We heard a Barred Owl call during our afternoon walk in Byrne Creek Ravine Park in SE Burnaby. We looked for it, and eventually spotted it high in a tree. It sat there staring at us, while we stood there enjoying its beauty for several minutes.
We then realized it had caught a mole, and it began to nonchalantly shred and eat it as we watched. We didn’t hang around as we didn’t want to potentially disturb the owl’s meal.
A nature show right in “our backyard!”
Unfortunately I got only a few usable shots out of about a hundred taken with my pocket Canon 720HS. I was hand-holding at max 40X optical zoom, and had the ISO boosted to 1600, both factors limiting image quality.
I built a sunning box for our slider Midori so she can be safely left out on the balcony for periods of basking, which is essential to turtle health. Choco the Cat got into the action, too, but didn’t last too long in the heat.
Note: While we love Midori, and have cared for her for 24 years, we do NOT recommend turtles as pets. Some reasons here in a post on my old blog.
If you’re involved in environmental issues in Canada in any way, be it as a volunteer, consultant, NGO staff member, etc., you may be interested in contributing feedback to this discussion paper.
Environmental and Regulatory Reviews: Discussion Paper
Purpose
Our Government is committed to deliver environmental assessment and regulatory processes that regain public trust, protect the environment, introduce modern safeguards, advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, ensure good projects go ahead, and resources get to market.
We made this commitment because we share common concerns about the ability of Canada’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes to protect and sustain the natural environment while getting resources to market and creating good, middle class jobs for Canadians. In the current system:
There is a need for greater transparency around the science, data and evidence supporting decisions and to ensure Indigenous knowledge is sufficiently taken into account;
Protections to Canada’s fisheries and waterways are insufficient; and,
Indigenous peoples and the public should have more opportunities to meaningfully participate.
This discussion paper outlines the changes our Government is considering for Canada’s environmental assessment and regulatory processes that will:
Regain public trust;
Protect the environment;
Advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples; and,
Ensure good projects go ahead and resources get to market.
