David Lam Park West and Around the Corner Text and photos by Janet Snell On a sunny Monday, July 3rd, another iNaturalist oyster survey was carried out at David Lam Park (West) with nine volunteers. We were continuing the survey begun two weeks earlier and continued west along the rocky shoreline of the park. The beach at the innermost location is composed of large and small cobbles at a shallow slope which flattens out at the lowest inter-tidal level where…
Joint trip with Wonders of the Salish Sea & Nature Vancouver Report by Sheila Byers, Member of Nature Vancouver & Wonders of the Salish Sea What a day of intertidal exploring we had on Saturday, May 6, 2023! Spring tide low water level (LLW): 13:13 at 0.6 m elevation. The forecasted rain was just a sprinkle making our trip quite comfortable, albeit cool under an overcast sky. Fifteen participants arrived early at 12:15 to the Lumberman’s Arch area to sign…
Coopers’ Park and David Lam Park, False Creek Report by Janet Snell and Greg Leach Two teams of False Creek Oyster Survey volunteers accomplished a great deal over this past weekend (June 17th & 18th) and – by all reports – they had a lot of fun doing it. Up until now, our citizen science work has been conducted on the south shore of False Creek at Charleson Park and Habitat Island (Olympic Village). This past weekend, we switched our focus to the north…
Trip Report by Vicky Earle On June 17, I joined trip leader Kelly Sekhon for a hike up Teapot Hill near Cultus Lake in search of the rare phantom orchid. This plant is globally secure but is listed as red/endangered in British Columbia. The phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae) is the only Cephalanthera species entirely dependent on symbiotic mycorrhizae for its nutrition. Being an entirely white perennial with only a small yellow gland on the lip of each blossom, this plant has no chlorophyll and is unable…
Trip report by Jan Lowcock and Janet Snell On Sunday June 11, seven members of Nature Vancouver and guest expert Melissa Hafting joined birding trip leader Janet Snell and Jan Lowcock (scope carrier) to check out birds at two locations – Lily Point and Seabright Farm – in Point Roberts, Washington. The walk began in the parking lot of the Lily Point, a 111-hectare Marine Reserve including rocky tidal areas and forested uplands. The forested section, with massive Big-leaf Maples…
NV Trip to Juan de Fuca Marine Park – June 2 to 6, 2023 Report by Denis Laplante We had no rain, and the worst patch of mud was only 2cm deep. Many of the trails required scrambling and good balance; some sections were like a walk in the park. For tides we used Fisheries & Oceans https://tides.gc.ca/en/stations stations Point No Point and Port Renfrew (also Java App jtides.jar). Beware daylight saving time – tide tables at trailheads were in…
Trip Report by Nina Shoroplova On a pleasantly cool day, nineteen members of Nature Vancouver joined co-leader and photographer Caroline Penn and me to identify trees in Kitsilano Beach Park and over to Vancouver Maritime Museum. It was June 9, a day bookended by much hotter weather. Our first tree was a hiba arborvitae, Thujopsis dolobrata, growing in the verge between Cornwall Avenue and a fence beside the Kitsilano Beach cycle path. It seems to be a rather nondescript coniferous evergreen…
Habitat Island, Sunday, June 4th Report by Janet Snell and Greg Leach We had a very successful Oyster event at Habitat Island this past weekend. A big thank-you to all the volunteers who helped with on our third oyster survey of the season. There were eleven people on this sunny day and Joan Lopez dropped by to say hello at the end of the day. (She will be leading Oyster Survey #4 on June 17th at Cooper’s Park on the North Shore…
Trip Report by Rita Li & Laura Cottle On Sunday, May 21, we had 16 participants, a group comprised of members of Nature Vancouver and Northshore Hikers, enjoying a walk in the Pacific Spirit Park. We started at the north entrance to Camosun Bog, walked around the Bog, then over to the second growth coniferous forest Southwest of the bog, and finally across Imperial Road to walk through the area west of Imperial road. The description here concentrates on the…
Opportunity to send your comments to BC Government’s Environmental Assessment Office by June 8 It was with great sadness that many of us heard the news of our Federal Government’s approval on April 20, 2023 of the expansion for Roberts Bank Terminal 2, although the approval did include 370 legally binding conditions. Our Provincial Government is now considering this expansion project and has invited public comment until June 8th. Comments are to be submitted through the BC Environmental Assessment Office….