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 [...]

Another early morning and I was on my way north to Campbell River to do my second (and last) Christmas Bird Count of the 2011/12 count period. I didn’t do the Campbell River count last year (substituting it with the Nanaimo CBC) and, since I was able to do the Comox count this year, I [...]

The Canyon View Trail in Elk Falls Provincial Park is a six kilometer loop that follows the banks of the Campbell River is spectacular right now and getting better every day. Allow yourself about 1.5 hours to dawdle along looking at spring wildflowers and doing some early spring birding. You’ve got a couple of options [...]

Way back in the spring of 2006 I noticed something just south of Campbell River that made me do a double take. Here on Vancouver Island, the pressure to develop real estate is pretty intense, so intense that sometimes nature gets in the way. I’m really not sure how the developer pulled this off but [...]

If I only had a dollar for every time I’ve seen the confusion in the spelling of Brandt’s and Brant, I might be able to afford my dream birding trip to Ecuador. Right now we are nearing the end of the Brant Goose migration from Baja, Mexico to the Yukon and Alaska. Many of the [...]

A hundred years ago, the name of Ripple Rock evoked dread in the hearts of mariners, but today entices hikers to explore natural history as well as human history, on the Ripple Rock Trail. The stretch of water in Seymour Narrows, part of the Discovery Passage north of Campbell River, is famous as the site [...]

There is a distinctive aroma in the air at this time of year, especially in the wet and soggy places on Vancouver Island. I took the kids out to Elk Falls Provincial Park near Campbell River this week and did the loop trail to the falls viewpoint and then followed the river up to the [...]

Yesterday I was in charge of the kids for a couple of hours so I decided that a trip up to Campbell River was in order. I figured that after about 3o minutes of driving they would both be asleep and I could do some roadside birding along the shoreline. In particular, I was hoping [...]

Plans are underway for the 5th Campbell River Bald Eagle Festival, sponsored by BC Hydro, to be held by Discovery Pier at the Maritime Heritage Centre in Campbell River on Saturday Feb. 20/2010. Guest speakers include well known author, conservationist and ornithologist Dr. Rob Butler, President of the Pacific Wildlife Foundation who works as coordinator [...]

A full day of birding today on the Campbell River Christmas Bird Count. Fortunately the weather cooperated and while it was cool, the rain held off. My team did fairly well considering that our access to the ocean was only at the mouth of the Oyster River on Vancouver Island, and even at that included [...]