Nature Note:Fox Sparrow

A fox sparrow has been visiting the property lately,scratching for seed.This bird is a boreal breeder,a native of the Great North Woods,which has come south for the winter.It is most likely from Northern Quebec or New Brunswick.They also breed from Alaska to Southern California-presumably in the mountains.Fox sparrows are heavily streaked with reddish brown and gray.At up to 7.5 inches,or 19.05 centimeters,it is one of the largest of sparrows.The dark-eyed juncos,or snowbirds,have also checked in.They could be from any of a number of places above the Mason-Dixon Line.These birds herald the arrival of markedly colder weather this weekend.

Nature Note:Rainforest Protected

For the past two years,the Nature Conservancy and its public and private partners have put up 120 million dollars Canadian to conserve British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest.The money will fund conservation-management programs and sustainable business activity.Land-use agreements will protect 5 million acres from logging,while more than 19 million acres will be enrolled in Ecosystem Based Management-the largest attempt to implement this strategy that preserves both land and aboriginal cultures,as well as industry and small business.The rainforest is on the mainland coast of BC,growing more than 250 miles north to Alaska.