Instead of spending time in Turks and Caicos or Barbados, this tiny yellow Cape May warbler has somehow ended up in Abbotsford, B.C. Bird photographer Nick Balachanoff says, to his understanding, it’s the first identified Cape May warbler in the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley. See the full story
Continue reading →The Great Blue Heron nests in scattered colonies in the Kamloops area, but occupancy has become erratic and declining in some places. The colony in lower Paul Creek had dwindled to 2 nests from about 20 the last time I looked and the colony at Cherry Creek has not been active for a few years. There are often small numbers of birds that attempt to overwinter along the South Thompson River with success likely dependent upon weather and icing conditions. Today, Tom Rankin reported a heron at Pioneer Park. I … Continue reading →
Shuswap Christmas Bird Count report from Rick Howie Yesterday (December 29), we conducted the Shuswap Christmas Bird count around the west end of Shuswap Lake. It had snowed hard the night before but travel on the secondary roads was pretty good. The 4×4 helped in places. While stopped counting a small cluster of birds, I was able to capture a few images of all of the species making up the group. Varied Thrushes are fairly common in these wetter forests of the Shuswap but not usually so abundant in the … Continue reading →
This article is from the current issue of Bird Studies Canada. An interesting point is that this was intended to replace what was called the “Christmas Side Hunt.” This was an event where teams went out to kill as many animals as could be found. The team with the biggest pile of dead things at the end of the day was the winner. Arn’t we glad we are past those days? The Christmas Bird Count was proposed as an alternative to the then-popular, and now seemingly insane, Christmas side hunt. … Continue reading →
This report summarizes two years of data collected by citizen scientists on local pollinator insects. The final recommendations and conclusions are presented below. The full report is here: Pollinator Report Report written by: Megan Abbott. Edited by Dr. Lyn Baldwin, Elaine Sedgman and Brenda Sanden
Continue reading →This book, by Marianne and Ron Ignace, is an encyclopedic documentation of 10,000 years of Secwepemc presence in the Interior of BC. An excellent review is posted on Jim Cooperman’s blog, Shuswap Passion. “Above all else, the Ignaces have put to rest the misconception that Ingenious Nations were primitive people that were inferior to Europeans, as they clearly show how the Secwepemc indeed had a sophisticated culture and treated each other, their neighbours and the environment with more respect than we see today in our supposedly advanced societies.”
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