by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
You might suppose that wintertime is not a good time for a bird that spends its life near running water, but in fact this species is able to survive in icy cold water, and manages to feed even under riverside ice. The rather nondescript appearance of the American...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Animals, Environment, Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
At this time of year, when so many of our colourful summer breeding birds are winging their way southwards for the colder months, it is a pleasure to turn our attention to birds that stay here year round. This time let’s focus on our three species of nuthatch,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 4, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers
Eyles was born in Bristol, England, in 1925 and joined the Home Guard, the 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry at age 17. In 1943 he joined the Royal Navy where he trained as a radar operator. He served on the ships Wessex, Highflyer, Drake, Valkyrie, Golden Hind,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 13, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized
The life cycle of kokanee is a part of the Okanagan that is visible each year in the fall. When walking down a creek or stream from mid September to mid October, it is hard to miss the bright red fish migrating up. Okanagan Kokanee are unique because one may also see...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 6, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized
~Marie Molloy Lake Country Museum & Archives in Okanagan Centre is a place for sharing stories and making connections with people past and present. The museum’s collections committee is comprised of a fun group of individuals and it’s hard not to notice how...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 6, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Pam Laing
Don’t call them Seagulls! When we live in a valley with a number of lakes, large and small, as well as ponds, riversand creeks, (not to mention large landfill sites), we are bound to see gulls. Non-birdersoften refer to them as Seagulls. But we have no sea anywhere...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 19, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers
Flooding is common in the Okanagan. Our post ‘Flooding in Lake Country’ touches on this, as we noted how flooding occurred nearly every year in the early 1900s. In 1908, the Oyama canal was built, connecting Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake. This lowered the lakes’ water...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 5, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Natural History
Kokanee, a form of landlocked salmon, are Indigenous to the Okanagan and at one time were abundant within Okanagan and Wood Lake. Kokanee adapted from sockeye salmon, who migrated from the Columbia River approximately 10,000 years ago after the last ice age. Once...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 23, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Natural History
Written by Deana Asham. Named after the shape of its leaves, arrowleaf balsamroot is an Indigenous species to the Okanagan Valley. Being part of the same family as the sunflower, Asteraceae, they share a similar appearance; however, they flower slightly earlier than...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jun 29, 2022 | Pam Laing
In our spring posting we took a close look at the three species of Grebe that spend their entire year here, changing plumage into breeding ‘duds’ each spring. Today we’ll focus on the two species that migrate here to breed during our summer. These are the Western...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | May 26, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Natural History, Uncategorized
Here are some pictures of one of the oldest and original houses in Okanagan Centre still in existence. This home at the bottom of Camp Road was built by a German immigrant builder in 1889, so we were told, who shortly thereafter returned back to the old country....
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Dec 11, 2021 | Guest Bloggers, History of Lake Country
Nancy Josland Dalsin In 2018 I was working as a volunteer at Mackie Lake House in Coldstream researching some of the artifacts. One of the artifacts that I was researching and trying to provenance was a beautiful, wall mounted artists jewel case designed by the...