Thank You

CHCA (RDTV by any other name) has been pulled off the air by their parent company.

Over the past decade, the RDTV News Crew and all its variations in name, staff, format and times has been an invaluable ally for the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.

We have been sought out by videographers and reporters looking for expert opinion and/or local insights to environmental stories. For years we were given free-reign for 10 minutes, once a month on the noon-hour news broadcast. The hosts proved to be very game as we brought "things" into their studio; snakes, salamanders, meal-worms, turtles, frogs, drums and drummers, art, snowshoes and in one very memorable show, an entire hive of live bees.

The news crew came to our events, promoted our programs, answered our phone calls and requests for assistance and generally helped keep the Nature Centre and Fort Normandeau in the public mind.

On one noon hour show, Caroline Jarvis and Al Redel took a minute to do my wife a favour and surprise me by broadcasting a picture of my son and I fishing; it was one of the best birthday presents I've ever received.

And now, Chanel 11 is dark, we have no local television news and a talented group of people have been forced to leave town or find other work. Many of them we at the Nature Centre consider our friends.

So, from all of us at the Nature Centre and Fort Normandeau, thank you to all the friends we made at RDTV/CHCA. Your support over the years was amazing. You will all, always have our gratitude.

Seen in the Sanctuary

These High Bush-Cranberry (Viburnum opulus) fruits beside the Wishart Trail show that summer really is winding down. If you're out on the Sanctuary trails in the next while and notice a distinct old-sweatsock smell, those are the ripening fruits of the related Low Bush-Cranberry (Viburnum edule).

Just Hangin' Out

This little dragonfly was hanging around on the Dr. George trail on Monday afternoon. Make sure you click the picture to see it up close to see how stunning these insects really are.

Rafting on a Thursday Night

The Nature Centre's Caryn Ouwehand snapped these pictures of Avery and his Thursday night rafting trip. A calm night, a calm river, no-one else around and a really keen group of participants make for a great two hours.

Scheduled rafting programs end with the conclusion of our summer programming season, however for people who want to go and can gather a group of six, we'll continue rafting as long as river/weather conditions allow.

Seen in the Sanctuary

Tussock Moth caterpillar on Silverberry. I haven't had a chance to look up an ID yet, but I'm thinking that it might be Orgyia sp. Feel free to leave a comment if you can help me narrow this one down.

mushroom program

Mushroom Program
Learn about picking and identifying local Mushrooms via a powerpoint
Presentation by mycologist,- Mike McNaughton at the
Kerry Wood Nature Centre
Sunday, August 16, 2009
2:00pm
Everyone welcome-free

Seen in the Sanctuary

A bee harvests nectar from the Shrubby Cinquefoil outside the Nature Centre's back door.

Those little blue butterflies

This time of year we often have people asking us about the little blue butterflies they see nectaring at the milk vetch in the Sanctuary. The good news for a non-specialist like me is that I can honestly tell you that they are Blues.

Blues are members of the subfamily Polyommatinae, which consists of... well, little blue butterflies.


The bad news for a non-specialist like me is that are several different species of little blue butterflies found in our area.


However, based on the time of year, the pattern of spots I see on the ventral (under) side of the wings, and a cruise through my Alberta Butterflies book I'm going to tentatively hazard a guess that these particular little blue butterflies are Silvery Blues (Glaucopsyche lygdamus). This particular Blue was a male. Female Blues are generally much less blue.

If any of you true butterfly people out there can correct my identification, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below.


On the non-butterfly side of things, I noticed that our Bladderworts are in full flower. Excuse the poor photo -- they were sort of hard to get to.

Bladderworts are interesting aquatic plants that float just below the surface most of the time, but hold their flowers up out of the water. They float with the help of little bladders (that's the origin of the unusual name of the plant) which also function as traps for small aquatic invertebrates. Yes, these lovely yellow flowers belong to a carnivore.

We are a Leader in Renewable Energy

The Kerry Wood Nature Centre has just been recognized by ENMAX Corporation as a consumer of renewable power. In 2008, the Nature Centre consumed 58,270 kW/h of electricity generated through the ENMAX Green Max program - largely from wind-generated power. 

One the power generation side, we are creating electricity through a photo-voltaic system. There are currently 40 solar panels on the roof of the Nature Centre, tied to two of our four installed inverters. The Centre’s solar-power consultant is currently sourcing another 20 panels. They should be installed by the end of 2009. The system has capacity for 80 panels. We are currently fundraising for an estimated $15,000 for the remaining 20 panels.

The PV system supplements the electricity coming in from the grid, ensuring we get some of our power from a renewable, non-carbon-based source. Click here for an up-to-date snap shot of how much power we are generating for ourselves.

When the phase one of the grid-tied PV system was installed in 2004 it was the first of its kind in the area. Gordon Howell of Howell Mayhew Engineering and The City of Red Deer’s Electric Light and Power department worked together to build a framework that would allow others to install similar systems, giving rise to the Net Zero homes in Red Deer’s newer subdivisions

Monday Morning Visitor

This Red Tailed Hawk paid us a visit this morning. The tree he's sitting in provides an excellent perch to look out over the wildflower gardens and the surrounding grasslands. There are lots of Richardson's Ground Squirrels for hungry hawks to feed on, in the area surrounding the Nature Centre.

Find Us On Facebook

I'll be posting this link in the nav bars over to the right side of the screen. However, the Nature Centre now has a Facebook group.

Find it by clicking this link. It's an open group. Anyone can join. It's another great way to keep on top of what we've got going on, and how to connect with environmental education activities in our community.

Martin Reynolds saw this garter snake east of Red Deer on Sunday, April 5th.

After a several-year absence, Kerry Wood is hanging around the front of the Nature Centre again! (Sorry, bad joke: we have re-installed the photo of Mr. Wood by our entrance once again. The previous photo/sign was stolen, and hopefully, by now, the kids who did it are either in jail, grown up or moved away!)

Follow us

If you look at the sidebar to your right, you'll notice a new gadget that I've labelled Follow Our Blog. Following is a way that you can keep up with what we post on this blog by using a service like Blogger, Google Reader, Google Friend Connect, or many sites which use Open ID. If you'd like to be informed of our new posts as they're added to the blog, just click the Follow button and add our blog to your reader.

Bookstore News

Bookstore Newsletter
For March, April & May 2009


Wren/ Chickadee Home ickadee home
Nest boxes – Now is the time to think about nest boxes for the birds. We have a good supply of bluebird/tree swallow boxes and wren/chickadee boxes. Most of the bluebird homes are assembled while the wren/chickadee ones are u build. Bluebirds should arrive in Alberta about the 3rd week of March and will commence nest building about the 3rd week of April.


Feeder Purple Martin Home
Bluebird /Tree swallow home
Farmer’s Market 2009 at Red Deer

Share stall #83 with the Kerry Wood Nature Centre
for the 2009 market on an alternating Saturday basis.
If interested call Bob at 403 346 2010.


New Books/Products
For adults:
1. Imagining Head-Smashed-In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains Jack W. Brink June 2008, For thousands of years the Aboriginal hunters on the North American Plains used their knowledge of the land and of buffalo behaviour to drive their quarry over cliffs.Read about the mass buffalo hunts and the culture they supported before and after European contact by archaeologist Jack Brink.
2. Climate Wars 2008 . A thought provoking and disturbing read by Gwynne Dyer
It gives a terrifying glimpse of the none-too-distant future, when climate change will force the world’s powers into a desperate struggle for advantage and even survival. Price for hc-
For Kids
A great Canada Series –price: $pb-$14.95
1 .Canada at war
2. The Kids Book of Canada
3. Canadian Exploration
4. Great Canadian Women
5. Aboriginal People
6. Canadian History
7. Prime Ministers
8 .Great Canadians
9 .The Far north
10. Canadian Geography.



For Kids/Adults
1.Windsong Action Strap-For secure and comfortable carry of binoculars and Cameras- Keeps the weight off your neck and is adjustable for size.$18.95
2.Bird Call- use this bird calling device to call the birds and have them respond-great price; $6.95
Time for Coffee/Tea



The KWNC Bookstore is proud to make available fair trade /shade grown coffee and teas from JUSTUS COFFEE ROASTERS COOP.
It is one of Canada’s most successful worker-owned businesses based on a firm belief in “people and the planet before profits”.
Fair Trade is an innovative model for international trade, which offers not only a fair price, but respect and empowerment for Third World producers.
All Just Us! products – coffee, tea, chocolate and sugar – are grown naturally, without chemicals, to enhance the well-being of farmers, their communities, the environment and wild-life. The bookstore carries a great selection of Just us coffee and teas.

Backyard wildlife

Ok, so it might be stretching things a little to call this strictly backyard wildlife...

Mary MacKenzie recently sent me these wonderful photos which were taken in June and October at the back of their quarter section.


If you have photos taken in or around Red Deer that you would like to share on our blog, e-mail them to me at interpreter at waskasoopark.ca. Remember to include your name and the approximate date and location the pictures were taken so that I can properly credit you.

Night sky over Red Deer

Admittedly this isn't the most spectacular night photography ever seen, but it's not bad for an autofocus camera snapshot from an apartment balcony. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you should see a bright "star" and the crescent moon. The star is actually the planet Venus, and it can be easily seen in the early evening sky if you look towards the south.

The photo was taken on December 30th at about 5:45 pm. Right now the moon is waxing (heading towards full moon on the 11th) and is more to the left of Venus, but if you look to the south not long after it gets dark in the evening, they should still both be pretty easy to identify.

New sights.

Although the walking trail I showed you last (part of Iron Horse Trail) is closer to my home, it was nice to be surrounded by more natural settings in the biggest park in town, Parc Lagasse Park (hehehehe... park twice still makes me smile). The park sits along the shore line of Therien Lake, a huge lake bordering the southeast side of town. It's really nice, they have a long boardwalk and bridges with playgrounds, park, bathrooms, etc on the north side and edge of lake (lots of cat-tails) and of course lake on the south side. I thought this was very cool, that they are trying to protect the edge of the lake - the native vegetation there can help protect water quality, prevent flooding, and provide fish and wildlife habitat. So very cool. They even have a couple of observation decks leading out on the lake, and pictures/info on the birds you may see (remind you of any place?). And when I was on the park side, I saw something really interesting...

the trees! How weird, a big trunk in the middle and then a whole bunch of little ones growing all around it... and growing so much... well, up! I'm going to have to check up on what that's all about :)

Sounds in the sanctuary

During a walk around the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, my impressions are often shaped by the season. Sometimes, I come back hot & sweaty, other times, itchy from mosquito bites. Sometimes (like in June) the overwhelming memory is smell: when the wolf willow is in bloom, its sickly-sweet odour is almost overpowering. Today, though, memories of two very sounds are what I brought back with me.

City crews are continuing their fire suppression work, removing excess "fuel" (a.k.a. fallen trees) from beside the trail at the south end of the lakes. While it is a bit alarming to hear chainsaws howling in the Sanctuary, it is for a good cause: removing excess fire fuel in the few metres on either side of the trail will help prevent a small accidental fire, for example from a cigarette butt, from having the fuel to let it "ladder" up into the canopy of the dry, old spruce forest. A crown fire would be virtually inextinguishable, and we would lose our old boreal-influenced river valley forest in a matter of hours.

The other sound that I remember is the booming of the ice. Both the Gaetz Lakes have frozen solid (except right around the beaver lodge on the west lake). As of this afternoon, we still do not have any snow, so as the ice blows and the ice shifts, the lakes boom. Very impressive! Maybe it is time to find another small lake or pond to go skating. (Not allowed, in the Sanctuary.)

Jim

trails away :)

I walked the part of the Iron Horse Trail through St. Paul (part of Trans Canada Trail) and I thought I would show you it. It's multi-use so there is a walking path and a motorized vehicle path (ATV's, quads, snowmobiles, etc.)next to it. On the north side of the trail (right) is open country and industrial land (at the far end, they have parks and 10 soccer fields), and on the south side of the trail (left) is the town of St. Paul (residential, commercial and parkland). In the picture, the clump of green boxes is the recycling centre where you can drop off all your recyclables. Pretty interesting, eh? It is a real mix of urban, natural and industrial places.