Richmond Nature Park Society

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January 31, 2021
Amphibia

The fourth period of the Palaeozoic era (about 409 to 363 million years ago) is called the Devonian period and it was when the first amphibians appeared on the Earth.

Sometime in the coming year, we are hoping to attract more amphibians to the Nature Park as the amphibian area of our wildlife garden develops.
Of course we do have many frogs in the park already, in the pond and ditch, but this will be an easier area for school groups and the public to look at and study.

This is how it looked today, it'll be interesting to watch it as it progresses.

Posted by Janis, Thursday, 31st January 2008.

January 30, 2021
Snow Day

Like everywhere else in the Lower Mainland, yesterday we had big snow. Ours will probably last a while longer as the bog acts as a refrigerator, keeping the trails cold enough for the snow not to melt.

Mid morning, a coyote came to visit us, she stood at the entrance to the trails, just left of the bird feeding area, but by the time I had got my camera out, she had gone.

Because of the virgin snow, I was able to track her. I followed her tracks around the pond, maintenance and bog-forest trails; I was able to see that she had stopped at the entrance to what we refer to as the coyote tunnel and thought about going in, but then continued on her way. I could see where she had gone off into the forest and where she had come out and onto the trails originally. I was sad not to catch sight of her again, but excited to be following her tracks through the snow.

The bog-forest of course looked spectacular in the snow and the bird feeding area was alive with birds and squirrels, jumping and hopping from feeder to feeder to bush to branch.

Posted by Janis

January 29, 2021
Picnic Area

On Friday, the City team came to surface the picnic and bird feeding areas. They used recycled asphalt, giving a clearly defined and more usable area.

The City are committed to sustainability and it was good to see the 'Four Rs' being put into practice, 'recycle, re-use, reduce and recover'.

Posted by Janis; 29/01/08

January 25, 2021
Hogfuel

Hogfuel arrived a couple of days ago. No, Alex and I had never heard of Hogfuel either, looked like bark mulch to us. But them as knows, knows. The hogfuel is being used to build a track from the front to the back of the Nature House so that the Bobcat can work there.

It is good to see the revitalisation project underway again. The Wildlife Garden that is currently under construction is going to add vibrancy to the area opposite the bird feeders and around the picnic area.

Of course, what this also means is that we are distracted from our work by not only the comings and goings of birds and squirrels, but also by the progress of the work.

Posted by Janis

January 23, 2021
Cypress

Yesterday, Alex and I went to Cypress Bowl on our own Field Trip. It felt like the right place to be to think about the environment.

We have a new program starting in the week leading up to Valentine's day, 'Love the Planet You're On', a scandalous misappropriation, or homage as we like to think of it, of Olay's 'Love the Skin You're In' slogan.

The Premier's recently announced committment to reducing the Province's carbon footprint spurred us into action.

We're fundamentally an environmental organisation and we are in the business of education and yet none of our existing programs really puts the two together. And it's on the BC Social Studies syllabus, so why not give it a go?

Our most important focus is delivering the message appropriately to our audience; no point in telling First Graders not to buy SUVs, they don't.

But there are things they can do and it's important to make them environmentally aware.

From Richmond, we can look up and see the North Shore mountains and how beautiful they look at all times of the year.

From Cypress, we were able to look down and see the Lower Mainland and it too is beautiful and worth protecting.

On Cypress we saw some trees and wildlife that we don't see nearer sea-level. The Cypress, or Yellow Cedar itself. Both the Mountain and Western Hemlock, whereas we see mainly the Western down here. The Mountain Fir or Balsam was a majestic tree laden with snow, as was the White Pine.

We thought we had found some interesting animal footprints, but closer inspection made us think they were probably made by homo sapiens with a ski pole.

Near to the ski lodge where we were able to buy poutine, we saw Whiskyjacks, and on the way back down the mountain, adult and juvenile Bald Eagles circling right above us.

We have Bald Eagles here in the Nature Park too, or more accurately, they come to visit us, as do Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawks, Barred Owls, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Spotted Towhees, Red-breasted Sapsuckers, both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Ameriacn Robins, Goldfinches, House Finches, Varied Thrushes, Winter Wrens and Song Sparrows as well as Mallards, Wood Ducks, a Heron and of course our very welcome spring and summer guest, the Rufous Hummingbird.

Posted by Janis

Cypress Photo Gallery

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