| East Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada |
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The Rocky Mountain Naturalist's early morning birding outing leaves every Wednesday (usually) at 8AM and returns (usually) by 11:30AM. If you would like to join us please contact Jim H. via our request tab on the Home Page. Thanks to Jim H., Lyle G., Bob W.and Greg R. for the Great Photos! Left photo As September advanced, the warm days dwindled, & summer faded from the Rockies. On the east side of Mount Broadwood, beneath the China Wall, sunlight illuminated an aspen grove as the trees were bowed by an upslope breeze. September 8th, 2018. Right photo Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), looking south from above Spectrum Pass Creek canyon (north side) to the Tchaikazan River (upstream), Friendly Peak (center), & Carefree Mountain (right, in cloud); Tsylos Provincial Park, BC. August 19th, 2013. Dan Hicks photos Mount Broadwood & the lower Wigwam River are within the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Elk Valley Heritage Conservation Area. A September survey by a small party of Rocky Mountain Naturalists revealed that the whitebark pine seedlings, planted by dedicated Rocky Mountain Naturalists on this very slope two years previously, had perished in the dry heat of succeeding summers. Picturesque whitebark pine is the highest elevation pine, a source of seeds & habitat for various subalpine creatures, its numbers have been much diminished, & its very existence threatened, by white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle (aided by rising temperatures), & an absence of cyclic low-intensity surface fires. In montane ecosystems, surviving as a tree is challenging, but growing to become one is even more daunting.
By Dan Hicks |
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