Archive for January, 2009

 
While the Great Blue Heron can be found throughout Canada, it breeds in all provinces with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, it can only be found throughout the winter in British Columbia and the Maritime provinces.  The Blue Herons that migrate, travel in groups of less than 100, and will migrate as far south as Columbia.

The heron primarily uses fishing to obtain food.  The bird can be seen standing motionless, its neck extended an angle 45°to the water.  Only the bird’s head and eyes move in trying to locate prey.  When a prey is spotted, the bird will four its neck back and move one leg in the direction of the prey.  It will unbend its entire body and thrust its head into the water.  It swallows the prey outside of the water deftly dropping the prey headfirst into its gullet.

The herons main source of food are small fish less than half the length of bill, shellfish, insects, rodents, frogs, and small birds.

The Blue Heron lays its eggs in April.  They usually lay about five eggs which take 28 to incubate.  This task is shared by both male and female with the male incubating  during the day and the females at night.

Today, a frequent reason for nesting failures is disturbance by eagles and humans; herons are particularly sensitive to disturbance while nesting. Scientists suggest that, as a general rule, there should be no development within 300 m of the edge of a heron colony and no disturbance in or near colonies from March to August.

The light became electrified in 1962 and automated in 1967.

LIGHT Yellow; flash 1 second; eclipse, 4 seconds

FOCAL HEIGHT 23.7 m (78ft)

TOWER HEIGHT 19.5 m (62 ft)

NOMINAL RANGE 28.9 km (18 miles)

The longest rock reef in North America posed such a threat to navigation that in 1851 the House of Assembly suggested to the government that Canada, the British North American colonies and even Great Britain provide “proportionate contributions” toward construction of a lighthouse at North Cape.

After repeated petitions were ignored, local residents rigged a makeshift light. Finally the lighthouse was built in 1865, at a cost of $5,198, making navigation much safer for marine traffic crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence or entering the Northumberland Strait. During an assessment of all Island lighthouses by the Department of Marine, prior to the Island joining Confederation, North Cape was singled out as “one of the most important light stations on the Island.”

Today the lighthouse is almost dwarfed by the giant telecommunications tower adjacent to the lighthouse, as well as the giant windmills at the Atlantic Wind Test Site.

Information Courtesy Of Virtual Museum of Canada

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) - Photo courtesy of Oceanview Observer

Back in 1976, a public vote was held during Environmental Week and the Blue Jay was chosen as the official bird of Prince Edward Island. (One has to wonder how many votes the mosquito received.)

The Jays are attracted to bird feeders by sunflower seeds, peanuts and mixed grains. They are a gluttonous bird who seem to try to take as much food as possible. In the winter the Jays will carry food away from the feeders and hide them under  trees and shrubs to be eaten later.

The Blue Jay is only partially migratory. It may fly south of its most northern range by several hundred kilometres. They migrate in loose flocks of under fifty. Since the Jays are not migratory, they are not protected under the Migratory Bird Covention Act, although most provinces protect the Blue Jay under the provincal laws.

During moulting  period Blue Jays may be seen anting, a term referring to a bird using ants or materials that the ants expel from their bodies for preening, or tidying their feathers.

Lowest Temperature
-63.0°C [-89.6 Vostok, Antarctica]
Snag, Y.T. (February 3, 1947)

Coldest month
Average temperature -47.9°C
Eureka, N.W.T. (February, 1979)

Greatest average annual snowfall 1,433 cm (47.7 feet)
Glacier Mt. Fidelity, B.C.

Greatest snowfall in one season 2,446.5 cm (81.5 feet)
Revelstokes/Mont Copeland,
B.C. (1971-1972)

Greatest snowfall in one month 535.9 cm (17.8 feet)
Haines Apps. No. 2, B.C.
(December 1959) (Tamarack, California got 990.6 cm (33 feet) on January 1911)

Greatest snowfall in one day 118.1 cm (3.9 feet)
Lakelse Lake, B.C. (January 17, 1974)