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Nature Walk along Burnaby Lake and Brunette River

Nature Walk along Burnaby Lake and Brunette River

Trip Report by Bev Ramey On 16 March 2025, Kelly Sekhon led a group of nine on a lovely spring walk from Still Creek, along the North side trails of Burnaby Lake and down the Brunette River. We followed about ten kilometres of trails including the Brunette-Fraser Regional Greenway to Hume Park. We enjoyed sightings of several birds along the way and especially the close-up views of the rich assortment of birds at Piper Spit and the viewing tower where…

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In Memoriam – John Toochin

In Memoriam – John Toochin

Submitted by Peter Ward and Ken Hall  It is with great sadness we report the loss of our lifelong birding friend John. John passed away on February 27th, 2025 at the age of 91. John joined the Nature Vancouver (Vancouver Natural History Society) in 1959 and was a Lifetime member. He contributed a great deal to the Birding Section of Nature Vancouver in the sixties and seventies. He led field trips to most of the key birding locations in the lower…

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Birding Field Trip: Pitt Addington Marsh March 1st

Birding Field Trip: Pitt Addington Marsh March 1st

Trip leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais had originally planned to lead a trip to Pitt Lake in early February, but one of the attractions was the opportunity to see Trumpeter Swans. That’s not very practical if most of the lake and marsh is frozen. So we delayed and were happy to find open water and clear skies when we arrived at the Grant Narrows parking lot on the morning of Saturday March 1st. The trip began with scope views…

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Birding Field Trip: Terra Nova 12 Feb 2025

Birding Field Trip: Terra Nova 12 Feb 2025

The walk at Terra Nova that was scheduled for Saturday February 8th was cancelled due to icy trail conditions, but a few of us looked ahead at the forecast and saw warmer temperatures predicted for mid-week and decided to reschedule to Wednesday for those who were available. Unfortunately it wasn’t warmer! Four brave birders joined Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for a beautiful sunny morning of birding, but the paths remained icy and we had to move slowly to stay…

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BC Bats Show No Sign of Infection from White-nose Syndrome – Public Asked to Report Bat Sightings

BC Bats Show No Sign of Infection from White-nose Syndrome – Public Asked to Report Bat Sightings

Press Release from BC Community Bat Program – February 3, 2025  The BC Community Bat Programs, in collaboration with the Province of BC, are asking the public for help in the effort to detect and prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats. Residents are urged to report any bat activity observed in winter and any sick or dead bats found before May 31st. There have not been any bats with WNS found to date in BC, but PseudogymnoascusDestructans (Pd),…

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Voices for the Islands – Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea

Voices for the Islands – Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea

Book Review by Caroline Penn Author: Sheila Harrington 2024Heritage House Publishing Book Dimensions: 7.5 in. x 10 in.288 Pages: Softcover $34.95 CAD; E-Book $14.99 CAD In times of much sad news, fake news and loss of hope, we need to hear some good news stories about successes that come little by little when communities work together to give the land a voice. This wonderful book is a story about the author’s journey to meet the hundreds of people who worked…

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BC Parks Foundation Purchases Saturna Island Acreage – January 31, 2025

BC Parks Foundation Purchases Saturna Island Acreage – January 31, 2025

Submitted by Bev Ramey The BC Parks Foundation has successfully protected a large acreage on Saturna Island. The land includes two and a half kilometres of south-facing rocky shoreline, plus small coves with a grove of Seaside Juniper on the point (the threatened/vulnerable Juniperus maritima). The protected land includes the steep hillside extending up from the shoreline, the ridgetop itself and its north-facing slopes. The crowd-sourced funding campaign by the BC Parks Foundation began late December and reached its goal within…

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Beginner Bird Walk at Queen Elizabeth Park – Jan 19th, 2025

Beginner Bird Walk at Queen Elizabeth Park – Jan 19th, 2025

Trip Report by Kelvin Yip Eleven beginner birders joined leaders Kelvin Yip and Neill Vanhinsberg for a frosty morning of birding at Queen Elizabeth Park on January 19th. Beginner tips and tricks were shared, and we were greeted with a visit from a female Anna’s Hummingbird in the parking lot.  In the rose garden we saw some Song Sparrows and Dark Eyed Juncos. Over behind the Lawn Bowling Club there were Ruby Crowned Kinglets picking around on the ground and…

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New Brighton 2024 Year End Reflection

New Brighton 2024 Year End Reflection

Report by Nigel Peck. With the arrival of 2025 and the approach of our fourth year of the New Brighton project, it seems a good time to reflect back on what we’ve achieved in the last year and look forward to the possibilities of this year. Reflecting back: Invasives: What stood out last year was massive invasive plant pulling efforts involving armload after armload of purple vetch, white-sweet clover and finally, scotch broom. The purple vetch was first and almost…

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White Rock Pier and Blackie Spit Birding – Jan 5, 2025

White Rock Pier and Blackie Spit Birding – Jan 5, 2025

Trip Report by Thomas Plath; Photos by Selina Wong Thirteen participants participated on this half-day excursion despite the less than ideal conditions. Heavy mist hampered viewing at White Rock Pier nonetheless almost all of the regular seabirds were observed including great views of Greater Scaup, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe and Common Loon. A feeding Red-throated Loon, constantly diving was not very co-operative and unfortunately an Eared Grebe was too far out for…

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