Seashore lupine (Lupinus littoralis) Seashore lupine (Lupinus littoralis) grows in sandy beaches and dunes along the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. One place where it is found is Radar Hill Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. More than ten years ago, I noticed this lovely lupine when I first hiked down to the beaches. It was good to …
Sand Dunes
Beetles in the Dunes
Harsh environments like shorelines and dunes are good places to look for beetles. While on a hike at Radar Hill Beach in late May, I noticed an isolated log in the dunes above the beach. In a hot environment like sand dunes, wood and plants provide shade for small insects. I wasn’t really expecting anything, but thought that it would …
Euxoa wilsoni in the Sand Dunes at Wickaninnish Beach
Cutworm moth, dart moth—Euxoa wilsoni doesn’t really have a common name. It took a little detective work to narrow down the options, eliminate possibilities, and come to a tentative identification of this beautiful moth I found in the sand dunes at Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Moths are a challenge to observe and identify. They don’t stay …
Pink Sand-verbena at Wickaninnish Dunes
Pink Sand-verbena (Abronia umbellata) in the dunes at Wickaninnish Beach, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The sand dunes at Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve are home to a number of beautiful and hardy plants. Some of these wildflowers are spectacular and showy, covering the dunes with a colourful display. However, others are less dramatic and require more …
Beautifully Desolate Comber’s Beach
At Comber’s Beach sand flows around driftwood at the mouth of Sandhill Creek in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. There is something beautifully desolate about Comber’s Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The wind constantly moves the sand to form ripples and low dunes. Large pieces of driftwood block sand movement and hollows form in the lee of the …
Sand-verbena Moth Surprise
It has been too long since I’ve checked out the plants in the spectacular dunes at Goose Spit. A number of specialized plants grow in these dunes—yellow sand verbena (Abronia latifolia) and black knotweed (Polygonum paronychia) are prolific. With a little effort, other interesting plants can be found as well. A large patch of Black Knotweed (Polygonum paronychia) just above …
Sand Patterns
Long curves of rippled sand mark the beach where Sandhill Creek empties into the Pacific Ocean. I’ve been busy working on a project related to the sand dunes at Wickaninnish Beach and haven’t had as much time to devote to my blog as I’d like. However, in the process of sorting through vast numbers of dune related images I stumbled …
Lunch with Tiger Beetle
This morning I searched for two endangered Pink Sand-verbena (Abronia umbellata) plants reported last week at Florencia Bay. Despite a lack of success, I enjoyed poking around, looking at plants, and examining the flotsam and jetsam brought in with the tide. The beach at Florencia Bay is over 5 km long and even though I had a rough idea of where …
How to Find a Glass Ball
Participate in the dune grass pull at Wickaninnish Beach on Sunday, August 22 and you have a chance to find and keep this glass ball. If you’re like me you’ve always kept an eye open for flotsam and jetsam while hiking the long sandy beaches of the West Coast. Occasionally a glass ball will turn up but today that has …
Reintroducing Pink Sand-Verbena: A Rare West Coast Plant
After a less than satisfactory morning exploring the intertidal zone at Little Beach, Terrace Beach and Big Beach in Ucluelet (mainly due to the abundance of seaweed) I shifted gears and in the late afternoon. I decided to check out the Parks Canada Pink Sand-verbena (Abronia umbellate breviflora) reintroduction project at the dunes at Wickaninnish Beach in Pacific Rim National …