Island NatureExploring nature on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond

I was over on the Lower Mainland today and managed to get a little bit of birding in before having to catch the ferry back to Vancouver Island. I had just enough time to check out two reports on the Yahoo Vancouver Birding list serve – a Scrub Jay that was reported at Terra Nova [...]

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is well known for its long sandy windswept beaches. Every year over 800,000 people visit this spectacular national park. If you truly want to experience the dramatic power of this landscape, the challenge is finding a place without many people. When visiting Pacific Rim I try to plan my walks [...]

I took advantage of the last couple of days of passable weather on the west coast of Vancouver Island to revisit one of my many favourite beaches in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It’s only a short 800 meter walk from the Wickaninnish Centre to South Beach and there is much for the naturalist to [...]

For those interested in botany and unusual plants it is often necessary to get off the beaten path and explore areas that are sometimes a little less accessible. Rhododendron Lake, just south of Parksville on Vancouver Island, British Columbia is one such destination. At the end of a 13 km stretch of sometimes-rough gravel logging [...]

Often the reason a destination is popular has little to do with the superb natural features of an area. Such is the case with Goose Spit Park in Comox, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Usually portrayed as “the” place to enjoy the sunset and an evening beach fire, Goose Spit has much more to offer [...]

Most people mention the endless stretches of sandy beach, ocean swimming and eel-grass tide pool exploration when they talk about Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. However, this 347 ha Provincial Park has much to offer the terrestrial naturalist as well. There is no question that the rich eel-grass beds hold a [...]

The spring wildflower bloom is well under way on Vancouver Island but there’s still time left to see some of the flowers along coastal forest trails and riversides. Here’s some of the more noticeable species to look for as well as some of the less frequently seen ones. Pink Fawn Lily (Erythronium revolutum) This Vancouver [...]

Over the March Break we took a family trip to Salt Spring Island and explored some of the provincial parks on the island. One of the highlights was Mount Maxwell Provincial Park, and the viewpoint from the bluffs at Mount Maxwell (also called Mount Baynes). Given the weather (cloudy and wet) we weren’t expecting much [...]

Saturday, April 10 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. counting 3:30 p.m. post count gathering (Shelley Hall) Shelley Road, Parksville $20 per person Enter your team for a chance to test your abilities at finding birds. Great prizes and a good time awaits at the post count gathering where lists are tallied, prizes awarded, stories told [...]

The vantage point of the top of Mount Douglas in Saanich offers a spectacular 360o view of rural Saanich, downtown Victoria, and the Olympic Mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington state. However, it is worth turning one’s eyes from the striking vista and looking to the ground at this time of [...]