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.

Dead plants have benefits

Here's a good reason to be a little lazy about your yard cleanup in the fall: your neighbourhood wildlife will be very happy.

I noticed this male Downy Woodpecker gleaning my dead sunflowers the other day (there was a female with him as well, but she was more camera-shy). In my case, a few standing dead plants and a small feeder on a balcony attract numerous chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and occasionally a magpie or two. The smaller birds use the plants for shelter as well as food, and everyone checks out the feeder. I generally stock it with black oil sunflower seeds (our usual recommendation for general feeding), but at the moment I have it filled with nutmeats. They've been a real hit, especially on colder days. The quick energy is appreciated.

Leaving standing plants in your yard will attract birds, but that's not the only bit of "messiness" that wildlife  likes. A loose pile of twigs and leaves can provide hibernacula for several of our local butterfly species. Yes, many of the butterflies you see in the spring have actually overwintered. Brush piles can be good for other animals, too. One of our staff members has a snowshoe hare regularly using his as a winter shelter.

For more ideas on making your backyard more wildlife-friendly, check out NatureScape Alberta by Myrna Pearman and Ted Pike. It can be found in many local bookstores, including our own here at the Nature Centre. Call Bob at 403-346-2010 ext 103 for more information or book recommendations.

Ask a Naturalist: let's jump right into it

We've got a question!

Keith Kline (@synkline) asks:
Just how long does a garter snake live?

That made me laugh, because I feel like I was indirectly set up by Todd. It was his newsletter article I reposted yesterday (and should have credited. I'll go back and fix that), and you'll notice that it's one of the questions he asks -- and doesn't answer -- in his opening paragraph. The answer to the freezing frogs, by the way, can be found in our Winter 2012 newsletter, which should be in your mailbox in the next few days. If you're not a Friends of the Kerry Wood Nature Centre member and would like a copy, just drop by the Nature Centre to pick one up.

Anyway. Back to garter snakes. We have three species of garter snakes in Alberta: the Red-Sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), the Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix), and the Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans). Here in Red Deer we see the Red-Sided and the Plains, but not the Wandering, which is also known as the Western Terrestrial.

I had a look in the Kerry Wood Reading Room library and found a little bit of information, but a bit more searching on the internet led me to Simply Wild Canada and its summary page of Canadian Garter Snakes. It seems to agree pretty well with some of the other sources I looked at so I'll use their figures here. Red-Sided Garter Snakes are our longest-lived local garter snake, with a lifespan of up to 14 years (although Snakes Alive says that only 1 in 5000 snakes makes it to 12 years). The Plains Garter Snake lives up to 7 years, and the Wandering Garter Snake up to 9 years. Keep in mind that for any snake to live that long requires a fair amount of luck, since especially in their early years they can be eaten by a variety of predators.



Remember, you can send us your nature and environment questions via Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail (general at waskasoopark dot ca). Please use the hashtag #ecospeak on your question, or put Ask an E-Naturalist in your e-mail subject line.

Thanks for starting us off, Keith! 

Ask an E-Naturalist

How do snowflakes form? Why do leaves change colour in the fall? Do frogs really freeze solid in the winter, really? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?  How many years will a garter snake live?

Well, except for the swallow question – you’ll need to consult the higher powers at Monty Python for that one – we can provide you the answers to these and all your other nature and environment-related questions. And as part of the bargain, you get to try out our handy Twitter feed and/or our Facebook page by asking us your questions.

In the past we’ve run “Ask a Naturalist” columns in the daily paper. These columns had their pros and cons. On the upside we generated a lot of interest in myriad nature topics. On the downside with only a weekly column and limited space, we couldn’t answer all the questions in a timely manner. So, in order to get to all the questions out there, as efficiently as possible, we’ve evolved the concept. Effective immediately we are accepting questions for our new Q&A forum, Eco-speak. The way it will work is this:

• Send us your nature and/or environment-based questions via Twitter, Facebook or email. Make sure to use the hashtag #ecospeak. We prefer getting submissions through Facebook and Twitter as people can see all the questions being asked. However, all questions will be answered in the order we receive them; regardless of how they were submitted.

• We will research, write and post the answers on our blog at waskasoopark.blogspot.ca, and publish a link to the post on our Facebook and Twitter, again using the hashtag #ecospeak.

• You can then read the answers and share the links with your friends and social media networks.

You can find us on Facebook by liking the Waskasoo Environmental Education Society page, and you can follow us on Twitter @NatureCentre.

Now, I know there are people out there with some reluctance to join the conversations on Twitter and Facebook. For you I have two options.

1. Please feel encouraged to send us your questions in whatever form you feel comfortable using. If electronics are not your thing, you can phone us, send us a real letter or drop in for a visit and a cup of tea. We’ll answer your questions.
2. Jump in to the social networks with both feet. We have been truly amazed by the amount of feedback we get through our Facebook page and our Twitter account. If you’re intimidated, call us and ask for help. You can come down to the Nature Centre and we’ll walk you through the basics of setting up an account, sending messages, following people and organization that interest you and, help you begin to contribute to the dialogue. In fact, we’d love to do this with you.

Now, we know that you could simply ask Google your questions. But then, only you have that answer. If you send your question to us then you, our hundreds of regular blog readers, our 500 Twitter followers and their followers, and our Facebook audience of thousands will be in on the conversation. The potential for sharing nature and environment-related information is huge.

Todd Nivens, Programs Coordinator

It's That Time Again

Every year, we host the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, here in Red Deer. This annual event is our most important fundraiser and the event that brings us in contact with the biggest cross-section of the population.

Over two nights in January (the 10th and 11th, 2013), we and nearly a thousand of our closest friends will screen 2 1/2 hours of the best mountain culture, sport, nature, and adventure films that debuted at the 2012 Banff Mountain Film Festival. In past years we've seen everything from 90 minute epics featuring solo cycling trips across India and Australia, to five minute B.A.S.E. jumping films geared for the adrenaline junkies among us.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour serves a couple of important purposes here in Red Deer. Obviously as a fundraiser, we depend on the proceeds from the two-night event to support our ongoing environmental education programming. However, there is an important social function at play here as well. By the time January 10 rolls around, we'll have had a lot of cold weather, Christmas has passed and we're looking at a long stretch until spring time. The event gets us out of our houses on a cold winter night and brings together a huge group of people in an act of community togetherness.

Tickets are on sale now at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Valhalla Pure Outfitters Red Deer and Purearth Organics. Tickets are $20 + GST each night or $36 + GST for both nights.

Community Spirit Grant

Thanks to the Community Spirit Grant awarded to the Friends of the KWNC it was able to help WEES fund the volunteer coordinator position in 2012

Starlings in Fall

bob kruchten‏@rkruchten

Oct 30- 2 callers - birds in flocks brown and black white spots on breasts; starlings in fall plumage. identified by BIRD CD in KWNC bkstore

Snow in the Sanctuary

We've been a lot busier with Twitter than the blog lately (you can follow us at @NatureCentre), but today I thought I'd take a quick walk on the Dr George Trail to see what I could find after our recent snowfall.

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm most definitely not a fan of snow or cold, but there's no denying that a covering of snow can give an interesting insight into what's sharing the trails with our human visitors. As always, click on the photos to see larger versions:

Our deer population likes to sneak snacks from the bird feeders when no one's watching.

Deer tracks down the sides of the path; humans down the middle.

Red squirrels tend to use the same runs over and over as they go from tree to tree.

I found moose tracks down the trail to the bird blind.

If you keep your eyes open, you may even see bird tracks in the snow.

Here's a track I'd sooner not see. Please remember, everyone, that dogs aren't allowed in the Sanctuary. There are plenty of other great places in Waskasoo Park to go walking with your dogs, but in the Sanctuary the wildlife should always come first.

I hope you'll take a moment in the next day or two to see what other tracks you can find. In the meantime, Halloween is coming quickly, and Kathryn has some fantastic things planned for our Family Drop-in Halloween on Saturday, October 27. It runs from 6 - 8 pm, and admission is $3/person or $10/family. Dress up, and come explore the spookier side of nature. Call us at 403-346-2010 for more information.

Seen in the Sanctuary

I took a quick trip around the Dr George trail at noon because it just looked like too nice a day to stay indoors. Here's a little of what I saw:

I always love dragonfly season. This one's a female Meadowhawk (probably a Pale-faced Meadowhawk, although she's unhelpfully hiding her face here). Meadowhawks are one of the smaller types of dragonfly.

I'm including this shot mostly just because I have a sneaking suspicion that I've been taking photos of this same exact bird all summer long. Likes to pose, I guess.

The dew on this Grass Spider web made it show up a lot better than they usually do. The hole to the right is actually more of a funnel (the webs themselves are called funnel webs). The spider would be hiding at the bottom of the funnel, waiting for potential prey to vibrate the web.

And finally, apparently the squirrels are enjoying the Little Forts in Peculiar Locations art installation as much as I have. If you haven't yet had a chance to look for the forts, make sure you stop by the Marjorie Wood Gallery first to pick up your map.

Seen in the Sanctuary

It's a warm, sunny day out there, and that usually slows things down for the animals in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary just like it does for us. Call it their version of sitting on the beach this long weekend, if you like, but hot weather generally makes it pretty quiet out there. I was out this morning to see what I could see, though, and here's a quick look at some of the things I found.

We usually have one or two resident bats, but today there were five. If you'd like to know where they hang out, just ask our front desk staff and they'd be happy to show you.

Damselfly. A bluet of some sort, I think, but I haven't looked it up yet.

A Barn Swallow on the bird blind.

This is an Anglewing, and I'm pretty sure that it's a Green Comma. I didn't get a look at the ventral side of the wing, though (unusual, that. Usually when I have the camera out they refuse to open their wings rather than refusing to close them), so I'm not absolutely certain.

 

Sharp-eyed visitors may notice a few new temporary additions along the Dr George Trail. They're part of our new art installation, Little Forts in Peculiar Locations by Robin Lambert. It's a fantastic and unique show, and I urge everyone to come down to the Marjorie Wood Gallery to check it out!

 

Alberta Land and Life
Issues # 1,2 and 3 available at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre bookstore.
Price $5.95