Category: Fish


TGIF-Bug spraying, over head aircraft

Helicopters doing work can be an overhead hazard File photo KDG

Helicopters doing work can be an overhead hazard
File photo KDG

 

A helicopter was seen over the nature preserve off Blackwell Avenue , the Nicola River and Dr. Simons hay field. The aircraft was carrying an application bucket. Fields are sprayed for mosquito larva at this time of year.
The preserve has a large mature eagles nest on it the rotors of the bell 206 came within an estimate 100 of the nest.

Mosquito-control operations are targeted against three different problems:
1.Nuisance mosquitoes bother people around homes or in parks and recreational areas;
2.Economically important mosquitoes reduce real estate values, adversely affect tourism and related business interests, or negatively impact livestock or poultry production;
3.Public health is the focus when mosquitoes are vectors, or transmitters, of infectious disease.

: source Wikipedia

Helicopter drop buckets are also used in fire fighting and Merritt hosts a training center for summer crews to qualify for the suppression crews.

Creatures of the  forests such as eagles and even household pets fall victim to the expedience of emergencies, but a cavalier attitude should never be allowed to develop. In particular in practice situations.

On this Day: May 6th 1997

The Bank of England becomes separate from the British Government.

Hiking trails

The Nicola Naturalists are having two more regular meetings in the winter, spring season. On April 21 the presentation will be on the use and restoration of hiking trails in the southern part of the province. Characterized as Heritage Trails, Kelley Cook will present on what he has been doing to preserve these venues. Some of the trails have easy access from Merritt.

Kelley Cook is an active member of a group publicizing, maintaining and restoring some of the historic Hudson’s Bay Company trading routes across the mountains of SE British Columbia. Many of these trails are within easy access from Merritt. Kelley’s presentation will cover both the human history  and the nature to be seen on these scenic trails. A talk to get us fired up for the spring hiking and naturalizing season! source: http://www.nicolanaturalists.ca/2015/12/17/winterspring-programs-january-to-may-2016/

The May meeting will feature the Merritt Green Energy project as a season capper.

All meetings are at 7:PM at the NVIT lecture theater, no food or drinks in the theater, free parking. Membership or donation in the Naturalist society is requested.

On this day: March 23 1094

A Russian airliner, Aeroflot flight 593  crashes in Siberia after a teen accidentally disengages the planes auto pilot.

Antarctic visit

 

 

Alan Burger has returned to Merritt from a trip to Antarctica. The Nicola Naturalist President will present at the local community college on Thursday March 10th at 7:PM.

NNS President Alan Burger regularly goes to the Antarctic as a naturalist/lecturer on small adventure-tourism vessels. In 2015 he completed a 31-day voyage from New Zealand to the Ross Sea – the deep south – and along the West Antarctic coast. He visited many areas where people seldom go. In January-February 2016 he was in the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia. Global climate change is affecting the Antarctic and its wildlife but sometimes in unexpected ways. Enjoy many photos of wildlife and spectacular scenery.

Alan has recently taken on the executive of the Provincial Naturalists organization.
The lecture theater allows no food or drink, There is free parking in the College Parking lot, at 4155 Belshaw avenue at the top of the hill.
Membership or donation requested.

On this Day, March 1st 2002

An Earth Observation Satellite for environmental purposes reaches orbit. Envisat is a the largest environmental satellite put in orbit and is operated by the European Space Agency.

 

 

Butterflies

Bob Scafe is presenting at the monthly meeting of the Nicola Naturalists on Thursday February 18th.

Bob is a director of the Nicola Naturalist Society and one of our most prolific nature photographers. Lately, he and his wife Bev have become interested in butterflies and moths – getting to know and identify the local species. Bob will give us an introduction to the rich butterfly fauna of the BC interior. Later this spring he has promised to lead a few butterfly field trips so this presentation is a valuable primer. We’ll have lots of great photos too!

Bob recently presented on his trip to South East Asia , mostly highlighting people and lifestyle. He has titled this presentation The wonderful world of butterflies. The presentation starts at 7PM in the NVIT lecture theater in Merritt, no food or drink allowed in, free parking, and membership or donation requested.

March will see club president Alan Burger back from a trip to Antarctica. the meeting will be on the 17th titled:  Antarctic Wild  Life-  Life in a changing environment .

Winter/Spring Programs – January to May 2016

Meetings continue through May.

On this day: February 16th 2005

The Kyoto protocol comes in to effect after Russian ratification.

TGIF-One month to daylight saving

March 13th is daylight saving time, at 2 AM the clock will go ahead one hour giving the clock an hour of sunlight in the evening and taking it from the early morning.

Some tulips are pushing through in a sheltered area outside the house at this writing, some heat from the home has always broadcast into the soil about it and are usually in bloom about Easter weekend.
Sunrise is at 7:29 AM now and sets at 5:25 PM we are gaining about 3 and quarter minutes a day on ward to the Spring Equinox on March 19th at 21:30 Hours.Vernal Equinox is 12 hours dark and daylight and happens twice a year.
Degree days are the number of days of above freezing temperatures needed for different plants. For open gardens planting here is most effective in the second half of May.

Some people have been complaining about Flem in their throats and that it persists this winter, others feel a little sad from light deprivation. Light and warmth is on its way , a month to go to help these and other winter afflictions with a significant change. You can take comfort in the momentum and watch sheltered gardens like the Baillie house here in Merritt for plants coming back .

You can start eyeing the molasses and sulfur for a timely spring tonic in a few weeks.

There is also a total lunar eclipse on March 8th at 11:19 PM to look forward to as you watch the night sky.

The city garden at the Baillie house  File Photo KDG

The city garden at the Baillie house
File Photo KDG

On this day February 12th 1947

The Soviet Union gets am impact crater from the largest recorded iron meteorite to that time.

The Nicola Naturalists are having their January presentation meeting on the 21st of the month. Frank Ritcey of Wild Safe BC will talk about safety about wildlife and in particular bears.

Frank Ritcey is the Provincial Coordinator for WildSafeBC, based in Kamloops. Run by the BC Conservation Foundation this program focuses on how we can minimize our impact on the wildlife we observe and keep ourselves safe at the same time. Frank was raised in the wilds of Wells Gray Park by his pioneering mother, Clara Ritcey, and Park Biologist father Ralph Ritcey. Frank’s love of nature has been with him his whole life and he still spends much time filming and studying nature. Frank often contributes to CBC’s popular North by Northwest show.

The meeting starts at 7PM and is open to the public (membership or donation requested) , no food or drinks allowed in the NVIT lecture theater, however there is free parking. NVIT is a local community college founded in part by Grand Chief  Gordon Antoine ( deceased) , Gordon was a member of the Coldwater Indian Band and promoted education for his people, he is survived by his wife Janice a principal of the Coldwater Indian Band K -12 school.

The Nicola Naturalists use the lecture theater at NVIT as a non profit and provide a bursary to natural resource students as a matter of consideration for its use.

On this day: January 12th 1959

The Caves of Nerja are rediscovered.

 

 

 

Mallard on Nicola River File Photo KDG

Mallard on Nicola River
File Photo KDG

The Nicola Naturalists are organizing the Merritt Christmas Bird Count. This count has been running since 1995 and is one of thousands held across N America and other parts of the world. The count is on Sunday 20th December 2015 – you can come for the whole day or part of the day. We tally all the species and numbers of birds within a 22 km diameter circle. The area is divided up and groups of birders spend the day looking for both common and rare species.

Source Alan Burger

Here are a few samples of birds within 22 Kilometers of Merritt…

 

Ring Neck Doves File Photo KDG

Ring Neck Doves
File Photo KDG

Sandpiper Photo KDG

Sandpiper
 File Photo: KDG

Mallard Duck File Photo KDG

Mallard Duck
File Photo KDG

Heron Photo KDG

Heron
Photo KDG

Feeders help Photo KDG

Feeders help Sparrows
Photo KDG

On this Day: December 11th 1997

The Kyoto Protocol comes up for signature.

Nicola Naturalists -Island Conservation

Thursday the 19th will see Chris Gill present Guns, Traps, and Poisons to the regular  monthly meeting held at the lecture theater at the local community college on Belshaw avenue in Merritt.

Islands support fragile ecosystems and are the nesting sites for huge numbers of seabirds. Invasive alien species, such as rats, are one of the greatest threats to these sensitive locations. Chris Gill is a wildlife biologist from Salmon Arm and the founder of Coastal Conservation. He has been working for 15 years on island restoration in Haida Gwaii, BC where invasive rats, raccoon s and deer are a major threat. In 2014 Chris received the prestigious Parks Canada CEO Award of Excellence for the Night Birds Returning program – recognizing his excellent work in restoring breeding populations of birds on these islands. An important conservation success story.

Presentations start at &:PM membership or donation requested, no food or drinks in the theater.

Nicola Naturalist Society fall programs – 2015

On this day November 12th 1990

A proposal for a World Wide Web is published.

Graphics for the sage…

Enhancing the image of the city photo KDG

Enhancing the image of the city
photo KDG

Taylor, Jordan and Brett are installing graphic sheets to nine hydro/ utility/ transforming boxes to make the city more appealing.   A city works foreman said that the cost wasn’t that much and they are resistant to vandal writing or tagging…
The men are from Premier Graphics of Richmond.
On this day: October 5th 1665
The University of Kiel is established.

Utilities box with new graphics Photo KDG

Utilities box with new graphics
Photo KDG

https://www.uni-kiel.de/index-e.shtml

Photos from Vietnam

A local is giving his photo tour of Vietnam and the flora and fauna that he photographed.

Bob Scafe is a Naturalist Society director and one of our club’s keenest photographers. Bob and his wife Bev recently traveled through Vietnam and Cambodia and will share their experiences with the local people, wildlife and places that they visited. Something tropical and exotic – this will be fascinating.

The Nicola naturalists meet at the local community college NVIT, the west top of Belshaw avenue in Merritt. They say all welcome, membership or donation requested. No food or drink in the lecture theater start time is 7:PM

Spring programs – April-June 2015

On this Day: May 12th 2008

Four hundred emigrants are detained for identity theft and document fraud in Post Ville Iowa.

No nest for the wicked?

Nest gone Photo KDG

Nest gone
Photo KDG


The poles that are on highway 8 have had their Osprey nests removed. The nests were occupied by Canadian Geese in 2010 and contained a lot of bailing twine. There is a serious strangulation risk for the young of geese from bailing twine.
The poles are on the entry to Merritt British Columbia from the west ( Spences Bridge) Osprey live of trout in the Nicola River.

On this Day: April 22 1977
Fiber optic cable is used for the first time in telephone transmission:

DSC_7595

Tom Sullivan (left) and Alan Burger ready for his presentation

 

Doctor Tom Sullivan presented at the Nicola Naturalists last week on the work he has done with wood debris from logging operations.The University of BC professor and resident of the interior Town of Summerland said that piles of wood waste can be habitat for weasels and small forest animals. The slide show gave images of wood debris used to in strategies to connect habitat to mandatory patch’s of left forest in clear-cut operations. He had brochures available taken from his published works in scientific journals.

Tom noted it is best used to do these piles in remote logged areas as human access lends its self to them being set on fire.

There was a class of natural resource teck students from the First Nations run community college NVIT in the  audience and were introduced to the gathering by Nicola Naturalists President Alan Burger. They were said to be possible beneficiaries of the 600 dollar scholarship award just created by the group.

Pious Chong was also recognised  by Burger for his award of “The best artist in Singapore” by the President of Singapore.

DR. Sullivan works through the Applied Mammal Research Institute In Summerland as well as UBC : http://www.appliedmammal.com

Today in history: November 25 th 1940

The De Havilland Mosquito Bomber has its first flight.