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| The object of our affections |
This year's "Crocus Walk" by the Rocky Mountain Naturalists was held on 21 April 2012 and a lovely day it was.
We take a short leisurely hike up onto the bench behind Wasa Lake Provincial Park Campground looking for various plants and birds, hoping we have timed the field trip for when the Mountain Avens are in bloom. We were pleased to have done so.
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| View from the edge - Wasa Lake below, Kimberley Ski Hill in distance on left |
Pardon me for not keeping a list of plants but I do remember the words antenaria and macrocaudus, nodding onion and moss campion. But my favorite since childhood is the Mountain Avens as above.
This field trip, and the one previous, are held in honour and to reminisce about two of our long-time members who have passed on, Anne Redfearn and Mildred White, whom every year faithfully searched for the first buttercups and crocuses. They were also active birders and contributors to the Birds of British Columbia, and Mildred's historical records have been transcribed onto eBird.
After the walk at Wasa, we returned to 'Mildred's Meadow' where the previous field trip had been, to check on the flowering progress of the Buttercups. Many were now out in full bloom - and the patch seems to be spreading between the pines.
Then we went in search of interesting birds and were rewarded with the now regularly-found EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, whom appear to be nesting in a residential area of Wasa, and two of our favorite species, the SANDHILL CRANE, of which we saw four striding through the marsh at Bummer's Flats, and the BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER in a recent burn.
49 species
| Species |
|---|
| Red-necked Grebe |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Canada Goose |
| Gadwall |
| American Wigeon |
| Mallard |
| Northern Shoveler |
| Northern Pintail |
| Green-winged Teal |
| Canvasback |
| Common Goldeneye |
| Common Merganser |
| Osprey |
| Bald Eagle |
| Northern Harrier |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| American Kestrel |
| American Coot |
| Sandhill Crane |
| Killdeer |
| California Gull |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Downy Woodpecker |
| Hairy Woodpecker |
| Black-backed Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Clark's Nutcracker |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Violet-green Swallow |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Mountain Chickadee |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Marsh Wren |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Mountain Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Song Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Brewer's Blackbird |
| House Finch |
| Red Crossbill |
| Pine Siskin |
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