Tag: BCWF

Species Profile — Long-tailed Duck

Waterfowl are perhaps the most interesting animals on the planet. From high north to the deep south, and from desert to wetlands, you can find waterfowl almost anywhere. One of our favorites of all, however, is a rather hard-to-find resident of British Columbia’s coast: the Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis). As can be seen in the…
Species Profile — Six-Spotted Fishing Spider

There are over 43,000 species of spiders across the globe, about 3,400 of which are found in North America, and 729 confirmed to be found in B.C. Spiders are one of the smallest creatures to instil such great amounts of fear in people. The species of nursery web spider that will be the focus of…
Building a Schoolyard Wetland: Kinnaird Elementary, Castlegar

The BCWF’s Wetlands Education Program headed to the West Kootenays to build a schoolyard wetland at Kinnaird Elementary in Castlegar. With the help of the Grade 7 students, we constructed a liner wetland over two sunny days last week! There were several steps involved in building a liner wetland: The Kinnaird Elementary students and teachers…
Species Profile — Coastal Tailed Frog

The Coastal Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei) is very unique species whose range extends from northern B.C. to California. Tadpoles may grow to about 3 centimeters in length and may be greyish brown, reddish brown, and black in colour. Mature coastal tailed frogs grows to about 3 centimeters in length and may be light brown, greyish…
Species Profile — Rough-skinned Newt

Taricha granulosa, or the ‘Rough-skinned Newt’, is the only newt species in British Columbia. Confined to the coast, the Rough-skinned Newt relies on wetlands for breeding, while foraging is conducted in open seral and mixed forests near permanent water (including wetlands). Their principal targets when foraging are slugs and worms, while also commonly preying on…
Species Profile — Great Blue Heron

Given how common they are around wetlands, it only makes sense to learn a bit about them. That way, the next time someone points one out, you’ll be able to rattle off a few fun facts and earn the title of Heron Expert—because really, who doesn’t want that? In British Columbia, two subspecies of Great…
Wetland Institute Alumni Restores Wetland in Fraser Valley

Why did the farmer restore a wetland? Because it mud perfect sense. Terrible puns aside, Celia Serrano probably didn’t anticipate how deep she would wade into B.C.’s wetland culture when she boarded her plane from Spain to start her internship with Balance Ecological in the Lower Mainland. She spent numerous weeks monitoring the endangered Oregon Spotted…
B.C. Planners Unite for Wetlands!

On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, the BC Wildlife Federation’s Wetlands Education Program hosted a one-day workshop in Squamish targeting municipal planners from B.C. The workshop’s main objective was to inform planners on ways they can incorporate wetland stewardship into their policies, while also presenting an overview of the value of wetlands and their basic functions.…
Stud’s Pasture Wetland, Kamloops

The Stud’s Pasture Wetland on the Tk’emlups Indian Reserve near Kamloops, BC was restored as part of the Wetlands Institute in the summer of 2010. It is currently being monitored by enthusiastic past participants of that institute, Sue Huddart & Diane James. They have since been featured as wetland stewards in our article for Womens Outdoor World Magazine: “When Sue & Diane completed…