Club Chat April 2010

Article and photos provided by Pamela Jenkins

In our March-April Newspacket, Kay Bartholomew had reported how our club emblem, a bog orchid- Liparis loeselii- had come about. On July 1, 1965, she had been wading at Mara Meadows, an Ecological Reserve near Salmon Arm with Jim Grant and John Shepherd. Jim had said looked down and said” Oh Look” , when he had spotted the orchid. Joan Heriot then designed a membership lapel pin for club members containing this logo.

We had had to squeeze too much into our March meeting, because a representative from the Okanagan Collaborative Cooperative Plan had been unable to be at the February meeting. A representative spoke in halting English before our excellent guest speaker, Buffy Baumborough. Buffy has a Ph.D in some environmental concerns and now is one of the Vernon City councillors, fighting an uphill battle with continuous progress/developments taking place in this area .Her topic was xeroscape gardening and using local naturally growing plants. After a short coffee break we had our usual business meeting, shortened because Dr. John Stelfox insisted he show us his just completed DVD on forestry practices. It was an excellent presentation and led to the formulation of a resolution of forestry practices to be presented at the AGM in Kamloops.

Spring flowers are very early this year. The first buttercups (ranunculus) appeared before the beginning of March. Yellow bells ].shooting star and balsam root, the Okanagan sunflowers, are already starting to bloom.

One Saturday at the end of March, Sherry Linn from Osoyoos was able to come up and deliver a bluebird workshop and share her expertise. A hike to Knox Mountain had been scheduled for that day, so it became our first full day Thursday hike this year. On April 1, eight of us led by Robyn Thornton walked to Paul's Tomb, which blends into the hillside and is not very noticeable. Before you get there, signs point the direction to go, but then you need to look hard above the trail by the lake. The tomb had space for 12 coffins, but no other family member chose to be buried there.

Gail Loughridge will be holding another hummingbird workshop April 8-10, with some of the meetings to be held at her home. Other diligent birders meet every weekend, but I have no special report from them

Harold Sellers, our Newspacket editor, now sends out a weekly email telling of club activities and items of naturalist interest.