Protecting the nighthawk, American badger, yellow-bellied racer and olive-sided flycatcher

The common nighthawk, western rattlesnake, yellow-bellied racer, pallid bat, great basin spadefoot, bobolink, sage thrasher, Nuttall's cottontail and western harvest mouse.

They are just some of the diverse range of species that call the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands southeast of Keremeos and west of Osoyoos home.

And, those birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians are now all safe with the 27 acres becoming part of The Nature Trust of BC.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Okanagan and Similkameen community, protecting Nighthawk Hill Grasslands is a meaningful step toward protecting BC's biodiversity," said Dr. Jasper Lament, CEO of The Nature Trust of BC.

"Nighthawk Hill Grasslands are carbon storage superheroes and the breeding grounds for threatened common nighthawks that migrate all the way to South America (for the winter)."

Speaking of the namesake nighthawk, it's a relatively small bird (between the size of a robin and a crow) with angular wings and erratic and dramatic aerial dives that feeds on insects during flight.

It nests on the ground and feeds at dawn and dusk with a nasal cry.

The Nature Trust of BC isn't revealing the name of the local landowner who donated the 27-acre stretch of grasslands for preservation.

It is only saying the resident of the Similkameen wanted to see the land forever protected as a wild and undisturbed landscape to benefit wildlife, climate and people.

About 100 metres of the Similkameen River runs through the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands, giving wildlife important access to water in an arid environment.

Such temperate grasslands are considered one of the most altered and endangered ecosystems on Earth.

Further, hot and dry bunchgrass ecosystems are the rarest land covers in BC and only 7% of them are conserved.

"The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation is proud to support The Nature Trust of BC in securing Nighthawk Hill Grasslands," said Habitat Conservation CEO DAn Buffett.

"Through partnerships with local communities and partners, this acquisition protects more grassland habitat for many creatures using this land and the adjacent (23,129-acre) South Okanagan Grasslands Provincial Protected Area. This is a great achievement for habitat conservation in the region."

Now to that long list of critters that call the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands home.

They include at-risk mammal species such as the American badger, Nuttall's cottontail rabbit, western harvest mouse and pallid bat.

At-risk birds range from the aforementioned common nighthawk, sage thrasher, barn and bank swallows to Lewis's woodpecker, yellow-breasted chat, bobolink and olive-sided flycatcher.

At-risk reptiles and amphibians include the western yellow-bellied racer (a slender snake), western tiger salamander, great basin spadefoot (toad), western rattlesnake and great basin gopher snake.

The Nature Trust of BC is the charity that has helped protect and care for critical habitats since 1971.

Over that time, the trust and its partners have acquired more than 180,000 acres of ecologically significant land to save vulnerable wildlife, fish and plants.