Island NatureExploring nature on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and beyond

It’s definitely that time of the year – spring flowers are appearing everywhere. If you’re on Vancouver Island make your way to any riverside trail and search for the wonderful Western Trillium (Trillium ovatum). I found several while walking along Black Creek in Miracle Beach Provincial Park 30 minutes north of Courtenay, British Columbia. It’s [...]

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 [...]

With the wind howling outside and the rain coming down in sheets it’s nice to be able to sit inside with a hot cup of cocoa and reminisce  about the summer while browsing through my collection of my images in Adobe Lightroom. We took a family trip to the Okanagan in late May and when [...]

One of the advantages of my workplace is that my schedule is fairly flexible and if there is a break in the wet west coast winter weather I can take a short walkabout and look for interesting plants, insects and birds. Since my office is out in the country I’ve got lots of farm fence [...]

In early September, I did a day hike in Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park. While walking the new section of boardwalk back to the trail head I kept an eye out for Northern Bedstraw (Galium boreale). This native bedstraw has three-veined leaves that are arranged in whorls of 4. It has a terminal cluster [...]

In August of 2010 Barry Campbell made the exciting discovery of two naturally growing Pink Sand-verbena (Abronia umbellata breviflora) at Florencia Bay in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Having already visited the Pink Sand-verbena introduction project at the Wickaninnish Beach dunes I was interested in seeing this plant naturally occurring in the wild. It became [...]

In my quest to find the volunteer Pink Sand-verbenas at Florencia Bay in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve I spent a good deal of time walking along the  line of driftwood looking at plants growing amongst the beach logs as well those that were growing out on the upper level of the beach itself. One of the [...]

Earlier this month I photographed Pacific Water-Parsley (Oenanthe sarmentosa), a plant that grows in wet places along the South Beach Trail in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Today I was out with a group photographing natural objects on the beach when I noticed some Cow-parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) along the edge [...]

Parts of the South Beach Trail in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve are lined with dense thickets of Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus). At this time of year however, they are overshadowed by the dramatic flower heads and leaves of Cow-parsnip (Heracleum lanatum). The large umbels are in various stages of flower and [...]

While out at Schooner Cove last week I decided to check out the small sand dunes for a number of dune plants. It was here at the top of the beach that I found two species of Searocket (Cakile sp.) as well as some interesting Silver Burweed (Ambrosia chamissonis) which show some variation in leaf shape. [...]