Saturday, December 10, 2006:
A diverse group, comprised of people from as far away as California, was escorted jauntily by a scootered Gary to our trailhead in Ootischenia, just minutes from the Lelliott's home. We walked past swallow condominiums and onto a stone-trimmed trail leading to Selkirk College, several of us boosting our breakfasts with apples from the wild orchard. The only ducks sighted were mergansers in their classic and amusing frantic scooting upstream. We did see a kingfisher and heard and saw a number of our smaller birdlings. Through interpretive signage we learned that Selkirk College denizens enjoy the purest of water through an artesian well, and that a chute of the river dries to expose a precise foot map of the eclectic birds, felids, canids etc. who have trod on the bed. Some of the group spotted a bear - no, we didn't decorate the bear – Ursus Americanus - on the opposite side emerging from its morning ablutions and chugging up the slope. To top off our trek we lunched in the shade of the Lelliott's leafy tree, popping sweet marble-sized tomatoes, and lingering longingly over the neighbor's pool.
Pamella Wik

Saturday, September 9, 2006:
Seven WK Nats showed up for Castlegar Hawk Watch and persevered through a rainy start to enjoy a medium 'Big' day at the Golf course site. In four and a quarter hours of viewing we counted 50 raptors or 12 per hour. In the past I got about half a dozen days a year with this many birds. I suspect that will change at this new site. Unfortunately the group got kind of bleary eyed counting Sharp-shinned Hawks, Turkey Vultures and Red-tails before the daily treat flew past. They left at 2:15 pm and an adult female Northern Harrier flew right over the tree tops near the observation point half an hour later. It was so close the ID was a gimme without binos-- cool to get a species through that doesn't nest in the area.
First confirmed NOHA for this site. Tally for the day:

2 x Cooper's Hawks 10 x Turkey Vultures 17 x Sharp-shinned Hawks 14 x Red-tailed Hawks

2 x Osprey 1 x Northern Harrier 4 x U.I. Raptors

Michael McMann

Saturday, September 16, 2006:
Four hardy Nats gathered for the hike up Saddle Mtn. It was a cold, damp day, but the trail was in good shape. [Kudo’s to the local group who maintains it!] There was bear sign in various places, but no other wildlife. We proceeded upward until we hit the snow line and then retreated. An enjoyable day and very congenial company.
SW Webster

Shoreline cleanup Sept. 23, 2006:
The weather was exquisite, the river positively sweet smelling for the five volunteers who gathered on Sat. 23rd for the TD Canada Trust Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, the first of its kind in this area. This annual event, initiated in 1994 by The Vancouver Aquarium, occurs in the 3rd week in Sept. It is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, and includes as its supporters environmental groups such as The Ocean Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, the founding sponsor. Our local group, comprised of members of the community as well as The West Kootenay Naturalists who initiated the event in this area, collected abandoned bicycles, a shopping cart, clothing and shoes, a City of Trail python and barricade bar, as well as typical trash items along the Gyro Park walkway and shoreline. What was especially concerning was the abundance of beer bottle shards found by an area of the river known colloquially as The Onions, a spot frequented by swimmers. Our scrupulous team collected several large pailfuls of this recyclable. Quantities and types of items gathered were entered on tally cards. These data will be used in an international effort to analyze the garbage, determine its source, and find ways to lessen it on shorelines. Our group has already begun thinking of ways to expand this project for 2007. One of the participants, noting a lot of debris just a meter or two into the river, has offered his scuba abilities for next year and expects others will follow. As well, the Rivers Day Crew has expressed interest in joining the Naturalists in this most useful enterprise: to restore our shoreline and our river to greater health and beauty. With diligent and hopeful workers like the ones participating on Sat., this is sure to be accomplished.
Submitted by Pamella Wik to the Western Star

Saturday, September 23, 2006:
Although no planets were visible this night, a clear, moonless sky allowed for exceptional views of several fascinating clusters and nebulae. Brian d'Eon's handy green laser pointer made navigation among the constellations informative and relatively painless. Among our viewing highlights were the double cluster in Peresus, a young grouping of stars, or rather, two groupings which coincidently lay in the same field of view. They resembled perhaps a sprinkling of little gems laid out on a jeweler's black velvet cloth. Looking much deeper into space we viewed three separate globular clusters, each a mini-galaxy in itself, each revolving at steep inclinations around the core of the Milky Way, and each among the oldest objects in the universe. When we looked at these stars we were looking at objects 14 billion years old. M13 in Hercules was a spectacular sight, especially at high magnification where many individual stars (among the half million that were there) could be seen. Halfway into our viewing, our attention was attracted to a brilliantly flickering point of light which seemed to display all colours of the spectrum. Was it a plane? Some of us swore it was moving. Was it a satellite? A UFO? Closer inspection revealed it was the star Capella which, because of its brightness and position low in the sky, behaved as it did. Atmospheric distortion was responsible for its fiery dance. And humans are particularly prone to imagine objects near the horizon as "moving". Oh well, maybe next time we'll find a UFO…

As darkness deepened and our night vision kicked into high gear. We tackled more challenging objects such as the "Dumbbell Nebula" in Vulpecula (M27), which showed two lobes of gas, blown off from a star which had nearly expended its fuel. Even more challenging was our look at the famous "Ring Nebula" in Lyra (M57). At high magnification, everyone successfully spotted the "hole" in this stellar doughnut.

Of course, one could not pass by the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) without having a look. Through the telescope's eyepiece, one could just barely fit into view its two companion galaxies as well (M32 and NGC 205) -- three galaxies for the price of one. The night was plenty clear enough for all four of us to spot M31 with our unaided eyes, thereby staring at the most distant object that humans can see in this way (two million light years away). Finally we had a look at the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51,) at a distance of 37 million light years. Through the eyepiece we could see the bright cores of two swirls of gas which seemed to touch one another. Earlier in the evening we had noticed what seemed to be a shapeless, faintly glowing cloud in the direction of Castlegar. It might possibly have been reflecting light from the city, but it might also be the beginnings of a display of the Aurora Borealis. Sure enough, as the night wore on, the shapeless grey-greenish cloud began to transform itself in curtains of pulsating light, at its most intense moments suggesting hints of red as well -- a glorious benediction to wrap up a fine night of viewing. (See next page for photos)
Brian d’Eon