Natural History BIOL 3220

          I gathered my things and walked out of the door. It was 6pm, pitch black, and cold. My butt was going to freeze out in the middle of the bush. My ski pants were a size too small, so my thighs and butt cheeks were tight; but I promised myself that I would dress as warm as possible for this lab session. Our class was going on a night walk. In the pitch black. Yikes.             Everyone poured into a vehicle. As we drove out of Kamloops the lights from the city disappeared behind us. A manifestation of foreboding anxiety washed over me. It was dark. Really dark. We turned onto a gravel road and parked. As everyone gathered around to collect a head lamp, my friend Bo had ripped the zipper tab on his jacket. Great. I tried to help him re-attach the zipper, but had no luck. Our fussing disrupted the class, “Mo and Bo” causing havoc once again.         ...

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 ...