GTLASS Blog

Save Our Pollinators!*

Submitted by Jennifer Strong of the Greater Twin Lakes AreaStewardship Society

Pollinators take pollen from one flower to another, allowing plants to create seeds. Beetles, wasps, hummingbirds, butterflies and bats can pollinate plants. Pollinators are declining, especially wild pollinators, due to diseases, pesticides and habitat loss.

Over 350 bee species are native to the Okanagan! Bees can be yellow and black, blue orbright green. About 80% live in the ground, or walls, or other cavities in debris. Wild bees are key pollinators of crops and wild flowers that create food for birds and bears.

Wasps are pollinators which control aphids, flies, caterpillars, and clean up decaying matter. Don’t kill them and don’t use poisons and insecticides which harm all insects.

Afraid of being stung? Bees are just looking for food. People get stung when they disturb bees’ nests or step on bees. Stay away from hives, including colonies in cavities or in the ground. Avoid strong perfumes when gardening and dark clothing. Don’t swat at bees. If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. If you are stung: remove the honey bee stinger (a credit card works perfectly). Native bees don’t leave their stingers.  Apply an ice pack. Wash the area with soap and water. If you experience nausea, wheezing, or  difficulty breathing, or if stung multiple times, seek medical care.

Gardeners are friends to pollinators like lacewings, syrphid flies, butterflies, moths, beetles and wasps. Bees like blue, purple, white and yellow flowers. Butterflies like blue, violet and red ones. Night flying insects like white, cream or pale flowers. Tiny beneficial insects and small bees like tiny umbrella-like clusters of flowers such as native parsleys, dill, cilantro, fennel, parsley, and carrot gone to seed. Put water for pollinators in a shallow dish or bird bath. A muddy spot can supply some nutrients and nesting materials and leaving areas bare and mulch-free helps ground nesters. Allow leaf litter to remain over winter and set your mowerheight to allow for bee food plants such as dandelion and clover to bloom!

Mason Bee in fruit tree blossom.

Photo by Robert Lalonde

*Excerpted from: Guide to Gardening for Pollinators; UBC Okanagan and Emily Carr University; Nancy Holmes, Cameron Cartiere

FMI: Protection & Stewardship Habitat Acquisition Trust www.hat.bc.ca

E: tlstewardship@gmail.com W: sustainabletwinlakesbc.ca/gtlass

What is Not Animal, Plant or Mineral? Lichens!

Submitted by the Greater Twin Lakes Area Stewardship Society

Lichens are organisms that are not actually plants. They are a combination of a fungus and an algae working together to form an entirely unique life form. The algae is usually a green algae   or cyanobacterium, and sometimes yellow-green or brown algae. The fungi usually makes up the majority of the lichen. The fungi provides water and protection from the elements for the algae, and the algae provide vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins for the fungus through photosynthesis. The body of the lichen differs notably from either fungi or algae, and lichens are usually quite distinctive.

Lichens range in colour from bright yellow, orange, pink, and red, gray, green, brown, and black. Some are crusty (Crustose), some dusty (Dust lichen); others are leafy (Foliose) and some types of lichen are hairy or bushy (Fruticose).

Lichens grow in places where there is little soil, and are found   on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, tree trunks, undisturbed grasslands and on the ground. Lichens reproduce both sexually, through spores, and asexually through vegetative reproduction.

There are over 14,000 identified lichens in the world. British Columbia ishome to 1,600 lichens, 522 species of attached algae, and over 10,000 fungi species. In the Thompson Okanagan, there are nine lichens which are classified as rare.

Certain types of lichens are sensitive to air pollution and are excellent bio-indicators of air quality. Some lichen stop growing in areas where air quality is reduced. Other lichen are tolerant of air pollution and tend to grow betterwhere there is more air pollution.

Lichens provide nesting material for hummingbirds and other birds. They area food source for deer and some types are survival food for humans! Lichenswere an important source of food for the interior First Nations people. Lichens were also used for clothing and medicine and appeared in mythical traditions. Certain lichens ‘fix’ the scent of perfumes and some are used to make dyes.

Lichens need undisturbed areas. Growing human populations have threatened and endangered many species and habitats in the Okanagan. Fire suppression is changing the biodiversity here. The introduction of new species threatens many species in the Valley. Off-road vehicles disturb sensitive wildlife and soils and allow for the invasion of weeds.

Once you begin to notice lichen, you see them on undisturbed surfaces everywhere! They  grow  in  deserts,  the  sub-arctic  and everywhere in between. They can be found on soil, rocks, tombstones, trees, decaying wood, and on old cars!

The oldest fossil of a lichen is around 400 million years old! They are a fascinating life form. So, watch for them when walking through our exquisite area, and consider doing a survey and reporting your findings. Go to the linksbelow for more information.

• www.LEPS .bc.ca/stewardship/citizen-science
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02912559
• https://okanaganokanogan.com/2014/03/17/lichen-and-bunchgrass-in- harmony/
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/scientists-view-old- growth-forests-through-lichens-to-understand-value-1.5049386
• http://www.hscdsb.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/plantfoods_ indigenous.pdf
• http://www.okanaganwildlifephotography.com/files/lichen/lichen.html

E: tlstewardship@gmail.com  W: sustainabletwinlakesbc.ca/gtla

Protecting The Greater Twin Lakes Area’s Water, Land, Air And Inhabitants

Submitted by the

Greater Twin Lakes Area Stewardship Society

Wendall Shuster from the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory excited us all in February with his talk at the Okanagan Falls Library, From Shooting Stars to Black Holes. In March, Al Peatt, RPBio, FAPB, Executive Director of the Southern Interior Land Trust, helped us all appreciatethe importance of the riparian areas on our Okanagan Lakes, during his presentation, Love your Lake!

With Covid-19 restrictions and safety in mind, our monthly events were paused, and GTLASS continued to publish an article each month in Skaha Matters providing information and raising awareness of our exquisitely beautiful land and the  many rare, endangered and protected species with which we share the Greater Twin Lakes area.

In April, we learned that fat can get you places! Most birds which fly long distances increase their fat reserves to 50% or more of their total bodyweight. With 10% body fat, a bird can be expected to migrate 500-750 km, whereas a bird with 50% body fat can usually fly 3,000-4,000 km. May’sarticle showed us that providing outdoor enclosures for our feline companions keeps them and wild birds safe. In June, we learned that in an average year in BC, in vehicle-animal collisions, 3 people are killed, 570 motorists are injured, $700,000 is spent on highway clean-up, 6,100animals are recorded as killed, and 18,300 animal deaths are unrecorded. We can help by slowing down and watching carefully for wildlife on and near roadways. July’s article showed how dumping garden waste or branches containing soil, seeds, or even small plant fragments can cause anew infestation that spreads rapidly and can be difficult or impossible to eradicate, and may cause landslides, increased fire risk and water pollution. What was  the  most  surprising  thing you learned doing the August Twin Lake Trivia challenge? September’s article showed us why we shouldlove bats! They eat a lot of mosquitos and other pests, and provide awesome fertilizer! Intact riparian areas help mitigate flooding and provide homes to endangered species, as we learned in October. In November,  we learned how to protect and restore our riparian areas.

Many more people have been seen enjoying the outdoors since the pandemic, which has been a terrific opportunity to talk with people about respecting lands owned by Nature Trust BC and by other private owners.

Working with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MOTI) , GTLASS responded to concerns of the community and arranged for two No Camping No Overnight Parking signs to be posted at the Twin Lakes boat launch and at the corral, as well as new No Gasoline Powered Engines signs at the Twin Lakes boat launch, with another due at Trout Lake.

Community members have expressed concern about our protected Painted Turtle road fatalities. In response, we researched the best

solution with MOTI and Ministry of Forests (MFLNR). Signs are rarely effective according to MFLNR’s biologist, who suggested tunnels and fencing; however, these are very costly. We have a list of funding  sources  and  invite  all of you who are concerned to work with us to write effective grant applications.

In the new year, GTLASS will host a migratory bird walk in April with MP Dick Cannings, Covid-19 situation permitting, and will continue our monthly events. We will host a road-side clean up  in the spring and plan to work with Nature Trust BC, removing unnatural debris from theirlakeshore.

The Greater Twin Lakes Area Stewardship Society, a registered non-profit society, continues to protect nature in our region by providing information and opportunities to speak with experts while experiencing nature at its most fascinating and beautiful, right outside our back doors!

“When you bring your attention to a stone, a tree or an animal, something of its essence transmits itself to you. You can sense how still it is and in doing so, the same stillness rises within you. You can sense how deeply it rests in being, completely one with what it is and where it is, in realizing this, you too come to a place or rest deep within yourself.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Email us at tlstewardship@gmail.com or visit sustainabletwinlakesbc.ca/gtlass

The Greater Twin Lakes Area Stewardship Society’s Virtual AGM

Saturday, November 14th ~ 10-10:40 am

Over the past year, we have published an article every month in Skaha Matters on locally relevant environmental topics, have arranged for ‘No Gas Powered Engines’ and ‘No Camping    or Overnight Parking’ signs. There is much concern for our protected Painted Turtles. We have founda number of funding sources for turtle tunnels and fencing, and have developed contacts with government departments who would be involved in funding and installing them.

Our monthly activities have been curtailed due to COVID-19, and we expect to resume in the spring with a community lake clean-up and MP Richard Cannings leading a migratory bird walk.

All environmentally-minded residents in the Greater Twin Lakes Area, from Marron Valley to Sheep Creek Road, and Grand Oro to Myers Creek,as well as Friends of GTLASS, are welcome, although only members can vote.*

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74885948628?pwd=R1hsMGg1SG dOZmdvcExhVmZJYjBLdz09

Meeting ID: 748 8594 8628

Passcode: 3R97jR

* To become a member, complete the membership form at http:// sustainabletwinlakesbc.ca/gtlass/. We accept membership fees and donations by e-transfer to tlstewardship@gmail.com.

Vehicles Stop Wildlife DEAD In Their Tracks *

Submitted by the Greater Twin Lake Area Stewardship Society

Animal Death Toll on White Lake Area Roads: 2,500+ Over 4 Years.

Wildlife vehicle collisions are increasing and creating serious issues for all British Columbia’s wildlife, including many rare and endangered species.

Between 1998 and 2007, BC Ministry of Transportation (MoT) shows 93,853 animals were killed on BC Highways. The actual total of wild animals killed from 1992 to 2002 is likely 200,508. This doesn’t include birds, small mammals, amphibians, or reptiles. There are 4 to 8large animal vehicle collisions every hour in Canada. Speed is the greatest contributing factor in wildlife- vehicle collisions.

Differences in statistics of reported vs. actual deaths is due to injured animals crawling off the highway to die, scavengers taking remains, snow or vegetation cover, and larger animal remains being removed by motorists. This difference can lead to underestimates of the threat of roadkill to populations.

On an average  year  in BC in vehicle-animal collisions, 3 people are killed, 570 motorists are injured, $700,000 is spent on highway clean-up, 6,100 animals are recorded as killed, and 18,300 animal deaths are unrecorded.

Road mortality of smaller wildlife is rarely reported as they don’t usually cause damage to vehicles or injuries to people, but can have severe impacts on the wildlife populations.

Stephanie Winton, MSc, studied road mortality of reptiles, amphibians, birds and smallmammals, over a 4 year period on 12 km of roads in the White Lake Basin ^. She and her colleagues counted over 2,500 animals killed by vehicles between April and October. They estimate the actual road mortality on this small stretch to be about three times that as scavengers were observed removing remains before they were recorded.

Winton found one animal dying for every 100 vehicles, including blue birds, flickers, hummingbirds, robins, tree frogs, alligator lizards and at-risk wildlife species like the Western Tiger Salamander, Painted Turtle, Lark Sparrow, Western Rattlesnake, and Sage Thrasher.

What can you do to reduce wildlife road mortality? Watch for and obey yellow diamondshaped Wildlife Warning signs. Reduce your speed! Drive actively – watch for wildlife, movement, or shining eyes on and beside the road. Be extra cautious between dusk and dawn. Where possible, drive in the middle lane to provide more distance from the ditch. Slow down and save lives!

* https://www.wildlifecollisions.ca/Default.aspx

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The Greater Twin Lake Stewardship Society is pleased to present articles about the many special plants and animals in our area. Can you guess which animal we are featuring this month?

Without this protected animal, rodent populations would soar and some predatory birds would go hungry. This animal has become threatened due to habitat destruction, urban development, disease, persecution and especially vehicular impacts. What animal we are featuring?

Effective hunters, and some, like rattlesnakes, are ambush predators, snakes use their highly developed senses of smell and taste (rattlesnakes have a heat sensor in their cheeks), to track their prey – rodents and harmful insects. They are a food source for hawks, owls, herons, bobcats and black bears. Snakes are a key component in the balance of our ecosystem.

Our snake population is decreasing steadily and may go extinct within 100 years. There are already 400-500 vehicles per day along White Lake Road, killing at least 4 animals per day between April and October. Researchers are following the rattler population in the White Lake Basin to determine if culvert underpasses will reduce road mortalities. (See Stephanie Winton’s study, Impacts of Road Mortality on the Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus Oreganus) in British Columbia.

Snakes are shy and their first defensive response is to hide or move. If provoked, snakes may hiss, coil and strike which can scare people and endanger the snake. If you are visiting a snake area wear boots and trousers. if you encounter a snake, leave it alone. Most snake bites are received by people who try to capture or kill a snake.

All wildlife should be given plenty of space and respect, especially rattlesnakes. Did you know snakes and their dens are protected under the Wildlife Act in BC which states it is illegal to harm, kill or capture snakes in B.C.?

Especially watch for sticks on roads – they are likely snakes! Drive carefully around them.

As a society, we do not have to love snakes, but we can at least respect their right to exist without harm and appreciate their vital role in maintaining Earth’s biodiversity.

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Come learn about the snakes in our environment and how they help us! Jade Spruyt, from Thompson Rivers University, will help us understand why we must protect our snakes. Join us!

Thursday, July 4th at 6:30 in the Kaleden Library. All welcome!

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Why did the Turtle Cross the Road?

Did you know that Western Painted Turtles are the only native pond turtle left in BC? Western Painted Turtles are interesting for lots of other reasons, too! They are the most northerly found turtle in North America. Western Painted Turtles swallow their food underwater, and they can live up to 50 years if they are lucky enough to avoid predators, especially in their early years.

Western Painted Turtles eat insects, snails, earthworms, frogs, tadpoles, algae, aquatic plants, and dead animal matter. You may have noticed logs crowded with sunning turtles. They aren’t getting a suntan – turtles need to absorb the sun’s warmth to digest their food.

Some of us go south for the winter, but Western Painted Turtles go down, into the mud, where they stay until the ice melts. Then courtship begins. Many males will swim after one mature female. The fastest male will swim in front of her, facing her with front legs stretched out. Sometimes, he strokes her head. If the female follows him, they sink to the bottom of the pond to mate. Interestingly, Painted Turtle females do not always wait for the males to initiate mating – occasionally, a female turtle will pursue the suitor of her choice!

Why did the turtle cross the road? To lay her eggs in a choice nest spot! In early summer females lay 6 to 18 oval eggs about the size of a two-dollar coin. So watch out for what looks like a large rock or clump on the road. It might be a female Western Painted Turtle. Slow down and safe a life (or maybe 19 lives if she is on her way to lay eggs!).

Western Painted Turtles are on the provincial red list, meaning they are at risk of being lost entirely! Western Painted Turtles are vulnerable and require our care to prevent habitat loss caused by human activity like housing developments and waterway changes. We can all drive more slowly, watching for wildlife on the road. The ‘sticks’ may be snakes and the ‘stones’ may be Painted Turtles!

As with all wildlife, always keep your distance. Don’t trample nest sites. Never take wild turtles home as Painted Turtles often starve to death in captivity, and because the BC Wildlife Act prohibits interfering with all wild creatures. Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints!!

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The Greater Twin Lake Area Stewardship Society is hosting a talk and walk to Turtle Pond at 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 10th. Don Gayton, MSc, Consulting Ecologist, will speak with us about the Western Painted Turtle and lead the walk. Meet in Twin Lake at the corner of Eastview Road and Sagewood Lane. No dogs please as there may be cattle in the field.

FMI jgstrong@shaw.ca

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Star Gazing – the Oldest Science

Did you know that for every grain of sand on every beach, there are about 10,000 stars in the universe?  Or that there are huge distances between stars?  The closest star to our sun is Proxima Centauri, 4.24 light years away, which would take 70,000 years to get to in our fastest spacecraft.

Some stars, red hypergiants, are gigantic!  If you stacked 1,420 of our suns on top of each other, you’d have the diameter of VY Canis Majoris.  It would take an airplane about 1,100 years to fly around it.

When a large star dies by exploding in a supernova, a gravitational collapse can take place and result in a neutron star.  The atoms are squished together so hard that each atom’s empty space gives way and the nuclei in the middle of each atom are bunched together into a tiny star with a diameter of about 24km, whose mass is as much as three suns or one million Earths!

As fascinating as all this is, what do astronomy and space exploration do for us?  They provide technologies that we use everyday to monitor weather conditions and crops, enable TV and internet data to be transmitted, led to light-weight carbon-fibre material for prosthetic limbs, the development of a network of space satellites which help stop us getting lost – and assist emergency and rescue services find us when we do.  It advanced the miniaturization of electronic components, the development of corrosive-resistant kitchen knives, and much more.

Astronomers and astrophysicists try to understand the universe and how things within it work by making observations and applying the science that we know to those observations. Thanks to their work, Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the outer solar system and the interstellar medium. Voyager discovered extremely high magnetic fields at the edge of our solar system, which will be considered when designing new spacecraft.  

Astronomy is the oldest science. We can all explore astronomy, enjoying it just as much as the Mesopotamians nearly 5000 years ago, and the ancient Chinese, Babylonians, and Greeks! 

This month our night sky reveals the star clusters Taurus, Orion, Cancer, Monoceros, Perseus, Canis Major, Puppis, Cygnus, the planet Uranus and if you have a great telescope, the galaxies Andromeda, Triangulum, Ursa Major, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, and Virgo!  Indulge your sense of wonder (and an astronomy app) to find these clusters tonight!

Hubble Telescope’s image of Eta Carinae shows its hot gases in red, white and blue colors.

(Image: © NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of Arizona) and J. Morse (BoldlyGo Institute))

FMI: https://in-the-sky.org/whatsup.php. 

4 Mind-Blowing Things About Stars

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/patrick-moore-inspired-generations-to-explore-713644-Dec2012/

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From Shooting Stars to Black Holes

With Wendell Shuster

of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

There are many different kinds of stars out there.  Some are real stars, some not.  Our Sun is the nearest star, there is an evening star, a morning star, hairy stars, shooting stars, protostars, the north star, a dog star, supergiant stars, dwarf stars, naked eye stars, pulsating stars, exploding stars, guest stars, neutron stars and the ultimate death star, a black hole!  We are going to talk on some of these mystery stars.  Come join us at the presentation count your “lucky stars” we are all part of this amazing Universe!

Saturday, February TBA, 11:00 – 12:00

Okanagan Falls Library, 850 Railway Ln #101 

Sponsored by the Greater Twin Lake Area Stewardship Society

FMI jgstrong@shaw.ca

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Surveyors, Loggers, Miners, and Dude Ranchers:
Twin Lake Historical and Watershed Tour

In the early 1900s Charles des Blois Green surveyed most of Orofino Mountain’s mining claims, including both gold mines. Des Blois Green was also an avid ornithologist whose family home site, and barn can be seen at the Upper Twin Lake. His family gravesite is along Lower Twin Lake. The Twin Lake Dude Ranch Lodge (1945 to 1974) on Lower Twin Lake remains standing. The Sutherland’s, then Stewarts and lastly Hadleys, owned the Twin Lake Dude Ranch, entertaining guests from around the world and taking them on trail rides throughout the hills around Twin Lake.
Although First Nations travelled to this area for centuries, calling it, “Healing Valleys” as they would gather their medicinal herbs here, the early settlers, road builders, miners, loggers, ranchers and more recently, residents and visitors here for recreation, have had a far greater influence on the waterways in a relatively short period of time.
The Nature’s Trust owns 800 hectares of grasslands at Twin Lake and south, and owns the surface water rights. There are now about 200 residences using the Twin Lake aquifer. Our aquifer also supplies water to an 18 hole golf course and a 45 lot RV park, four small ranches north of Trout Lake, and a hobby farm.
The Twin Lake Area aquifer is replenished mainly by rains and spring snow melt from Bear and Upper Horne Creek . Horn Creek flows into Upper Twin Lake, commonly called Horne Lake, and it is fed by a northward sloping watershed. The Upper Twin Lake flows into Middle Horne Creek, Turtle Pond and once the system is recharged in the spring, water flows into the Lower Twin Lake. There is no surface outlet from the Lower Twin Lake, but water discharges underground to the Golf Course land and onto Trout Lake with ground water discharging east of Hwy. 3A down the valley to Marron Lake. Some water also discharges from the Lower Twin Lake by groundwater flow to the northeast into Park Rill.
Twin Lake has a fascinating history and a complex waterway system. Walking through the area’s historical sites will bring its characters to life, and leave you viewing our area in a new way. We will also observe the waterway, walking in this upland sensitive area with 57 species at risk and 27 red and blue listed plant communities, as well as popular birding sites.