This trophy, an Alaskan Kodiak grizzly, is an incredible artifact displayed in the Anne Land Room at the Lake Country Museum and Archives. One can wonder how dominant this creature would have been in the natural world. It is certainly a dominating specimen in the collection, and it is one of the...
A specimen of the Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis) was identified in Lake Country on Sunday, May 27th 2018. At 10:15 pm, it was seen in an open pathway area with artificial lighting. Between 8 and 10 inches in length, the distinct head and sharply pointed tail distinguished it at once from the...
Lake Country Museum given Mary Bull painting by David Madison Vernon artist Bob Kingsmill made a purchase at a recent auction of some local paintings. One of the works proved to be an original, by the late Kelowna artist Mary Bull, of the cabin in which Father Pandosy had lived. Kingsmill donated...
Which birds might I see today? White-crowned Sparrows Sometime in April my phone might ring and someone will ask, “I have lots of these birds in my yard I’ve never seen before; they have black and white stripes on their heads; what are they?” They are White-crowned Sparrows, and thousands upon...
Which birds might I see today? Ducks that dive Remember the dabblers and the divers – the two categories into which we group ducks? In an earlier posting we took a look at the dabblers, and in this posting we’ll focus on the divers. All of the species featured here can be found in our valley...
Which Bird might I see today? Ducks that dabble A couple of years ago I told you about the ducks that migrate into our area in spring to breed. Today our subject is more ducks, the ones that stay all winter. If you are new to birding you can’t do better than start with the ducks. You might be...
Which birds might I see today? Colourful Songsters This time I’m going to introduce you to two of my favourite birds, the Western Tanager and the Lazuli Bunting. These are two of the most tropical-looking birds to be found annually in our valley and summer is a good time to see them. They have the...
A couple years ago, I was watching America’s Funniest Home Videos (AFV) and they showed a clip of an unusual looking critter swimming across a pond with its head held high above the water. It turned out to be a small snake that slithered up the other side. Then recently, I was thinking about an...
The Oyama Fire Department was the first organized fire department in what is now Lake Country. A fire at Appleton’s General store, located next to the Oyama Post Office and Thomson’s Garage demonstrated the need for fire suppression in the community. That fire was fought with buckets. An...
Which bird might I see today? More woodpeckers It’s spring! Are you being woken up early by a woodpecker drumming on your chimney or siding? Try not to get mad. It’s just ‘spring fever’ or as the song says, “Love is in the air”. Your bird is a Northern Flicker and he’s not trying to get food, he’s...
The story of the Fir Valley settlers on the grasslands east of Winfield has been ably told by Lake Country historian Ronald Taylor in his book Fir Valley: A History. A part of that story that hasn’t been fully explored concerns two Americans and their families who were among the first to ranch in...
Which Bird might I see today? – YEAR ROUND – Canada’s National Bird “Quiet, bold, impulsive and curious”. All of these have been used to describe the bird recently voted Canada’s pick for National Bird. Voting began in January 2015 and was conducted by Canadian Geographic. Tens of thousands of...