Dunbar Residents Association News and Events

Were Vancouver’s Pheasants an introduced Species, I am not sure but I think so? They must have been introduced in the 1800s, for what reason I am not sure? Could it be that the birds were bred and escaped the breeding farms in the lower mainland? Pheasants in the wild probably looked for specific favourable Pheasant habitats all around the Lower Fraser, like Sea Island, Iona, Dinsmore, Westham, Woodward and Blenheim Flats “Southlands”. Or they could have just been released to the wild, for hunting opportunities.

Sharon and I can remember the birds in our back “one acre yards” in Southlands, they kind of liked our vegetable garden!

Eight year old Terry tried to sneak up on them with his Daisy Air Rifle and was never successful in getting one for the supper pot. I would hide in the grass, lift up the Daisy and they would run or do a low flapping flight and land not far away, boy that was frustrating.

I remember one day I propped the Daisy barrel on the fence of a neighbour, the Pheasant Lover. It was an electric horse fence wire and he was watching/waiting for this nasty kid. I would suppose he threw the 110 volt knife switch to the closed position and I got the biggest “Pheasant Shock” of my short bird hunting life.

The last of the pheasants disappeared along with the farm hedge row pheasant habitats in Southlands probably in the 1960s. The Manards who still live in Southlands, tried to reintroduce them, with out much success many years ago.

A reminder, do not miss the planned Southlands Salmonberry Days Walks in May! Got any good Pheasant escape stories to tell?

Tuesday, Apr 7, 7:30 – 9:30 pm: DRA Board meeting, Dunbar Community Centre

Thursday, April 16, 5:00 – 8:00 pm: Public Information Open House re: re-zoning application and proposed development at W. 41st & Balaclava, Knox United Fellowship Centre, 5600 Balaclava (see 41st & Balaclava Development webpage for more information on this issue)

• Application by Emaar Canada for
  • 4-storey housing project for seniors
  • restoration & rehabilitation of the Heritage B Knox Church
  • replacement of the church annex building
• Applicant team & City staff available to answer questions & receive comments.

Thursday, April 16, 6:30 – 8:30 pm: Initial meeting of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Dunbar Apartments (supportive housing facility at 16th & Dunbar), Dunbar Community Centre.

• Agenda
• CAC to include 12 citizen volunteers working with Coast Mental Health and its partners.
• Priority given to those in the immediate neighbourhood.
• Participants to be nominated/selected from the following groups (3 from each category):
  • Business (BIA)
  • Local Schools/PACs
  • Local Neighbourhood Associations (DRA, DVIC, DCC, Pt Grey)
  • Local Neighbours (BlockWatch)
• Contact Jula Zado, Coast Mental Health juliaz@coastmentalhealth.com or the DRA at info@dunbar-vancouver.org if you would like more information and/or are interested in participating.

Saturday, Apr 25, 10 am – noon: Dunbar Garden Club Plant Sale, 37th & Highbury

Sunday, Apr 26: “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” – Hikes (2 km to 20 km) through Pacific Spirit Park to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. Start/Finish at SW Marine & Camosun

• 09:00: Registration
• 10:30: Hikes start
• 1:00 – 6:00 pm: Live acoustic music at Southlands School Field
• Lots more information at the Walk on the Wild Side website
• For more info, contact Bruce McPherson at: photoboots@me.com
  

Tuesday, Apr 28, 7:30 pm: Dunbar Garden Club meeting, Dunbar Community Centre

• Garden Maintenance & Renovation with Gerry Gibbons, gardener for VanDusen’s Sino-Himalayan Garden
• Introductory talk on garden renovation will be followed by a Question & Answer session
• Drop-in fee $3.00

Hi gardening people : The question is” what to do” with our last years Mason Bee Hives THAT YOU CAREFULLY STORED AWAY , you know the natural wooden ones with lots of five sixteenth of a inch holes in, now filled up with mud and juvenile bees from last year ? In two weeks from now when there is very likely to be MANY FLOWERING CHERRY TREES IN FULL BLOOM, please move the wooden block hives outside to a southern exposure, lots of warm sun, if mother nature provides us with such lovely gardening stuff in March

Its a watch and waiting time now and warm afternoon spring days will awaken the Male bees, in the first outer mud cells and if they survived our nasty winter, they will mud chew their way out . Watching all this is such fun as every bee once out, takes the time to clean the mud from their faces and wings . Sprucing them selves up for grand entrance to this flower, pollen world of the hard working female bees, the ladies are located in the back two mud cells and spot the light and feel the warm sun from the males opening their way out . The cleaned up males peek into the remaining cells, watching and waiting for females to scramble out and its instant mating when they arrive . These peeking males do not even give the gals enough time to wash off the mud and make themselves presentable !

We have now watched this ancient new mason bee arrival in great wonder, for it has been happening for thousands of years . So what old ancient native spring flowering trees and shrubs could these pollinators have pollinated in the past and even today ? Send me your answers !

Getting back to the last years hives , watch and observe, for the last cells in each hole might have some females aboard that are having problems finding their way out . Now we all want as many hard working females working our fruit trees as possible, so we have to help ! This is where a plastic straw and a cotton Q tip comes in handy, for it is now that the mason bee keeper becomes a rescue bee surgeon ! Push the very wet q tip into each open cell , very gently now and if you meet resistance that means there is usually unopened cells and inside there is either a dead or a live bee . Now two options, keep lots of water on the q tip to soften the mud wall then very gently now push and you will break the cell wall . Go no further , wait for a few” 6″ hours hours , for the bee to drink the water you have provided and chew out the now soft mud . What happens now is that the water and the activity usually will let the last female bee in the last cell escape . I like this option the best , the straw water technique usually results in some injury to the bees , let them chew out if they have enough energy to get to this new world . Observe and when the hive has no bees interested in the cells its time for another very quick cell check then quickly remove and clean the hive and replace to the same spot . Hope this helps in some way or another ?

Terry the bee and salmon man