Island NatureExploring nature on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond

This is the time of year on Vancouver Island to get down to local riverside trails and check out the spring wildflower bloom. One of my favourite places to walk is the the Canyon View Trail in Campbell River. We usually start this moderate 6 km loop trail at the John Hart Generation Station and [...]

The white fawn lilies (Erythronium oregonum) at Pipers Lagoon Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia are in full bloom this week. Jocie and I were doing a bit of botanizing last week and were astounded by the display. The dense carpets of white nodding heads and mottled leaves underneath the Douglas firs were hard to miss—the [...]

One of my favourite places in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve are the dunes at Wickaninnish Beach. It is unusual to see many (if any) people in the dunes so it is easy to imagine the wildness of the place, despite the signs and tracks of people who have gone before you. From a botanical [...]

If you truly want to experience the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, you need to get out on a boat and make your way to that thin line between the shore and the vast Pacific Ocean stretching westward towards Japan. It gives you a whole new perspective on the power of the ocean [...]

Spring is definitely here on Vancouver Island. Forget about the crocuses and snow drops and all of those other flower bed plants, the true signs that winter is moving on are the return of the Pacific Herring and the small yellow bloom of Gold Star (Crocidium multicaule). While it is hard not to notice the [...]

I have worked off and on at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve as a Heritage Interpreter and loved being able to combine my passion for photography with my work. In 2010 I developed a program called West Coast Walkabout that was the perfect way to introduce park visitors to the landscape and ecology of the [...]

I managed to get out and enjoy a sunny afternoon at the Courtenay Airpark photographing a variety of birds along the way. I have to admit that I’m never really satisfied with my bird photography, but I think that it may have something to do with the poor quality of glass in my secondhand (now [...]

You can smell when winter arrives in Courtenay, British Columbia, particularly if you’re driving through an area of town known as the “Puntledge Bowl.” At this time of year, the Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) are done and it’s time for the “dog days” of winter and the arrival of the Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta). The [...]

I was down at Air Force Beach in Comox, British Columbia doing some birding this past weekend and was amazed at the amount of red seaweed washed up on the beach – in places it was at least thigh deep and was so thick that it was holding the incoming tide back from flooding the [...]

Guest post by Marcie Callewaert Every summer a Barred Owl (Strix varia) visits our property. He makes himself known with his haunting calls each night and his bold presence perched on a branch or fence post during the day – watching for his next meal. This year, “Hooty” as we have dubbed him, brought a [...]