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Vaseux Lake
Vaseux Lake is a shallow freshwater lake located along the course of the Okanagan River in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Name origin The name "'' vaseux''" is French, meaning muddy or murky, which is descriptive of the lake's silty water. The lake was likely named by French Canadian fur traders. The lake was misspelled as Vasuix Lake on Joseph Trutch's maps from 1866 and 1871. For many years the name was later spelled Vaseaux Lake; in 1945 the Geographic Board of BC corrected the official name to its present form. Geography The town of Okanagan Falls is to the north, and the town of Oliver is to the south. The lake lies to the east of Mount Keogan, while British Columbia Highway 97 runs alongside the east shore of the lake, and has a sharp hairpin turn at the Vaseaux Lake Rock Cut which has been the scene of many accidents and deaths. McIntyre Bluff, Vaseux Creek and the associated alluvial fan are to the south; however, it does not flow into Vaseux Lake. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McIntyre Bluff
McIntyre Bluff, officially called nʕaylintn since 7 August 2015, is a large ridge of rock, made of gneiss, located south of Vaseux Lake between Okanagan Falls and Oliver, British Columbia, Oliver in British Columbia, Canada. The bluff rises prominently over the surrounding valley and is one of the most well known landmarks in the Okanagan. History nʕaylintn (pronounced ''nye-lin-tin'') is the traditional Okanagan language, nsyilxcen (Okanagan) language place name. First Nations in the area tell a story of a battle centuries ago on top of McIntyre Bluff. An enemy war party from the south (now Washington (state), Washington state) was lured to the top and driven over the cliffs. McIntyre Bluff is named after Peter McIntyre, one of the Overlanders of 1862 who had also been a guard on the Pony Express in the American West. He was known as an "Indian Fighter". In 1886 he received a land grant beside this great precipice. The official name was ''McIntyre Bluff'' from 7 October 1954 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Screech-owl
The western screech owl (''Megascops kennicottii'') is a small owl native to North and Central America, closely related to the eastern screech owl. The scientific name commemorates the American naturalist Robert Kennicott. Description Length averages , wingspan , and weight . Weight ranges from .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . Females are larger than males and northern populations are notably larger than southern populations. Adults are larger than whiskered screech owls, with larger feet and a more streaked plumage pattern. There are several morphs: brown Pacific, grey Pacific, Great Plains, Mojave, and Mexican. All have either brown or dark gray plumage with streaking on the underparts. There is no red morph. This brown and gray streaky coloring allows the owl to camouflage with trees and hide from predators. They have a round head with ear tufts, yellow eyes, and a yellowish bill. Their appearance is quite similar t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to coastal Spain, the Azores, and areas of far southern Europe. An all-white population found in south Florida and the Florida Keys is known as the great white heron. Debate exists about whether this represents a white color morph of the great blue heron, a subspecies of it, or an entirely separate species. The status of white individuals known to occur elsewhere in the Caribbean, and their existence is rarely found elsewhere besides in eastern North America. Taxonomy The great blue heron was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, '' Systema Naturae''. The scientific name comes from Latin ''ardea'', and Ancient Greek (), both meaning "heron". The great blue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trumpeter Swan
The trumpeter swan (''Cygnus buccinator'') is a species of swan found in North America. The heaviest living bird native to North America, it is also the largest extant species of waterfowl, with a wingspan of 185 to 250 cm (6 ft 2 in to 8 ft 2 in). It is the American counterpart and a close relative of the whooper swan (''Cygnus cygnus'') of Eurasia, and even has been considered the same species by some authorities. By 1933, fewer than 70 wild trumpeters were known to exist, and extinction seemed imminent, until aerial surveys discovered a Pacific population of several thousand trumpeters around Alaska's Copper River. Careful reintroductions by wildlife agencies and the Trumpeter Swan Society gradually restored the North American wild population to over 46,000 birds by 2010. Description The trumpeter swan is the largest extant species of waterfowl, and both the heaviest and longest native bird of North America. Adults usually measure long, though large males can exceed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Flyway
The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or travelling to overwintering sites. Any given bird species travels roughly the same route every year, at almost the same time. Ornithologists and birdwatchers can often predict to the day when a particular species will show up in their area. Notable locations Along the Pacific Flyway, there are many key rest stops where birds of many species gather, sometimes in the millions, to feed and regain their strength before continuing. Some species may remain in these rest stops for the entire season, but most stay a few days before moving on. :''Notable locations include:'' * Boundary Bay, British Columbia, has been listed as an Important Bird Area by the Canadian government in recognition of its value to migratory bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Migratory Bird
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between Breeding in the wild, breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Animal migration, Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by humans, and is driven primarily by the availability of food. It occurs mainly in the northern hemisphere, where birds are funneled onto specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea. Migration of species such as storks, European turtle dove, turtle doves, and swallows was recorded as many as 3,000 years ago by Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek authors, including Homer and Aristotle, and in the Book of Job. More recently, Johannes Leche began recording dates of arrivals of spring migrants in Finland in 1749, and modern scientific studies have used techniques including bird ringing and Animal migration tracking#Satellite tracking, satellite tracking to trace migrant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreshore
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as seastars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the ''littoral zone'' or '' seashore'', although those can be defined as a wider region. The well-known area also includes steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, bogs or wetlands (e.g., vast mudflats). The area can be a narrow strip, as in Pacific islands that have only a narrow tidal range, or can include many meters of shoreline where shallow beach slopes interact with high tidal excursion. The peritidal zone is similar but somewhat wider, extending from above the highest tide level to below the lowest. Organisms in the intertidal zone are adapted to an environment of harsh extremes, living in water pressu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from terrestrial land forms or Body of water, water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique anoxic hydric soils. Wetlands are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal species. Methods for assessing wetland functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed for many regions of the world. These methods have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions some wetlands provide. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or seawater, saltwater. The main w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alluvial Fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but are also found in more humid environments subject to intense rainfall and in areas of modern glaciation. They range in area from less than to almost . Alluvial fans typically form where flow emerges from a confined channel and is free to spread out and infiltrate the surface. This reduces the carrying capacity of the flow and results in deposition of sediments. The flow can take the form of infrequent debris flows or one or more ephemeral or perennial streams. Alluvial fans are common in the geologic record, such as in the Triassic basins of eastern North America and the New Red Sandstone of south Devon. Such fan deposits likely contain the largest accumulations of gravel in the geologic record. Alluvial fans have also been found on Mars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hairpin Turn
A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hairpin. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy with switchback railways. Description Hairpin turns are often built when a route climbs up or down a steep slope, so that it can travel mostly across the slope with only moderate steepness, and are often arrayed in a zigzag pattern. Highways with repeating hairpin turns allow easier, safer ascents and descents of mountainous terrain than a direct, steep climb and descent, at the price of greater distances of travel and usually lower speed limits, due to the sharpness of the turn. Highways of this style are also generally less costly to build and maintain than highways with tunnels. On occasion, the road may loop completely, using a tunnel or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Columbia Highway 97
Highway 97 is a major highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the longest continuously numbered route in the province, running and is the only route that runs the entire north–south length of the British Columbia, connecting the Canada–United States border near Osoyoos in the south to the British Columbia–Yukon boundary in the north at Watson Lake, Yukon. The highway connects several major cities in BC Interior, including Kelowna, Kamloops, Prince George, and Dawson Creek. Within and near these cities, Highway 97 varies from a two-lane highway to a freeway with as many as six lanes. Some remote sections also remain unpaved and gravelled. The route takes its number from U.S. Route 97, with which it connects at the international border. The highway was initially designated '97' in 1953. Route description The busiest section of Highway 97 is in West Kelowna, carrying almost 70,000 vehicles per day. Some sections in the northern regions of the provin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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