Evening meetings of the Nicola Naturalist Society are held once a month from September through May. We generally meet at 7PM on the third Thursday of the month in the Lecture Theatre of NVIT (Nicola Valley Institute of Technology) on Belshaw Road, Merritt. Admission is free to members. We have awesome raffles.
Field Outings are usually held in spring, summer and fall and are listed below. Members will receive e-mail notices too. Field trips are restricted to paid-up members (but visitors can sign up as a member for the day for a nominal fee).
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Thursday September 15th, 2022, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: AGM and Members’ Photo Night
Saturday September 24th, 2022: Mushroom outing with Michael Ebenal
More photos from this outing will be posted soon.
Photo: © Loekie van der Wal
Thursday October 20th, 2022, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Sonya Richardson and Sean Morton – Come Walk With Us
Dr Sonya Richmond is a biologist and researcher who has worked on many ornithological and conservation projects, and received numerous awards and grants for her work. Sean Morton is an award-winning landscape and nature photographer whose work has been published in numerous magazines. Together they have been walking across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail, starting in 2019 at Cape Spear, Newfoundland. While exploring Canada in this unique way they are also promoting awareness of our country’s open spaces and wildlife and the need for local engagement to conserve them.
We are privileged to host this intrepid couple and hear of their experiences and their passion to share and conserve wilderness and nature across Canada.
Thursday November 17th, 2022, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Rory Fogarty: Forestry, fire and fur: Understanding the factors driving the decline of Fishers in central BC.
Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are one of the least known of our native weasels (mustelids). Although they are found across much of British Columbia, they are seldom seen by casual observers. Rory Fogarty is a Registered Professional Biologist and graduate student at Thompson Rivers University who has been studying this secretive critter in central B.C. for the past 5 years. His presentation will focus on research to explain the distribution and decline of Fishers in the BC Interior. The work includes DNA-analysis of fur samples to identify individuals and determine population size and distribution. Come and learn more about one of our most charismatic mammals.
Saturday December 10th, 2022, 10-12 AM at NVIT (Room U011): Winter Bird Identification Workshop
Alan Burger will be leading this workshop covering common winter birds in the Nicola Valley and focusing on waterfowl, woodpeckers and finches. Should be useful for both beginner and experienced birders. Tune up for the Christmas Bird Counts! Open to Nicola Naturalist Society members only.
Quiz time! Can you identify this bird? It is found fairly regularly in the Nicola Valley in winter (in 19 of the past 23 Merritt Christmas Bird Counts). Answer is at the bottom of this web-page. Photo: © Alan Burger
Saturday December 17th, 2022: Merritt Christmas Bird Count
This will be the 24th Christmas Bird Count in the Merritt count circle. You don’t have to be an expert birder to participate – the count is done in groups and there are always one or more experienced birders in each group. So this is a great way to learn the winter birds in the Nicola Valley. To register please email: nicolanaturalists@gmail.com
A Northern Pygmy Owl. This species has been recorded in 11 of the 23 Merritt Christmas Bird Counts. Photo: © Alan Burger
Thursday January 19th, 2023, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Loretta Holmes and Dawn Brody: Burrowing Owl Restoration in the Upper Nicola Valley
Loretta Holmes and Dawn Brodie at the Upper Nicola Burrowing Owl Reintroduction Site. Inset Burrowing Owl (Audubon Society).
Burrowing Owls are one of the most charismatic of our local fauna. But this species almost disappeared from British Columbia as a result of loss of nesting habitat in the grasslands. For over a decade a dedicated group of biologists and volunteers has been working diligently to bring back this tiny owl as a local breeder. Loretta Holmes and Dawn Brodie have been working on this conservation project since 2014, in collaboration with the Burrowing Owl Society. They will describe the joys and tribulations of reintroducing Burrowing Owls in the Upper Nicola Reserve.
Sunday January 22, 2023. Field Outing – Tracking with Frank Ritcey
Meet at Lundbom – Guichon Grasslands Interpretive Sign at 10 AM. Bring snowshoes and appropriate winter gear – expect to be out for 2+ hours. Note that all field outings are restricted to paid-up NNS members.
Noted naturalist Frank Ritcey has once again offered to lead a winter tracking outing to look for wildlife signs and much more.
Frank Ritcey leading one of our previous tracking outings at Lundbom Common – December 2021. Photo: © Alan Burger
Sunday February 12, 2023. Field outing – Snow Bunting Shiver Sunday
Meet at the Merritt Civic Centre parking lot at 9 AM. Bring lunch, hot drink, warm clothes, binoculars, camera etc. We will not be doing long walks. High clearance vehicles or 4x4s. Note that all field outings are restricted to paid-up NNS members.
An annual tradition – we trek up to the Douglas Lake Plateau in winter to look for winter specialties like Rough-legged Hawks, Horned Larks, Northern Shrikes and ….. yes in most years we do find Snow Buntings. Also a great opportunity to see wintering mammals like moose, deer, coyotes and more. Plus wonderful winter scenery in the high grasslands.
Snow Buntings and Shiverers on a previous outing. Photos: Alan Burger
Thursday February 16th, 2023, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Veronica McKelvey – Overwintering behaviour of snakes in the B.C. Interior
Veronica McKelvey is a Master’s of Environmental Science student at Thompson Rivers University studying the overwintering behaviour of the Great Basin Gophersnake, Western Yellow-bellied Racer and Western Rattlesnake under the supervision of Dr. Karl Larsen. This is an opportunity to hear about some of our lesser known but important reptiles and how they survive the seasonal fluctuations in temperature and food availability.
Thursday March 16th, 2023, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Leona Shepherd – Wildfires and Climate Change
We all have first-hand knowledge of the devastation that wildfires can produce in the BC Interior. So how does the frequency and severity of wildfires relate to climate change, and what is in store for us as the planet heats up? Leona Shepherd is a graduate student at Thompson Rivers University researching these important issues. This topic is highly relevant and important to us all.
Thursday April 20th, 2023, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: Carol Holmes & Susan Newton – Bluebird research in the Nicola Valley coordinated by the Vancouver Avian Research Centre.
L to R: Western Bluebird male; Mountain Bluebird male; Mountain Bluebird female in a nest box. Photos: © Vic Newton
Two species of beautiful bluebirds nest in the Nicola Valley – Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) and Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana). Both species suffered precipitous declines in the mid- to late-1900s due to logging of old forest and streamside Cottonwoods that provided nest cavities, and the invasion of the introduced competitor European Starling. Today most of our bluebirds nest in nest-boxes provided on fence-posts in suitable open habitat. The Vancouver Avian Research Centre runs the bluebird nest-box program in the Nicola Valley using local volunteers – monitoring and cleaning the nest-boxes, recording breeding success and banding the chicks for long-term research. Carol Holmes and Susan Newton are local volunteers with this program and will describe the work being done to conserve bluebirds in our area and beyond.
Thursday May 18th, 2023, 7 PM at NVIT Lecture Theatre: David Holden – Moths of the B.C. Interior
Dave Holden is a survey biologist for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency dealing with many agricultural pests. But his interests go well beyond just the pest species – he is building a BC-wide moth reference collection to help understand moth distribution and to aid in education about moths. He loves sampling a wide variety of BC habitats from wetlands to alpine areas in order to document the Lepidoptera (moths & butterfies). With over 2,800 species of Lepidoptera in BC that work keeps him busy. Over 700 moth species have been recorded in the Nicola Valley – many of them interesting and colourful species. Come and learn more about the moths in our area and the differences between butterflies and moths from the leading BC expert.
Bird Quiz: The photo is a Northern Harrier – probably a juvenile male.
