To reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, we are reluctantly suspending DNS Meetings, and DNCB Outings, until further notice. We need to practice social distancing – at least 2m apart. Stay safe.
NEXT DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 06 Apr, 2021 starts 7:30 pm on Zoom (due to COVID-19 concerns) Speaker: Martin Gregus Jr. Topic: Living Amongst Polar Bears
His article on this experience was recently published in Canadian Geographic. You can find it at: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/among-bears
Martin Gregus Jr. is the youngest member of the Gregus Creative Group. Currently living in Vancouver, Martin was born into a family of artists in Bratislava, Slovakia.
He can see things and stories far beyond the reality of everyday life; a gift which is reflected in his wildlife photographs which are full of detail and natural dynamics. The creative transformation of nature and the environment into graphic and color symbols are some of the elements that give his work endless visual power. Aside from spending hours crawling in mud; custom made photography equipment, hides and remote cameras often help Martin get the perfect shot.
PREVIOUS DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 02 Mar, on Zoom Speaker: Dave Doroghy Topic: Show Me the Honey: Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist (Zoom presentation)
Short bio (by Elizabeth Perrin):
Dave Doroghy is an international Sports Marketing Executive who has worked on two consecutive winning Olympic Bids – a unique distinction. Altogether he has 25 years of experience in acquiring sponsors for major international sports initiatives and professional teams in Canada and around the world.
He is also the author of a very successful book “Show me the Honey: Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist” and it is his experiences as a beekeeper that he will be sharing in his presentation.
So, how did a Sports Marketing Executive end up keeping bees on a houseboat in Ladner? Dave’s sister is a beekeeper and she recognized that the habitat around Dave’s home provided great foraging for bees so she gave him a beehive and thousands of bees, starting him on the adventures that would ultimately lead to his book. Given the importance of bees in our ecosystem, beekeeping is an excellent hobby to get involved in but not one to be taken lightly as Dave will make clear in his presentation.
The book has a foreword by Rick Hansen with whom Dave travelled across Canada in 1986 as the Sponsorship Coordinator for the Man in Motion World Tour, the beginning of Dave’s career in sponsorship sales.
Longer Bio: When Dave Doroghy’s sister gave him 15,000 honey bees as a Christmas gift, his practical knowledge of beekeeping would have fit on the proverbial backend of an Apis mellifera. He spent the next two years learning everything he needed to know to keep that beehive alive and well—he attended a beekeeping conference, joined a bee club, and even went to bee school. But bad things still happened—he sustained multiple stings, wasps attacked his hive, he fought an ongoing battle with killer varroa mites, and even lost his queen—twice! In Show Me the Honey, Doroghy recounts his often tension-filled misadventures in beekeeping with self-deprecating humour and lightheartedness. Whether it’s the impending chaos of transferring tens of thousands of insects to an outyard, the horror of discovering bees on the inside of his beekeeping suit, or just wondering if he will end up with even an ounce of honey for all his efforts, Doroghy shares the joy, the surprises, and the less-acknowledged financial sting of keeping bees. Above all, he relishes in the details of keeping a hive and getting to know the fascinating little creatures that inhabit those mysterious wooden boxes.
Dave Doroghy is an International Sports, Marketing Executive who has worked on two consecutive winning Olympic Bids – a unique distinction. Altogether, Dave has 25 years of experience in acquiring sponsors for major international sports initiatives and professional teams in Canada and around the world. Dave was the Director of Sponsorship Sales for London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. (2003—2004). He also helped drive sponsorship sales for Vancouver’s successful bid to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (2002—2003). He then was appointed Director of Sponsorship Sales for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (2005—2010) where he led the team that raised a record breaking $756.2 million in domestic sponsorship revenue. In spring 2013, Dave wrapped up a 2.5 year sponsorship consulting engagement with the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, where he helped the Organizing Committee to acquire the Games first sponsors, write the Games sponsorship business plan and assist in the hiring the Games sponsorship sales team. Dave’s rich marketing and sponsorship background includes stints as Vice President of the NBA Vancouver Grizzlies and the NBA Memphis Grizzlies as well as various senior management positions over a six-year period with Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment, owners of the NHL Vancouver Canucks and the General Motors Place (Rogers) Arena. Dave began his sponsorship sales career in 1986 when he traveled across Canada with the Rick Hansen Man in Motion World Tour as the Sponsorship Coordinator. This led to his engagement as Sponsorship Sales Executive for the 1994 XV Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia for three years. Prior to his career in Sports Marketing, Dave worked in the advertising agency business and in broadcasting, as a radio announcer.
PREVIOUS DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 11 Feb, 2021 Speaker: Danielle Dagenais Topic: Bats in Our Community (Zoom presentation)
Poster by Geof Hacker – see previous posters archive
Danielle has over 10yrs experience working on many wildlife and fisheries projects. She began working with bats in 2011 as a volunteer with the Stanley Park Ecology Society. She has recently completed a Masters of Science using radar-acoustic technology to compare bat activity over vineyards and adjacent shrub-steppe habitat in the South Okanagan Valley.
Danielle is pleased to have joined the South Coast Bat Conservation Society in the spring of 2016 to help with the management and conservation of bats in the Lower Mainland.
Bat Resources from SCBCB (downloadable pdf files): 1. Bat Encounters_May 2020: What to do if you across a a Bat 2. Bat friendly plants 3. Gardening for bats 4. Approved bat houses 5. Bat box_Installation and Maintenance tips_May 2020Previous DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 2 Feb, 2021 on Zoom (due to COVID-19 concerns) Speaker: Rob Butler Topic: Crows Around Town (title links to Zoom presentation)
Poster by Geof Hacker see previous posters archive
Dr. Robert Butler – Crows Around Town Ornithologist, Author, Speaker, Artist
Over half a century of watching, writing, drawing, listening, and living among birds, Rob Butler’s views have transformed from ecology and behaviour of birds to a unifying vision of nature and human culture which he calls Nature Culture.
Dr. Rob Butler holds a graduate degree from Simon Fraser University (MSc) and the University of British Columbia (PhD). He is a fellow of The Explorers Club, Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and American Ornithologists Society, an outstanding alumnus of Simon Fraser University and Capilano University, and Signature Member of Artists for Conservation.
His research career includes the social behaviour of crows, ecology of herons, and migration of birds.
Rob is an adjunct professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University and has published over 150 works for scientific and popular audiences. He has scores of appearances on television, radio and in newspapers. He wrote and co-produced with Mike McKinlay two films on nature and culture and authored two books – The Great Blue Heron and The Jade Coast.
He has served on many boards including The Nature Trust of British Columbia, President the Pacific WildLife Foundation, and Chair of the Vancouver International Bird Festival. He is Honorary Director of Nature Kids that he co-founded in 2000.
Previous DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 5 Jan, 2021 Speaker: Chris McVittie Topic: Wanderings in Southern Arizona (click title to see Zoom presentation)
Poster by Geof Hacker see previous posters archive
Chris and Marlene joined Delta Nats soon after moving to Tsawwassen in 2015 after going on a “birds in the bay” walk. Chris was a director for 3 years, and is an active member of the Bio-diversity team and the DNS Programme Review Committee. He is also member of the Cascade Bird Box team and a director of BBPA.
In 2010 he and Marlene had an opportunity to buy a house in Arizona where they spend most springs. Joining DNS has escalated his interest in nature. Arizona provides a rich environment to explore nature and hone photographic skills.
Chris is a member of the South Delta Photo Club. He and Marlene are (usually) avid travellers. They hosted the 2017 and 2018 DNS Garden Parties.
BBPA presentation on December 1, 2020 Speaker: Sofi Hindmarch Topic: The Barn Owls Among Us: How can we coexist in the 21st century? What they like to eat, nest box monitoring, effects of rat poison, tracking the owls, … Sofi completed her Master’s degree at SFU in 2010, where she studied the impacts of changes in land use on Barn Owls, a threatened species in BC. Since then, she has continued her research on Barn Owls, and her work has focused on multiple conservation issues affecting the species such as the loss of habitat and nest sites, road mortality and the risk of secondary poisoning from rat poison. Sofi has performed work for many groups, including UBC, SFU and Environment Canada. She was nominated for the YWCA Woman of distinction award in 2014 for her conservation and volunteer efforts.
Previous DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 1 Dec, 2020 Speaker: Liron Gertsman Topic: The Great Gathering: British Columbia’s coastal ecosystems above and below the surface (click title to see Zoom presentation)
Poster by Geof Hacker; see previous posters archive
You may have seen him on CBC’s “The National”, heard his voice on CBC Radio One, or seen his work in publications such Canadian Geographic magazine, The Guardian, GEO magazine, and others. At 20 years old, Liron Gertsman is already an accomplished nature photographer. His work has been experienced by millions in some of the largest museums across the world, including the Natural History Museum in London and the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Liron uses his photos to educate on the importance of preserving the natural world for the continued health and existence of all who live on our planet. As a naturalist and photographer, he feels it is his duty to show people the essence of Earth, by thinking outside the box to create eyecatching images that connect people with the environment. Liron’s work has been widely recognized and awarded, sweeping the youth category of the 2018 Audubon Photography Awards, and earning a highly commended designation in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Liron currently studies biology at the University of British Columbia as he continues to build upon his passion and commitment to the environment.
PREVIOUS DNS Monthly Meeting: Tues. 3 Nov, 2020 starts 7:30 pm on Zoom Speaker: Martin Gregus Jr. Topic: Snowy Owls & Bald Eagles (click title to see Zoom presentation)
From north to south, east to west; our planet is covered by invisible highways that birds use in the winter and summer, dictated by the abundance of food and the intensity of the oncoming season not all years are identical.
During some years the west
coast finds itself flooded by an abundance of rare birds like Snowy Owls while during others we look to our rivers to see Bald Eagles as far as the eye can see.
Seeing and photographing these birds however requires patience and the ability to think like one of them; after all raptors tend to be some of the rarest and shiest of all bird species found in western Canada.
Join world renowned photographer Martin Gregus on November 3rd and see just what it takes to get the prefect shot.
Previous DNS Monthly Meeting: TUESDAY, February 11, 7:30 p.m. at Benediction Lutheran Church Speaker: Lina Azeez Topic: Reconnecting Salmon Habitats Impacted by Flood Intrastructures
poster by Geof Hacker – see DNS Posters Archive
, a science based charity that advocates for B.C.’s wild salmon and the waters in which they live. She works to build relationships between people and their local watersheds in an effort to encourage change and a shared appreciation for the waters around us. She enjoys collaborating across diverse interest groups, bringing the concept of ‘water for life’ to the forefront of decision-making in the lower mainland.
Her current campaign, Connected Waters, is to ensure we are pushing for fish-friendly flood infrastructure in the lower mainland to ensure salmon access to spawning and rearing habitats as our climate changes and the waters rise and is advocating at all levels of government to achieve appropriate standards and stable funding.
In the journey of a lifetime, Lina got the opportunity to take a 25 day journey down the length of the Fraser River. It gave her a front row seat to the many issues impacting the Fraser and the amazing work being done up and down the system by forward thinking communities. Lina’s home watershed is the Brunette River in Burnaby, BC on unceded Coast Salish territories.
RESCHEDULED DNS Monthly Meeting: TUESDAY, February 11 Speaker: Alan Stewart Topic: Canoeing and Birding in Saskatchewan
Alan Stewart, Dana Kellett, Stéphane Menu, Enid Cummings, Janine McManus, Laura Stewart, Sara Yeomans
Tentative schedule for DNCB outings: see DNS Upcoming Events page.
