City Nature Challenge 2021
Join us for the 2021 City Nature Challenge! We want your observations of the nature near you! Help us document the incredible biodiversity of cities around the world 30 April – 3 May. Visit the official City Nature Challenge website to see the full list of cities participating in the 6th annual City Nature Challenge, and be sure to check the boundaries of the CNC projects by zooming in on the map in this umbrella project – many cities include their larger metro areas. Want to participate in the CNC … Continue reading →
Would You Like To Help Monitor Sandhill Cranes?
Sandhill Crane monitoring in the Douglas Lake Plateau Important Bird Area Rick Howie, a member of the Kamloops Naturalist Club, has provided us with instructions on how best to monitor the Sandhill Crane migration. He has also created a recommended route map along with the data forms to record your sightings. The annual migration through the Kamloops area is approximately from April 1 to May 15. Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) migrate across the Douglas Plateau in spring and fall with a small number of breeders scattered across the plateau during … Continue reading →
Anna’s Hummingbird Overwinters in Kamloops
The Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) formerly bred only in the southern two thirds of California and the Baja regions with post-breeding dispersal in many geographic directions. Their breeding range increased north and eastward and by the late 1940s and 1950s, wintering birds were appearing on southern Vancouver Island with the first confirmed breeding record there in 1958. They have now become year round residents in southwestern BC with many breeding records from southern Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser Valley. The first interior record was from Penticton in October of … Continue reading →
Sandhill Cranes: The Voices of Spring
Contributed by Trudy Frisk with an introduction by Margaret Graham All photos by Rick Howie With the arrival of spring, it won’t be long before the Sandhill Cranes start their migration from their wintering grounds in the south and stop briefly in the Kamloops area for a rest as they head for their breeding grounds further north. The annual sandhill crane migration through B.C.’s Interior is one of the oldest in North America. Much information for the article comes from the International Crane Foundation and from wildlife biologist Rick Howie, … Continue reading →