Selected Excerpts from the Vancouver Natural History Society “Bulletin”
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- End Note 7: What to do if you find a [Bird] Band (see pages 263-264) 131 July 1966 President’s Report – 1965-66
- Vancouver Junior Naturalists Annual Report
- Annual Report of the V.N.H.S. Conservation Committee
- Possible Trip for August
- End Notes 8; Nature Walks Through Lighthouse Park, 9: Save the Beaches Association, 10 Lighthouse Park Survey, 11;Aquarium Docents, 12; B.C. Waterfowl Society (see pages 264-265)
- Band-Tailed Pigeon Survey
- Spring Expedition to Duck Lake
- Report on the B.C. Nature Council Meeting, Duncan, B.C.
Total species: 115 Total individuals: 300,409 The 1965 census proved to be more successful than that of previous years in the number of species recorded – 115 – although some we normally expect to see didn’t turn up. The number of individuals was a considerable increase over other years due to the greater number of starlings counted at the roosts at the Alberta Wheat Pool, LaPointe Pier, Burrard Bridge, Cambie Bridge and Oak Street Bridge. We had some firsts for the count too. Late in September Mrs. Bradley had banded an immature Harris’s sparrow which has since been a regular visitor to her feeding station. It turned up on Boxing Day, as did the three cackling geese and one [greater] white-fronted goose which are periodic visitors to another feeding station. Two glaucous gulls and five western gulls were sighted at the Vancouver City dump. During the Count period a flock of common redpoll was seen on three successive days in the Kerrisdale district. Also, 22 bald eagles flew in an easterly direction over West Vancouver. A very special thankyou to all 36 keen-eyed participants in the Count who did such a splendid job under poor weather conditions: W. Adams E. Anderson G. Arnold Dr. K.C. Boyce Mr.& Mrs. Bradley F.J. Brownsword R.W. Campbell N. Copping E.N. Copping R. Dibb Mr. &Mrs. Dunham Barry Edwards N. Helliwell N.I. Howe W.M. Hughes J. Husted L. Husted K. Kennedy D. Livingston N. MacIntosh V. Newson L. Orcutt R.W. Phillips W.S. Rae T. Robertson M.A. Schouten F.J. Sanford P. Sanford G.E. Smith W.J. Smith J. Toochin C. Wade B. Wise G. Wright Miss Gwen Wright End Note #7: What to do if you find a [Bird] Band (see pages 263-264) #131 July 1966 President’s Report – 1965-66 Field Trips and Camps: In 1965-66 the Society held about 25 field trips, several of them on weekends, and most were well attended. In addition, the annual Christmas Bird Count was carried out as usual. Summer Camp on Tyaughton Creek in the Bridge River area was a successful venture led by Arnold Grenius. An unusually large number of campers were young people (teens and under). Several of our members attended the B.C. Nature Council camp at Peachland either as leaders or learners. Evening meetings began with the annual banquet at Hycroft. Ten other meetings with a wide range of interests made up the winter lecture series held in cooperation with the Vancouver School Board. Also in cooperation with the School Board, the Society sponsored the Audubon Screen Tours series of five lectures. Attendance was disappointingly low. Unless more interest is shown in the coming season the series will have to be dropped. B.C. Nature Council. The V.N.H.S. hosted the B.C. Nature Council semi-annual meeting in October. Saturday (Oct. 16th) was spent in business sessions, while Sunday began with a field trip to Lighthouse Park and ended with a smorgasbord supper and an enjoyable evening at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Smith. Committees: The Lighthouse Park nature survey begun in 1964-65 has gone ahead and will be reported elsewhere by its chairman, Mrs. Kay Smith. The Conservation Committee has worked on several projects and a separate report has been prepared by Dr. V.C. Brink. Alan Wootton, Chairman of the Nature Education Committee reports that trails have been laid at Camp Byng (Boy Scouts) and Moorecroft Camp (United Church). The Society has also provided assistance in nature training for Point Grey-Dunbar Boy Scouts and given bird lectures to other local Scout groups. As in previous years the Society has provided a number of docents for the Public Aquarium. Vancouver Parks Nature Programme A survey of Stanley Park for nature trails was done in 1964-65. The Committee in charge, chaired by Don Bruce, decided that while a Nature House is a necessary part of the nature programme for the Park, funds are not available at present and the project has therefore been laid aside. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce have also worked against heavy odds to save the U.B.C. Arboretum. They have mustered support from other outdoor clubs and the combined efforts have succeeded at least to the extent that the trees are still standing. Cooperation with Other Outdoor Organizations. In the fall some members turned out to help with the Mountain Access Committee’s trail building programme. The efforts of the seniors have, however, been outdone by the work of the Intermediates and Juniors at the bird sanctuary of the B.C. Waterfowl Society on Westham Island. The Bulletin has been given a new look by Editor Don Newton. Shortcomings in the year’s work. Leadership training is an acute problem as the Society grows; liaison between Executive, Committees and Membership is inadequate; liaison between our Society and other outdoor groups is likewise insufficient. Often we could provide manpower or even moral support for other groups working on projects that benefit us, but we have no way of sending out a rallying call to those interested. In the near future steps will be taken to strengthen these weaknesses. Thank you to all who have served the Society in the past year. Their conscientious support has made the year a very pleasant experience. K.L. Beamish Vancouver Junior Naturalists Annual Report The [71] Vancouver young naturalists were successfully divided into Junior and Intermediate sections. Mr. Frank Sanford took over as co-ordinator of the Intermediates. The Juniors, with Eric Landon as President and Stephen Best as Vice-President, have 52 members. Nineteen field trips and 7 evening meetings held at the Dunbar Community Centre, took place during the year. So many of the senior members of the Society assisted in leading and teaching during the year that it is impossible to name them all. However, we ask them to accept our most sincere thanks for all their help. Special mention should be made to our Secretary Mrs. E. Landon, mother of our president. Without her unfailing help and attendance some of our meetings could not have been held. The Intermediates, with Robin Best as President, has 19 members. Seventeen field trips were held and they shared evening meetings with the Junior section. The Intermediates have already made a name for themselves by volunteering to work at Westham Island [Reifel] Wildfowl Sanctuary. They have helped to clear the marshes, plant trees, put up guards for stop-locks, and build loafing bars. They also built and put up 12 wood duck nesting boxes as well as repairing and cleaning boxes already erected by the Seniors of the Society. We are proud of these boys and girls and feel they have made a real contribution to the furtherance of wildlife conservation. W.I. Pearson Annual Report of the V.N.H.S. Conservation Committee Although it was agreed that this year the activities of the committee would focus on conservation matters such as pollution, which had been neglected because of our preoccupation with Parks and Parks legislation, Parks issues were once again a major concern. Perhaps this is not too surprising for in our Province where the population and the economy are expanding, setting aside areas which can be conserved for the future must surely be an important concern. The committee must by necessity work by indirection; that is by creating public and government awareness of conservation needs. Although the park in the Cathedral Lakes area in the southern Interior is not quite a reality, it very nearly is so and the committee continues to press for the early publication of the Park boundaries. Land alienation within the proposed Park area continues to create difficulty for the B.C. Department of Recreation and Conservation. Our committee, along with the B.C. Nature Council, has urged that a survey of park needs in the South Okanagan-Similkameen area be promptly undertaken by the Department. It is our hope that such a survey would include a study of an ecological conservancy in the Sonoran life zone of the South Okanagan, needs for parks in and around Mts. Kobau and Apex, needs in the new Cathedral Lakes Park area, and for the new Okanagan Lakeshore Park. Parks and conservation in the Lower Mainland were not overlooked and letters were sent regarding Garibaldi Park trails, mining in Strathcona Park and matters pertaining to nature areas in the Lower Fraser Valley. The committee will be obliged to place more effort on conservation publicity in the coming year. Our committee members are D.R. Bruce, Dr. J. Armstrong, P.J. Croft, A. Greenius and Allen Poynter. Dr. V.C. Brink Possible Trip for August The following account was received by your Editor several months ago and held for inclusion in this issue as a possible trip for members to make on their own this August. Rainbow Meadows A trip to popular Rainbow Meadows near Alta Lake occurred on September 11, 1965 with about 50 people participating in a cavalcade of 15 cars. The trip was too late in the year for alpine flora to be fully appreciated, but its main purpose was to familiarize members with a very attractive alpine area that has only recently become accessible to the average hiker. Several members thought it might be suitable for a Summer Camp. In order that others can visit the area a general description of the route is as follows: Drive though Squamish to beyond Brackendale and turn onto the Alice Lake road. The new highway to Pemberton is a fork to the left off this road and it should be followed past the concrete dam on Daisy Lake and past Brandywine Falls, until a crossroad is observed with the sign “Function Junction”. The highway crosses the P.G.E. [railway] just before Brandywine and again just before Function Junction. At the crossroad, turn left and follow signs to Cypress Lodge which is on the west side of Alta Lake. About four miles beyond the crossroad, a left turn is made and further crossing of the P.G.E. After passing Cypress Lodge the road continues for a short distance and then turns up the hill and soon after enters the valley of 21 Mile Creek. The road is now a logging road and somewhat steep and rough near the top. All cars made it to the start of the trail, but cars could be left below the steep section and this would only add about one mile of walking. After climbing steeply the logging road begins to descend and eventually comes to a point where it used to cross the Creek on a now washed out bridge. About 200 yards back from the crossing is a parking area and an impassable road heading up into the logged off area. Looking up at this point in the general direction of the Creek, it is possible to observe aluminum markers nailed to tree stumps and a rather rough trail can be found leading to the edge of the logged off area. At this point, a Forestry trail, which leads to Callaghan Lake, starts and it is a well-graded trail marked by aluminum markers nailed to trees. The trail starts at the 3,000 ft. elevation, and open alpine country beside a small lake is found at the 4,800 ft. elevation. Walking up time is about 2 ½ hours; walking down takes about 1 ½ hours. Driving time each way is about 2 ½ hours. The distance from Park Royal in West Vancouver is about 80 miles. Norm Purssell End Notes #8; Nature Walks Through Lighthouse Park, #9: Save the Beaches Association, #10 Lighthouse Park Survey, #11;Aquarium Docents, & #12; B.C. Waterfowl Society (see pages 264-265) 132 September 1966 Ornithology for Beginners A 4-week series of lectures entitled “Introduction to Ornithology” will begin on October 27 from 8 to 9 p.m. each week. These lectures will be given to our members only without charge, through the kindness of Mr. W. [Bill] A. Morris, wildlife biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, Vancouver. Band-Tailed Pigeon Survey The Canadian Wildlife Service would like the cooperation of V.N.H.S. members in gathering information on band-tailed pigeons’ nesting records in B.C. during the spring and summer months. Will you please help with this effort and report your findings of nests, eggs, location, date, young, etc. to Mr. W. Morris of the Canadian Wildlife Service, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Spring Expedition to Duck Lake Plans are being made with Mr. R. [Bob] Harris to visit a birdwatcher’s paradise, Duck Lake. This well-known area of the Kootenays, also known as Creston Flats, with its fields, shallow lakes and marshes, provides a major refuge for waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway. Duck Lake was the location of the film, The Valley of the Swan. There is probably as high a nesting population of ospreys along the Kootenay River at Creston as anywhere else in North America. Deer, bear, coyote, muskrat, beaver and mink are all present. [White] Sturgeon, ling [burbot], bass, rainbow and cutthroat trout can be found with little effort. The streams are fast, clear and as yet unpolluted. Report on the B.C. Nature Council Meeting, Duncan, B.C. Business sessions chaired by the President, Dr. J.F. Bendell, were held all day on May 7th and the morning of May 8th. Delegates from Vancouver, Victoria, Cowichan Valley, South Okanagan, Central Okanagan, North Okanagan and Thetis Lake were present as were other Council officers and observers for a total of 20 people. The main items of business discussed were as follows: A final draft of the Council’s Constitution was adopted and will now be referred to a lawyer for advice before being incorporated under the Societies Act. The Constitution, exclusive of its by-laws reads:
A. to provide the naturalists of B.C. with a unified voice in conservation matters. B. to initiate and promote cooperation and integration of the activities of natural history societies and groups of similar interest in B.C. C. to encourage and aid in the formation of natural history societies in the province. D. to promote other activities of interest to B.C. naturalists. The funds of the Council shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the foregoing and no portion thereof shall be paid or made available for the personal benefit of any member of the Council; nothing contained in this Constitution shall prevent the payment in good faith of remuneration to any officer or delegate of the Council in return for services actually rendered to Council. In the event that Council shall be liquidated or wound up, all of its property and assets then remaining, or future interests which, but for such liquidation, would vest in the Council, shall be transferred to some other associations or non-profit organizations having objectives entirely, or in part, similar to those of the B.C. Nature Council. Such other organizations shall be selected by the members of this Council at or before the time of liquidation or winding up. The operations of the Council are to be carried out in the Province of B.C. The provisions of Clause 3 and 4 of this constitution shall be unalterable. Headway has been made on the preparation of a pamphlet outlining the aims and purposes of the Nature Council and the member societies. Yorke Edwards of Victoria has prepared a mock-up of a simple pamphlet which we approved and asked that he proceed to complete and print. The treasurer reported that the Council has assets of about $800 which is not much, but sufficient to operate. The main sources of revenue are dues and the sale of Hasty Notes by Mrs. W.J. Smith, Council Secretary and Vice-President of our Society. Dr. V.C. Brink, Chairman of Parks [Conservation] Committee, reported that the Cathedral Lakes area as a Provincial Park is now almost an accomplished fact. A wilderness park in the Stikine was suggested by Dr. J.G. Souther of the Geological Survey of Canada. Council asked for a brief from Dr. Souther before the next meeting. Banff did not win the next [1972] Winter Olympic Games and naturalist groups were held partly to blame, including the B.C. Nature Council which protested the use of a National Park as an Olympic site. Mr. Elton Anderson presented a brief on “Clearing Reservoir Areas”. A lot of work went into his brief and Elton deserves our thanks. The Council was not satisfied with the provincial government’s policy or lack of policy, on the clearing of reservoir areas and asked Elton Anderson to carry on with his surveillance. Summer camps at Peachland are well financed this year and should be successful, especially as they are being held in July and Dr. R. Stace-Smith is the Camp Director. Each club agreed last October to finance one candidate to the Camp. Predator Control in B.C. was reported by Mr. Jim Grant of Vernon. Cougars, wolves and coyotes have been elevated to the status of game animals and licenses will be required to hunt them, except when protection of livestock is involved. Coyote poisoning has been greatly curtailed. A kit has been compiled but not yet printed for the guidance of new clubs. A new club has been formed in the Comox-Courtenay area. The Kamloops club, which has been dormant, has now been partly reactivated and is affiliated with the Kamloops Museum Society. Some interest has been shown in the formation of a club in the Chilliwack area and the Vancouver club delegation will look into this. There is also some interest in natural history in the Prince George area and I have agreed to contact individuals while working in that area this summer. Mrs. Smith reported for Mrs. J. [Nancy] Anderson on biocides and biological control who said that a lot of material has been gathered but there is much more work to do before presenting a brief. Club affairs, publicity and the newsletter were discussed at length. It was agreed that most members of most clubs do not identify with the Nature Council and that club delegates should do more to change this. Vancouver apparently has done as much or more than other clubs to make the nature Council known to its members, but even here very little headway has been made. For example, only two members of the Vancouver Club turned up at the meeting in Duncan, even though the Cowichan Valley Club had arranged a luncheon, dinner, speaker and field trips for visiting members from other clubs. On behalf of Mr. Bennett of the Vancouver Natural History Society, the Nature Council was presented with his beautifully carved model of the Council’s Raven emblem. The Council members expressed their thanks to Mr. Bennett. The Cowichan Valley Club entertained us with an excellent speaker Saturday evening and arranged a visit to the Forestry Museum and other field trips on the afternoon of May 8th. Nancy (Harris) Anderson, a graduate of UBC in Zoology is the third generation of a pioneer family in the Arrow Lakes region. After their careers, and working in several areas of the world, she and her husband John, a geological engineer, carried on with the family farm. Both John and Nancy have contributed to V.N.H.S. activities over the decades, especially in summer camps – Nancy often leading sing- a-longs and skits. Both are first-rate naturalists who have served as instructors, led field trips and served on the executive. They are leaders in Kootenay community affairs, Nancy as an historian and educator, John serving on several regional boards. Despite the distance, they have maintained their connection with the V.N.H.S. Nancy should be recognized as one of the top naturalists in B.C. Bird Sightings Boreal Chickadee On June 12th Madelon Schouten and I spotted a boreal chickadee’s nest hole on the Nelson Creek logging road. It was in a dead snag about 40 feet from the ground at the 1500’ altitude on the slopes of Black Mountain. The two adult birds displayed different behaviors in approaching the nest with food. One would fly to a small cedar tree behind the snag and gather more food there before making its way around to the hole. The other bird would fly either directly into the hole or first perch on a small twig just below and then enter. As I had not heard of any previous nest record for this species in the area, I had the sighting confirmed by Mr. and Mrs. J. Husted who were able to observe the adult birds before the young had left the nest. Caspian Tern For the past three years occasional sightings of Caspian terns have been reported on Iona Island. This year I saw three of them on May 28th, resting and preening on a sandbar in the company of two Bonaparte’s gulls. Snow Goose An early arrival from the north was a lone snow goose at Iona Island on July 26th. Gwen Wright More Bird Sightings Iona Island – Lowell Orcutt and George Sirk observed the following birds nesting in the sewage pond between May 19th and July 27th: Ruddy duck with 9 young, pied-billed grebes with 6 young, gadwall, American coot and mallards all with young; 20 Wilson’s phalarope and two yellow-headed blackbirds, both species nesting. Six northern [red-necked] phalaropes, greater yellowlegs, 2 Caspian terns, one snow goose with no right wing tip, Bonaparte’s gulls with young, ring-billed gulls, yellow-headed blackbird, an American goldfinch nest with two [brown-headed] cowbird eggs and one finch egg are being watched. These were observed by Ian Yule, George Sirk and myself on August 1st. G. Sirk saw a yellow-headed blackbird on Hollyburn Mountain July 3rd. Manning Park Beaver Pond is an interesting place in early June for birdwatchers. Mallard with young, eight male western tanagers, black-throated gray, Myrtle, Audubon’s [both yellow-rumped] warblers, solitary sandpiper and spotted sandpipers, flycatchers, hairy woodpeckers, violet-green, tree and rough-winged swallows, belted kingfisher, Oregon [dark-eyed] junco, mountain chickadee, American crow, song sparrow and thrushes. At the Manning Park Look Out: Canada [gray] jay, blue grouse and mountain bluebird were observed. The B.C. Nature Council Camp at Peachland had good birding with the Seniors observing 73 species and the Juniors 80 species. Everything from pygmy nuthatches, [gray] catbirds, lazuli buntings, yellow-breasted chats, lark sparrows, Lewis’s woodpeckers, Bullock’s oriole, Nashville warbler, red crossbills, white-throated swifts, to sage thrashers, plus the thrill of 76 Canada geese which had nested at Vaseaux Lake. K. Smith #133 December 1966 Birding in a Breeze On Saturday, October 29th, the Intermediates’ field trip to clean wood duck nest boxes was cancelled; inclement weather made tree climbing too hazardous. Rather than lose a scheduled trip we decided to go birding. We met at Broadway and Fir at 9:00 a.m. and quickly set our trip objective. We would visit some of the local birding hot spots in an attempt to top a daily total of 70 species. (a previous high for the Intermediates.) Where should we go? A brisk breeze prevailed so our choice of birding spots was narrowed down. The only logical place, we reasoned, would be near the foreshore. We hoped some pelagic birds would be forced inland or near shore by the wind, thus making detection easy. Our reasoning proved correct. We visited four popular birding spots and recorded a record 96 species. Another 7 species seen at Burnaby Lake that morning brought the daily total to 103 species. During our 6-½ hours in the field we averaged 15 species per hour, or a new species about every four minutes. Two species, not included in the list which follows, crested myna in Vancouver and a Cooper’s hawk in Ladner, were seen from the car.
whistling [tundra] swan belted kingfisher [spotted] towhee cackling [Canada]goose downy woodpecker gadwall red-winged blackbird Ladner sewage pond (15 mins. – 19 species) pied-billed grebe red-tailed hawk Bonaparte’s gull greater scaup American coot rock dove bufflehead killdeer plover American robin ruddy duck glaucous-winged gull European starling hooded merganser California gull Brewer’s blackbird song sparrow
great blue heron marsh hawk [northern harrier] varied thrush American bittern peregrine falcon golden-crowned kinglet Canada goose ring-necked pheasant water pipit snow goose common snipe northern shrike mallard greater yellowlegs house sparrow [northern] pintail dowitchers western meadowlark green-winged teal herring gull purple finch American wigeon red-shafted [northern] flicker house finch [northern] shoveller barn swallow American goldfinch wood duck northwestern crow Oregon [dark-eyed] junco lesser scaup black-capped chickadee white-crowned sparrow common goldeneye chestnut-backed chickadee golden-crowned sparrow rough-legged hawk long-billed marsh wren Point Roberts (1 ½ hrs. – 26 species) common loon Barrow’s goldeneye common murre Arctic loon oldsquaw pigeon guillemot red-throated loon harlequin duck marbled murrelet red-necked grebe white-winged scoter ancient murrelet western grebe surf scoter Steller’s jay eared grebe common [black] scoter winter wren double-crested cormorant parasitic jaeger ruby-crowned kinglet Brandt’s cormorant ring-billed gull savannah sparrow pelagic cormorant Heermann’s gull
canvasback dunlin cedar waxwing black-bellied plover common tern pine siskin rock sandpiper short-eared owl snow bunting pectoral sandpiper band-tailed pigeon Wayne Campbell
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