In this first week of June 2025, Peter Ward would like to draw Members attention to: 1. Tree Swallows. Having been around their nest boxes since April, the swallows are in high gear this week, and will be here up to late June/early July. The adult swallows have recently hatched families, which may number up to 6 young, and are busy catching thousands of insects per day. Both parents feed the young. They have less than 3 weeks to develop,…
14 intrepid birders joined leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for a morning of birding in Ambleside Park. The weather was much better than forecast: calm with no rain until 10:30am and then only a light mist. The birds were much more cooperative than they had been for the 2024 Christmas Bird Count a few weeks earlier. We found 31 species (eBird checklist) including a female Pileated Woodpecker, two Belted Kingfishers and a flock of pretty Bonaparte’s Gulls. The gulls…
Thirteen waterproofed cheerful and enthusiastic naturalists spend two pleasant hours touring the nature sanctuary at Hastings Park the rainy morning of Saturday, November 9th. A good variety of the expected winter birds were seen. A Red-tailed Hawk solemnly surveyed the construction site of the new PNE Amphitheatre from the tower of one of the construction cranes. An encounter with a female gingko tree that had produced a bumper crop of fruit led to a spontaneous discourse by one of the…
Dry conditions with a mix of sun and cloud greeted the Nature Vancouver Birding field trip at Iona Beach Regional Park on September 28. Fifteen birders joined Neill Vanhinsberg and Jan Lowcock for a morning outing covering the accessible outer ponds, adjacent beach area and woodland trails. We identified 31 species including the Glossy/White-faced Ibis which had been reported previously by Neill. Our quest for the Gray Catbird, seen on each of the previous two days, wasn’t successful, but we…