Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America. It stands three to four feet tall and has a wing span of seven feet. The bills are a yellowish color and the legs are green. Great blue herons have gray upper bodies, and their necks are streaked with white, black and rust-brown. They have grey feathers on the back of their necks with chestnut colored feathers on their thighs. The males have a puffy plume of feathers behind their heads and also tend to be slightly larger than females. In flight, the head is held close to and aligned with the body by a downward bend in the long neck. The long legs trail behind. This bird flies with strong deliberate wing beats.

Habitat

Great blue herons always live near sources of water, including rivers, lake edges, marshes, saltwater seacoasts, and swamps. They usually nest in trees or bushes that stand near water, breeding at elevations of up to 1,500 m.

Behavior

The great blue heron migrates in the fall, although some stay in the northern part of their range. The great blue heron usually tucks its head into an S shape when its resting and flying.

Diet

The great blue heron fishes for food during the day and at night. It stands in shallow water or at waters edge and waits for prey like frogs and fish to pass by and then it grabs them with its long bill. It also eats salamanders, lizards, snakes, turtles, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, aquatic insects and occasionally birds and small mammals like mice.

Life Cycle

The female great blue heron lays two to seven pale blue eggs on a bulky nest made of sticks and twigs and lined with a soft material. The nest is usually in a tall tree, but it may be built in the reeds or a cliff edge. They usually breed in colonies close to lakes or wetlands, often with other species of herons. These groups are called ’heronry’ (more accurately than ’rookery’). The eggs hatch in about a month and the chicks will fledge when they are about two months old. Great blue herons nest in colonies. They usually nest in the same spot from year-to-year. They may even use the same nest. Both parents feed the young by regurgitating food.

Burrowing Owl

The Burrowing owl, iccasionally called "Ground owl", is a grayish brown, round-headed owl lacking ear tufts. It has long slim legs and a short tail, and is smallish, about the size of a pigeon. The adults have a white abdomen with brown bars that are lacking on the young, which have a rusty throat instead. The Burrowing owl is active both day and night, and may be seen standing erect on the ground, though its small size and earth-colored plumage makes it difficult to spot. Burrowing owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity. Being one of the smallest owl species, Burrowing owls weigh only five or six ounces and are about 10 inches tall.

Habitat

The Burrowing owl requires treeless plains largely free of visual obstructions, such as grasslands grazed by livestock. It uses burrows abandoned by ground-dwelling mammals (e.g., badgers, gophers and prairie dogs) for nesting, roosting and caching food. Short or sparse vegetation and permanent cover are preferred around the burrows. Grasslands with thicker vegetation support the small mammals that they eat. Thus the owls need a mosaic of grass densities to successfully breed. The species is sometimes found on roadsides and crop lands and in urban areas where mowing keeps expanses of grass short.

Food

Burrowing owls mostly eat small mammals such as moles and mice during late spring and early
summer. Later they switch to insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles. They also prey on birds, amphibians and reptiles.

Behavior

Unlike most owls that only hunt at night, burrowing owls also hunt during the day. In October, they migrate to a warmer climate. Burrowing owls make a tremulous chuckling or chattering call. In summer they are active day and night.

Offspring

These owls inhabit their breeding grounds from April to September. Burrowing owls often nest in loose colonies about 100 yards apart. They lay 3 to 12 eggs in their underground nest from mid-May to early June. The female incubates the clutch for about 28 days while the male provides her with food. The young owls begin appearing at the burrows entrance two weeks after hatching and leave the nest to hunt for insects on their own after about 45 days. The chicks can fly well at 6 weeks old. Eggs and young in the nest are susceptible to predators such as snakes, badgers, skunks, foxes, cats and weasels. In addition many young starve to death
because the male is not able to deliver enough food to the nest. The family breaks up in August, when the young disperse over the prairies.

Threats

They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes. They are also killed by feral and domestic cats and dogs.

Did You Know... (Recycling)

Did You Know...
It's hard to believe that babies- so small and innocent- are responsible for 2.5% of all residential waste going into the landfills! Yes, in Canada we throw away 1.7 billion dispoable diapers every year. And the manufacture of disposable diapers in Canada consumes approximately 65, 500 tonnes of pulp, 8,800 tonnes of plastic and 9,800 tonnes of packing material. Cloth diapers are a greener alternative. If you don't want to wash diapers, consider a diaper service.

Plastic
Plactics account for 7% of the total weight of a typical landfill. In fact, Canadians take home more than 55 million plastic bags a week! Many plastics are fully recyclable like HDPE and PET. New, interesting products are being made from empty detergent bottles, milk jugs and other plastic refuse. For example, recycled PET is used to make fabric, insulation for sleeping bags and ski jackets; clothing such as T-shirts and uniforms; furniture; luggage; and carpet. And it is used in business equipment and supplies, such as overhead transparencies, covers, briefcases, 3-ring binders, erasable wall planners, chairs, bookmarks, computer bags and business cards. Recycled HDPE is used to make irrigation pipes, garden hoses and plastic trays for greenhouse plants.

Electrical Waste
As newer and more advanced computer, phones and entertainment equipment keep arriving on the market, older models begin to pile up in landfills. More than 140,000 tonnes of computer equipment, phones, televisions, stereos and small home appliances accumulate in Canadian landfills each year. That's equivalent to the weight of about 28,000 adult African elephants!

The amount of electrical waste is becoming a growing problem for municipalities.

All of this electrical waste does more than just take up land and space- it poses a risk to human health and the environment. Lead, cadmium, mercury and other heavy metals found in electronic equipment need to be properly managed to avoid polluting land and waterways.

Land filling electronic waste is also a lost opportunity because these products normally contain recyclable aluminum, ferrous metals and copper. In 1999, it is estimated that discarded personal computers along contained 4,400 tonnes of ferrous metal, 3,050 tonnes of aluminum and 1,500 tonnes of copper. In 2004, Alberta Environment estimated that more than 190,000 televisions and 90,000 desktop computers were discarded from Alberta households.

Other Recycling Tips

Clinical Waste

• Clinical waste such as nappies, sanitary waste and medical supplies have the potential to be infectious so must be disposed of using special methods.
• Be careful when disposing of needles and syringes.
• Look for doctors or manufacturer instructions of how to dispose of medical waste on the packaging containers.
• Medicine containers can be recycled accordingly once it is empty.
• Such companies are currently implementing clinical waste treatment schemes, such as Medical Waste Solutions, LTD.

Paint or Oil

• Waste of paint, paintbrushes, car oil and oil filters have to be carefully disposed of, as they can be very damaging to the environment.
• Don't pour oil or paint down the drain.
• Donate unwanted paints and varnishes, as others can reuse them.
• Look for disposal or recycling instructions on the packaging of the product.
• Civic amenity sites often take engine oil for recycling.
• Buy products in bulk whenever possible to reduce packaging waste.
• Use eco-friendly alternatives whenever possible.

Vehicle Recycling

• Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
• Try and fix your vehicle instead of throwing it away.
• Sell unwanted vehicles.
• Report abandonded vehicles to your local council for removal.
• Engine oil can be recycled at civic amenity sites.

Wood

• Take wood to civic amenity sites for recycling.
• Wood can often be reused to make other items, such as a bird table for your garden.
• Wood can often be added to your compost bin, such as saw dust and wood shavings.
• Buy Recycled wood whenever possible.

Clothes

• Donate old clothes to charity shops or take them to a jumble sale.
• Only donate clothes that are still usable.
• Old clothes can be used to make other textile items, such as cushion covers or cleaning cloths.
• When donating shows, make sure they are tied together so they don't separate.

Electrical Equipment

• Most electrical equipment can be reused or broken down into parts.
• If the electrical equipment is still in full working order, sell it in a car boot sale or donate it to a charity shop.
• Contact your retailer as they may take back old products.
• Always try to repair items rather than throwing them away, others may find a use for the item when you no longer want it.
• Try to buy electrical items that have a long life span.

Furniture

• Donate usable furniture to charity shops, schools, community centers, friends or neighbors.
• Sell furniture at garage sales or in auctions.
• Clean and repair broken furniture before you sell/donate it.

What Can Be Recycled?

• Newsprint.
• Magazines.
• Office and computer paper.
• Juice boxes.
• Aluminum and tin cans.
• Glass bottles and jars.
• Boxboard containers (cereal and shoe boxes).
• Flattened corrugated cardboard boxes.
• Milk cartons and jugs.
• Plastic containers.
• Plastic bags.

Steel

• Recycling Steel from construction products, vehicles and mechanical equipment can save a lot of energy pollution.
• One tonne of recycled steel saves 1.4 tonnes of iron ore and 3.6 barrels of oil.
• It takes four times as much energy to make steel from virgin ore as it does to make it from scrap.
• A stell mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution and mining wastes by 70%.
• Recycled steel cans are used to make new steel cans. Scrap metal can easily be recycled into a wide range of new products.

Battery Recycling

• All waste batteries are classified as hazardous waste and recycling is always the best option.
• Ordinary household batteries do contain some harzardous chemicals so ideally should not be thrown out with the day to day rubbish.
• Rechargeable batteries contain harmful metals, so should never be thrown away with daily rubbish, they should be returned to manufacturer for disposal or recycled elsewhere.
• Contact the battery manufacturer for further recycling advice.
• Ordinary batteries require a lot of energy to make, so in order to savew energy, use rechargeable batteries and electricity mains instead of ordinary batteries.
• Rechargeable batteries are the most environmentally friendly option as can last up to several hundred charging cycles resulting in less waste being produced.

Metal Recycling

Aluminum and Steel

• Metal is usually separated into two groups: aluminum and steel.
• You can test which metal your waste is by using a magnet. Aluminum metal is non-magnetic whereas steel is magnetic.
• There may be a symbol, such as a alu mark, on the product to indicate what metal it is made from.
• Drink cans are usually made from aluminum and food cans are usually made from steel.
• Deposit used cans at your local recycling bank.
• Make sure drink and food cans are clean before recycling.
• Aerosol containers can be recycled, but only when they are completely empty.
• Metallic plastic film, such as chocolate wrappers, cannot be recycled.

Did you know that a littered aluminum can will take 300 years to break down on its own? By recycling aluminum cans, we save landfill space as well as energy. For example, it takes 95% less energy to produce new aluminum from discarded aluminum cans than from raw materials.

Paper Recycling

Paper is separated into the following groups:

• Magazines.
• Newspapers.
• Office paper.
• Cardboard.
• Phone directories.

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• Deposit used paper at your local recycling bank.
• Only recycle gummed paper if specified, such as envelopes and stickers.
• Reduce paper waste by cancelling unwanted deliveries, or read news online as opposed to buying the newspapers.
• Put a "no junk-mail please" sign on your letter box to reduce unwanted mail.
• Reuse paper around the home as scrap paper or packing material.
• Set your printer to print on both sides of the paper.
• Buy recycled paper whenever possible.

Recycling one tonne of newspaper saves: 19 trees, 3 cubic meters of landfill, 4000 kilowatt hours of energy, 29000 liters of water and 30 kg of air pollution effluent. Recycled newsprint can be made into new newspaper, kitty litter, shingles for houses, absorbent for oil spills and insulation. Products made from recycled cardboard use 25% of the energy and create half as much pollution as making them from new materials.