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Author: Kelly Sekhon

The Fascination of Making & Enjoying Bird Sound Recordings

The Fascination of Making & Enjoying Bird Sound Recordings

Submitted by Peter Ward Exactly 41 years have gone by since Peter Ward (Life Member NV) published an article in Discovery, “Tape Recording of Birds Songs”, concerning the physics of making good quality bird sound recordings with a parabolic dish, and the electronic equipment that was used at the time. Discovery Volume 11, March to May 1982, pp. 4-11 and pp 45-50.  It is a very long time since cassette tapes and open reel decks were the principal technology for…

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Workout New Brighton!

Workout New Brighton!

Submitted by Nigel Peck For anyone interested in keeping in great physical shape and also helping to improve a local park as well as the environment – have we got an opportunity for you. We need your help!  Nature Vancouver and local volunteers have worked for the last nine weeks to clear an area of shoreline in New Brighton Park from hundreds of invasive Himalayan Blackberry bushes. This is in preparation to plant the area with native grasses, pollinator friendly perennial…

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New Brighton Park – One Year On

New Brighton Park – One Year On

Report and Photos by Nigel Peck Thank you for your interest in the New Brighton project.  Three things have driven this endeavour. First is the appreciation of a wide range of people of every culture and age for a lovely little park in Vancouver’s northeast corner. Second is that all the invasive removal and native planting has been done by people who care enough to volunteer for a range of tasks, most multiple times. Finally, it has been word of…

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Birding at Burnaby Lake

Birding at Burnaby Lake

11 February 2023 Trip Report by Kelly Sekhon Seven members of Nature Vancouver and a guest participated in this birding field trip for beginners. Istvan Orosi, a long time member of Nature Vancouver, helped us identify several birds from their calls or songs. At the mouth of the Eagle Creek we saw males and females of several species of ducks up close. Visitors to the park bring bird seed to feed the birds. As a result, Song and Fox Sparrows,…

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Snow Geese in South Vancouver

Snow Geese in South Vancouver

Submitted by Caroline Penn There have been several flocks of snow geese in Vancouver since December. One flock was in Carnarvon Park adjacent to 16th av. in December. Last week a flock has been gathering daily in Winona Park near South Cambie and 59th av. They are very busy feeding and seem to be extremely tolerant of people, and dogs, sitting or even walking through their flock. I am not sure how common it is to see them north of the Fraser…

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Birding In Vanier Park

Birding In Vanier Park

Trip Report by Leona Axbey Sunday, January 29, 2023 On a cold, crisp January morning, fifteen members of Nature Vancouver ventured out to Vanier Park for a birding field trip. As on past trips to this locale, one of the first birds to greet us was an Anna’s hummingbird. Close by a bald eagle was being murdered by crows. (Not really folks.)   We headed east towards the ponds, our arrival announced by a singing House Finch’. Here we viewed Mallards, American Widgeons,…

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Birding in White Rock

Birding in White Rock

Trip Report by Tom Plath On Jan 31st, 2023, despite the bad road conditions due to the previous night’s snowfall, four participants showed up for a morning of birding in South Surrey. At the base of the White Rock Pier, a dog flushed a couple of Killdeer, and in front of us rafts of shellfish-eating sea ducks were scattered on the water. Great views of Surf and White-winged Scoters were had, the latter being BC’s largest duck. The dark cap,…

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Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium

Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium

Book Review by Nina Shoroplova Linda P. J. Lipsen and Derek Tan’s Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium, published in February 2023 by Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia One of the hobbies I enjoyed as a girl was pressing wildflowers. My friend Rosemary lived in a house that backed on to some wild land near Cyncoed Village. We would walk the lanes and trails collecting wildflowers: lesser celandine and meadow buttercup (we could tell the difference), willowherb, red campion, and red clover….

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Canada Jay – Should it be Canada’s National Bird

Canada Jay – Should it be Canada’s National Bird

Dr. David Bird is a Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Biology at McGill University, including teaching university-level courses in ornithology. He has been the strongest promoter for the Canada Jay to be designated as Canada’s national bird. He gave a wonderful Zoom presentation about this for the Nature Vancouver Birders’ Night in January 2022. For 8 years Dr. Bird has been petitioning the federal government to make this happen, but so far it has shown no initiative in doing so. Therefore,…

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2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

Report by Peter Candido The 2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday December 17th. The morning saw intermittent rain, the temperature was 2-3 C and winds were light at about 7 kph from the east. Light fog offshore in the morning limited visibility for observing waterbirds, though the sea was fairly calm. The rain ended around noon and skies cleared somewhat. Though some shoreline was exposed early in the morning, the tide was high for most of the…

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