Nicola Naturalist Society Projects
November 23, 2023 – The Nicola Naturalist Society (NNS), formed in 2010, is based in Merritt, BC. As a member of BC Nature, NNS is one of 50 other naturalist clubs in all of BC that is open to anyone interested in nature, wildlife and the health of the local ecosystems. Over the past year, NNS has been working on two ongoing monitoring projects in the Nicola region.
The Great Basin Spadefoot Project
NNC is conducting surveys for the Great Basin Spadefoot, a threatened amphibian species, in the Nicola Valley near Merritt, BC starting from 2022. This project is a continuation of their previous Amphibian Monitoring Project from 2011 to 2015, which involved surveying local wetlands to find the best places for long-term monitoring under the guidance of professional herpetologists.
Sandhill Cranes of the Douglas Lake Plateau Survey Results 2023
As the joint custodians of the Douglas Lake Plateau IBA, the Nicola Naturalist Society and the Kamloops Naturalist Club survey the numbers of sandhill cranes resting and flying over the Douglas Lake area each spring. This year, over 10,000 cranes were counted during only a few of the days during the migration season; an estimate of 20,000 – 30,000 cranes use the Douglas Lake area during the migration season.