Wishart Trail stairs fixed

An update to this post:

The City crews have fixed the stairs on the Wishart Trail. It's now completely passable for the full loop.

Enjoy your walk!

A preview of Maskepetoon

Yesterday morning I took a couple of hours and explored Maskepetoon for a while. This natural area has been part of the Waskasoo Park system since it was created in the mid-1980s, but has only recently been developed with walking paths, bridges, and boardwalks. It's a fantastic place to look at spruce forest and wetlands, and I really enjoyed my time.

The Maskepetoon grand opening is coming up on September 22nd. Keep an eye on the City of Red Deer website or their official twitter account for details. We'll be there, and we hope to see you there too. Here are a few highlights of my walk:

Wishart Trail Stairs

Just a note to our walkers:

The Wishart Trail stairs are closed until they can be repaired. People walking this trail (the 4 km) will only be able to get halfway around and then have to turn back. We'll let you know as soon as they are fixed.

Thanks for your patience.

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.

About this time every year...

We're into the part of August where the grasshoppers leap out at you as you walk the Dr George Trail, the Purple Asters and Goldenrods are showing off their colours... and people phone us concerned that there's something wrong with the trees because they're turning yellow.

Sorry, everyone, but it's that time of year again.

Here in Alberta we have a number of trees and shrubs that start turning colour fairly early, but probably the most noticeable is the Balsam Poplar. It can start turning in mid-July, and since it's one of the main tree species in the park it's hard not to see the yellow leaves peeking out everywhere.

Hard to believe, but it happens this early every year. It's not a signal of illness or pesticide use; it's just the tree's natural cycle. It's hard for a lot of us (including me) to process the fact that a tree could be getting ready for fall when there's usually still a fair amount of summer, and I think that's why people become concerned when they see the yellow leaves. It is normal, though, even if it's a tiny bit depressing.

On a happier note, here are a few of the things I saw on my walk around the 1 km today:

Grasshopper on the path

Goldenrod peeking through the shrubs. And my shadow...

The Red Squirrels have been leaving lots of piles of peeled cones.

A Mosaic Darner

Mystery feathers all over the bird blind. I wonder if something got eaten.

Bottom's up!

mosquitoes away-no chemicals

Now available at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre Bookstore--,Aug 5,2013

Hemp-AWAYHemp-AWAY 250ml bottle With the Skin-Soothing properties of 100% pure Hemp Seed Oil, the natural repellent properties of Citronella, Witch Hazel, Cedarwood, and others, our Hemp-AWAY will make sure the bugs just stay AWAY. You can feel safe using this formulation as often as necessary as all ingredients are from nature. The essential oils will penetrate your skin with the help of the Hemp Seed Oil, and will be used for good and then completely eliminated naturally if not needed.

 

special during August --$13.95       regular   $15.00

Quick quiz

 I went out with the camera for a little while at noon, and I thought that it might be a good opportunity to see what our visitors know about the park. So, here's the first question: Where in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary would you find this, and what caused it?

For anyone who's not sure, here's a pretty big clue:

I'll leave it to you to guess what did the chewing, though. Next question: Which of the following plants will we be discussing during my next Edible Plant Walk?

 (Ok, honestly? I took this photo more for the leaf gall than the plant. But bonus points if you can tell me what made the gall.)

And what are the answers? Well, if you think you know feel free to comment below, or you can answer on Twitter @NatureCentre.

Oh, and if you're interested in the plant walk, we'll be going out at 1 pm on July 28, 2013. Admission is by suggested donation of $3/person or $10/family. I look forward to seeing you there!

An update on the Grebes

I'm not entirely sure if this is the same family since we've had several pairs of Red-necked Grebes nesting on the West Lake this year, but since they're hanging around the same area as the nest at the Bird Blind I suspect that it might be. If it is, it looks like they've lost one chick. Unfortunately, that sort of thing happens in nature.

I think it might be the male doing the feeding in the pictures below, but if there's someone out there who knows their grebes better than I do please feel free to correct me in the comments.

Seen in the Sanctuary:

There are lots of families to be seen on the lake at the moment, so be sure to visit our bird blind if you're coming for a walk.

Couldn't resist adding this male Ruddy Duck, even though he's not hanging around with a bunch of youngsters. Today in a short period of time I spotted Ruddies, Blue-winged Teals, Goldeneyes, Mallards, Canada Geese, and Red-winged Blackbirds, and I'm not even particularly good at water or shore birds. Bring binoculars or a telephoto lens, and you're sure to get some good bird views. Oh, and as always, bug spray is a pretty good idea...

An extremely lucky salamander

This very small (you can see the curve of the ice cream bucket it's in, to give a sense of scale) Tiger Salamander was found by City workers in a dirt pile that was shortly to be moved by a Bobcat. Amazing that it was seen at all, since it was pretty well camouflaged in the mud.

We'll be releasing this little one in the Sanctuary, but if you'd like to know more about Tiger Salamanders come down to the Nature Centre and visit Boris, Natasha, and Lucky.

Yep. We've had two lucky-to-be-alive salamanders brought to the Nature Centre in the past couple of years. They sometimes don't pick the best places to hang out.

If you're thinking of a Canada Day long weekend visit, our hours will be 10 - 8 on Saturday, 10 - 5 on Sunday, and 1 - 8 on Monday. And if you'd like to join me on Monday, I'll be leading an edible plant walk at 1 pm. Phone us at 403-346-2010 for details.

And, um, bring bug spray. The mosquitoes are pretty persistent at the moment.

Spring is the time for babies, big and small.

So here we are, four days into summer already, and definitely starting to see the results of last mating season. I apologize for sounding a little naughty but there's really no other way to put it: babies are everywhere! The goslings are out in full force on Bower Ponds; last week, a young moose wowed a school group doing a plant study; families of waterfowl are starting to populate the Gaetz Lakes, and just this morning I met a baby magpie. Even the damselflies are out in full force, perpetuating the species.

Our much-anticipated arrivals here at the Nature Centre are the baby red-necked grebes. These three little ones are local celebrities in the Sanctuary, so it's fitting that they look like tiny rock stars. With their striped bodies and flashes of colour on their heads and beaks, they not only camoflage well into their nest, they look cool doing it!

The little grebes have quite the backstory leading up to their hatching. It started when Mama and Papa grebe decided to build a nest way too close to the stairs of the bird blind. The water level in the West Gaetz Lake rose significantly due to all the rain and the nest was basically submerged. Mama and Papa grebe built it up diligently, bringing in bits and pieces constantly to make it bigger. Then they started the long incubation period, sharing sitting duties from 21 to 33 days, on what looked to us like drowned eggs in a soggy nest. We restricted access to the bird blind so that large groups wouldn't disturb them; to see the nest you would literally look over the side of the stairs. They were determined to hatch those eggs. If you went out to have a quick and quiet look you would get the evil eye, but the bird sitting on the nest would not move from its post. A lot of time was spent chasing away errant coots that got too close.

Then it happened: two of the four eggs hatched, soon followed by a third. (As of this writing, we're still waiting on the fourth.) These adorable babies will ride on their parent's back for protection and warmth for their first 10 to 17 days, at which time they will essentially be booted off to learn how to fend for themselves. Don't get me wrong: grebes are great parents, sometimes feeding their brood until they're nearly full grown, but they are also practical parents, helping the chick learn how to take care of itself as soon as possible. Juveniles can fly at between 50 and 70 days, just in time for the long migration to coastal inlets to overwinter and find a mate.

If you happen upon a some animal parents and their young while you're out in the park this summer, there are two things I'd like you to keep in mind. 1) Give them their space; animal parents can be very protective, and 2) Take a minute to observe them. The bond between parent and offspring is a beautiful thing, no matter what the species.

Thank you to Darren Petersen for capturing these beautiful photographs and allowing us to to post them for your enjoyment.

Happy Summer everyone!

Just hanging out at the lake

I went out to the bird blind on the West Gaetz Lake this morning to check on a couple of things, and as I generally do I took the camera along with me just in case. Here's a bit of the wildlife that was hanging out:

 Red-necked Grebe

 A pair of Gadwalls

 Mallards and Blue-winged Teals preening on an old muskrat mound

A very uncooperative Blue-winged Teal who insisted on feeding rather than posing

A rainy or overcast day can often be a good time to find the birds a little closer to the deck than they might be on a hot, sunny day. Don't be afraid to put on the gear and go out for a wet walk.

Kisiskatchewan, The Great River Road by B Huck, book presentation Friday May31, 7:00pm at KWNC, WmTomison story of a laborer became Governor of HBC

 

Spring and Summer Job Postings v2.0

We've had postings up for a few months now. We've sent them to our various professional organizations, to the College, and to all the social media outlets. Yet we have seen very, very few applications come in this year.

If you have experience teaching children, education in the natural history of the region or post-secondary education in science, education, environment, outdoor recreation; we need to hear from you. Please see the text below for the full posting.

Thanks

Open Competition

School Programs, Public Programs  

&

Visitor Services Staff

The Waskasoo Environmental Education Society, a non-profit charitable society that operates the Waskasoo Park Interpretive Program on contract for The City of Red Deer, has a number of part-time positions available for the coming spring and summer for School Programs Interpreters and Visitor Services Attendants.

Based at Red Deer's Kerry Wood Nature Centre, the successful applicant(s) will assist with the design and delivery of our spring school-programs and provide natural history and tourist information to the general public. The position also entails operating the building when other staff are away, retail sales work, light clerical duties (word processing, poster-making etc.), assisting the Park Interpreters with their programming, and related duties such as program preparation/cleanup.

Essential Qualifications:

·         some post-secondary schooling in science, western Canadian natural history, education, or interpretation;

·         excellent public communication skills and experience / love for working with the public (including children);

·         good working knowledge of the natural history of central Alberta.

·         a neat appearance and the willingness to wear the Park uniform, and to abide by the WEES smoking and other policies;

·         the ability to work cooperatively with other staff and volunteers;

·         willingness and ability to stay the entire term of this position;

·         good health: some lifting is required;

·         good organizational skills and the ability to plan your schedule and workload;

·         current first aid / C.P.R. certificates;

·         reliable and trustworthy, punctual and conscientious;

Desirable Qualities:

·         Good working knowledge (conversational and written) of French is essential

·         experience in art or graphic design;

·         life guard certification

·         experience with computers (Windows environment) and basic word-processing, spreadsheets, database and desktop publishing; experience working on a computer network;

·         basic knowledge of the human history of central Alberta.

Wages, Term and Conditions of Employment:

 Part time for the spring and summer of 2013

To Apply:

Apply in writing ASAP to:

Waskasoo Environmental Education Society

6300 - 45th Avenue

Red Deer, AB

T4N 3M4

Fax: 347-2550

e-mail: todd.nivens@waskasoopark.ca

Include a résumé outlining related experience and references, and
a brief letter explaining why the position is of interest to you. No phone calls, please.

Peek Into Our Solar System

Ok, it's not planets and moons we're talking about here; it's our solar, photo-voltaic (PV) power system.

In 2005 we installed the first bank of our solar array and the first power inverter. This was a momentous occasion for Red Deer as we were the first facility in the City to install and operate a grid-tied, solar PV system.

Over the years as we obtained funding, we've expanded from a small 20-panel and one inverter system to our current set up of 80 panels and four inverters. The impact of the system has been dramatic. We've cut our monthly power bills significantly, and demonstrated the system to hundred of people. We've given building tours to groups, consulted with individuals, and assisted other organizations with their own solar projects.



Now, you can have a look inside the system and see how much power we're producing, compare trends over time, and see how much CO2 we've offset and the value of that offset in carbon credits - if we were claiming any.

Here is the direct link to our Sunny Portal - the site where all the data is uploaded and displayed. The data is displayed in almost-real-time - it refreshes every hour - so you'll have a current (little electrical pun there) snapshot of what the system is doing.

You can also get to the site by going to our website's Sustainability page and clicking the button for "Sustainability in Action".

Happy graphing!

Nice day for a walk

It's ironic, given that title, that I haven't had time to get out of the office today. Yesterday, though, I went out for a while to see if I could find spring. These photos won't look especially springy considering all the snow that's still out there, but the melted-out tracks show that it's coming.

I caught a glimpse of one of last year's Red-wing Blackbird nests amongst the cattails on the West Gaetz Lake. It seems hard to believe, but it won't be too long before the blackbirds are back at our feeders.

The Nature Nursery kids were having some fun playing on the snow pile beside our staff parking lot.

If you look closely at the centre of this shot, you'll see the hole in the lake ice amidst the tracks.

When there are lots of Waxwings around the trees almost look decorated. How many can you find in this picture? I see four, but there may be more than that.

This isn't a Sanctuary photo (obviously), but it is a reminder that it's worth looking up at night even in the city. Last night from my balcony I was able to find the constellations Orion (to the left, with the line of three stars for his belt) and Taurus (the v-shaped Hyades cluster as the bull's head, the two "horn" stars above, and to the far right the Pleiades cluster that makes the bull's shoulder). The bright "star" above the Hyades -- the brightest thing in the shot -- is actually the planet Jupiter. This was taken after 9:30 pm looking WSW. Why not try having a look for yourself on our next clear night?

Our next Family Planetarium show isn't until April 14th, but if you're looking for some fun before then don't forget about our Easter Spring Fling on (oddly enough) Easter Sunday. There are crafts, activities, prizes and a nature egg hunt. It goes from 1 - 4 pm on March 31. Give us a call at 403-346-2010 for more information.

On Disappearing Turtles

This article came across our desks today.

The long and the short of the article is that about 71 million years ago the turtles that were living in the area that would become Drumheller and the surrounding region, disappeared. Until recently this local disappearance was thought to have been caused by climate change. However, new evidence suggests that the real culprit is the loss of habitat; the wetlands disappeared.

Wetlands are critical natural habitats. This is just as true today as it was at the time of the dinosaurs. In prehistoric times, wetlands were vital hunting and breeding grounds for turtles, small dinosaurs, crocodiles - imagine finding a crocodile in your local Central Alberta wetland today - and small mammals. Today, take out the crocodiles as climate cooling drove them south millions of years ago, but add in dozens of species of waterfowl, three species of frogs, and Tiger Salamanders. Wetlands today are home to an extremely diverse array of plants and animals. The north-south network of wetlands provides migrating waterfowl with the critical rest and feeding stops, that allows the birds to fly for thousands of kilometres each year.

When the wetlands dried up 71 million years ago, they did over a long period of time, perhaps more than a thousand years. These were entirely natural processes, evolving without any external intervention. Today's wetlands are facing a challenge that is an order of magnitude more critical than the one faced prehistorically. Not only are the plants and animals living in wetlands forced to change with rising temperatures due to climate change, they now must contend with human interventions.

As we eat up vast tracts of land for housing and commercial development, wetlands often pay a heavy price. They are divided for road access, outright drained and filled to make more room for buildings, and subject to untreated surface run off. This run off adds sediments, and chemical and organic pollutants to the water, altering the water chemistry.

We have seen the effects of these habitat stresses manifest themselves in the animals that live there; Most often in the frogs and salamanders that are born with deformities caused by such close contact with polluted water. This is not a local-to-Red Deer only phenomenon, rather it's a pattern of behaviour that has been repeated across North America.

However, if there is one habitat that will benefit from our ability to learn from our mistakes, it may will be wetlands. Today, because of their critical role in the migration of waterfowl, many wetlands enjoy regional, Provincial, and/or Federal protection. The East and West Lakes in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, here at the Nature Centre, have those protections.  Today wetlands are seen as being assets to a community, increasing property values, rather than as places that are in the way of "progress". Modern urban planners often work to protect local wetlands in their neighbourhood plans, or to create built environments that mimic the natural wetlands' processes.

Here in Red Deer, we are about to protect a vast wetland surrounding Hazlet Lake, just to the north of Highway 11a. Seen in this map, Hazlet Lake as an intact wetland will become an integral part of Waskasoo Park, as we expand over the next decade and beyond. It has been identified as a key location in the River Valley and Tributaries Plan; a plan that calls for significant buffer zones around all waterways and bodies of water.

We may not see the arrival of the the descendants of those turtles that disappeared 71 million years ago, but we are taking steps to ensure that the offspring of the plants and animals that depend on local wetlands today, will have them in future. A future that will remain, probably, crocodile-free.

Big tracks, little tracks

Anyone here at the Nature Centre can tell you that I'm not a winter person (just because you're a native Albertan doesn't mean that you're born with a love of Alberta winters). On a gorgeous day like today, though, even I couldn't help but take the camera for a walk around the Dr George Trail. Here's a little of what I saw.

Red Squirrels tend to use the same routes over and over. This may look like a squirrel gang, but it was just one running back and forth. Probably chattering if anyone dared to be in the way, too.

Tiny tracks tell a tale as well. Mouse and vole tracks (I'm certainly no expert, so I couldn't say which this is) may look like they suddenly disappear, but if they do there's a hole in the snow somewhere nearby. These little animals make entire warrens of tunnels under the snow, often complete with special sleeping chambers and latrines.

A deer trail down the lake, with the Nature Centre in the distance. Deer, like people, generally make use of paths that have already been started. Why break a new trail if you don't have to?

If we had more days like this, I'd find winter a lot more pleasant. Still, I can't help myself wishing that spring was a little nearer and that I was taking pictures of crocuses or Early Blue Violets instead of tracks. Speaking of spring, though, our spring newsletter and event calendar are out and should be in your mailboxes soon. If you're not a Friends of the Kerry Wood Nature Centre member but would like copies, drop by the Nature Centre to pick them up. If you'd like more information about the Friends, give us a call at 403-346-2010.

International Visitors

As I sit here at 10:30 pm on a Wednesday night, I happened to look at the Live Traffic Feed widget on the left hand side of the screen. In the last day we've had visitors from Seoul, South Korea and Surabaya, Indonesia.

So, for those of you just getting up on the other side of the world. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you learned something. I noticed that you were both looking for information on screw-pilings, of the type we used to anchor the viewing deck and boardwalk. I also noticed that you both took the time to read (thanks Google Analytics)  the blog post that had the link to the picture of the screw-piling driver.

We are tremendously proud of the two projects that made use of this eco-friendly technology. If you'd like to discuss it with us, feel free to email us at general@waskasoopark.ca. We'd be happy to talk to you.

For the rest of our international, Canada-wide, and local blog readers, keep coming back to the blog. We've always got a story to tell, information to share, and questions to ask and answer.

Watch this space, as well as our Facebook and Twitter. There is some really cool stuff coming up. Starting with our Family Day event featuring the return of... Peter Puffin!!! This Juno-award winning singer/songwriter is a longtime friend of the Nature Centre. Peter brings great nature-based family entertainment. His signature songs feature the plants, animals, and process that make the world go 'round. With props and costumes for his younger audience members, Peter ensures that there is something for people of all ages. If you want a truly family-friendly Family Day event, the Nature Centre is the place to be!

Our thanks to The City of Red Deer for helping to fund this free-to-you community event.

For more information on Family Day or any of our upcoming programs and events, please don't hesitate to call us at the Nature Centre, 403-346-2010.