We had originally planned a family trip to the spectacular Little Qualicum Falls in Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park but by the time we arrived (approximately 45 minutes from Courtenay) both of the kids were asleep in the back of the car and we were faced with a dilemma: wake the kids or drive further afield. For those of you …
Nature Viewing
Golden-eyed Grass
Driving past the Griffin Pub on Kilmorley Road in Comox, British Columbia, you probably wouldn’t think to stop and take a look in the ditch. Odds are you’d be thinking about reaching more well known destinations like Air Force Beach or Kin Beach. Both of the latter are excellent for botanizing – Kin Beach is superb for Gold Star in …
A Blue-eyed Visitor
It’s been a busy month so it was great to have a bit of downtime this afternoon in the backyard garden enjoying the sun and a cold beer to celebrate the end of the teaching year. Both of the kids were out in the yard and I was nominally on child minding duty when I spotted a dragonfly basking on …
Shore Crab Uncertainty
Common shore crabs on Vancouver Island are usually pretty easy to identify. Colour isn’t always a good way to separate out the Green Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus oregonensis) from the Purple Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus nudus) since both have some variability in colouration. The more reliable way to tell the two apart is to look at the legs – Green Shore Crabs …
Buttle Lake Bluffs
It’s a spot where few people stop on their way to Ralph River Campground in Strathcona Provincial Park. There doesn’t look like there’s much to see and the road is so narrow, twisty and windy in this section that there aren’t many places to pull over safely as well, especially if you’ve got a Boliden-Westmin Mines ore truck on your …
Tofino Botanical Gardens
Last weekend while visiting Tofino for the 2011 Tofino Shorebird Festival we stayed at the fantastic Botanical House located within the Tofino Botanical Gardens. If you’re looking for an unique place to base your nature related explorations of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and the towns of Tofino and Ucluelet this is definitely worth considering, especially if you need accommodation …
Metchosin’s BioBlitz
Organizers of a wildlife census in Metchosin, a district on the southern tip of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, are counting results from the reports of fifty taxonomic experts, participants in Metchosin’s April 30th BioBlitz. The Metchosin BioBlitz team on top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The local BioBlitz, like hundreds of others that have been conducted around the globe in the last …
Spring Streamside Wildflowers
Guest Post by Jocie Brooks “Spring is finally here,” I think, letting the little ones run ahead of me down the path as I take in the fresh greenery and colourful wildflowers, while listening to a burst of melodious bird song. Today, we are heading out to find some of spring’s finest flowers, and the kids have volunteered as my …
Fish Wrangling
I have to admit that I don’t usually go out of my way to photograph Great Blue Herons. When I’m out walking with my camera and telephoto lens I’m often approached by people with asking me if I’m photographing either Bald Eagles or Great Blue Herons (or in their words -“cranes”) when I’m focusing on something a little more interesting …
Birding Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary
When I used to live in Victoria Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary was one of the places that I birded regularly. It’s got a wide range of habitat (lake, cattails, shrubs, older forest, open fields) which usually produces a variety of birds. A trail loops around the lake and it can be completed with a minimum of effort and time. Floating …