Two of the five lutescens Orange-crowned Warblers netted today at Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory. VLBO is open to the public every morning until October 15, located 1 km north of the lake (4 km south of OK Falls).

Dropped into Salt Spring Books and met Adina Hildebrandt who has owned this fine independent bookstore for 25 years. Support your local bookseller!

Nice to bump into friends and colleagues Jan O’Brien and Geoff Meggs and talk about families as well as the federal and provincial political scene.

It’s migration season and of birds are heading south. Unfortunately millions don’t survive travel through our cities Their deaths are preventable www.thestar.com/news/gta/mil...

Sorry. Not sorry. You elect a convicted felon who allows people to be kidnapped off the streets and tells Canada he will break our nation. No we won't drink your bourbon and make nice. We are a nation that believes in the rule of law. Consider this a renaissance moment for CDN whisky.

We were all saddened to learn today that Ken Dryden had passed away. I had the privilege of meeting him in 2022 at the celebration for the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series--he was a great Canadian on and off the ice.

Great news from Penticton and so proud that it is the legacy of my friend Colleen. www.pentictonherald.ca/life/health/...

Highly recommended. 👇

Yes I did miss this! Thanks to the Globe and Mail for a little shout out.

We need a national wildfire fighting force.

I remember talking to the VP of Scotiabank over ten years ago. When asked the “what keeps you awake at night” question he said it was the gap between the top 1% and the rest of us. “This will not end well” he added.

👀 Oil 👇 -34% in the past decade

It’s moulting season at Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory for songbirds as they get their flight feathers renewed for the fall and winter ahead. This young chat and adult male goldfinch are going through complex patterns of moult that will make it easier for them to fly.

Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory continues to monitor a good diversity of birds with numbers ahead of last year. Today’s highlight was a young Black-headed Grosbeak—with a beak like that you have to handle them carefully! Open every a.m. 1 km N of the lake on Hwy 97.

"Any publicly funded immunization in B.C. can be provided at no cost to any Canadian travelling within the province," a statement from the ministry said. Nice to know that BC has our backs, even when our own government does not.

A good story about current and historical fire activity in Canada (and the US) though I may be biased thetradeoff.substack.com/p/north-amer...

The Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory continues to see and band good numbers of local birds and migrants. This Least Flycatcher was one of this morning’s surprises. Drop in any morning until October 15–we’re 1 km north if Vaseux Lake on the west side of Hwy 97.

After a wipeout of last year’s crop due to a flash freeze, it is so good to see and smell a bumper crop of fresh peaches! We be jammin’ today.

Retirement so far.

I don’t often post fly pictures here but this Rocky Mountain Hornet Fly is one of the most convincing wasp mimics I’ve ever met.

NDP calls on Canada to recognize the State of Palestine today Full statement here: www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-cal...

🚩Potential for another fire weather/fire episode in Canada Starting next Tue-Wed (Jul 29-30) in AB then shifting to SK – MB – NWRN ON (Wed – Sat Aug 2). This is concerning as 2025 is very active fire season with 280 Out of Control fires - many in the regions mentioned. 500mb anomaly forecast below.

Cedar Waxwing fledglings in our elderberry yesterday--even the late starters are leaving the nest this time of year!

The shrine grows for the Stubbies rehearsals in Stew McLeod’s garage.

🚨 CLOSE RACE ALERT 🚨 With more than 3,000 votes in, Okanagan 🍑 are beating 🍒 by just FIVE VOTES THE ETERNAL RIVALS DUEL ONCE MORE

Fantastic performance of Dream—Tempest Theatre’s reimagining of a Midsummer Nights Dream—at Linden Gardens this evening. Fabulous cast and magical setting. www.tempest.ca/on-stage.html

This proposal by @catmckenney.bsky.social recognizes that access to cool temperatures is a right as our climate warms (a right to be cool) It can also be done in a way that helps the climate and deals with landlord concerns about window ACs falling out of windows www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Starting to process this year’s garlic! Thinking of the fine folks in the Slocan who sold me the fine seed stock I’ve been using for the past decade or so.

I have to admit that i recently chased a Blue Grosbeak after getting a Discord notification—but I lucked into finding it, and in BC no less. thewalrus.ca/birding/?utm...

One reason why I love the iNaturalist app—I can find out what living thing I’ve found and report it to the experts in one fell swoop!

Recent polling by Abacus Data shows that a supermajority of Canadians are concerned about the long-term impacts of climate change. As Canadians grapple with extreme heat, storms, and another brutal wildfire season, #climate concern has spiked by 15 points since last October. shorturl.at/P9Kd2

“Norway is the auto future”. Canada seems to be clinging to the past.

This is a great clip from a great show.

Nice to see a lovely Agapostemon bee in the potato patch this morning!

Here at last is link to the full report on my bicycle birdathon from Sunday, May 18th. Enjoy! dickcannings.com/2025/05/27/b...

Our bicycle birdathon to raise funds for the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory was a big success! John Reynolds, Brian Starzomski and I pedalled 117 km through the Okanagan and tallied 128 species. Full story to follow, but please click on the link to donate to the cause! www.canadahelps.org/me/6TrkxXY

This Sunday I will be cycling over 100 km (admittedly on an e-bike this time) and seeing over 120 species of birds to raise funds to help the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory monitor bird populations. Please donate to the cause by clicking the link below--thanks! www.canadahelps.org/me/6TrkxXY

Big south wind bringing smoke to Penticton from the first Okanagan wildfire of the season—just south of the border in Washington.

Australia election has striking parallels to what just happened in Canada--Labour coalition returned, Trumpist conservative leader who was poised to win a few months ago loses his seat of 24 years. www.bbc.com/news/article...

It was an honour to be part of the dream door knocking team.... Good luck to you and Blake!

A Wild Turkey just landed in one of our big firs!

New from Joel Gibson and Rob Cannings: The Stiletto Flies (Diptera: Therevidae) of British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska

Using $18 B in oil and gas subsidies to “Retrofit 3.3 million homes with energy-saving upgrades—including free retrofits for 2.3 million low-income households, and grants or low-interest loans for 1 million more” www.ndp.ca/news/singh-c...

Thanks to @meidastouch.bsky.social for sharing footage of my #elbowsup/ resistance tour. April 2 Sudbury St. Andrew’s Place April 3 North Bay Nipissing University April 11 Vancouver Island April 13 Edmonton St Basil's Cultural Centre It's the #puttherunonfascists #chasethequislings tour.

Happy birthday to my brother Syd! (that's him on the left)

Great time was had by all at the Elks!

Our band is playing at noon at the Penticton Elks Hall as part of Ignite the Arts. Come on down!

At a press conference on Wednesday, Winnipeg police confirmed the identity of Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe to be Ashlee Shingoose. Ashlee’s father Albert Shingoose had one request for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew: sing a song.

Important post 👇

Nothing like the Dubliners singing the Rocky Road to Dublin to celebrate St Patrick’s Day! youtube.com/watch?v=5K6F...