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Category: Natural History

Nature Journal and Birding: An Introduction

Nature Journal and Birding: An Introduction

Report & Photos Submitted by Joanna Chin On May 25th, during the Vancouver Bird Celebration week, we had a full house with 18 participants for “Nature Journal and Birding: An Introduction” event. We met at Iona Beach Regional Park on the West side of the outer ponds. It was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze, and we set-up our chairs in a circular formation conducive for conversations and learning from each other. I started off with a land acknowledgement…

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2023 City Nature Challenge – Vancouver Area

2023 City Nature Challenge – Vancouver Area

Report and Photos by John Martin April 28 2023 – May 01 2023 The City Nature Challenge is an annual event that happens simultaneously on the same dates around the world. Vancouver is now one of well over 400 cities participating worldwide with a total of 41 across Canada alone in 2023. Nature Vancouver held 4 separate walks in our regional parks during this event. The weather held out on almost all days with just a bit of rain on…

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Nature Vancouver Trip to Adams River

Nature Vancouver Trip to Adams River

Trip Report by Cynthia Crampton From October 11th to 13th, 2022, thirty-two members of Nature Vancouver participated in this trip to witness the dominant year migration of the sockeye salmon. Twenty members traveled by Enjoy the Journey chartered bus, and twelve by private vehicles. We all stayed at the Sorrento Conference Centre, on the Shuswap Lake. After reaching the Centre, some of them settled in but most of them went down to visit Shuswap Lake, on the property.   Next day –…

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The Soul of the Fraser – A Documentary

The Soul of the Fraser – A Documentary

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…

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City Nature Challenge – 2022

City Nature Challenge – 2022

Submitted by John Martin – May 10 Update Hello: I thought I would post the results from iNaturalist for this year’s “City Nature Challenge 2022”.Here is the link. City Nature Challenge 2022: Greater Vancouver · iNaturalist Canada For the record, my user id on inaturalist is “NorthVanDad” and as you can see, I was able to post the most observations and the highest species count for this event. There were many great observations besides mine and from all accounts the city of…

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Dual You Love Me? Love Darts and Pulmonate Snails

Dual You Love Me? Love Darts and Pulmonate Snails

Submitted by Caroline Penn A chance encounter with a Pacific Sideband Snail on a hiking trail on the slopes of Mt. Tuam on Salt Spring Island this fall led me to learn about the intriguing reproductive details of these snails. Much like the Cupid (or Eros) of ancient mythology, these snails make use of a love dart during their mating ritual, which enhances their reproductive outcome. The Sideband snail, Genus Monadenia, is already unique in that it is a pulmonate…

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Khanahmoot – History of New Brighton Park

Khanahmoot – History of New Brighton Park

Submitted by Caroline Penn  Imagine a shoreline teaming with crabs and shellfish beds, its banks graced with cedar, hemlock, and small creeks, tucked in close to our modern-day 2nd Narrows Bridge. For the Squamish, Musqueam and Tseil’waututh people this was “Khanahmoot”. According to Squamish origin stories a Man and Woman appeared from out of the creek waters at Khanahmoot and their descendants lived there for thousands of years until the arrival of European settlers.  Today we call this site New…

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Snake Spotting on Vancouver Island

Snake Spotting on Vancouver Island

By Isabella Lovett My thirteen-year-old daughter, Chloe, has gone snake-crazy. So far, I’ve managed to side-step the allusions to vivarium shopping, and we’ve been indulging her latest passion by learning more about snakes in their natural habitat. To this end, we went on an impromptu Vancouver Island snake spotting expedition last weekend. We both had a wonderful time, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who has a passion for nature. The possibility of spotting some snakes is a…

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B.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing

B.C. Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing

N V Member, Nina Shoroplova’s Book Shortlisted for 2021  The stories of the trees in Stanley Park by Nina Shoroplova, Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, is a finalist for the 38th Annual British Columbia Historical Federation Lieutenant Governor’s Historical Writing Competition.  Shoroplova is a historian, researcher, photographer, and author living in Vancouver’s West End.  Heritage House Publishing released Shoroplova’s book in June 2020, describing it as an “engaging, informative, and visually stunning tour of the numerous…

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iNaturalist & Photos from Kakwa Provincial Park

iNaturalist & Photos from Kakwa Provincial Park

by Bev Ramey These dark days of November and December have been a productive time to spend at my computer, posting plant photos onto the iNaturalist – BC Parks website. The photos are from our summer weeks spent in Kakwa Provincial Park over the past eight years. My husband, Bill, has posted butterfly and other insect photos, as well as bird photos, with more yet to come. The iNaturalist website encourages all to post your nature photos. Two “Project” areas that may interest you are: BC Provincial Parks and Metro Vancouver Regional Parks.  View more photos for Kakwa that Bill and I have posted, from…

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