Coming up in January

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour may have sold out, but there are still plenty of things going on in around around the Kerry Wood Nature Centre. Here are some highlights:

• There's still just time to sign up for our Youth Survival/Leave No Trace workshop on Saturday the 9th. Registration closes on Thursday the 7th for this fun and informative look at winter camping for youths ages 11 - 15.
• Learn about the winter sky with Family Planetarium on Sunday the 10th. $3 person/$10 family. Show starts at 1 pm.
• Kids 5 years and under and their caregivers can learn about nature through songs, hands-on exploration, and interactive walks on Earth Play Saturday, January 16th. Things start at 10:30 am; $5 per couple/ $10 family of five.
• Learn to repurpose sweaters with our Fantastic Felt Workshop on Sunday, January 23rd. Preregistration is required by January 21. 1 - 4 pm; $15 + GST members/ $17 + GST non-members. All materials are provided.
• Feel like just getting out for a stroll? Come down For Random Snowshoeing on the 17th and the 30th. 1 - 4 pm; $3 person/$10 family. Dress for the weather, and please no high heels on boots.

Have questions about our events or workshops? Call us at 403-346-2010, drop us an e-mail at general@waskasoopark.ca, or as us on Twitter (@NatureCentre) or Facebook!

New Exhibit Update

As of today, our thirty year old permanent displays have been closed down and will be dismantled to prepare for the construction of new displays. The building itself, including the Bookstore, Theatre, and Discovery Room, will still be open, and of course the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary is always available for quiet nature observation.

Our new displays are scheduled to open October 31st, 2015. Watch this space, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on construction progress!

Our summer team

Yes, that was our summer staff for Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Fort Normandeau that you may have seen taking pictures (and, um, doing performance art) around the park system today. Looks like a great team this year, and I think we're all raring to go...

Imagination Grove -- Opening Soon!

The time's almost here, everyone! And yes, it's definitely worth an exclamation point because we're pretty excited. Imagination Grove, our new outdoor classroom and natural learning space,
 will be officially opening on Monday, October 6, at 1:00 pm. Following one last work-bee on Saturday, everything should be ready for lots of fun and free play. You can find more information on this page, but in the meantime here's a bit of a preview:

Mushroom Day -- Change of Date

I have a correction to the date for our mushroom evening with Dr. Lou Piening. The program will be moving from Thursday to Friday, September 5th. The time is still 7:00 pm, and everyone is welcome.

Mushroom Day

Are you interested in wild mushrooms? Would you like to know what's edible and what's not? Join us on Thursday, September 4th at 7:00 pm for an exploration of wild mushrooms with mycologist Dr. Lou Piening.

This event is free and open to everyone. Be sure to bring your samples. Hope to see you here!

Happy New Year

The Waskasoo Environmental Education Society would like to take this opportunity to wish our friends, fans, followers, and visitors a fantastic New Year.

On a personal note, I'd like to add that I think we have enough snow now, thanks.

The Nature Centre will be open from 1 - 5 pm on New Year's Day. Regular business hours resume on the 2nd. As always, the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary is open 24 hours a day for quiet nature contemplation.

Another baby picture

I have no idea how many there are yet. They're good at hiding, and at the moment we don't really want to disturb mom to go searching for them. We'll check later.

New Delivery

I honestly never thought that I'd be posting baby pictures on this blog, but here's the new arrival. We'd been suspecting that our Plains Garter Snake was pregnant when she was brought in to to us, but then recently she'd started looking more like she'd just had a big meal. It was a bit of a surprise, then, when an end-of-the-workday check showed not one but two snakes in the habitat. So far we've only noticed the one baby (there may easily be more hiding), but as garter snakes can sometimes have upwards of forty young we're keeping an eye on her.

Above you can see a close-up of the little garter snake, and below you can see the baby on the ornamental rock and mom down on the real rock. As always, click on the pictures for larger versions.

Baby bird season

Even on a rainy day, there's still plenty to see in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary; especially when we're in the middle of baby bird season. Here are a few quick pictures of some of the lake families. As usual, click on the photo for a larger version:

The baby Barn Swallows are out of their nest on the Bird Blind and waiting to be fed. Believe me, the parents were letting me know they were there as I took this shot.

Just one of the many duck families to be found on the lake at the moment.

The young American Coots are past their incredibly ugly stage (ask anyone who's seen a Coot baby. Incredibly ugly is about right. And, incredibly, partially orange-coloured) now. In this picture the young one's on the left and the adult's on the right.

A busy day on the lake. I find that it's often worthwhile to go walking in a light rain. There are usually less people about, and that can mean better viewing opportunities for those with the patience. And, of course, a decent raincoat.

Holiday Hours

Di you know that Christmas Day is the only day all year that Kerry Wood Nature Centre closes? It's true. Here are our hours for the holiday season:

Dec 24th: 10:00 - 5:00
Dec 25th: Closed. Merry Christmas!
Dec 26th: 1:00 - 5:00
Dec 27th: 1:00 - 5:00
Dec 28th - 31st: 10:00 - 5:00
Jan 1st: 1:00 - 5:00
Jan 2nd: 1:00 - 5:00

And don't forget... if you're looking for a fun way to burn off some of those holiday calories, come down and join us for an afternoon of snowshoeing on December 31st. Call 403-346-2010 for details.

Christmas light exchange update

Our recycle bin of old incandescent Christmas lights is getting pretty full, and that's fantastic to see.

There's still time to exchange your old lights for energy-efficient LED lights (one new strand for every two old strands per adult), but our supply is limited so don't wait too long!

First snowfall

Anyone here can tell you that I'm not a fan of winter. I have my reasons -- some of which are very justified -- but rather than go into them I'll just state outright that I'm not loving the idea of the next few months' weather. I do, though, like to get out on the trails after a snowfall to see what's up in the Sanctuary. Fresh snow reveals all kinds of things going on that we don't normally even notice. Here's a little of what I saw early this afternoon:

 

It's pretty common to see the tracks squirrels leave behind as they run from tree to tree.

 

The toe-dragging tracks of a browsing deer.

 

If you find yourself near one of the lakes, look for open spots in the ice. They could be feeding holes. And if you're lucky you may see what's been feeding...

 

These guys were a little too far away for nearsighted me to tell for sure whether they were muskrats or young beavers at the time, but looking at the photos has me thinking beavers. You can find both beavers and muskrats on and in the Gaetz Lakes.

Not too bad for a few minutes' walk, really. Just remember to keep your eye on the snow when you're out on the trails this winter. You never know whose trails you might find in Waskasoo Park.

Kids' Bird Feeding

Kids’ Bird Feeding Program:
Place: Kerry Wood Nature Centre
6300 45 Ave,  Red Deer
Sunday, November 20, 2011 2:00 pm

Bring your children aged 6 to 13 to the Nature Centre for this hands-on program. We’ll look at and identify winter birds and learn what and how to feed them. Kids will construct a bird feeder and be given bird feed to take home. The seed and the feeder have a retail value of $14.95.

The program cost is $7.00 per child for Friends of the KWNC members and $8.00 for non-members. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

To register call the Kerry Wood Nature Centre, 6300 45 Ave, Red Deer, telephone 403-346-2010.
Please register by 4:00 pm November 15, 2011.

For information call Bob at 403-346-2010 ext 103

A quick note about Sunday's edible plant walk

For anyone wondering, my edible plant walk on Sunday, July 24th will be going ahead as planned. As of today the weather forecast for Sunday looks good, so we should have a decent day for walking.

Here comes the "however", though:

However, the recent rains we've had have flooded out a few parts of the trails we'll be using. It's not impassible, but if you're planning to come down I'd recommend wearing suitable shoes for wading.

The walk goes at 2 pm down here at the Nature Centre. Admission is by suggested donation of $3/person or $10/family.

I hope to see you there!

What do you get when you cross a duck and a chicken?

I'm not sure, but it would probably look something like an American Coot (Fulica americana).

The little white-billed black "ducks" you'll see paddling through the cattails on the Gaetz Lakes right now are actually Coots, which are members of the Rallidae or Rail family. If you get a chance to look closely at a coot while it's swimming, you'll notice that its feet are lobed rather than webbed like a duck's would be. Because of their lobed feet, Coots (also known as Mudhens) are much better able to get about on land than most ducks can.

Coots are considered weak fliers, and their comparatively small wings mean that they need a real running take-off to get in the air.

I took the above photo of a Coot and her young a few years ago, and her babies were certainly in the awkward stage. There are few things on the lake as homely as newly-hatched, orange-headed Coots. I'm not sure they even qualify as "so ugly they're cute", to be honest. At the moment the young on the West Lake are past that phase, though, and busily foraging through the pond weed and algae with their mother. I took a bit of video of them this morning, and while it was too sunny today to get a really good shot of them, you can watch them feeding on our YouTube channel here.

12 Seconds of Deer

We had a bit of an unusual visitor at lunch today at the Centre. Not unusual because deer are rare in Sanctuary -- far from it -- but because we don't often see them out so casually in the middle of the day. This particular deer browsed a couple of the bushes up by the building and then headed off down into the trees.

You can see it right here, since I happened to be out with the camera at the time.

Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/NatureCentre. I hope to be shooting video out in the Sanctuary regularly over the summer.

First'ish' Friday!

Join us in the Marjorie Wood Gallery (located in the Kerry Wood Nature Centre) as we are featuring Teresa Stieben: “Feathers and Flash, avian delights and the bounty of nature” a solo exhibition. Our addition to the First Friday calendar, starts at 5 and continues until 7pm. Or, stroll through the sanctuary and stop in to our 'meet the artist' reception Saturday, July 9^th from 1-3 pm. For more information, please call us at (403)346-2010 or for information regarding Teresa and her works please click on the link: http://teresastiebenart.blogspot.com/

Happy First (sort of) Friday everyone! And thanks for your continued support to our local arts community!

One-eyed Sphinx Moth

I noticed this beauty hanging out at our front door here at the Nature Centre this morning. It's called a One-eyed Sphinx Moth (Smerinthus cerisyi). If the name seems a little odd, it's only because this moth has its wings folded. If the wings were spread, you'd be able to see black spots with bluish rings inside them, all surrounded with pink and beige.

The eye spots are a means of defence for this sphinx and many other moths. Suddenly flashing eye spots at an approaching bird may confuse the predator enough to scare it away.

For a look at the spread wings, check out the specimen here.

Catch us on video

If you look to the links section of the blog's sidebar, you'll see that Kerry Wood Nature Centre now has a YouTube channel. We hope to be adding both natural history and program videos on a regular basis as the spring programming season swings into gear. Be sure to check us out!