Natural History BIOL 3220

Migration, song, and plumage. These are some important aspects of birds. Today we talked about birds, learned about birds, and drew them. Dr. Matt Reudink gave our class a presentation about birds. He explained that migration is a natural process, whereby different birds fly over distances of hundreds and thousands of kilometres in order to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. When the conditions at breeding sites become unfavourable due to low temperatures, migratory birds fly to regions where conditions are better. There are many different migration patterns. The majority of birds migrate from northern breeding areas in the summer, to southern wintering grounds. Migratory birds have the perfect morphology and physiology that enables them to fly fast and across long distances. However, their journey is often an exhausting one during which they go to their limits. Matt mentioned how birds’ bulk up before their journey. For ...

          Mushrooms. I think of the squeak they make when I bite into them raw. They have that spongy texture and adhere to your teeth. Mushrooms have been an important part of human history, especially the magic mushrooms. Know as the “flesh of the gods”, these mushrooms were used to induce a trance, produce visions and communicate with the gods. Mushrooms demonstrate a great impact on agriculture and the environment, and they have great potential for generating a great socio-economic impact in human welfare on local, national, and global levels.             Today our natural history class would be hiking through the Dallas-Barnhartvale Nature Park, looking for mushrooms with Dr. Gary Hunt, an expert in mushrooms and a retired professor.             The class arrived at the main parking lot of the park. We all began to exit vehicles and gather...

         A map gives a miniature picture of a very large space. A map is a guide to a space you have not encountered before. It is a direction finder and a dependable way to take a journey. Maps show special relationships between different points, and show the importance of places. People develop a sense of place through experience and knowledge of a particular area.             I arrived to the lab with an idea in mind. We were to create a map of a place that has meaning to us. The weekend before lab I had been in Barriere at a friend’s ranch. I usually spend as much time as I can there, training the young horses, or just enjoying a trail ride. There are many trails and logging roads that I have spent a countless number of hours, both with friends and alone. I appreciate the moments that I have alone. Just me, the horse, and the bush. In belonging to a landscape, one feels a rightness, an at homeness...

I stood over the small plaque that read “Site of Maurice Scott’s homestead built-1914”. I tried to image what it was like more than a hundred years ago. It was difficult to image that these hills used to be full of homesteads, and farmers who raised cattle and worked the land. Life was tough, and making a living was nearly impossible. As a result of hardships, the government and the economy, people abandoned their homesteads and left the area of Lac Du Bois.             We walked away from the vehicles that took us up the snaky dirt road from Kamloops. The hills were full of colour, there was a tree line that bordered the grasslands and a thick Douglas fir forest that filled the mountains behind it. Aspen littered the area with splashes of orange, red, and yellow. The air smelled like crisp, dry leaves and dirt. The colours encouraged me to enter a state of serenity, the ev...

              I sat comfortably in a pit house that was located next to the Thompson river and on the Secwepemc reserve. I was on Sacred land and sitting in a piece of history; this pit house was a wintering home for the Secwepemc people. Just a few hundred meters from the pit house I was sitting in was the Kamloops Indian residential school that was established in 1893 and operated until 1977. Hundreds of children were removed from their parents and taken to this school to become Christianized and civilized. I listened intently during the museum tour, Stafford mentions in his writings: “I meant to stand apart from my century, if I could. I meant to stand apart from my own life and listen” (Stafford. 2016). I listened. I listened to every word our tour guide Jacquie spoke to us. There were certain details that I retained immediately as she talked about the Secwepemc way of life. She talked about the relationships th...

Sitting next to a metal sign clanging in the wind I shivered. I was sitting on top of a hill looking across the grassland landscape over to Kamloops lake. It was a chilly day and I thought I was dressed warm enough, apparently not. The class made themselves comfortable sitting on the cinnamon coloured dusted ridge and began sketching three different plants we were instructed to pick on out short hike to the parks sign. I began sketching with soft, even strokes, attempting to perfectly replicate a strand of Wheat Grass. I pause while sketching to look around me. I could only hear silence, not a peep was coming from any of my peers; it was very peaceful to say the least. We continued up the hill and into the depths of the canyon, my feeling of being cold almost immediately disappeared. Instead of shivering I began to sweat uncontrollably and breath heavily, I felt like a smoker. There were moments where I thought I was to surely die; however, lucky for me my coordination was very ...