Browsed by
Author: Jason Attai

THE 117,000 KM BIRD: A VISIT TO PERU

THE 117,000 KM BIRD: A VISIT TO PERU

Submitted by Peter R.B. Ward I was thrilled to notice, while inspecting a large flock of Semi-palmated and WesternSandpipers in February this year, that one was carrying a leg flag. My location was on thebeachfront near Paracas, about 4 hours drive south of Lima, Peru. I was checking several smalland large sandpipers, and trying to separate them by species. Imagine my delight when Inoticed that one was carrying a leg flag on the left leg, and a numbered band on…

Read More Read More

NEW BRIGHTON: WHY THE NEXT FEW WORK PARTIES REALLY MATTER

NEW BRIGHTON: WHY THE NEXT FEW WORK PARTIES REALLY MATTER

Submitted by Nigel Peck After our last New Brighton work party posting someone asked “why the rush to clip Himalayan Blackberry right now”? There is a very concrete and time sensitive answer. The reason is because from March 12th until mid-August, removal of tree and shrub removal requires a qualified professional survey to make sure there are no active bird nests. We don’t have the resourses to do that – so our absolute last blackberry thicket removal work party has…

Read More Read More

TRIP REPORT – STANLEY PARK, JANUARY 10

TRIP REPORT – STANLEY PARK, JANUARY 10

Trip report by Sarah-Jane McAuley Twelve enthusiastic birders tested out their rain gear on a cool, wet morning in the rain forest. After admiring the (still empty) heron rookery, we started the morning with the sounds, but no sights, of a Red-breasted Nuthatch and an Anna’s Hummingbird in the parking lot. Once at Lost Lagoon, we came across the expected Canada Geese and Mallards, as well as distant views of Short-billed Gulls and half a dozen Gadwalls. Along the forested…

Read More Read More

TRIP REPORT JERICHO BEACH PARK – SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

TRIP REPORT JERICHO BEACH PARK – SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

Trip Report and Photos by Christine Balkwill A group of 11 enthusiastic birders started out on an overcast but pleasant day. The group had a mix of experience with a handful of eager beginners, a few local, experienced birders and one birder with more experience in eastern North America. The ponds only held a few remaining puddles of water so ducks were scant and we spotted no shorebirds today. A single Heron relaxed with the 6 loafing Mallards west of the…

Read More Read More

A TREE-IDENTIFICATION WALK IN QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK – AUGUST 30, 2025

A TREE-IDENTIFICATION WALK IN QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK – AUGUST 30, 2025

Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova. Photos by Nina Shoroplova and Caroline Penn. Twenty-five of us went on a tree-identification walk in Queen Elizabeth Park on August 30, 2025. We started at the southeast corner—actually an off-leash dog park—and went first toward the Vancouver Lawn Bowling Club and then around the tennis, pickleball and basketball courts and sports field. It’s an area that’s full of both native and ornamental trees. We gathered around an English oak, Quercus robur, and learned to…

Read More Read More

A SUMMER HIKE IN CYPRESS PROVINCIAL PARK

A SUMMER HIKE IN CYPRESS PROVINCIAL PARK

Trip Report by Helen Baker “Find something different,” our hike leader Gail Ross challenged us. Our group of nine were strolling on a cool green path that winds through a grove of old-growth Hemlock and Yellow-Cedar in Cypress Provincial Park. We all stopped and peered through the tree trunks and underground. “I see something!” someone said, pointing to a clump of spindly purple stems growing straight up from the forest floor. Gail nodded and explained the unusual coral-like growth was…

Read More Read More

TREE-IDENTIFICATION WALK ALONG ENGLISH BAY

TREE-IDENTIFICATION WALK ALONG ENGLISH BAY

Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova. Photos by Nina Shoroplova and Caroline Penn. The first time some members of Nature Vancouver joined Caroline Penn and me, Nina Shoroplova, on a tree-identification walk of the many trees along English Bay, we went from west to east. This time we met in front of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre and walked from Sunset Beach Park in the east, through English Bay Beach Park in the west, and ended in Alexandra Park, the one known…

Read More Read More

WALKING A LOOP TRAIL THROUGH HONEYMOON BAY ECOLOGICAL RESERVE

WALKING A LOOP TRAIL THROUGH HONEYMOON BAY ECOLOGICAL RESERVE

Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova If you were just driving by and didn’t know it was there, you might never notice the Honeymoon Bay Ecological Reserve. But if you had heard about it, or been before, or spotted it on the map as you drove northwest from Honeymoon Bay near Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island to, say, Nitinat, you would know you had found it and would look a little closer. I went there with my son, Alun, on the…

Read More Read More

TRIP REPORT – JERICHO BEACH PARK BIRD WALK – MAY 31, 2025

TRIP REPORT – JERICHO BEACH PARK BIRD WALK – MAY 31, 2025

Trip Report By Christine Balkwill, Photos by C Balkwill 13 intrepid birders joined Christine and Neill on what turned out to be a very rainy outing. Attendees included a few seasoned birders who were very helpful at spotting and hearing and also some eager beginners who were excited to meet some of their first birds. Neill spotted a Western Wood Pewee from the parking lot, setting a hopeful tone for the outing. Starting out from the East we found a…

Read More Read More

2025 HUGH HAMILTON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS

2025 HUGH HAMILTON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS

Undergrad Scholarship – Tara Brudar Tara is an upper-year undergraduate at UBC, studying natural resources conservation with a primary interest in science communication. Through UBC’s Harley Lab, Tara leads ocean acidification outreach across the province, closely collaborating with local organizations such as False Creek Friends Society (FCFS) to increase knowledge-sharing and community engagement.  This summer, through UBC’s CCEL Connect to Community Grant, Tara is organizing a community-based project which seeks to advance ocean acidification (OA) knowledge, adaptation capacity, and community engagement in False Creek,…

Read More Read More

Nature Vancouver