BCWF Watershed Team

Donate
Become a Member

Tag: Features

  • Species Profile — Bald Eagle

    Species Profile — Bald Eagle

    Question: What is up to 4 metres deep, 2.5 metres wide, and nearly one metric ton in weight? No, the answer we are looking for is not a boat. Rather, a bald eagle’s nest. With such incredible size, it is no surprise that it houses an incredibly large bird. bald eagles have a wingspan that reaches 2.3 metres,…

  • Species Profile — Western Painted Turtle

    Species Profile — Western Painted Turtle

    The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) lives in relatively slow-moving fresh waters, with a large range across North America; in fact, it is the continent’s most widespread native turtle. During the last ice age, four subspecies evolved based on their regional distribution. The western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) can be found in British Columbia and…

  • Species Profile — Virginia Rail

    Species Profile — Virginia Rail

    The Virginia Rail: a small, secretive bird of North American wetlands that inhabits southern British Columbia during the summer breeding months. Despite its rather compact body, the Virginia Rail (and other Rail species) have the highest ratio of leg muscles to flight muscles of any bird. Perhaps more fascinating is its creation of “dummy nests”,…

  • A wetlands fire in New Zealand, and how it relates to us in B.C.

    A wetlands fire in New Zealand, and how it relates to us in B.C.

    This week, a large fire destroyed more than 400 hectares of the internationally recognized Waituna Wetlands Scientific Reserve, located in the Southland Region of New Zealand. The massive fire lasted for nearly 24 hours, and destroyed mature manuka trees (Leptospermum scoparium) and a variety of important wetland plants. Birds and skinks were lost in the…

  • Species Profile — American White Pelican

    Species Profile — American White Pelican

    Every last member of our wetlands team voted for this shot of an American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) to feature as our Photo of the Week. The bird certainly makes a striking impression both frozen in an image and when spotted in person. It was taken at the Scout Island Nature Centre in Williams Lake, BC this July by Tania…

  • Stewards of the Sea-to-Sky — Wetlands Institute 2012

    Stewards of the Sea-to-Sky — Wetlands Institute 2012

    Can you solve this riddle? What do you get when you combine 3 communities, 36 participants, 12 trainers, 4 coordinators, and 4 restoration sites, then let it grow for 8 days? If you guessed a journey of stewards gaining knowledge and inspiration for wetland conservation in BC, you’re right! The 2012 Wetlands Institute along the…