894 for-ward because the family marked the dates on the lines left on the struc-ture from those events. There was also a tsunamigenic landslide at Port Hammond in 1880.

“Along the Fraser – Adapting to Change” - AGM 2013Recap of events, outings & speakers

Sumas Mountain Outing

Next on the podium was Ryan Durand whose passion for the high-land oasis of the Fraser found full expression when he spoke about the "Ecology of Sumas Mountain".

Sumas Mountain, approximately 6,600 ha, sits in the middle of the Fraser flood plain between Abbotford and Chilliwack. It is characterized by thin soils on bedrock and has a huge network of mostly ephemeral streams with many tiny tributaries. Numerous ponds and wetlands are also found throughout the area, all of which defines its complex ecology. Rare spe-cies still persist on half of the moun-tain, but logging, aggregate extraction and housing have all had significant impacts on species habitat.

Our next speaker, Dr. Kent Mullinix, delivered a very thought provoking talk entitled "Sustainable Food Sys-tems for the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities." Agriculture can have a profound effect on ecosystems, making sustainable agriculture one of mankind's supreme challenges.

There are a myriad of problems with the current global system of agricul-ture. While the family farms used to generate from 1.5 to 2.5 watts of energy to produce 1 watt of energy output, the super farms of today can take from 5 to 10 watts of input for the same output and fast foods boost this number to as much as 50! This creates a technological treadmill that is capital intensive and has seen the average farm size rise in area from 50 to 1,000 acres to more than 2,000 acres. In the USA, the family farm is disappearing because invest-ments in the millions of dollars are required. Genetically modified foods aren't needed in a sustainable system. Worldwide, there is a trend for rivers

to be consumed before reaching the ocean and for aquifers to be pumped dry. Half of every food dollar is going to marketing. The transnational food system is ending because it is so oil dependent and this is a resource for which there is no current replace-ment. The 790 billion stock animals in the world are contributing to climate change.

There is an urgent need to establish a sustainable food system in all nine of BC's bioregions designed to comple-ment existing food production. By 2050, the world will be 4 0 degrees cel-sius warmer and the population will be increasing by one billion people. Dr. Mullinix is working to establish the first accredited degree program in Canada for sustainable agriculture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University based on a three-year implementation timeline. There is already a one year program in Richmond, teaching low cost farming methods.

Focus shifted to a fascinating almost threatened sub-species of bird when Ross Vennesland gave his presenta-tion on "Status & Trends of the Pacific Great Blue Heron of the Coast of British Columbia”. Numbering about 5,000 birds, this coastal sub-species of Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias fannini, inhabits the Pacific coast from southern Alaska including coastal BC to Washington, is non-migratory, has darker plumage and is smaller in size than its inland cousin. An important indicator of ecosystem health, they nest in heronries in cottonwood, alder and conifers in both urban and rural settings. One of the largest heronries is at Tsawassen with 300-400 nests. A heron clutch averages four eggs with a 30 day incubation where they asyn-chronously hatch, so the first to hatch gets most of the food. The Great Blue herons primary diet is small fish, but in the winter they will hunt voles in fields. The Christmas bird counts between 1987 and 2006 record a 26% decline in the coastal Heron popula-tions. A SARA management plan is currently being prepared which will use the following strategies for Heron recovery: habitat mapping, habitat conservation, threat mitigation, work to fill knowledge gaps and habitat restoration.

Afternoon outings were next on the agenda, my wife and I chose to go to Douglas Taylor Park, on a tour led by

By Don Guild

By Rita Bot


Jill Dueling, Metro Vancouver Parks Trail Corridor Manager accompanied by a Matsui First Nation member. This out-ing focused on the biodiversity and ethnobotanical use of flora along the Trans-Canada Trail as it passes through a pastoral setting above the Fraser River, crosses the Mats-qui First Nation Reserve, then enters Douglas Taylor Park where things really get wild. Our leader, Jill, encouraged all to share in their knowledge of plants and their pos-sible medicinal qualities, greatly enriching the experience as sharing occurred. Some of the plants examined and discussed were Bleeding Hearts (seen in great profusion along the entire route), Stinging Nettle, Trillium, Hooker's Fairy Bells, Thimbleberry, Cascara, Maidenhair Fern, West-ern Licorice Fern plus numerous others. The clear, hot day and beautiful surroundings made the gently rolling 5 km walk very effortless, inspiring and interesting.

The evening presentations were themed on “Current Research into Wildlife in the Lower Mainland”. Our first presenter, Monica Pearson (RP Bio, Consultant) gave an enthusiastic talk on "Amphibians" in which she highlighted her research findings on the endangered Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa). There are 6300 amphibious species worldwide but only 20 indigenous species of amphibians in BC. Of these, five are endangered while five are threat-ened and the other five have stable populations or their status is unknown.

There are a number of projects around the province to aid in recovering these species: Coastal Tailed Frog telem-etry, Kinbasket Lake reservoir impact study, population/range impacts on Red-legged and Coastal Tailed Frogs, Sea2Sky highway, Bullfrog control in the South Okanagan, Coastal Giant Salamander riparian reserves in the Fraser Valley, Red-Legged Frog range & population studies, SPLAT mitigation using culverts on the Island, inventory/monitor-ing/mitigation of the Spade-Foot Toad in the Nicola Valley for example.

The Oregon Spotted Frog was rediscovered in BC in 1997 when a very small, declining population was found in a small area of the Fraser Valley. In 2003 a recovery strategy began and by February 2012 critical habitat was identified.

Dr. Dennis St John's presentation, entitled "Butterflies", contrasted the difference between the Fraser Valley and the Southern Interior in terms of butterfly diversity and abundance. He said that out of the 195 species of but-terflies in BC, there are less than 50 species in the Lower Mainland, 12 of which are at risk. Since butterflies thrive in hot, dry climates, this isn't surprising. However, when

he compared the presence of butterfly species in the Lower Fraser Valley to those also found in the South Okanagan-Similkameen Valleys, he discovered that about 60% of those species existed in the Lower Fraser Valley. Striking photos of species such as the Swallowtail and Mourning Cloak made for some very colorful, enjoyable images.

Saturday started very early as my wife (who is NOT a morn-ing person) and I were up and in the parking lot before 6 am to go birding at Hillband Creek Park, where stormwater run-off from nearby residential developments forms an enchant-ing wetland. As we circled the wetland on a 3km long trail, the first birds observed were the American Goldfinch, Bald Eagle, Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-rumped Warbler. When more of the wetland came into view, some of the many species of waterfowl were seen: Wilson's Snipe, Common Merganzer, Hooded Merganzer, American Widgeon, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Canada Geese with goslings and Mallards. A big thanks to our leaders, who so readily shared their knowledge and enthusiasm, making it a special outing.

Special guest, Ian Davidson, Nature Canada's Executive Director, praised BC Nature for its national leadership role in implementing the Important Bird Area initiative. He also talked about BC Nature and Nature Canada cooperating as joint interveners at the Joint Review Panel Enbridge Northern Pipeline Proposal hearings. He explained that while Nature Canada has no landholdings, they support those that do. They are working with Birdlife to preserve an upland forest in Haiti. Recently they have are working with new groups and focusing on urban areas.

Keynote speaker Dr. Marvin Rosenau (BCIT Fisheries & Environmental Management Instructor), gave the final highly informative presentation of the conference entitled "The Lower Fraser River: Crown Jewel of British Columbia Streams." Dr. Rosenau astutely asserted that "the Fraser River is the one watercourse that defines the character of British Columbia." There are two distinct lower reaches of the Fraser River; a gravel reach which creates a high diversity of ecological niches when the stream water wanders across the floodplain of the East Fraser Valley, extending from Hope to Abbotsford, and a sand reach characterized by a lesser gra-dient coupled with a wider valley extending from Abbotsford to the Gulf of Georgia. Key to the gravel reaches productiv-ity is the annual flooding, typically in mid-June, which drops rich sediments across the floodplain, allowing fish, insects and animals to move into and out of the flooded lands (flood pulse concept).

The Fraser was the largest salmon-producing river along the Pacific coast and is still home to over two billion juvenile salmon that spend days, weeks or months in the estuary before journeying to the ocean, the most of any river in the world. Salmon species thriving in this estuary are young Chi-nook, Chum, Pink and Sockeye (where the very rich shallow mud flats are a key food source) as well as White Sturgeon and Eulachon. Roughly one half of the Frasers historic salmon production came from the area downstream of Hope, but sadly, much of this has now disappeared. Other significant protected areas are Pitt-Addington and Coquitlam River as well as Colony Farm Marshes but these need to be enlarged.

I am certain that I can speak for everyone fortunate enough to attend this year's AGM in congratulating the Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club and BC Nature as well as the Ramada staff for so graciously hosting the event and for such a fluid, interesting, enjoyable time. The organization, speakers, out-ings and food were all excellent, contributing to a deeply educational and social experience.

AGM Recap Con't

Douglas Taylor Park Outing

By Rita Bot


BC Nature Fall Conference September 19-22, 2013, Cranbrook

“Earth Wind Fire and Water: The Spirit of Nature” Schedule of Events Full details at www.bcnature.ca

Thursday, Sept. 19 6:00 to 7:30 pm Registration: Prestige Inn/Social 7:30 to 8:30 Shaping of Life and Land – 4 - Elements, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water with Janice

Strong 8:30 to 9:00 Registration Continued Friday, Sept. 20 7:00 to 8:15 am Elizabeth Lake Early Birding # 1/ Jimsmith Lake Early Birding #2

Coffee and muffins at Elizabeth Lake Lodge 7:00 to 8:45 Registration: Prestige Inn 8:45 to 8:55 Welcome and Announcements 8:55 to 9:40 Ktunaxa Creation Story with Joe Pierre Jr. 9:45 to 10:15 Native Plants in the Cranbrook Community Forest 10:15 to 10:45 Air Quality Vital to Life 10:45 to 11:00 Refreshment break 11:00 to 11:30 The Rocky Mountain Trench; a Fire-Maintained Ecosystem 11:30 to 12:00 Biology of Leopard Frogs and History of Leopard Frog Recovery in the Kootenays Lunch 12:00 to 1:00 See list of recommended local eateries in your welcome bag 1:00 to 5:00 Field Trips (Choice of 6) F1 Native Plants in the Cranbrook Community Forest F2 20 Years of Monitoring Bluebirds in the Wycliffe Prairie F3 Ecosystem Restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench F4 Reintroduction of Northern Leopard Frogs to their Historic Range at Bummers Flats F5 Urban Stream and Habitat Restoration on Joseph Creek, Cranbrook F6 Butterfly Hunt along the Kootenay River at Bummers Flats 5:00 to 6:30 Supper On your own 6:30 to 9:00 Evening social at Elizabeth Lake Lodge Saturday, Sept. 21 7:00 to 8:15 am Elizabeth Lake Early Birding # 1/ Jimsmith Lake Early Birding #2

Coffee and muffins at Elizabeth Lake Lodge 8:45 am Registration Prestige Inn 9:00 to Noon Morning Field Trips for non-directors S1 Native Plants of the Cranbrook Community Forest S2 20 Years of Monitoring Bluebirds in the Wycliffe Prairie S3 Ecosystem Restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench S4 Urban Stream and Habitat Restoration on Joseph Creek, Cranbrook 9:00 to Noon BC Nature Director’s Meeting 12:00 noon to 1:00 Lunch for BCN and YNC Directors 12:00 noon to 1:00 Lunch on your own 1:00 to 4:00 BC Nature – Fall General Meeting (Includes 20 minute break) 5:30 to 6:00 Pre-Banquet Social – Cash bar 6:00 to 10:00 Banquet, Awards, Silent Auction and Feature Speaker - Brian Clarkson Sunday, Sep 22 Farewell Field Trips 8:30 to noon #1 Landforms, Larches and Lichens in the Kimberley Nature Park 8:30 to noon # 2 Birding By Car – Yahk and Back

33


BC Nature Fall Conference September 19-22, 2013, Cranbrook

“Earth Wind Fire and Water: The Spirit of Nature”

Name: Club: Director: Yes Non-members can join BC Nature for $20.00 per year Address City P Code Phone E-mail Options Quantity *Before

Aug 15 After Sep 1

Total

**Full registration (includes all presentations, workshops, socials, refreshments and all field trips but not the banquet *Name will be entered in the early bird prize draw

$90.00

$110.00

Friday only (Presentations and Field Trips) $60.00 $70.00 Saturday only (Field Trips and Meetings) $30.00 $40.00 Saturday Banquet Buffet - List special dietary requirements: $37.00 $37.00

Sunday Morning Farewell Field Trips Free Free

Total

Will you be attending the BC Nature Directors’ Meeting? Yes YNC Directors’ Meeting? Yes Friday & Saturday field trips: please indicate your 1st 2nd and 3rd choices by entering your choice under the field trip

codes (e.g. under F-1, etc.) Friday Afternoon Field Trips (Rank 1, 2, 3) Names: F-1

Community Forest

F-2 Bluebirds

F-3 Ecosystem

Restoration

F-4 Leopard

Frogs

F-5 Joseph Creek

F-6 Butterflies

Person 1 Person 2 Saturday Morning Field Trips (Rank 1, 2, 3) Names: S-1

Community Forest

S-2 Bluebirds

S-3 Ecosystem

Restoration

S-4 Joseph Creek

Person 1 Person 2 NOTICE: Registration and a signed waiver form are required for all field trips. Print waiver form from the website for each person, read carefully, sign and include with registration. Make cheques payable to: Rocky Mountain Naturalists and mail to Ruth Goodwin 404 Aspen Road, Kimberley, BC V1A 3B5 No refunds after September 1, 2013. We will send most registration confirmations by E-mail. For more information – contact Ruth Goodwin Email [email protected] or Phone: 250-427-5404 Accommodations: Book early for the discounted FGM conference rates, single or double occupancy. Details can be found at www.bcnature.ca in the “2013 Fall General Meeting” link


BC Nature (Federation of BC Naturalists) Member Phone EmailPresident John Neville 250-537-4121 [email protected] President Vacant Past President Bev Ramey 604-224-7689 [email protected] David Tsang 778-688-5777 [email protected] Claudia Copley 250-479-6622 [email protected] Chair Rosemary Fox 250-847-5150 [email protected] Regional Coordinator Greg Ross 250-489-2566 [email protected] Mainland Regional Coordinator Jude Grass 604-538-8774 [email protected] BC Regional Coordinator Fred McMechan 250-392-7680 [email protected] Island Regional Coordinator Penney Edwards 250-382-2251 [email protected] Thompson Okanagan Reg’l Coordinator Vivian Birch-Jones [email protected] Parks and Protected Areas Coordinator Don Guild 250-768-3334 [email protected] Chair Joan Snyder 250-365-7633 [email protected] Director Penney Edwards 250-382-2251 [email protected] Other positions: Awards Chair Pat Westheuser 250-769-6605 [email protected] Coordinator Anne Murray 604-943-0273 [email protected] Naturalists’ Club President Ian McKeachie [email protected] Naturalists’ Club Exec. Director Kristine Webber 604-737-8001 [email protected] Naturalists’ Foundation Bev Ramey 604-224-7689 [email protected] to BC Nature:Ross C. McCutcheon Partner, Maitland & Company, Barristers and Solicitors 700-625 Howe, Vancouver V6C 2T6Reid/Hurst/Nagy Certified General Accountant 105-13900 Maycrest Way, Richmond V6V 3E2 Lower Mainland Director Address Phone Email

Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club Jacqueline Reznick Box 612, Abbotsford V2S 6R7 604-557-1828 [email protected] Field Naturalists Duanne Vandenberg 506-12148 224th St., Maple Ridge V2X 3N8 604-463-8743 [email protected] Nature Club Jlonka Bally-Brown 1055 Harding Rd., Bowen Island V0N 1G6 604-947-9562 [email protected] Mountain Naturalists Elaine Golds 554 Yale Rd., Port Moody V3H 3K3 604-937-3483 [email protected] Field Naturalists Helen Turner 47564 Mountain Park Dr., Chilliwack, V2P 7P6 604-792-0972 [email protected] Naturalists’ Society Ursula Easterbrook Box 18136 - 1215 C-56th St., Delta V4L 2M4 604-948-1749 urs@ telus.netFriends of Semiahmoo Bay Society Margaret Cuthbert 15425 Columbia Ave., White Rock V4B 1K1 604-536-3552 [email protected] Field Naturalist Society Kathy Masse 21034 Yeomans Cres., Langley, BC V1M 2P7 604-513-8927 [email protected] Campbell Watershed Society David Riley 4700 224 St. Langley V2Z 1N4 604-536-2636 [email protected] Harbour & District Wildlife Society Joe Harrison Box 220, Madeira Park V0N 2H0 604-883-9958 [email protected] City Field Naturalists Gareth Llewellyn 903-1219 Harwood St., Vancouver V6E 1S5 604-609-0679 [email protected] Environment Society Mary Mitchell Box 2335, Squamish, V8B 0B6 604-815-0801 [email protected] Creek Environmental Committee Alan James 7551 Kraft Cres., Burnaby V5A 1Z4 604-420-0771 [email protected] Coast Natural History Society Tony Greenfield Box 543, Sechelt V0N 3A0 604-885-5539 [email protected] Environmental Partners (SEP) Deb Jack 7680 – 143 Street, Surrey, BC, V3W 9Y4 604-590-3037 [email protected] Stickleback Group Association Michael Jackson RR#1, S7, C3 - Garden Bay V0N 1S1 [email protected] Vancouver Cynthia Crampton 1230 Shorepine Walk, Vancouver V6H 3T8 604 738-1405 [email protected] Vancouver Bev Ramey 4317 West 12th Ave. ,Vancouver V6R 2P9 604-224-7689 [email protected] Whistler Naturalists Society Kathy Jenkins P.O. Box 845 Whistler V0N 1B0 [email protected] Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society Leona Breckenridge Box 75044 RPO White Rock, Surrey V4A 0B1 604-531-5632 [email protected] WildResearch Christine Rock 2258 Oxford St., Vancouver, BC, V5L 1G1 [email protected]

Kootenays Director Address Phone EmailFernie Nature Club Bob Livsey 3 Elkview Pl., Fernie, BC V0B 1M3 250-423-6699 [email protected] Mountain Naturalists Greg Ross Box 791, Cranbrook V1C 4J5 250-489 2566 [email protected] Kootenay Naturalists’ Association Joan Snyder 2410 12th Ave., Castlegar V1N 4I8 250-365-7633 [email protected] Northern BC Director Address Phone EmailBulkley Valley Naturalists Anne Hetherington 3377 Mountain View Rd., Smithers V0J 2N6 250-847-4618 [email protected] Kitimat Valley Naturalists Walter Thorne 12 Farrow St.,., Kitimat V8C 1E2 250-632-7632 [email protected] Nature Observatory Vida Tattrie Box 1598, Mackenzie V0J 2C0 250-997-6913 [email protected] George Naturalists Club Clive Keen 5980 Salmon Valley Road, Prince George V2K 5W2 [email protected] Naturalists Lorna Schley 128 Lindsay St., Quesnel V2J 3E3 [email protected] Valley Naturalists Judy Chrysler 1677 Lupine St., Terrace V8G 0G1 250-798-2535 [email protected] Trail & Nature Club Meredith Thornton 701 105th Ave., Dawson Creek V1G 2K5 250 782-7680 [email protected] Lake Field Naturalists Soc Fred McMechan 1305A Borland Dr., Williams Lake V2G 5K5 250-392-7680 [email protected]


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Address__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

City____________________________________________ Province ____________ Postal code ________________________________

PHONE ________________________________________ EMAIL ___________________________ Tick "Yes" for enews

VISA/MASTERCARD NO. Expiry:

Mail to: BC Nature, c/o Heritage Centre, 1620 Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver, BC V7G 2R9Or phone in your renewal to (604) 985-3057

Income tax receipts will be issued for donations over the annual membership fee.* Donations can also be made at www.bcnature.ca through PayPal (look for the Support Us button).

Annual direct membership fee: $20 + Donation (optional) : ______________ = $ ______________ totalIf paying by cheque, please make payable to BC Nature

Month/Year

Thompson-Shuswap-Okanagan Director Address Phone EmailCentral Okanagan Naturalist Club Don Guild Box 21128 RPO Orchard Park, Kelowna V1Y 9N8 250-768- 3334 [email protected] Naturalist Club Theresa Corboy #68 1221 Hugh Allan Drive, Kamloops V1S 1M7 250-320-0889 [email protected] Thompson Trail Alliance Richard Doucette 476 Garibaldi Dr., Kamloops, BC V1S 1M7 [email protected] Naturalist Society Vivan Birch Jones Box 1065, Lillooet V0K 1V0 250-256-4062 [email protected] Naturalists Alan Burger Box 2539, Merritt V1K 1B8 250-378-2468 [email protected] Okanagan Naturalists’ Club Pamela Jenkins Box 473, Vernon V1T 6M4 250-545-0490 [email protected] Shuswap Naturalist Club Rudy Vervoort Box 24030, Scotch Creek V0E 3L0 250-679-8763 [email protected] Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalists Jacqueline Castellarin Box 1181, Osoyoos V0H 1T0 250-485-0263 [email protected] Naturalists Club Janet Pattinson 2451 Sherry Road, Sorrento V0E 2W1 250-835-2270 [email protected] Okanagan Naturalists’ Club Joyce Hoglund #Box 23050, Penticton V2A 8L7 250-492-0512 [email protected] Forks Field Naturalists Trish Reid Box 2074, Princeton V0X 1W0 250-295-6002 [email protected] Vancouver Island Director Address Phone EmailArrowsmith Naturalists Sandra Gray Box 285 - 1300 Grafton Ave., Errington 250-248-5565 [email protected] Comox Valley Naturalists Society Sharon Niscak 2246 Sea Lion Way, Courtenay, BC, V9J 1Y2 250 339-4606 [email protected] Cowichan Valley Naturalists Society Genevieve Singleton Box 361, Duncan V9L 3X5 250-746-8052 [email protected] Nanoose Naturalists Tony Ransom 2460 Ainsley Pl., Nanoose Bay V9P 9G9 250-468-5437 ahransom@mailcomPender Island Field Naturalists Gerald McKeating 6618 Harbour Hill Dr., Pender Island V0N 2M1 250-629-3840 [email protected]’s Bog Conservation Society Sharon Forrester 6429 Bryn Road, Saanichton, V8M 1X6 250-652-5950 [email protected] Point Bird Observatory Michael Simmons 7206 Babbington Lane, Brentwood Bay, BC V8M 2G2 250-665-6414 [email protected] SaltspringTrail & Nature Club Nieke Visser 145 Rourke Road, Salt Spring Island V8K 2E6 250-537 5443 niekevisser @shaw.ca Victoria Natural History Society Tom Gillespie Box 5220, Stn. B, Victoria V8R 6N4 250-361-1694 [email protected] Natural History Society James Miskelly Box 5220, Stn. B, Victoria V8R 6N4 250-477-0490 [email protected] Natural History Society Darren Copley Box 5220, Stn. B, Victoria V8R 6N4 250-479-6622 [email protected] Affiliate Groups BC Spaces for Nature - Gibsons www.spacesfornature.orgBurns Bog Conservation Society - Delta www.burnsbog.orgCreston Valley Wildlife Management Area - Cres. www.crestonwildlife.caFriends of Cypress Provincial Park Soc. - W Vanc www.cypresspark.ca Friends of the Stikine - Victoria www.panorama-map.com/stikine/stikine.html Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Soc. - Vic. www.garryoak.infoHope Mountain Cen. for Outdoor Learning - Hope www.hopemountain.orgMalaspina Naturalist Club - Powell River www.armourtech.com/malanat North Shore Black Bear Society - N. Vanc www.northshorebears.com

Raincoast Applied Ecology - Vancouver www.raincoastappliedecology.caRaincoast Education Society - Tofino www.raincoasteducation.orgRiverview Horticultural Society - Coquitlam www.rhcs.orgRuby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Soc. - Madeira Pk www.lagoonsociety.comSargeant Bay Society - Sechelt www.sargbay.caSomenos Marsh Wildlife Society - Dunc www.somenosmarsh.comSunshine Coast Conservation Association - Sechelt www.thescca.caThe Nature Trust of BC - North Vanc. http://www.naturetrust.bc.caWild Bird Trust of BC (WBT) - North Vanc. www.wildbirdtrust.org

Share the Gift of Nature - Renew your membership and enroll a Friend Enjoy birding, botany, geology and marine biology; join in camps, field trips and more in communities throughout BC. The benefits of membership include our quarterly magazine, participation in field camps, spring and fall conferences. Membership gives strength to the provincial naturalist voice that BC Nature provides.Getting involved with nature is as easy as joining any of the local clubs throughout BC (you also become a member of BC Nature). Or join BC Nature directly. Check www.bcnature.ca for the club nearest you or phone (604) 985-3057. For Gift Giving of Memberships - we will send a card to the new member on your behalf.

“Know Nature and Keep it Worth Knowing”

Publications Mail No. 41804027

BCnature is published four times a year by the FBCN,1620 Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver, BC V7G 2R9

Spotlight on BC Nature Federated Clubs

The Rocky Mountain Naturalists came into being because of Mildred

White's inspiration. Mildred began her illustrious naturalist career in middle age and she inspired locals with the joy in getting out and about in a quest to better understand birds and plants. Club member Diane Cooper compiled Mildred’s carefully recorded field notes, which covered decades, in a database that is available on request. Our mem-bership has grown over the years to a respectable 50-60 member range.

Members enjoy our club outings year-round in our four-seasons environment and although we continually explore new areas, standard annual outings include Winter Bird Counts in Cranbrook and Kimberley, Snowshoeing/Cross Coun-try Skiing for Animal Tracks, Spring Flowers on Lone Pine Butte, Owling with Peter Davidson, Winter Seeker Challenge (finding specific species in the Winter), Little Big Day (team competition: most number of species from sunup to sun-down each May), Weekly Early Morning Birding at Elizabeth Lake and Spring Camp (a three-day camping expedition in different areas).

Elizabeth Lake and the Wasa Sloughs (Mildred White Sloughs) serve as resting areas for a wide range of waterfowl during spring and fall migrations.

Rocky Mountain Naturalists projects include:

• Elizabeth Lake trail upgrades - a multi-year project involving hundreds of hours of volunteer work upgrading trails to BC Parks standards

• Turtle Care at Elizabeth Lake - protecting nesting turtles from cars, pedestrians and skunks

• 20 years of Blue bird Trails and BlueBird data in the Wycliffe Prairie

• Coordinating the BC Breeding Bird Atlas in our Region

• Annual Mildred White Bursary at College of the Rockies

Join us in September for a great Fall General Meeting! Great speakers, great outings!

Rocky Mountain Naturalist

by Daryl Calder

By Jim Duncan

Jimsmith Lake

Elizabeth Lake

by Greg Ross

“know nature and keep it worth knowing”€¦ · father dick) birdfinding in british columbia...

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