efficent bird seed

No Mess
Bird seed;Tired
of cleaning up sunflowers hulls. Buy
Wild Bird Seed.It assures you of no waste, no mess,no growth and is very
efficient. Come to the Kerry Wood Nature Centre Bookstore the home of Ab's best nature books and bird seed to purchase this top quality bird seed.
6300 45 ave, Red Deer: 403 346 2010

We Need To Hear From You

How do you like to interact with Waskasoo Park? What stories do we need to be telling about the park? What natural and cultural treasures should we share with park visitors and one another?

It’s time for some fresh perspectives. A new Waskasoo Park Interpretive Master Plan is in the works.

Check out the FAQs on the project web page [www.reddeer.ca/waskasooparkplan] then let us know what you think. We want to hear your ideas.

What are some features of Waskasoo Park that are important to you? What do you want to learn more about? What do you know about the park that we can do a better job of sharing with others?

Do you have thoughts on how we can encourage stewardship of the park and our environment?

Kids! – what do you want to explore in the park, in Kerry Wood Nature Centre, at Fort Normandeau, or with our help in your school classes?

Think a bit about the interpretive trails in the park. What cues and prompts and information should we be providing along the way? What exhibits do you want to see in the various Park facilities?

The new Interpretive Master Plan will set out a framework for how the Waskasoo Park stories are told over the next 15-20 years.

Let’s hear your ideas. Watch this space for details on an online survey that will be available in January and plan on attending a preview night for the Interpretive Master Plan on Monday, February 13 (7 pm at Kerry Wood Nature Centre).

(But you don’t have to wait – contact us anytime with your comments and suggestions!)

water

brrrr! it is cold and our feathered friends need water to preen their feathers and to clean them. Clean feathers hold more heat than dirty ones. The KWNC bookstore has excellent bird bath heaters to
keep open water for our birds. Call 403 346 2010.

What's up on the Dr George

I took a moment today to take a stroll around the Dr George Trail (the 1 km trail) in the Sanctuary. It's a busy place, the Dr George, even in December. Here's a little of what I saw:

Squirrel tracks around the Sanctuary sign pillar

Deer track amongst the boot tracks

Snowshoe tracks. We rent snowshoes, if you've ever wanted to give it a try.

Like humans, when one deer makes a trail the rest tend to use it instead of making a new one. Deer aren't the only things that use deer trails -- they can be a good place to look for other tracks.

The tracks are a little melted out, but you can still see the loop this mouse or vole took around the deer tracks.

The frozen Gaetz Lakes become highways for all sorts of animals.

Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

If you have photos of any local winter animal goings-on that you'd like me to post here on the blog, feel free to e-mail them to us here at the Nature Centre (general@waskasoopark.ca). Let us know who you are so we can properly credit the photo, and tell us a little bit about where the shot was taken.

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.

It's the Film You've Been Waiting For

 It's Here. This is the 2012 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour trailer. Click play and turn up the volume. Then, head on down to the Nature Centre, Valhalla Pure Outfitters or Purearth Organics for your tickets. Shows run January 12 & 13, 2012. Tickets are $20 + GST each night and $36 + GST for both nights.

These tickets make amazing stocking stuffers.

See you at the show.

One last look at our light recycling bin

That's a lot of copper wire that won't be headed to the landfill, folks.

As of mid-day Saturday we gave out the last of our LED lights, so this year's Christmas light exchange is officially over. We started out with 804 light sets to exchange, and they went a lot faster than we were anticipating. Great job, Red Deer!

Thanks once again to the City of Red Deer for funding and supporting the exchange, and to London Drugs for their support.

We look forward to seeing your new energy-efficient Christmas decorations up!

Christmas Light Exchange Update

Our bin (nearly) runneth over. As of 11:30 there were only 51 sets of LED lights left for the annual light exchange. We started out with 804. Way to go, Red Deer!

There's still time to get those last few lights. Bring down two or more strands of incandescent lights and exchange them for one set of energy-efficient LEDs. And remember -- those lights you see in the bin are all headed for recycling. What a great way to keep valuable copper out of the landfill.

What's in the Woods?

I love walking through the woods - any woods - and imagining what's going on, just out of eyesight and earshot. Sure, you can hear the birds twittering and the squirrels screeching away at each other, and every once in a while you'll hear the crack of a branch telling you that a deer or moose is nearby. On special occasions you'll get to see the animals as they move through their environment, possibly unconcerned about your presence.

More often though, we're completely oblivious to the comings and goings of the larger animals with whom we share natural spaces. By virtue of their better-tuned senses of smell and hearing, animals are often more aware of us, than we are of them.

With that in mind and in an effort to record what's going on just beyond the tree-lines of the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, the City of Red Deer Parks Department has installed a trail cam in the woods. Over the next few months, they'll move it around throughout the 300 acres and capture daytime and nocturnal images of the animals who travel through and who make the Sanctuary their home.

Here are the first images, captured over a 24-hour period November 16 - 17, 2011.

The three deer pictures are a perfect example of what I was discussing. The images were captured over the noon hour, within 50 metres of one of the trails, and people walking on the trail would have had no idea that the deer were in such close proximity.

As we get more images, we'll upload and share them. 

Keep you eyes peeled. You never know what you'll see on your adventures.

Christmas Light Exchange - Video Update

We know that you know how beneficial the Christmas Light Exchange is, in terms of power reduction and Greenhouse gas emissions. Here though, is a quick couple of minutes about the benefits of recycling the old strings you're bringing in to us.

Good job Red Deer.

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!

Saving energy could save you money

Check out this web page for information on the City of Red Deer's Home Energy Audit Rebate as well as other ways you can save money by being energy-efficient.

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

Take Me Outside

We were thrilled to be a part of Colin's journey. Colin spent a day in Red Deer giving talks at Annie L. Gaetz elementary, G.W. Smith elementary and West Park Middle schools. He also did a tour of the Nature Centre and had lunch with a couple of the interpreters.

Here at the Nature Centre we have been dedicated to sharing the outdoors with children, for 25 years. With all the new initiatives in preschool and kindergarten outdoor-classes, it is worth noting that the Nature Centre's Nature Nursery program has been an outdoor program for nearly 20 years. Our kids spend 1/2 of their time, each day, exploring the Sanctuary's forests, fields and ponds. In May, June and September, when the weather is a little more forgiving, Nature Nursery is an entirely outdoor program.

Kids need to be outside. There is a growing mountain of evidence to support the idea that the 53-hours/week of screen time that North American kids are getting (outside of school hours) is doing more harm than good. We're seeing increased rates of childhood obesity, increased rates of ADD/ADHD and a increase in the psychological distance between people and nature. Our own research - conducted by Jim Roberston as part of his Masters thesis - indicates that kids who are exposed to early nature-based education develop into more environmentally-aware citizens. They exhibit more empathy for nature and for natural environments.

So to Colin: Congratulations. We are inspired by your run and I am personally, proud to call you my friend. To the nature-educators around the world: Keep doing what you do. The children of today and the natural environments of the future are depending on you.

CSAs and our upcoming fundraiser

Todd posted about our Harvest Lunch fundraiser the other day, and I just thought I'd add a couple of links for those who might be interested in learning more about Community-Supported Agriculture, or CSAs.

Briefly put, CSAs are a fantastic way to enjoy seasonal, locally-grown veggies (and sometimes fruits as well, depending on the farm). By buying a share of the farm's crop for the season, you're helping to directly support a local farmer as well as ensuring that the produce on your table is about as fresh as it could possibly be. Most CSAs grow organically or pesticide free as well, and work hard to use environmentally sustainable farming methods.

Our lunch guest speaker, Mike Kozlowski of Steel Pony Farm, will be able to give lots more information on the workings of a CSA farm. And with a wonderful harvest lunch from Remi's Catering, I'm sure that everyone will have a fantastic time.

For more information about CSAs, check out this link. And if you'd like to find a CSA near you (yes, we have several CSAs right here in Central Alberta), you can find listings here.



For information on and tickets for our November 4th fundraiser, give us a call at 403-346-2010.

Late Season Visitor

There are animals we expect to see at this time of year. Moose, deer, foxes, the last few Coots, spiders and the year-round birds are all familiar sights in and around the Sanctuary. One of the things that we don't expect, is a butterfly; especially when it's clinging to the screen on the inside of a window.

Yet, that's exactly what we found this morning.

This Comma (we think - it won't open its wings to allow us to see the colours) Butterfly has taken up residence on the inside screen of the windows in the programmers'-space here at the Nature Centre. It's not surprising that it's still alive; Commas overwinter as adults. It is surprising that it's indoors and not hiding in a woodpile or buried under leaf litter somewhere. At some point we'll likely have to catch it and move it. While they will overwinter, they do it in hibernation.

If you have an interesting nature sighting, email it to us at general@waskasoopark.ca

Our Fall Fundraiser

Join us at our Fall Fundraiser. This Heritage Lunch is being prepared by Remi's Catering and will feature soup, salad, main course and dessert with coffee/tea. Mike Kozlowski of Steel Pony Farms will be our guest speaker.

Tickets are $50. Please call the Nature Centre at 403-346-2010 or drop by for a visit and purchase your tickets.

Great green things happening this weekend in Red Deer!

Tonight, Friday, October 14, sees the start of a fun, green weekend in Red Deer. As I type, the Trash to Treasure Swap Meet is underway, here at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre. We've been seeing great stuff come in all evening and still have the weekend left to go. There's no telling what wonderful items will show up and at a great price too: FREE! Bring it if you've got it, browse what's here, then take whatever catches your eye. We're open until 7 p.m. tonight, then from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. You don't need to bring something in to be able to take something: the idea is to find homes for all the still useful but unwanted items.

Following what seems to be Red Deer's theme this weekend, the City is urging you to Kick it to the Curb. This initiative encourages you to label your unwanted items "FREE" and put them curbside. Take a drive around town this weekend: you never know what treasures you'll find!

'Til next time...

Watch for Wildlife

Ok, while they aren't foaming at the mouth and racing around the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary on a skateboards, it is that time of the year when the moose and deer in the area are more concerned about finding and attracting a member of the opposite sex, than they are about staying away from people, other animals and mostly-public spaces. While the picture above is funny, it is meant as a reminder that moose and deer - particularly the males - are aggressive at this time of year and should be avoided.

As the females come into season the males become completely fixated on finding them and, well, showing off. The objective of course, is to be the successful male who gets to mate.

So, as you are walking and riding on the Waskasoo Park trails and exploring the various park nodes this fall, please keep your eyes open for moose and deer. They aren't out to get you and they aren't going to try to hurt you. They're just really preoccupied with other things and the hormones racing through their systems makes them potentially more aggressive.

Just imagine what they'd get up to if they could ride a skateboard.

Our thanks to Joe Whitbread for the drawing. You can follow Joe on Twitter @joewhitbread. Find his ink drawings with the tag #twitbreadbyrequest