Tag: Nature

Species Profile — Rufous Hummingbird

Ah, the Rufous Hummingbird—a common yet seemingly rare bird that captures our attention and makes us stare in awe at its fiery feathers and futuristic flight. Their flight pattern is mesmerizing, darting and hovering in a way that resembles something like a spaceship. Given their status as such a captivating creature, let’s take a closer…
Harrop Wetland — A Family Connection

Having the blood of Ernest Harrop himself flowing through her veins, Jennifer Dehnel has a long-time connection with the Harrop area. Like a storybook romance, Jenn’s husband Kurt grew up on the opposite side of Kootenay Lake, leading to their eventual meeting in their early teens. Being in the area for most of their lives…
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 — 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”,…
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…
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…
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…