Jewel Spider season again

I've noticed that we've been getting some hits in the past few days from people looking for information about Jewel Spiders, also known as the Jewelled Araneus. These are large orb weavers for Alberta, and since they often tend to make their webs close to lights people may notice them around their homes and be a little worried that they're a problem.

The good news is, they're harmless. Well, unless you're an insect, of course.

This is a photo I took of one that was hanging around the soffit in my father's car port a few years ago. For a clearer photo and a bit more information about these entertaining spiders, I'll direct you to my earlier post about them here.

If you have more questions about Jewel Spiders, give us a call at 403-346-2010.

Comings and Goings - Ungulate Style

The Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary is surrounded on three sides by a chain-link fence. This leads to lots of questions regarding how the deer, moose and other animals get in and out of the Sanctuary. We know they go over the fence. There have been many many observations of deer jumping clear over fences as high as eight feet; from a standing start.

What we didn't know, was exactly where they were leaping over the fence. Well, now we know the location of at least one entry point.

I took this picture on the east side of the staff parking lot. As you can see the ground level is almost the same elevation as the top of the fence; meaning the deer don't need to jump as high in the air. They just need to "go long". On the near side of the fence there is a worn area that suggests it's the launch point. The far side of the fence has the landing pad and game trail leading away from it. The entire leap is 3 1/2 feet high and 7 feet long.

The upshot of this is that while the Sanctuary is fenced, animals have little trouble coming and going as they please. Given that the Sanctuary's deer and moose population fluctuates throughout the year we aren't terribly surprised. What we didn't know was that one of the entry points was right beside our parking spots and that if we arrived a little earlier in the day or left a little later in the evening, we'd probably see the leaping deer in action.

More fun in the summer sun!

Summer's almost over, but there's still lots of family-friendly programming going on in Waskasoo Park. Here's a quick look at what's coming up:

Wednesday, August 17 is the ART&facts Biking Tour, a tour of public art via the Waskasoo Park trail system with guest speaker Pat Matheson. We meet at the Lions' campground amphitheatre for departure at 7 p.m., weather permitting.

On Friday, August 19, your family can Meet the Critter between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre. The Medicine River Wildlife Centre will be bringing one of their critters for a visit.

Raft Tours are still running! Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5 to 8 p.m. are Raft & Roasts: a wiener roast and guided float down the river. Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m. are our Scenic Tours: float only. Call the Nature Centre to book your spot; paid pre-registration is required as there are limited seats.

On Sunday, August 28, there will be an Edible Plant Walk starting at 2 p.m. Meet a naturalist at the Nature Centre to learn what's good, and what's not!

If you've ever wanted to learn how to preserve your own food, here's your chance! There will be a Canning Workshop at Fort Normandeau on Monday, August 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. There are limited spots available, so paid pre-registration is required. Call the Nature Centre for more details.

Hope to see everyone out and enjoying these last precious weeks of summer. 'Til next time!

Seen in the Park

The trails, nodes and gathering places that make up Waskasoo Park take walkers, cyclists, skateboarders, dog-owners and myriad other users through the City, in natural settings. It's quite amazing really, to look down over the City and realize that we live and work in a forest; that we've carved out an urban centre somewhat harmoniously with the local natural environment. Because we've kept so much of the river valley and the urban forest intact, we are fortunate to have many wild creatures in our midst.

One of those interesting critters, is the Grey Catbird. Catbirds nest in dense brush - which makes Three mile a great place to find them. They have a diet of about 50% fruit (berries etc.) and 50% insects and spiders. The really cool thing about Catbirds though, is that they are mimics; they'll appropriate the sounds that other birds make. This makes identifying Catbirds by ear a little difficult

The Grey Catbird in the picture was seen by friend of the Nature Centre Lorraine Oakes. She took the picture at Three Mile Bend and sent it in to us for identification. Thanks Lorraine!

We say this a lot, but the next time you're out on the trails, keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what wild animal is sharing the park with you. As always, if you see something interesting and want to share it, send us a photo via email to general@waskasoopark.ca or, head join the Kerry Wood Nature Centre's Facebook group and post it up there.

Today's Surprise Visitor

It's spider season! Albeit it's a little early for our first eight-legged visitors - spiders in cartons usually start arriving in September.

This one came from a worker at Dow Chemical.

While intimidating-looking, this female Marbled Orb Weaver is harmless. She (the round abdomen tells us it's a female) creates the large, circular webs that are often found in the early morning. Orb weavers are tremendously beneficial as they eat the mosquitoes and other insects that cause us grief. A yard with orb weavers, bats, and dragonflies is likely to be a pest-free zone.

If you've got a spider or any other critter you can't identify, feel free to send us a photo or, if it's not huge, bring it down. We'll be happy to take a look, give it a name and tell you all about it.

An unexpected visitor

In early August, the Kerry Wood Nature Centre had an unusual visitor: a Bushy-tailed Woodrat (also known as a Packrat). It probably travelled with a family from its home in the foothills to their garage in Red Deer by hitching a ride with their RV. The family caught it, brought it to us for identification, and plan to return it to Kootenay Plains as soon as possible. It was a happy, friendly little guy but the family -- and the woodrat -- will be even happier when it’s back where it belongs.

Early August Happenings in Waskasoo Park

Hello there! I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather that summer has finally bestowed upon us. These lovely evenings are perfect for getting out and enjoying time with family and friends; we're happy to provide some opportunities for you to do just that!

Tomorrow night, Thursday, August 4, is the ART&facts Walking Tour, a tour of public art and history downtown with guest speakers Michael Dawe and Pat Matheson. Meet at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery for a 7:00 p.m. departure if you're interested in coming on this very relaxing and informative stroll.

Friday night, August 5, is First Friday throughout art galleries in Red Deer. The Marjorie Wood Gallery will be open with refreshments for your enjoyment from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. as part of this event.

Next Friday, August 12, marks our third annual installment of the Perseid Meteor Shower Star Party at Fort Normandeau. Join us for some late night star gazing on the peak of one of the best meteor showers of the year! There will be activities, refreshments, and overnight tenting is an option. Call 403-346-2010 or 403-347-7550 for details.

The full moon that we block with trees on Friday will be our greatest asset on Saturday, August 13, for the second Full Moon Float of Summer 2011! We had a great time at the July float and are looking forward to another fantastic evening rafting the Red Deer river late at night. It's an experience not to be missed! Seating is limited and filling fast, so call 403-346-2010 for details or to book your spot.

I hope you've enjoyed this taste of some of our family-friendly programming. Keep your eye out for more to come and looking forward to seeing you out and about with us!

Rafting on the Red Deer River

We've had some great raft trips this summer, and there's still plenty of time this August to book yours! For information about our river floats, prices, and dates, call us at 403-346-2010.

For a rafter's-eye view of the river, check our YouTube channel here.

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.

A rare rafting opportunity!

Rafting season is finally upon us! Now that the nice weather is making more of an appearance, it's time to get out on the river and have some fun. This coming Friday, July 15, will be the first installment of a novel and thoroughly enjoyable float we're running this year: moonlight raft tours. It will be a late night, but well worth it as we'll get to see life on the river after dark. Seats are $45 + GST/person for KWNCA members and $50 + GST/person for non-members. There are still a few seats left; call the Kerry Wood Nature Centre at 403-346-2010 for more information or to reserve your spot.

If you're not able to make the July run of the Full Moon Float, don't fret! We'll be running another one on Saturday, August 13. Registration is open now for this trip, as well as for all of our regular Tuesday/ Thursday night Raft and Roasts and Saturday afternoon 3-hour Scenic Tours. Or, if you prefer a more intimate trip with your family, private tours are also available. Call the Kerry Wood Nature Centre for more information.

Happy Summer, everyone!

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.

Summertime at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre

July is finally here and after a long wait it seems to have finally brought the sunshine. Summer is such a beautiful time of year to enjoy all the wonderful outdoor activities Red Deer has to offer; the hiking, rafting, biking, running and whatever else you enjoy.

To keep your children enjoying their summer we have 5 different weeks of Day Camps:

Week 1 - July 11-15 (French Language Programming) Ages 7-12

Week 2 - July 18-22 (English Programming) Ages 6-10

Week 3 - July 25-29 (French Language Programming) Ages 7-12

Week 4 - August 8-12 (English Programming) Ages 6-10

Week 5 - August 15-19 (French Language Programming) Ages 7-12

We are proud to be able to offer French Language Day Camps for any Francophone and French Immersion children. A big thanks to the ACFA and the Canadian Parents for French for supporting french language programming!

Our Nature Magic day camps are nature based and include hands-0n science, crafts, daily walks, historical and nature based interpretive programs. Camps run Monday to Friday from 9-4:30. For more information and to book please contact us at 403-346-2010 or by email at avery.acheson@waskasoopark.ca

We are filling up fast, but space is still available!

Canada Day weekend in the park

If you're looking for something a little different to do for the long weekend, why not join us out at Fort Normandeau for a Family Sleepover? The sleepover goes from 5 pm Saturday (July 2nd) to 12 pm Sunday, and meals will be provided. Bring your tent, and we'll bring the activities, games, and campfire. The cost is $35 + GST per family. Please preregister by 7:30 pm on Thursday, June 30th.

If you'd like something that isn't overnight, join me at the the Fort on Sunday, July 3rd for an edible plant walk. We'll be talking about some of the historical and modern uses of our native plants, plus I'll point out a few useful weeds that might be helpful on your summer camping trips. We'll be starting at 2 pm. The cost is by recommended donation of $3/person or $10/family.

For more information on this or any of our other upcoming summer events, give us a call at 403-346-2010.

Summer Fun in Waskasoo Park

Summer is almost here, and with it comes lots of outdoor fun with the many public programs we have coming up at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre. Consider this your invitation to join us for one of these great events:

Environment Week has 3 Kinds of Green to choose from- June 6,7,8 from 3 to 5 p.m. each day. Monday- Meet at Bower Ponds for fun with water! Tuesday- Go to Waskasoo Crescent (off 45 Ave) for tree planting! Wednesday- It's Clean Air Day at Heritage Ranch!

Family Planetarium is Sunday, June 12 at 1:00 p.m. $3/person or $10/family. Drop-in.

Penny Stove Workshop- Tuesday, June 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. Learn how to make a super-efficient camp stove from pop cans! Pre-registration required.

Nature Play Day is Wednesday, June 15. Drop in for hands-on nature play all day!

Backcountry Essential Gear Workshop- Thursday, June 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. Bring your gear for show and tell and learn about some new gear and techniques. Free drop-in program.

And remember: the 25th Anniversary of Fort Normandeau Days is coming soon; Saturday and Sunday, June 18 and 19 from noon to 5 p.m. each day at Historic Fort Normandeau! It's a day full of food, music, dancing, black powder demos, archery and more, all for only $3/person or $10/family.

If you would like more information about any of these programs, or to register, please call the Kerry Wood Nature Centre at 403-346-2010. The fun doesn't stop there: this summer, look for:

• First Fridays in the Marjorie Wood Gallery
• Day Camps in English and French
• Raft Tours on the Red Deer River, including 2 Full Moon Floats!
• Family Sleepover at the Fort- July 2/3
• ART&facts walking and biking tours exploring Red Deer's public art installations
• Edible Plant Walks
• The Roving Interpreter, bringing games and activities to stops around Waskasoo Park all summer long! Watch this blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter for upcoming stops and themes.
• Perseid Meteor Shower Star Party
• And last, but not least, the Kickoff Weekend for the Kerry Wood Nature Centre's 25th Anniversary year of celebrations, July 29 through August 1!

Registration is already open for many of these great programs. Call to reserve your spot today!

Until next time...

I never like to do this, but...

Hi everyone. I have some unfortunate news: tomorrow's Family Planetarium has been cancelled. There is a silver lining to this cloud, however. Not only do we run Family Planetariums every month (the next one is on Sunday, June 12 at 1 p.m.), we also have a free Bird ID program here at the Nature Centre tomorrow afternoon. Judy Boyd from the RDRN will be presenting on common birds in Central Alberta. Judy's talk will be a short slide show followed by a walk to see who's out and about. Still a lovely afternoon out with the family.

Have a great weekend!

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!

Our bats are back

If you're like me and are desperately looking for signs that our long-awaited spring is finally on the go, you might be interested to know that a day or two ago one of our resident bats showed up at its usual roost here at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.

Since Alberta bats are dependent on insects for food, they can't hang around their usual summer territories all winter. Instead, they migrate to winter hibernating caves and only return in the spring.

If you're interested in seeing our "secret" bat roost or would like more information on bats and bat boxes, come see us at the Nature Centre or give us a call at 403-346-2010.