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Category: Botany

TRIP REPORT – MEET THE MOSSES WITH CONNOR WARDROP, MARCH 28, 2026

TRIP REPORT – MEET THE MOSSES WITH CONNOR WARDROP, MARCH 28, 2026

Trip report by Nina Shoroplova Connor Wardrop, a bryologist and Ph.D. candidate at UBC, led twelve of us on a “Meet the Mosses” walk in Stanley Park on March 28, 2026. We met at North Lagoon Drive and set off on Cathedral Trail, where there are plenty of bryophytes (that is, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryophytes are nonvascular land plants (though for some groups, nonvascular is a bit of a misnomer!); they are very different from other land plants! Bryophytes,…

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TRIP REPORT YEW LAKE WALK, SEPTEMBER 7

TRIP REPORT YEW LAKE WALK, SEPTEMBER 7

A cloudy, cool morning with a bit of a breeze greeted us at the parking lot. As we set off, right at the trailhead we were treated to two adult Cooper’s Hawks in a snag. They then flew about for a few minutes before disappearing into the forest. We set out and were accompanied by Chestnut-backed Chickadees as we headed towards Yew Lake. Stopping to check out plants along the way, we noted Bunchberry berries, Copperbush berries, Pearly Everlasting in…

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TRIP REPORT YEW LAKE WALK AUGUST 3

TRIP REPORT YEW LAKE WALK AUGUST 3

There were surprisingly few insects as we headed out on the trail and came across some Fireweed, Deer Cabbage and Copperbush right at the start of the path.  A Townsend’s Warbler was spotted and then chickadees of both species, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed, soon appeared. A little way further along we came across four Olive-sided Flycatchers, possibly a family group. While we were watching these birds, four juvenile Red-breasted Sapsuckers were spotted in the snag next to one of the flycatchers….

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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BIRDS AND WILDFLOWERS OF HORTH HILL PARK

BIRDS AND WILDFLOWERS OF HORTH HILL PARK

Trip report by Naomi Ross With a last-minute change of leaders, trip to Horth Hill became an exploratory field trip. Thankfully, Wally was able to join us as a local guide and wildflower expert for part of the trip. Denis and Teresa were our botanists, Harvey and Michelle were our birders, and Denis was able to provide navigation when Wally wasn’t with us. On April 12, twelve participants, including four guests, met on board the ferry from Tsawwassen which more…

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🌿 REPORT ON HIKE IN WEST VANCOUVER ARBUTUS GROVE APRIL 2ND, 2025

🌿 REPORT ON HIKE IN WEST VANCOUVER ARBUTUS GROVE APRIL 2ND, 2025

Three hikers walked from Cranleigh Dr and Bluebell Dr in West Vancouver (near Marine Dr, to avoid $25 pay parking), and walked up Nelson Creek in the general direction of the old helipad, steep in places. This hike was posted on Nature Vancouver Events Calendar with very short notice, after a report from a friend that the Manzanitas were in flower – they were glorious. There are also thousands of Arbutus in this area, but not yet in flower. We…

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IDENTIFYING TREES AT ENGLISH BAY

IDENTIFYING TREES AT ENGLISH BAY

Submitted by Nina Shoroplova Twenty seven of us gathered in Alexandra Park, Vancouver, on the morning of Saturday, March 22, to learn about the 160-plus trees that have been planted (including a few that are native) along English Bay Beach Park and Sunset Beach Park.  We admired the Heritage Red Oak,[i] perhaps planted on the first day of the new century, January 1, 1901.[ii] (Caroline took the photo at the end of the walk, which is why no one is there!)…

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