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…
Report & Photos Submitted by Doug Cooper This is a summary of my observations of the happenings in the green spaces of Hastings Park since early last fall. Access to the infield of the Hastings racecourse was again made possible for a few months during the latter part of 2021, after the pandemic closure of the racetrack grounds was lifted and the horse racing season had ended. The training and racing season has started again, and access to the racecourse infield…
Leader: Ian Clague; Co-leader: Nigel Pack Text by Ian & Nigel; Photos by Nigel Peck After days of record setting rainfalls, wind warnings, and physical disasters around southern British Columbia, we were blessed with gorgeous weather for the November 16th interpretative walk in the Pacific Spirit Park, led by Ian Clague. It was a beautiful day! Starting our walk at Camosun Bog, we noted that the main confers growing there, thriving in the rich organic and wet soil, were shore…
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…
This short film by Liron Gertsman, was sponsored by Nature Vancouver for the exhibition Wild Things – The Power of Nature in Our Lives. The exhibition was co-produced by Nature Vancouver and the Museum of Vancouver as a part of our Centennial Celebration. It was open to the public from June 2018 to January 2020.
Text and Photos by Doug Cooper It was a great May for birding and nature in general at the Hastings Park sanctuary. As May came to a close, the sanctuary was much quieter than earlier in the month, both in volume and variety of bird song as well as in numbers and species of birds. Eight types of warblers were reported during the month: Yellow, Yellow-rumped (of both subspecies types), MacGillivray’s, Wilson’s, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Grey, Townsend’s and Common Yellowthroat. At…
Text by Isabella Lovett Depression and anxiety are two of the most common illnesses in the world, and according to the World Health Organization, there are over 260 million individuals worldwide who are coping with depression, while more than 280 million people are struggling with anxiety disorders. The rise in the number of people with mental health disorders is the result of a combination of factors, including having toxic relationships as well as having to deal with pressure on a regular basis….
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…