Ready, set, and.... GO make sure your garbage is inside! Yes, the bears are back in town. Do you know how to be a good neigh-BEAR? I thought so! But from time to time we all could use a refresher on how to Get Bear Smart. These are the top 10 things you need to … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: The Bears are Back in Town
A sign of spring... tiny pink orchids popping up in the forest. The Calypso orchid, also known as the fairy slipper or Venus’ slipper, is a perennial orchid found in undisturbed forest. The plants live no more than five years, and bloom from late March until June. It is classified as threatened or endangered in … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: Calypso Orchid
Our Man on the Binoculars, John Tschopp, reports that the recent warm weather has brought hordes of summer breeders to the valley: Swallows, Warblers, Kingbirds, Hummingbirds, Vireo, Wood Ducks, and all sorts of Sparrows. The Sparrows still come to the feeder, before they disperse to their nesting spots. This gives us a chance to take … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: Golden-Crowned Sparrows
Spotted by local bird expert, John Tschopp, dropping by for a visit last week, for a good feed of Upper Meadows worms, on its way north: the long-billed curlew. The long-billed curlew is the largest nesting or regularly occurring sandpiper in North America, also sometimes called the sicklebird or candelstick bird. Back in 2005, Whistler … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: Long-billed Curlew
Loved this shout-out from Pemberton Search and Rescue in the Pique last week. Next up, the Canada Day Spud Run. (And a chance to battle another extreme of Pemberton weather...)
Ran into this little fella (but not over him) riding on the trails around Mosquito Lake on Saturday. Snake expert, Leslie Anthony, identified him for us as a Valley Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchii), a subspecies of the Common Gartersnake. The lowly Garter Snake plays an important role in energy transfer from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. Hence, anyone … Continue reading Seasonal Observation: Valley Gartersnake
Walking the farm in spring is done every year : checking out what has gone on during the winter, which fences need repair, how much damage has the harsh season done. This year we found something new while wandering the slough that meanders through our farm. We have new neighbors. Beavers have moved in and … Continue reading Seasonal Observations On the Farm: I’ll Be Dammed
Have you heard or seen the Pacific Chorus Frog? Stewardship Pemberton did... and led us to learn these fun facts: The Pacific Chorus Frog is a very appealing little frog, and quite common in B.C. They are small frogs, up to 5 centimetres long, and may be any colour from pale grey or tan to … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: Pacific Chorus Frogs
From the wonderful "I f*cking love science" facebook feed, comes this: Contrary to popular belief, meteor showers are not rare. It's just that most of the time we don't look up! So mark these dates on your calendar and make sure you don't miss any more this year. Meteor Showers Viewing Tips: - To answer … Continue reading Seasonal Observations: The Meteor Showers of 2013
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