Submitted by Penny N. Lim A bar-be-que at Alouette Lake on 28th July, 2022. Extremely hot day. Sought shade. Managed short walks into the forest. My highlight? Coming upon a series of Old growth tree stumps. The original designer – Mother Nature. Inviting greens and browns. Calming.
Submitted by Penny N. Lim A welcome walk in rainforest country on 21st July 2022. Happily hiked along the refreshing green trails under gigantic trees. Bark patterns drew my attention. Are these magnificent trees 800 or 1,000 years old? Abundant Western Sword ferns. Heavy moss-covered tree branches. Well-maintained wide trails. Although I noticed the mosquitoes, only later did I find 3 bites on each limb.
Submitted by Penny N. Lim One spontaneous Saturday afternoon (11th June 2022), I set out to Burnaby Lake with Marie Joe, to see the awesome Mandarin Duck. Was the day ever hot and the detours cumbersome! Easy birding at Burnaby Lake. A few steps along the trail, we came upon visitors feeding birds and taking pictures. We stopped still where a crowd gathered. Feeding in the grass was a Sandhill crane family just off the trail. In the open. A perfect view of a fluffy chick. The chick…
Nature Vancouver members are saddened to learn the loss of a long time member. Katharine Steig joined Nature Vancouver in 1991. She was member of the Board of Directors and served as the Chair of the Conservation Section for many years. The following obituary is submitted by Katharine’s family. Katharine Steig of West Vancouver, British Columbia, passed away peacefully on the evening of August 12, 2022. She was in her 86th year. Katharine was predeceased by her husband, Michael Steig….
Submitted by Adele Liu Roger Emsley, Executive Director of Against Port Expansion Community Group, has sent out the following message to the group: An article written by Colin Laughlan, largely critical of Robin Silvester and the manner in which the Port of Vancouver is pushing for approval of the RBT2 project, has just been published in the Maritime Magazine. You can read the article from this LINK. Conservation groups from Canada and elsewhere, scientists expert in wetland ecology, citizen scientists, the…
Submitted by John Martin Survey Date: July 29 2022; Revised: August 01 2022 Disclaimer: Due to the potential overlap and limitations in auto-id software, the listed species detected during this survey may not be fully accurate. For more accurate identification, the bat calls should be analyzed using more sophisticated bat acoustic software. Detection Survey Information Type of Detection Survey: Bat Survey Survey Site: South side of Ambleside Pond from the west bend towards the east end of the pond. Recording Device: Echo Touch…
Submitted by Colin Clasen For information about the definition, and the importance of buying Bird Friendly Coffee, please see the web pages of Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center from the following links: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/about-bird-friendly-coffee https://global.si.edu/success-stories/smithsonian-migratory-bird-center-bird-friendly-coffee Also please see an article by Birds Canada about switching to Bird Friendly Coffee: https://www.birdscanada.org/making-the-switch-to-bird-friendly-coffee/ Bird Friendly Coffee Sellers in Metro Vancouver As of 2025, there’s a new bird-friendly coffee roaster in town: Big Year Coffee. The owner, Avery Meeker, studies bird population dynamics as a Ph.D…
Submitted by Adele Liu A local documentary producer – NERV Productions takes you on a journey of the Fraser Estuary. See the trailer below. The full documentary will be made available free of charge on Youtube in August. Where millions of birds and billions of fish once thrived, now mere thousands struggle to co-exist with the unregulated growth of Metro-Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Local filmmakers Brendan Chu and Chris Jenkins explore the Fraser Estuary, the original river delta beneath…
By Peter Ward This time of the year is the best season for listening to birdsong. Pick a patch in your favourite forest, park, or an open grassland, or even better a water’s edge with cattails and you’ll be rewarded with the rich experience of multiple male birds singing to defend their territories. These apps help amateur bird watchers and ornithologists know what they are listening to. They are immensely helpful with identification of species and work even if multiple…
Report by Cathy Walker On July 2, 2022, I participated in the Marine Biology field trip, led by Sheila Byers, to the intertidal zone at Centennial Beach in Delta. Sheila focused primarily on eelgrass, lugworms and bivalves. I learned a lot. The native eelgrass, Zostera marina, has the wider, longer leaves while the introduced species, Zostera japonica, has the narrower, shorter leaves. There is a lot of Z. japonica on the sandy mudflats of Centennial Beach. The native eelgrass prefers to be immersed in…