Report & Photos by Doug Cooper The summer months of June, July and August were much quieter at the Hastings Park Sanctuary. From eBird, my species count at the sanctuary for June was 25, for July 21, and for August a grand total of 17. But there were some highlights. In general birding news of local interest was about the two species of crows – American and the Northwestern. In June 2020, following a recent study on the genetics of…
Report and Photos by Doug Cooper Time seems to have, both dragged and flown by in the last few months. I thought it was time to give an update on what has been happening at the sanctuary at Hastings Park, at least from my perspective. May seemed to have been the busiest month, so I’ll devote this report to that period. In May this year, 60 species were reported to eBird from Hastings Park Sanctuary. I ran into more fellow birders…
History and its impact on our local flora and fauna Here is an interesting article published in The Tyee about the Himalayan Blackberry. The article discusses at length the history of introduction of this invasive plant and its impact on our environment. Read the article from the link below: How Blackberries Took Over. It’s a Juicy Story
Shoroplova, Nina. 2020. Heritage House Publishing. 278 pp. $ 29.95. Paperback. Note: Nina Shoroplova is a member of Nature Vancouver Book review by Terry Taylor If you live in the Lower Mainland, you have probably been to Stanley Park. If you live in Vancouver, you probably think you know Stanley Park. Once you read this book, you will realize that you really do not know Stanley Park. It is a book that is difficult to classify. Is it a tree…
The two of us drove out Monday to Elk Mountain, South of Chilliwack. The easy to follow trail starts out in a beautiful conifer woods and after 800 metres of climb over 4.5km arrives at beautiful sub-alpine meadows with views of nearby Mt Baker and other mountains. The trail was somewhat muddy in patches but we didn’t sink in. And the bugs kept away. What a wonderful day! We identified 58 species of plants, and one toad. Get species list…
Text and Photo submitted by Bengül Kurtar Janet and I bicycled this time to Camosun Bog to see the Bog Laurels (Kalmia polifolia), and other bog plants, and birds and the bees. We came across a field of the Bog Laurels. I had visited the park last year at the end of April, they weren’t blooming like this year. You can see more of my photos from last Thursday HERE Bog Laurel is one of my favourite wild flowers in BC. First time…
A Brief History Text by Pat Miller – Photos by Doug Cooper Located on Vancouver’s east side, Hastings Park is the second largest park in the City of Vancouver, after Stanley Park. It was established in 1889 when the Province of BC granted 62 hectares (154 acres) of land to the City, most of which is currently occupied by the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) and the Hastings Park Racecourse. Four hectares (9.9 acres) of the site is occupied by the…
Submitted by Bengül Kurtar Last Friday morning (17 April,2020), Janet and I bicycled to Queen Elizabeth Park by practicing physical distancing rule! I had seen pink fawn lilies (Erythronium revolutum) a few years ago by accident while coming down from the top of the park. Looks like it was on March 31, 2016 as per my Flickr page: Pink fawn lily (Erythronium revolutum). After locating the pink fawn lilies on the wild side of Queen Elizabeth Park, we walked little bit: saw a lot…
Vote for Canada’s National Lichen The Canadian Museum of Nature is holding a vote for a national lichen. Seven lichen candidates have been selected by a panel of lichen experts–read more on the website and vote for your favourite at http://nature.ca/lichenvote Voting closes March 20th. Active fungi and lichen naturalist, Juliet Pendray, brought this opportunity to vote to our attention. Her favourite is Bryoria, but most important is that she wants us all to vote. Please click on the website, read about…
3 cheerful hikers braved a drizzle for a lovely 16km walk through beautiful second-growth forest along Hayward Reservoir Trail, East of Mission. Hairsine Inlet floating bridge is still closed. A well-maintained easy trail with cumulative ascent of 385m, including 30m for the fantastic Steelhead Falls viewpoint. We saw many mushrooms, and loved the scent of well-named Vanilla Leaf. I would like to thank the Norwegian Weather Service for correctly predicting hourly rainfall of half millimetre per hour yr.no . Photos…