written by members of Delta Naturalists’ Society
or about activities or events featuring DNS & DNCB members
Link to articles posted by DNS members at Delta Optimist – Nature Notes
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| Date of Publication | Title of Article | Synopsis or extract | Author of article |
| May 20, 2016 |
First-ever online B.C. Breeding Bird Atlas finds many bird species are on the move |
…The B.C. Breeding Bird Atlas is based on an unprecedented five-year field survey carried out by an army of enthusiastic volunteers and coordinated by the nonprofit group Bird Studies Canada (BSC). Its completion required more than 56,000 hours of fieldwork that collected more than 630,000 records…
| Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Apr 29, 2016 | Birds are getting some human help when it comes to finding a place to nest at Kings Links Golf Course. There are 50 tree swallow nest boxes set up of the East Ladner course as part of a Delta Naturalists Society program. The most recent ones were installed last week…Kings Links is also home to boxes designed for barn owls and bats… | Dave Willis Delta Optimist | |
| Apr 22, 2016 | On April 30, two Delta community groups, APE (Against Port Expansion) and CAPE (Citizens Against Port Expansion), are hosting their third annual “Peep-In”, a celebration of the shorebird migration at Roberts Bank, near the mouth of the Fraser River in Delta. This event will showcase the spring migratory passage of millions of small sandpipers, known colloquially as “peeps”, and explain the threats facing them because of the Port of Vancouver’s plans to industrialize the area. | Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Mar 31, 2016 |
Plans for new Fraser River bridge ignore agricultural and environmental concerns | …Building a 10-lane highway across the Fraser will only increase the pressure to develop remaining Delta farmland, in the same way that Richmond was developed in the 1970s…
…Important ecological areas lie close to, or right under, the proposed bridge, including Metro Vancouver’s Deas Island Park, Deas Slough, and the South Arm Marshes, a provincial wildlife management area (WMA). The Fraser River’s South Arm brings more than three-quarters of the total river flow to the sea. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Mar 1, 2016 | …It is high time to form a new multi-agency coordinating body to take over responsibility for the environmental protection of all habitats and wildlife in the Fraser River Delta, estuary, and adjacent waters. The Fraser is the world’s greatest salmon river, and it is in the top 50 heritage rivers globally. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Feb 19, 2016 |
The common dandelion… is only one of hundreds of non-native flowering plants that were introduced into the Lower Mainland, intentionally or accidentally, over the last 150 years. Such invasives now dominate the landscape, squeezing out the many beautiful native plants that once graced local forests, prairies and wetlands. Local species that survive should be cherished as heritage plants. |
Anne Murray Surrey-North Delta Leader | |
| Jan 25, 2016 |
For a bird that was once on the U.S. endangered-species list, the bald eagle has made a remarkable comeback. … the number of bald eagles wintering in the Fraser River delta has increased dramatically, with winter counts averaging between 600 to 1,300 birds.
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Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Nov 15, 2015 |
…loon pairs faithfully return each spring to the same traditional lake they used in previous years… The common loon’s close connection to such specific winter habitat highlights Delta’s importance for these special Canadian birds. Many loons spend the winter on Boundary Bay and Roberts Bank.
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Anne Murray Delta Optimist | |
| Aug 28, 2015 |
… children today can recognize hundreds of corporate brand logos but very few common birds, flowers, or trees… … the Delta Naturalists’ Society has … produced a handy pamphlet, Birds in Delta, featuring members’ photographs of 56 of Delta’s common and not-so common bird species, with a short description for each one.
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Anne Murray Delta Optimist | |
| June 12, 2015 |
In the eagerness to maximize house sizes and profits, many new and infill developments occupy the whole extent of a lot, leaving no room for trees or landscaping. This disregards the many studies that show suburbs with natural landscaping have higher property values. Trees make a neighbourhood a more desirable place to live.
| Anne Murray | |
| May 7, 2015 |
For International Migratory Bird Day, a call to action to save the Fraser delta | Over a million shorebirds migrated through the Fraser delta last month. Ducks, swans, and snow geese were also on the move, heading for their breeding grounds further north and east. This month, it is the turn of warblers and flycatchers, small woodland birds that fly north to the boreal forest to build nests and raise young… |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| March 31, 2015 |
From snakes to spawn, wildlife congregations show richness of local habitat | This spring has seen two fascinating events on the shores of Boundary Bay in South Delta: an amazing gathering of garter snakes within the dyke, and a massive spawn of herring just offshore. Such phenomena illustrate the importance of the Fraser delta for a wide range of animals… |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| March 2, 2015 | The (wolf) cull is a provincial government plan to protect endangered mountain caribou by systematically exterminating more than 180 wolves. The wolves have been targeted as the culprits in the caribou’s demise, despite long-standing evidence that changes to the landscape and climate warming are the underlying problems. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight, BC Nature Summer 2015 p. 14 | |
| Feb 11, 2015Feb 24, 2015 |
The moss that’s now many metres deep in Fraser delta bogs began accumulating over 3,000 years ago. …In the wet heart of Burns Bog, the largest and most well known of our local bogs, layers of sphagnum, fed by rainwater, have grown into a dome five metres above the surrounding delta.
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Anne Murray | |
| Jan 22, 2015 |
2014 was a bittersweet year for nature in the Fraser delta. While some species fared well, others struggled desperately for survival. Our wealth of migratory wildlife is unique in Canada and needs proactive attention. Let’s make it a priority for the new year. |
Anne Murray | |
| Jan 7, 2015 | Taking a walk on the wild side is proven to improve mental and physical well-being, and it can be done without going far from home, so your wallet and the planet will not suffer. (with suggestions for each month) |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Dec 9, 2014 | The widespread public consultations that led to environmental and agricultural protection in the 1990s have been replaced in the last 20 years by increasingly aggressive tactics. Closed doors and backroom deals are now the norm in transforming our local landscape. Public input carries no weight in final decisions, which are driven by political ideologies far more than a search for best solutions. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Oct 23, 2014 | Birdwatching, birding, or ornithology is a worldwide pastime. Interest in birds and their conservation is the rationale for the world’s largest nature conservation partnership: BirdLife International. This extraordinary global organization has more than 13 million members and supporters in 120 countries, from Andorra to Zimbabwe. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Sep 24, 2014 | We have a choice of caring for our home planet and surviving, or trashing it and becoming extinct … climate change is here, it is happening, and adaptation and amelioration must take place now. We only have one planet; there is no Planet B. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| June 4, 2014 | Black bears, bobcats, coyotes, porpoises, and sea lions, not to mention hundreds of bird species, all share the Lower Mainland with 2.6 million human inhabitants… Visiting the right habitat at the right time of year increases the chance of wildlife viewing success. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight | |
| Apr 25, 2014 |
“Peep in” highlights sandpipers threatened by Port Metro Vancouver development | Biologists estimate 600,000 western sandpipers and 200,000 dunlins pass through Brunswick Point mudflats during northward migration… migratory birds would be affected by the Deltaport Terminal 2 project. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Feb 28, 2014 | Vancouver joins rewilding discusssion | Two hundred years ago, grizzly bears and wolves inhabited the forests and marshes where Vancouver now stands, yet there were no coyotes or raccoons. The majestic condor, far larger than the bald eagle, roamed up the coast searching for whale and sea lion carcasses. Salmon spawned in hundreds of streams that flowed where city streets now lie. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Jan 30, 2014 | Alien species invasion | introduced animals may survive and breed, becoming invasive species. They then start spreading further afield. … Life is tough for native animals … competition with introduced species is yet one more challenge for them. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Dec 17, 2013 | Whales and dolphins stand to lose in Port Metro Vancouver developments | Roberts Bank is exceptional wildlife habitat, supporting a range of animals from juvenile salmon to western sandpipers. The waters are rich in marine mammals, including grey whales; endangered southern resident killer whales, or orcas; harbour and Dall’s porpoises; and two species of sea lion. Humpback whales are once again a regular sight after an absence of nearly a hundred years. There is an existing port here, but do we really need to double it? The environmental risks are enormous and the economic projections are far from convincing. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Oct 16, 2013 | Boundary Bay Dykes, Delta and Surrey, British Columbia | An Important Bird Area well known for owls, raptors, waterfowl, and shorebirds. The 10-mile Boundary Bay dyke trail from Mud Bay to Beach Grove offers great birdwatching and exceptional views of salt marshes, mudflats, distant islands, and snow-capped mountain peaks. |
Anne Murray BirdWatching magazine (December 2013 edition) |
| Oct 25, 2013 | The Future of Delta’s Southlands hangs in the balance | Farmland or urban development? That is the issue South Delta residents will be debating when we attend public hearings October 28 to 30 on the future of the Southlands property. | Anne Murray |
| Sep 19, 2013 | Public must be watchdogs for Fraser delta development | …enticing tradeoffs are being planned for the MK Delta Lands Group property on the north Delta side of Burns Bog, the Southlands development (formerly the Spetifore Farm) in South Delta, and Port Metro Vancouver’s latest scheme for yet another container terminal (T2) at Roberts Bank. | Anne Murray |
| Sep 12, 2013 | The value of marshes and mud flats | The varied wetland habitats in the Fraser delta are a key reason for the number and diversity of birds found here. | Anne Murray |
| Aug 29, 2013 | 10 ways to Come Alive in Nature | Getting out in nature for health and happiness | Anne Murray |
| Jul 22, 2013 | The creation of the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust | The 20 year history of the DFWT, a model for cooperative conservation — how to keep farms productive while fostering their value as critical wildlife habitat in the Fraser delta. | Anne Murray |
| May 28, 2013 | Moby Doll remembered | The changes in attitude and the deeper understanding we have developed towards “killer whales” in the past 50 years. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| April 22, 2013 | Death and Dandelions: Are cosmetic pesticides worth the risk? | The Canadian Cancer Society considers some herbicides, chemicals that kill unwanted plants, to be a serious risk to children’s health. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| March 22, 2013 | Fresh water is B.C.’s greatest resource | Glacier-fed streams, flowing rivers, beautiful lakes, rainy winters, drinking water from the tap, and hydroelectricity powering our homes… it is easily taken for granted. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Feb. 22, 2013 | A dark cloud hangs over South Delta | The delta landscape … is changing rapidly, powered by agencies and policies that destroy the environment and ignore community concerns. |
Anne Murray Georgia Straight |
| Feb. 14, 2013 | Moles and voles: the hidden life of small mammals | Two native mammals with similar names but which play quite different roles in our local ecosystem. |
Anne Murray Surrey Leader |
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