East Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada
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Club Camp -2014

28/6/2014

 
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     Our Rocky Mountain Naturalist, club camp, was in Fernie this year. We stayed in the Fernie Provincial Park or a motel, meeting at one of the campsites by a campfire at 6PM, Friday evening. Nine RMNats, a guest from Crowsnest and our gracious friends/guides and hosts Bob, Linda, Mike and Laura of the Fernie Naturalists Club enjoyed this annual outing.  We explored the forest trails in the park, particularly along Lizard Creek.  The Northern Waterthrush, Swainson's and Varied Thrush were almost uncountable, particularly on our early morning birding trips.  A pair of American Dippers with two young plied the fast moving creek to feed and when we moved higher into the forest that morning there were two Pine Grosbeaks carrying nesting material.  I am sure these were the first seen this year for most of us.
                                                                                                     continued below;


     Saturday afternoon we explored the Lake Loop trail at Island Lake Lodge, identifying flowers, plants, trees and birds as we enjoyed the high mountain peaks of the Lizard Range all around.  After a busy day we relaxed around a fire and enjoyed a wonderful potluck meal and BBQ in the yard of our Fernie hosts, Bob and Linda.  Afterwards Bob took us out on a little fossil hunt.

     On Sunday, our camping trip almost over and we have three excursions yet on the agenda.  Our early morning birding trip was not quite so early, 8AM saw exploring the Anix area for the now famous Fernie, Common Grackles.  12PM the Morrissey old growth cottonwood forest,with it's missing bridge and a young Pileated Woodpecker peeking out of a nest hole.  Then finally before heading home we checked out the old Morrissey coke ovens that were covered in a tangle of trees, vines and shrubs.

A list of bird species seen can be found on our "Bird Sightings" page
http://www.rockymountainnaturalists.org/bird-sightings.html

Saw a plant, and didn’t see a bird

14/6/2014

 
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The outskirts of Cranbrook provide many opportunities for a quick evening walk on an early June evening. Marianne and Daryl led naturalists on a mini adventure, a short distance from the north end of Wilks Road.  The first goal was an unusually dense patch of Calypso Bulbosa, (Fairyslipper, Venus-slipper or Calypso).  Although one of our smallest orchids, this is the most exquisite as well as the most elusive.  It’s favourite habitat is in Pine woods where it grows in the damp litter of the forest floor.  This true member of the orchid family, grows from a corm, or tuberous rootstock, which is all that remains after the plant flowers and seeds in early summer.  As with all orchids, this flower grows only in association with a certain type of fungus.  As a result, it is virtually impossible to transplant.  This plant suffers from over-picking by collectors. Picking of this flower will kill the plant, so it is best to remember to leave this, as well as all flowers, to mature unimpaired. Earlier, we counted over 100 orchids in an area of about 1 square meter.  This patch may be successful because of continuous shade, abundant rotting material and it’s secluded location.

Leaving the dense, north facing forest, we walked up a south aspect, grassy slope. The yellow arnica and balsam root were amazing, interspersed with numerous, fragrant, light yellow bitterbrush flowers. These small, rose-like flowers attract night flying moths which provide an important food supply for the Common Poorwill.  A small nightjar of the arid West, this Poorwill is the smallest member of it’s family in North America.  It is one of the few birds known to hibernate in the winter.  It is very well camouflaged, colored in browns, black and grey.  This medium-sized bird is large headed with a tiny bill and very tiny feet.  This bird can slow it’s metabolic rate and drop it’s temperature, going into a hibernation-like state known as torpor.  In periods of cold weather, when insects are inactive, a poorwill may stay in torpor for several weeks.  These birds hide during the day, emerging at dark to feed.  They are very difficult to see, but several were heard during the week of the outing, flying past our house on Wilks Road near midnight.

Submitted by Daryl Calder


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Community Forest Hike    2014 June 1 Sunday

5/6/2014

 
Six of us hiked seven km from the college trail head to the big tree [150 m above our starting point], on to Mayook's lookoff, where we stopped for a look over Cranbrook, and then back. We went at a leisurely pace, pausing to look at nature, learn from each other and take pictures whenever we felt like it. We got rained on a little, but not much; it was nothing more than a cooling shower as we walked back.

The birders in our group listed 36 species. Greg submitted them to ebird, at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18656958
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Douglas-fir buds




We compiled the following list of plants:
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Douglas-fir new growth
ponderosa pine
Douglas-fir
spruce
larch
juniper
    rocky mountain
    common
aspen
birch
hawthorn
kinnikinnick
strawberry
dandelion
puccoon
Drummond's rockcress
choke cherry
Oregon-grape
star-flowered false Solomon's-seal
early blue violet
shooting star
calypso orchid [fairyslipper]
alumroot
old man's whiskers
pussytoes
    field
    rosy
    racemose
stickseed
meadow death-camas
desert-parsley
anemone
shrubby penstemon
yarrow
balsamroot
woodland star
larkspur
saskatoon
sedum
antelope-brush
lupine
fleabane [daisy]
arnica

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the group [minus Joy, our photographer]
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balsamroot
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Maayook's lookoff
Excepting trees, these were the species in flower. There are lots more up there.
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penstemon at Mayook's lookoff [with alumroot in background]
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