The Norman Davies’ niece, Rosemary Darville, fondly relates the story of her own family’s time in Oyama: For their honeymoon the Davies set off on a long journey by ship around the world, search-ing for a place to settle. When... [Continue Reading]
Fall migration, an overview Flock of Sandhill Cranes migrating south Many birds migrate, as you know. In our valley, spring migration unfolds gradually, some birds arriving to breed here as early as February, others not until June. And in the... [Continue Reading]
Chop wood, pump water, wash clothes, pick vegetables, cook and serve family andranch hand meals – that was the daily routine for Wong Bing working at theRainbow Ranche from 1916 to 1920. Wong Bing’s life on the ranch was recorded... [Continue Reading]
In our last post we looked at two North-American sparrows which turn up every spring to breed here, Savannah and Vesper Sparrows. This time let’s look at a sparrow you will only see here in summer, the Lark Sparrow. Lark... [Continue Reading]
William Furniss, a middle-aged farmer from Vernon, became the second owner of the V Bar V, after the Bovee brothers. He was born in England on December 5, 1843 (his gravestone says 1844) and according to the 1901 Canada Census... [Continue Reading]
Joseph Hayton was a Boer War veteran and world adventurer. He was born near Ventnor, Isle of Wight, to George Hayton, Rector of Niton, and his wife Ellen Louisa (Chadwick) Hayton. Hayton immigrated to Canada at age 19 aboard the... [Continue Reading]
This blog continues a story of the Bovee families that settled in Oyama in 1894 and then moved to the Commonage in 1898. Manfred pre-empted a half section of land in the northern Commonage, a dry grassland environment about 10... [Continue Reading]
At least five families contributed to the development of the V Bar V ranch in Oyama.[1] The first were the Bovee brothers and their families. The original pre-emptors of the V Bar V were the Bovee brothers, Manfred Leroy Sanford... [Continue Reading]
When non-birders think of sparrows they think of the common House Sparrow, the bird that says, “Cheep, cheep” in our hedges and is abundant in built-up areas. But House Sparrows are not true sparrows, were introduced here from Europe and... [Continue Reading]
Our valley is home to two jays, members of the corvid family, (which includes crows,ravens, magpies and so on). These are the Canada Jay, formerly called the Gray Jay, and theSteller’s Jay. I wrote an article about Canada Jays in... [Continue Reading]
