Know Your Watershed

ResEau is an online government project that focuses on making water information easily accessible to all Canadians. The new Know Your Watershed website provides an easy way to learn more about your watershed as well as making it easier to find local watershed protection groups. All you have to do is go to the website, type in your location, and check out what's in the database.

You can find the site here: Know Your Watershed.

Slippery and Slushy

Yes it's that time of year when the Wishart trail will both make a mess of your pant legs and break your wrist at the same time.

Areas of the trail exposed to the sun are probably quite muddy so bring your boots. However, areas in the shade are fast becoming vertical skating rinks so make sure those boots have some treads or cleats on them.

With the great looking weekend ahead of us, a walk around the Sanctuary would be a fun Saturday activity for the family.

We Know, We're Living With It

Those of you driving up and down 45th Ave past the Nature Centre, Parkland School and River Glenn School have probably noticed this scene being played out on the east side of the road.

Trust us, we are well aware of what's happening and to be perfectly honest, we're not all that concerned at the moment.

The City of Red Deer is installing some much needed water supply and sanitary lines. Four of them to be exact and they're pretty large. What the digger/bulldozer brigade is up to is site preparation so the pipe crews can safely excavate & shore their route.

The plan did go through the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary Management committee and while the work is happening on the Sanctuary buffer zone, it's outside the Sanctuary proper. The land being prepped & excavated is not pristine, untouched land. It has been disturbed in the past and will be replanted & returned to a natural state at the end of the project.

This is a two-phase project. There are two lines going in this year and then two more proposed for 2008.

The City's news release is located on the City website here.

We are not anticipating any changes to the Nature Centre's hours, operations or programming.

Backyard snowshoe

Hello from up North! We are finally getting a good whack of snow so I could enjoy one of my favorite pastimes... snowshoeing! Like anything, it's important you get them on correctly. There's nothing that creates more misery when your snowshoes keep falling off (like my first time). I figured out that my shoe is too small or that the binding is too big but I managed a short term fix of stuffing a glove between the shoe and the binding. :) It was a beautiful day for a snowy romp, the sun shining, not a cloud in the sky. And lots of deep snow. At first, I experienced the first impressions that I have seen with many beginners, that little disappointment that you don't stay right on top of the snow and do sink quite a bit. Seems silly to doubt it, I know but it's like driving.. when you're driving on the highway and after awhile it doesn't seem like you are driving that fast anymore (til you slow down anyways).. well, it's the same with snowshoeing, after awhile it doesn't seem like you're staying that much on top of the snow (until you try it without them).And being me, I had to make sure.

I took a picture of my snowshoe track,as you can see. The hole beside it was a step I had taken without the snowshoe. The hole is at least one hand deeper than my snowshoe track. It was proof that my snowshoes really were helping me stay on top of the snow. I quite happily snowshoed all over the back yard and along the school yard after that, it was great. Now I just have to get bigger shoes (some boots maybe) and I can head into the forest :) and find the smaller version of my tracks (the snowshoe hare's tracks)!

Winter Visitor

We get our fair share of critters who make the Nature Centre and the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary their seasonal home. There are a couple of Little Brown Bats who roost over the back door each summer. Countless thousands of waterfowl take up residence on the lakes each spring. The beavers live year round in their lodge. The list is seemingly endless. And, as familiarity breeds more familiarity, we start to take the animals for granted; sort of a mobile part of the background.

Every once in a while though, we have a visitor that for whatever reason, be it curiousity on our part, curiosity on their part, great timing or some other tilt of circumstance, catches our eye and distracts us like little children.

This "little" guy is currently getting all our attention.

Yes, it's a moose. We'll try to get a better picture up here. He(?) seems to have developed a fascination with the Nature Centre - or more properly with our full bird feeders. This sub-adult moose is apparently separated from it's mother as she has only been seen once in the last couple of weeks. Not to worry. He(?) has an ample food supply (poplar branches and sunflower seeds) and seems to have a great flight response. Barring anything unfortunate - like coyotes - this little moose will probably be OK.

As an aside, it's an entertaining illustration of the times when a group of naturalists sees an animal and instantly starting whipping out their camera phones to get pictures.

Seeing stars

I thought I'd remind everyone that our brand new Starlab portable planetarium is up and running. Well, not literally up and running (we don't keep it inflated at all times, of course), but it is available for school and youth group bookings. We can do star shows here at the Nature Centre or, if you have several groups and a suitable space, we can take the shows to you.

Please give us a call at (403) 346-2010 for information on rates and space requirements.

We are planning to offer public shows in the upcoming months as well, so if you'd like to see the planetarium in action keep an eye on your local papers and this blog for dates and times.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

For anyone who thought that I might have disappeared, no such luck. ;)

And for anyone looking for something to do over the holidays with visiting family or friends, please remember that Kerry Wood Nature Centre is open every day (excepting Christmas Day itself), and that the trails in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary are accessible to the public even when the Nature Centre building is closed.

For more information on our holiday hours or upcoming events, don't hesitate to call us at (403) 346-2010.




A quick note to our staff bloggers: This blog has been switched to the new version of Blogger, which means that you'll have to sign in using a Google account from now on. For now, though, just sign in to post as you usually would. Blogger will give you instructions on how to create your new account.

A looooooonnnnggg walk somewhere by Fox Lake

Snowmobiles. Some people like them, some don't. I followed a trail through the forest a couple of days made ago by them. The trail was wide enough for two snowmobiles side by side heading into the forest. I thought that it would lead back to Fox Lake turning back to the left. However after a very long walk, and the sun going down, I gave up trying to find Fox Lake by continuing the trail and decided to back track. I was thankful for the wide trail on the way back as it made it easier to tell which way was home in the dark. And I knew it would be a long walk back, I was hoping a snowmobile would stop by. But no luck. I saw lights and heard them in the distance. One was even coming my direction but then turned off into the forest. My legs were so sore the next day (turned out to be a 6-7 hour walk). So I still don't know how I feel about snowmobiles. I saw lots of tracks across the trail, even saw two critters at different instances scurry across from one side to the other. The first I think was a red squirrel as the tracks led from tree on side to a tree on the other but it was pretty far away so hard to say. Tracks looked squirrelish but not very identifiable. The second critter that scurried across was closer, a small brown plump little thing that climbed up little ledge of trail back into a hole under the snow. A shrew maybe? I saw mouse tracks further down the track leading from a tunnel to another tunnel. I saw a pair of pine grosbeaks, both male - they were so red, nice against the green - I should've known I wasn't getting that close to Fox Lake by the trees... it's pretty much all aspen around where I live, but this forest had quite the number of spruce trees amongst the aspen. On my way home, there was some big creature close by the trail too. I didn't get to see it, but I heard it - I must have scared it (it sure scared me, as hear this huge thrash right beside me, something running away knocking branches full of snow right by me). And it was too dark to look for tracks. I'm sure it is used to the few strange big things announcing itself from long off such as the noisy, bright snowmobiles. It was an experience, that's for sure :) A beautiful peaceful walk (I didn't see or hear any snowmobiles until after I wanted to see one, three quarters of the way back home so I really did get to enjoy a beautiful peaceful walk with safety from not getting lost by staying on the trail). Hopefully though, as suggested by my aching muscles, my next adventure is a bit shorter :)

Frozen pay offs

Well I got a little lost in Fox Lake so my one hour walk turned into a four hour walk! Although frozen, I got to seem some really neat things... One of them was snow prints! Given the pairs of tracks, their size, and how far north we are, I am guessing it is the tracks of the least or short-tailed weasel - that's my best guess anyways. Sometimes snow can make identification hard because you can't see individual tracks very well. Then I saw a pine grosbeak, you could really see the red when it flew away and such a pretty song. Then I saw the most bizarre thing.. pink/red aspen trees. It looked like a big shaker from the sky had poured red powder on the trees. At closer inspection it was red flecks all over the bark but didn't stick out or anything, really flat lichen, maybe?? I'm really not sure. And it was just the one block of trees. It reminded me of the pink bellies of fish... interesting.. the rest of the aspen trees here as I mentioned before look really white so the red really stands out. Another interesting thing I saw was a fence I saw (there aren't very many of them around here, but this one outlines the airfield and the posts were made of aspen trees, makes sense seeming there are so many aspen trees, just interesting instead of seeing smooth wood posts, seeing chunks of tree with wire in between.. I almost wondered if they were actually rooted trees just cut off at such and such a height.

the birds and the trees

You would think there would be snow up here... not yet! But the ground in the forest here is so soft. I looked under my feet to see why. You may remember how when leaves fall, they form a leaf litter layer with later snow on top that invertebrates, small rodents and plants use to survive the winter. Well the leaf litter layer is 10 cm thick here! Years of accumulation. I saw some small birds too, exciting for me since I have seen little else besides a crow and a magpie. They were small and way up in a tree so difficult to identify but I think they were snow buntings, light yellow underneath, white wing patches, darker on top... it was so nice to see cute little birds again.. I miss seeing chickadees everywhere. I'll keep my eyes out for more and keep you posted.

The wilds of Fox Lake

I saw my first wild animal today... a mid sized white moth, well at least its feathery antennae told me it was a moth, not sure what kind though. But I haven't had a good chance to explore as just settling in.. for those of you who don't know, I have moved to Fox Lake, a reserve way up north east of High Level and Fort Vermillion, to the west of Wood Buffalo National Park. I am honored that I will get to share my northern nature experiences with you. I didn't have a camera with me, and the moth was flying a little funny probably from the cold or being near the end of its life. We haven't had any snow up here yet but it is getting cold.. no rain either so it is pretty dry, very yellow place right now and dusty.. lots of dust.. maybe all the wildlife are hiding under it :) I'll get a good days worth of exploring in and let you know.

Spiders, spiders

I came on just now intending to post about Jewel Spiders, but then I remembered that I posted about them at around the same time last year.

Sure enough, a little poking around the archives led me to this post (complete with picture, even), so rather than type the same information again I'll encourage you to have a look there instead.

If you have a question about Jewel Spiders, other spiders, or even non-spiders, be sure to give us a call at 346-2010.

East Gaetz Lake, 24 Aug 06

Seen in the Sanctuary

This is a photo of Coyote scat found on the Wishart Trail in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary this afternoon.

Some concerned visitors spotted it earlier in the day and were wondering if a bear had indeed done what bears are reputed to do in the woods.

At this time of year it's an easy mistake to make. Coyotes in late summer become very omnivorous; consuming berries, leaves, decaying animals and prey they themselves have killed. This combination of foods, especially the berry content, makes scat that very much resembles bear droppings.

The keys to identifying these souvenirs as being left behind by a coyote and not a bear are the shape of the individual scats and the size of deposit. This sample is much smaller and better formed than anything a Black Bear would excrete.

Coyotes, foxes, moose, deer and other mammals are all consuming sugar-rich berries at this time of year. This means that almost everything is leaving scats that resemble bear droppings.

Seen in the Sanctuary:

Ripe Chokecherries on the trail to the bird blind.

Female Thin-Legged Wolf Spider camouflaged beside the edge of the path.

Kerry Wood Nature Centre from the Dr. George Trail.

Walking McKenzie

I was down at McKenzie Trail Recreation Area for a little while this afternoon. For those of you who aren't familiar with the park, it's the next one down the bike trail from the Nature Centre and is quite a nice picnic spot. McKenzie Trail park consists partly of a reclaimed gravel pit which has been turned into a nesting pond that is very popular with the local goose and duck population.


McKenzie's a favourite place with those who enjoy feeding geese, but I'd ask that you consider feeding them something other than bread. Bread's actually pretty tough for those birds to digest in large quantities. If you're looking for alternative foods, you might try dried peas or cracked corn. The Nature Centre Bookstore sells small bags of corn for a dollar.


Across the road from the pond is one of the lesser-known trails in Waskasoo Park. The loop at McKenzie isn't very long (it can easily be walked in twenty minutes), but it winds its way through some very interesting plant communities. My favourite is one of the few old growth White Spruce forests in Red Deer. The forest is quiet but not as dark as a younger conifer stand.

As you walk through McKenzie, see if you can spot the traces of last year's flood. McKenzie ended up as part of the river last June, but it's amazing to see how quickly the river silt is being covered up by new plant growth.

Spittlebugs and other things

Keen observers might notice that some of the plants beside the Sanctuary paths look like someone's been rather rudely clearing his throat onto them. The fact is that we really don't need to be putting up "No Spitting" signs -- what looks like spit is actually the home of the nymph of the aptly-named Spittlebug. The foamy covering the nymph produces helps hide it and protects it from predators.

I was able to get out for a brief walk on the Dr. George Trail this afternoon, and it was interesting to see that even in the hot, muggy weather we've been having things were still pretty busy in the grassland. In the grassland, she says? Well, yes. I know it can look like one of the blander parts of the Sanctuary, but this time of year it's actually got quite a lot going on. You just have to look at things on a smaller scale.

The goldenrod, asters, and (sigh) thistles have brought out the butterflies in decent numbers, for one thing. I'm not at my best with butterfly IDs, but even I could find wood nymphs, sulphurs, and fritillaries darting from flower to flower.

This is also grasshopper season, and while grasshoppers may not be appreciated in a crop I find it a very summery experience to walk through the meadow and hear them buzzing.

I suppose all this is by way of saying that even when the large animals are off in the quiet and shade of the forest, there's still a lot of life to be seen if you take a moment to look at things a little differently.

See you out on the path!

Template Addition

For those of you interested in the state of the Red Deer River - and other rivers in the Red Deer River Basin - I've added a link to the Alberta Government's river basin information map. It's located just to the right of the page in the sidebar.

For example: by selecting the Red Deer River Sub-Basin and selecting River Flows and Levels, you can generate a graph that shows historical and current streamflows for the Red Deer River. This is particularly helpful for getting an idea how fast or deep the river is running before you plan you canoe, kayak or float trip on our rivers.

The photo below is a snapshot of a typical streamflow graph.

Recent spider photos

I haven't posted any spider pictures lately, so here are a few in one go. As always, just click on the photo to enlarge it.

I was lucky enough to snap this shot yesterday when I was out on the Dr. George trail in the Sanctuary. It's a female Goldenrod Spider (Misumena vatia) defending her egg sac. These spiders are ambush predators and don't use webs for catching insects, but they do use silk to wrap up the leaf they've chosen to cache their eggs in. This crab spider will spend the rest of her life defending her egg sac; in fact, she's likely to die of starvation (or exhaustion) before the spiderlings hatch out.

Earlier this week I had a chance to watch this spider at work beside my father's fish pond. It's a Long-Jawed Orb Weaver (Tetragnatha sp.). The Long-Jawed Orb Weaver builds a typical-looking orb web, but it's often on a bit of a tilt and has the middle hub removed so that the spider can cross from side to side. Long-Jawed Orb Weavers can be found near wetlands (amongst other places), and will stretch out their long, skinny bodies to camouflage themselves in the reeds. This one didn't have any reeds nearby to hide in, but the cotoneaster leaves in the background should give you an idea of its size.

Since I was planning to post the first two spiders, I thought I may as well include a photo I took last week too. It looks a bit less than natural compared to the other two, but that's just because I sneaked a piece of paper behind the spider so that its markings would show up better. It's called a Bowl-and-Doily Spider (Frontinella communis) and is a member of the Linyphiidae or Sheet Weaver family. The web this spider builds is quite remarkable. The top part looks like an upside-down bowl, and it's suspended above a flat-sheet "doily". The web isn't sticky, but is enough to hinder any small insects that fall on it long enough for the spider to bite through the web and drag its prey under. The Bowl-and-Doily Spider's markings often look a bit like a cursive "mc".

Each of these spiders is harmless to humans, as are the vast majority of spiders here in Alberta.

We don't have a resident spider expert at the Nature Centre, but if you have spider (or other) questions please don't hesitate to give us a call. We'll do our best to see what information we can find for you.

Saskatoons

I grew up helping my grandmother pick saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) for pies and preserves, and even though I rarely do anything with them but eat them straight off the bush these days I still look forward to berry-picking season.

That's funny, actually, because saskatoons aren't really berries. They're technically known as pomes, and if you had the patience to dissect one (rather than just eat it) you'd find all of the same structures inside a saskatoon as you do in an apple.

Judging by the looks of the earliest-ripening fruits, I'd say that our saskatoon season is going to be a decent one this year. Which brings me to the reason for this post...

If you had planned to come to the Nature Centre to walk in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary with your berry-picking bucket, you might do better to leave the bucket at home and just go for the walk. While we don't mind visitors sampling one or two saskatoons as they go, we'd prefer that most of the pomes in the Sanctuary be left for the many animals that depend on them.

Also, a reminder to those who like to collect saskatoons and other fruit from the bushes along 45th Avenue on the way to the Nature Centre: please take extra care to park your car safely. The road's fairly narrow, and over the years I've seen my share of near-misses on that stretch during picking season.

Happy (and safe) harvest, everyone!