It seems the folks in Quebec are so sick of looking at their snowbanks they’ve decided to get rid of them. That’s right, while some people go south to escape winter, or move to Vancouver, Quebecers have taken to watering their snowbanks.

Who could blame them. Quebec city has received more than 5 meters of snow this past winter, smashing the city’s previous record by nearly a meter. They’re not the only Canadian city breaking snowfall records. In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950.

Here on the west coast we didn’t get too much snow, but March will be go down in history as the coldest one on record.

It doesn’t matter where you travel in Canada it seems we’ve all had enough of winter. But for those folks living in Quebec city, it’s best to wait and let Mother Nature take its course. If you get caught watering your snow, you could face a $150 fine. Money that’s better spent on a heat lamp or how about some tanning sessions?

What lengths would you go to to be rid of winter?

Cheers,

Julie

The beady black eyes glance quickly about, grab a sunflower seed and dart away. Next up, a male House Finch. His red capped head is easy to spot and he will often queue on the wooden fence waiting for the chickadees to clear out before starting his breakfast.

The analogy, if you build it they will come, is certainly true for our window mounted bird feeder. Hesitant at first, and still quite shy, the birds are coming, more every day. It’s seems word has spread and the seeds are quickly disappearing or perhaps they read my blog, Wanted Hungry Birds.

Whatever the case, we will often hear them, sparrows, chickadees and finches pecking at the feeder - usually around breakfast time. We stop what we’re doing and quietly sneak up on them. It’s fun watching them through the window, and gradually they are accepting our presence.

I must admit, I’m really enjoying the birds. My eight-year-old son, who is always asking for a pet, seems content to watch the birds, at least for now. The best part is there is no cage to clean and very little maintenance. Despite it’s growing popularity, the feeder only gets filled every two months.

While window mount feeders are not highly recommended (birds fly into the window), our feeder is situated in a low light area; we’ve had no accidents or fatalities.

I love our feeder. Its simplistic design was easy to install. We just slide the feeder off to refill it. It’s been a great activity for the kids and has developed their interest and awareness of the birds.

I guess you could say we’re going to the birds.

Cheers,

Julie

Lugging the fourth green garbage bag filled with old clothes, pillows and blankets up the stairs, I’m starting to break out in a sweat. It’s spring and prompted by a phone call from Big Brother’s, they take away all my junk for free, I’m ruthlessly going through our house getting rid of our old, tired and no longer play-with items.

Surveying our front hallway, now crammed full with our cast-offs, I can’t help but feel a pang of guilt. ‘At least it’s not going to end up in a landfill site somewhere,’ I think to myself, ‘Or worse, at the cabin.’

It used to be these items would be stored until spring where they would find a new home at the cottage but not anymore. My cottage or “second home” is exactly that. The only things we take to the cabin these days tend to be brand new and nice. And why not?

With big boxes like Costco, Walmart, Superstore and Target all selling cheap chic, consuming has never been so easy. Cheap and cheerful have resulted in what I believe are the two laws of consumption.

They are:

Laws of Consumption

1. You fill the space you live in - the bigger the home, the more stuff you’re going to have
2. The cheaper things are the more you’re likely to buy.

I became aware of this second law when I owned my flower store, Anne Paterson’s Flowers, in Calgary. Every Friday afternoon from 3 pm until closing, I would sell all the cut flowers for half price, a “happy hour” so to speak. It wasn’t long before word got around and my store was packed with people buying bargain flowers.

People who didn’t normally spend money on flowers were dropping at least $50 every week. They loved “saving” so much money. In reality, they were actually spending more money.

I know the cheaper something is, the more I end up buying. I can’t resist a good bargain. I think I need to change my approach, especially given the environment’s increasingly fragile state. I’m going to start shopping for more expensive items. I won’t likely buy as many, and if I’ve paid a lot of money for something, I’m less likely to toss it.

Agree or disagree - send me your comments.

Cheers,

Julie

In the never ending quest to become more environmentally sensitive fire logs have joined the green queue. For those folks, myself included, who like to curl up by the fire and don’t want to fuss with kindling, newspaper and soggy hardwood, fire logs are the perfect solution.

Aside from not giving off any heat, it seems the new and environmentally improved logs also give off fewer emissions than regular wood. The Java-Log reports to produce 70 - 80% less emissions and Duraflame’s fire logs new bio-wax composition logs are 100% renewable making them carbon neutral.

Both the Java-Log and the President’s Choice Green logs are made from recycled coffee grounds. I tried the PC log and found it performed perfectly fine. It too burns 7 times cleaner than wood. I also like the fact that both these logs are reusing the 9-million kg of ground coffee that would otherwise to to waste.

The Pine Mountain fire log is another eco-friendly log. It’s made from 100% vegetable was and recycled sawdust and is touted to release 80% fewer emissions than wood logs.

The logs are all priced very competitively between $2 - $3 each, and are available at major retailers nationwide. Given they’re better for the environment, it only makes sense to burn these instead of the conventional fire logs.

I’m picturing us gathered around our fire pit this summer, burning our environmentally friendly fire logs, sipping our organically brewed beer, and swapping polluter horror stories.

Here’s to going green.

Cheers,

Julie

As the owner of an old two-stroke outboard motor, I was surprised to learn that it emits more hydrocarbons in one hour than a typical car does in about 40 hours, according to Cottage Life magazine. What’s even worse about our aging Merc engine is it emits up to 25 - 30% of it’s fuel unburned into the water or atmoshphere. In some lakes in California, I wouldn’t even be able to operate it.

I know that my boating activities: wakeboard, waterskiing and tubing are having an enormous impact on our lake. The wake I generate is one thing, but the fuel and oil emissions are another as they inflict the greatest environmental damage.

Hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides are the major pollutants. A gasoline additive called MTBE (methyl tertbutyl ether) and possible carcinogen, is another. Nearly 90 percent of the MTBE in lake water is due to recreational boating, according to Gerry Mackie, author of The Cottage Bible.

While purchasing a new motor and accompanying boat are an expensive proposition, outboard models built after 2006 in the US have reduced emissions by 75%. In fact, if people are shopping for a new boat, they want to be aware of California’s Air Resource Board’s three star rating system as it applies to all new engines and PWC’s sold in the state of California.

	CARB’S One Star label identifies engines that meet CARB’s 2001 exhaust emission standards. Engines meeting these standards produce 75% fewer emissions than conventional carbureted two-stroke engines. These engines are equivalent to the US EPA’s 2006 standards for marine engines.
	The Two Star label identifies engines that meet CARB’s 2004 exhaust emission standards. Engines meeting these standards produce 20% fewer emissions than One Star (Low Emission) engines.
	The Three Star label identifies engines that meet CARB’s 2008 exhaust emission standards. Engines meeting these standards produce 65% fewer emissions than One Star (Low Emission) engines.

According to Air Resources Board’s website:

The main purpose of labels is to educate consumers. ARB wants consumers to be able to make informed choices concerning engine emissions when they are shopping for watercraft. Water agencies that worked with ARB in developing the watercraft regulations supported labels. The labels are an additional tool water agencies can use to reduce pollution in areas where water quality is a special concern.

I’m curious to find out which boat engines carry the three-star rating, and over the next couple of days will report my findings. I will also look at ways to improve a two-stroke engine’s fuel efficiency.

Cheers,

Julie

The gray plastic spigot is placed in the newly drilled angled hole, just inside the thick greyish-brown tree bark. A plastic pail is hung to catch the sap that will slowly pour from the trunk. Over the next 36 hours, 100 litres of sap will be collected from this tree and boiled down to make 1.5 litres of maple syrup. Remarkable considering an average sugar maple tree in eastern Canada only produces 35 to 50 litres of sap, and that’s over six weeks.

These are no ordinary maple trees. The Big Leaf Maple is the largest maple tree grown in Canada. Indigenous to B.C’s coastal forests, its sap has less sugar content the traditional Sugar Maple or the Hard Maple, but what it lacks in sweetness, it makes up for in volume.

Tapping for Gold

Locals on Vancouver Island have been making maple syrup for their own use for years. Commercial production began in 2005. It’s estimated there are over 600 tappers throughout the Island. Last year over 60,000 litres of sap was collected or the equivalent of 1,000 litres of syrup.

While the industry is small, the demand for the liquid gold is great. According to Gary Backlund, owner of a small managed forest on the north side of Ladysmith harbour, the syrup sells for up to $100 a litre. “We can’t keep it in stock. It sells out,” he explains. Most people are not putting it on their pancakes, but treating it as a specialty cooking product like saffron.

More Flavourful Taste

The Big Leaf Maple syrup is constantly being compared to its eastern cousins, and while some samplers say it tastes the same, others find it less sweet, more aromatic. Backlund states there is a huge difference between the Island syrup and what you buy at Costco, “It has lots of flavour: maple, coffee, vanilla, licorice, carmel blended with butterscotch.”

Unfortunately this year’s season which starts in November is coming to an end. Next year I will be making a trip over to Vancouver Island to attend the Maple Syrup Festival held in Duncan’s B.C. Forest Discover Centre. Judging by this year’s crowds, I had better get there early. For highlights of the Festival visit Don Genova’s Blog and download the audio file.

Tomorrow a treat for the kids - Caramelized Maple Popcorn

Cheers,

Julie

This weekend kicks off the great backyard bird count - see Backyard Bird Count story for more details. I have put out extra seeds hoping to entice more birds into my yard. Is this considered cheating?

The Black Capped Chickadees and Dark eyed Junco’s come to the backyard feeder between 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for breakfast, while the front yard feeder gets the most action between 2 - 3 p.m, with sparrows.

Several days ago, our backyard was filled with American Robins. They were feasting on an orange berry we had on our bushes.

Last year, only 24 people in B.C. participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I’m hoping we’ll have more participants this year. Click here to download a tally sheet and start counting.

Cheers,

Julie

The bird feeder’s mounted, filled to the top with black oil sunflower seeds and white millet. Now if someone could just tell the birds it’s here. It seems bird feeders are like new restaurants, it takes a while for the word to get out.

In order to advertise and promote our feeder, Daphne Solecki, coordinator of the Young Naturalists’ Club of British Columbia, suggests we scatter seeds along the ground and on the window sill, in other words, provide samples like they do in grocery stores at dinner time.

Although if you’re thinking of hanging a bird feeder at the cabin, I wouldn’t recommend it, as you will likely attract bears, raccoons and other little four legged creatures. When I ask Mark from Vancouver’s Wild Birds Unlimited, about bear proof feeders for the cottage, he suggests people attach a medium seed tube to a thin metal line strung across two trees or two posts. I’m not sure about this; I liken that to hanging candy just above a child’s head and then telling them they can’t have any.

The good news is, we have no bears in our backyard, so I scatter seeds liberally around the feeder. I have chosen this particular mix , comprised mainly of black oil sunflower, for its high oil and protein content.

Chipped sunflower seeds are also recommended for feeders, and will attract Steller’s Jays, titmouses, finchs and chickadees, but it’s expensive so make sure your feeder is squirrel proof.

Our feed mix, in addition to attracting chickadees, (I spotted one yesterday but he seems to be keeping the feeder a secret) will also entice Evening Grosbecks, house and purple finchs, sparrows and Red-breasted Nuthatchs. Adding thistle seed to our mix would attract even more finches, as it is their favourite food.

The placement of the feeder will also determine who comes to dinner. Platform feeders attract the biggest number of wild birds; it seems they like a place to perch while they snack. They also attract other animals, so we opted for a window mounted feeder that caters to birds only.

Ironically, we have quite a few birds, mostly Dark-Eyed Juncos, already pecking through our yard. It seems these ground feeders have more than enough food without us adding to it. Or maybe they prefer “homemade” seeds to our “take-out” variety.

Whatever the case, my favourite bird, the Steller’s Jay, likes peanuts in the shell, which our feeder cannot accommodate.

If you’re interested in setting up a feeder or simply want to attract more birds to your backyard, there are some great online sites like, the-scoop-on-wild-birds-and-feeders, and Bird Feeders Direct.

If you do have a feeder at the cabin, I am interested in hearing if you’ve had any problems with bears. I’m off to stalk our feeder.

Cheers,

Julie

Stand up and be counted. Actually, if you’re not a bird could you please sit down? From February 15 to the 18th, 2008, bird enthusiasts from all over Canada and the United States will spend 15 minutes a day for the next four days, counting and recording bird species found in their own back yard, local park or favourite natural area.

Sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the information gathered during the count is then added to the 36 million other bird observation records, housed in the Avian Knowledge Network, where they are accessed by scientists from around the world.

Last year over 11 million birds were counted, and organizers are hoping to attract even more counters this year. The information being gathered helps scientists track the ups and downs of the bird population as well as their migratory movements. The count is done in February so scientists can determine how the birds are surviving the winter and where they are located before the springtime migration begins in March.

This is a great activity for the young and old. If you’re like me, and are new to bird watching, you can click here to download a Checklist for your area. The hardest part is identifying the birds, so a field guide is recommended or click on the online bird guide which contains over 600 species.

If you are not unable to participate in the four day event, you can still record your bird-observations online by going to eBird.

We’re actually going to cheat a little bit with our count. I have installed a bird feeder in the hopes that we will be able to attract more birds and make it easier for us to record and identify the ones we spot.

Tomorrow we will examine bird feeders, their placement and the types of food used to attract different species of birds.

Cheers,

Julie