News/Reports
Trout Creek Ecological Reserve Warden Annual Report 2015- Laurie Rockwell
Appendix A: Ecological Reserve Warden Annual Report 2015
ER Name Trout Creek
Ecological Reserve # 7 Report Date: December 2015
Warden Name: Laurie Rockwell
Number of volunteer hours logged during the past year: 16
Possible Topics to Include: for more detail see my monthly reports to the MOE, Parks, Penticton.
- Toured the reserve March to November; sent monthly reports to Parks and the FER.
- The Summerland Golf Course, without consulting Parks, removed 2 stiles and signage. Now the golfers are breaking down the fence to find golf balls on the reserve. Further, golf course irrigation is watering the reserve, encouraging the growth of alfalfa and weeds.
- No issues regarding vandalism, public access or signage.
- Fence repairs outstanding. Submitted photos of same to Parks for the reserve file.
Some highlights of the year:
- March 7 – confirmed finding of the Pebble Pixie-cup (Cladonia pyxidata) and Sidewalk Moss (Tortula ruralis).
- May 12 – 2 firsts for the reserve: Orange Arnica (Arnica fulgens) and Black Oil Beetle (Meloe niger) feeding on Meadow Death Camus (Zigadensus venenosus).
- June 7 – saw 2 recently fledged Vesper Sparrows (Pooecetes gramineus ). Bio control of Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) and Dalmation Toadflax (Linaria genistifolia).
- July 9 – reserve very hot and dry. Some plants in seed and others with few or withered berries.
- August 10 – confirmed the presence of Blue Elderberry (Sambucus caerulea), the only one of this shrub that I have seen on the reserve.
- September 6 – heard a Yellow Pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoneus), rare on the reserve.
- Don Gayton continues to be a valuable support, sharing his knowledge of the reserve and retaining the reserve plant list on Excel.
- I encourage Parks to promote research opportunities on the reserve to Okanagan College (Penticton, Kelowna) and UBCO in Kelowna. Areas of research could include an inventory of insects, soils, mosses and lichens and forest encroachment in grasslands.
Laurie Rockwell, warden January 2017