2011 Outings!

As you may have noticed in your mailboxes, the year's outings are planned and awaiting our enthusiastic footsteps! We've also posted them here, (link in the right-hand column of this blog).

The outings consist of some of the annual favourites, such as the camping trip, Low Tide Sea Creatures Day, and Bowfest Ask-An-Expert, as well as a few new things, like a trip to Mud Lake, the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Christina Islet, and also the weekly Nature Club (F)unschool! We hope to see you for many of these exciting events!

Christmas Bird Count Stats

Christmas Bird Count Results
for Bowen Island - Dec.28/2010
Species	Seen on Count Day	Seen During Count Week
Canada Goose	11	0
Mallard	9	0
Greater Scaup	7	0
Surf Scoter	3501	0
Black Scoter	10	1
Bufflehead	26	0
Common Goldeneye	24	0
Barrow's Goldeneye	162	0
Hooded Merganser	4	0
Common Merganser	4	0
Red-breasted Merganser	1	0
Duck sp.	18	0
Common Loon	1	1
grebe spp.	1	0
Double-crested Cormorant	6	0
Pelagic Cormorant	11	0
cormorant spp.	1	0
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)	5	1
Bald Eagle	25	1
Blad Eagle - Immature	11	0
Accipiter sp.	1	0
Red-tailed Hawk	2	0
Merlin	1	0
Black Oystercatcher	1	0
Black Turnstone	0	1
Surfbird	35	0
Bonaparte's Gull	11	0
Mew Gull	177	0
Thayer's Gull	0	1
Glaucous-winged Gull	148	0
gull spp.	49	0
Marbled Murrelet	4	0
Barred Owl	0	1
Anna's Hummingbird	8	0
Belted Kingfisher	3	0
Downy Woodpecker	2	0
Hairy Woodpecker	1	0
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker	33	0
Pileated Woodpecker	2	2
Woodpecker spp.	1	0
Steller's Jay	39	0
Northwestern Crow	144	0
Common Raven	49	0
Black-capped Chickadee	96	0
Chestnut-backed Chickadee	94	0
chickadee sp.	9	0
Red-breasted Nuthatch	14	0
Brown Creeper	4	0
Bewick's Wren	1	0
Winter Wren	52	0
American Dipper	1	0
Golden-crowned Kinglet	259	0
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	5	0
kinglet sp.	3	0
American Robin	2	0
Varied Thrush	52	0
European Starling	22	0
Townsend's Warbler	1	0
Spotted Towhee	75	0
Fox Sparrow	20	0
Song Sparrow	58	0
White-crowned Sparrow	1	0
sparrow spp.	12	0
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco	271	0
Dark-eyed (Slate) Junco	1	0
Purple Finch	0	1
House Finch	9	0
Pine Siskin	36	0
TOTAL	5647	10

Have You Seen any Frogs, Newts, or Salamanders, recently?

Greg Ferguson is undertaking a project this spring and summer to document the presence, distribution, and composition of amphibian species on Bowen Island. He will also be documenting sightings of introduced amphibians and reptiles (e.g., snakes, lizards, and turtles). Data collected will be compiled and made available to stakeholders involved in the project. Information uses may include future amphibian monitoring and management projects, conservation-based land-use management (e.g., habitat enhancement and restoration), and long-term maintenance of Bowen Island’s habitats and species. All these uses combine to help make Bowen Island a more sustainable environment and community.

Images:
Top: Pacific Chorus Frog
Bottom: egg cluster of Red-Legged Frog, Blue-listed, and considered Vulnerable

• Download the sighting form: Bowen Island Amphibian Sighting Record Form.doc and submit directly to Greg at bowenislandamphibian@gmail.com.
  
• If you have any questions or would like to talk further about having your property surveyed for amphibians, please contact Greg Ferguson at 604-349-4760.

For help with identification and further information, please see these excellent .pdf resources, supplied by Saltspring Island Conservancy:

• Amphibian Brochure
• Protecting Your Land

Also see BC Frogwatch, provided by B.C.'s Ministry of Environment:

• BC Frogwatch Species Listings

What is Nature Worth?

Hello Bowen Nature Clubbers,
With all the current discussion abounding amongst us about Bowen's natural
heritage, we thought the following 3 min. short video provides some
interesting facts and information about how we value the benefits of nature.
Enjoy!



A very informative .pdf about our own local Nature Capital Project is available for download, here:
Natural Capital in BC's Lower Mainland: Valuing the benefits from nature

National Park Survey

Council's national park advisory committee has put a survey online regarding the National Park proposal. It's quick and easy, so hopefully people will take a moment to fill it out:

http://www.bowenparkinfo.ca/NPCAC/Welcome.html

Christmas Bird Count

This year’s Christmas Bird Count will be on Tuesday, December 28. Please let Pam Dicer know if you:

1. want to cover the same area as last year or stay home and watch your feeder?
2. would be interest in a post-count gathering at my house at 4:00 p.m.? (321 Salal Road)

You can set out at first light and count until dusk, or spend whatever amount of time you have to give, e.g. if you can count only in the morning in your area, let me know and perhaps I can find someone to count in the afternoon.

Please note that this year the Bowen Nature Club will be paying the $5 contribution to the cost of compiling the International Report. (Members of Bird Studies Canada and those of you want to be Feeder Watchers are free in any case.)

Please confirm your interest as soon as possible by email to BCC or 9558.

Upcoming AGM and Photographic Presentation about Kenya

The Bowen Nature Club will hold its AGM on Sunday, November 28, 5-9PM.
Location: the van Lidth de Jeude residence -- 602 Collins Road

Potluck supper, followed by a short AGM, and then a photographic presentation about Kenya.

Join Everhard van Lidth de Jeude and Brian Hartwick on a journey to Kenya, with photos of its land, its birds, its beasts and its people... a tourist's view. This will be a potluck dinner event, so bring the dish you love to make!