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In Memoriam – David Boyd

In Memoriam – David Boyd

It is with sadness that we learn of the passing of David Boyd (1933-2024), a long time member of Nature Vancouver. David joined Nature Vancouver in 1997, and was member of the Birding Section Committee. He coordinated several ongoing bird surveys, including Christmas bird counts since the 1980s. These included the Ladner Area ‘E’ of the Ladner Christmas Bird Count and where the birders warmly remember the gatherings at Sharkey’s to share their tallies with David and the cheerful atmosphere…

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Birding on the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty — Saturday November 23

Birding on the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty — Saturday November 23

The weather forecast looked ominous for Saturday, particularly for areas south of Vancouver proper. The second bomb cyclone of the week was due to hit late on Friday, and who knew how long it would really last?   Harvey and Michelle considered pre-emptively cancelling the trip they were leading out to the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, but after a brief reconnaissance trip on Friday morning that established that the waves would probably not be *too* big, they decided to go ahead with the…

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Field Trip to Hastings Park, Saturday Nov 9

Field Trip to Hastings Park, Saturday Nov 9

Thirteen waterproofed cheerful and enthusiastic naturalists spend two pleasant hours touring the nature sanctuary at Hastings Park the rainy morning of Saturday, November 9th.  A good variety of the expected winter birds were seen.  A Red-tailed Hawk solemnly surveyed the construction site of the new PNE Amphitheatre from the tower of one of the construction cranes.  An encounter with a female gingko tree that had produced a bumper crop of fruit led to a spontaneous discourse by one of the…

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2024 VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

2024 VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

A reminder to all that the 68th Annual Vancouver Christmas Bird Count will be held Saturday, 14th December. December 1st update: We’re up to 163 birders registered for the 2024 Christmas Bird Count, an increase of 18 registrants in the past week – thanks to all of you who registered this last week and thanks to all registrants for committing your time and energy to this important community science initiative. Two weeks to go, we’re getting much closer to ideal numbers,…

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Fall Colours in Stanley Park – 2024-10-22

Fall Colours in Stanley Park – 2024-10-22

Post by Nina Shoroplova It was fortunate that Caroline Penn and I moved the date of Nature Vancouver’s “Fall Colours in Stanley Park” tree-identification walk away from Saturday, October 19, the heaviest rainfall day of the latest atmospheric river. But perhaps not so good that we moved it to the morning of Tuesday, October 22, because it rained cats and dogs once again. Originally there were twenty of us registered for the Saturday, but weather and work intervened and just…

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Field Trip to OWL – 26-09-2024

Field Trip to OWL – 26-09-2024

Leaders: Alice Rose & Sylvia Smallman, long time OWL volunteersand Nature Vancouver members. Since the previous weekend had been an Atmospheric River, the 12 confirmed participants were asked to check their email at 8:00 am the morning of the event for confirmation. Fortunately, the weather was fine, so the message was positive. Everyone arrived on time for a prompt start at 10:00 am. It was everyone’s first visit to OWL! (Except Cynthia!) While we were gathering, we were delighted by…

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Birding at Trout Lake — Thanksgiving edition

Birding at Trout Lake — Thanksgiving edition

Twelve birders braved the very wet weather forecast to join trip leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais at Trout Lake on October 14th, including a visitor from Ottawa who happened upon our gathering on the South Beach and asked if he could join. We started by focusing on the birds on the water: more than 80 Canada Geese, about 40 Wood Ducks, and a few Mallards.  After a Downy Woodpecker flew into the willow behind us, we started moving counterclockwise around the…

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Birding at Trout Lake – Oct 13th Meetup Edition

Birding at Trout Lake – Oct 13th Meetup Edition

14 birders joined leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for a morning of birding at Trout Lake on a beautiful sunny autumn Sunday. We were pleased to have a mix of familiar faces and new birders joining us for the first time. As we started the walk, the lake was covered with Canada Geese. Surprisingly many wood ducks (45+) were hiding among the lily pads. The Northern Shovelers and other ducks kept to the margins of the lake, out of…

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The Homegrown National Park

The Homegrown National Park

Submitted by James M. Scott People feel a longing for a connection to the natural world. Instead of enjoying nature as a way of life, we fill our daily lives with all sorts of uninspiring, attention-robbing activities—entertainment, shopping, doomscrolling, and, of course, nonstop work. Nature is over there in some far-away nature preserve or national park, and we’re over here eking out an existence in the city or suburbs. What if we could bring the natural world to our own…

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Trip Report: Cypress Provincial Park Picnic Area Hawkwatch Sit October 3, 2024 1-4 pm

Trip Report: Cypress Provincial Park Picnic Area Hawkwatch Sit October 3, 2024 1-4 pm

This Hawkwatch was part of a series of Nature Vancouver’s Welcome Events and intentionally designed with access and accessibility in mind. Joanna Chin and Neill Vanhinsberg were the co-leaders for this Hawkwatch Sit. Participants were a diverse group of people that came from different communities in Metro Vancouver including: downtown Vancouver, Ladner, Richmond, Vancouver, and West Vancouver. We even had a participant as young as nine years old that had the day-off from school! We started off with a land…

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