It has been a while since I’ve visited the Comox Lake Bluffs Ecological Reserve but this spring I had a chance to return to catch and photograph the early April bloom. It was truly spectacular and well worth the short hike. Wildflowers on the steep mossy slopes above Comox Lake. Approaching the steep slopes of the bluffs of the ecological …
Yellow Monkey-flower
Comox Lake Bluffs Ecological Reserve
There is nothing at the parking area just beyond the dam at Comox Lake to suggest that a spectacular ecological reserve is a short 20 minute hike away. Beyond the burned rubbish and twisted metal and broken glass is a wide gravel trail that leads through an old cut block. The trail at this point has been “deactivated” in an attempt …
Harewood Plains
While Harewood Plains is the location on Vancouver Island to see the rare red-listed bog birds-foot trefoil, the meadows are home to many other gorgeous flowers as well. Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta) and Yellow Monkey-flower (Mimulus guttatus) dominate the wet meadows of Harewood Plains in late May and early June. In late May/early June the common camas (Camassia quamash) is …
Monkeys and Mist Maidens
Schooner Cove in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a great place to discover plants, birds, intertidal life and geology. Last Saturday I joined Josie Osborne of the Raincoast Education Society and a group of birders looking for rocky shorebirds during the Tofino Shorebird Festival. Our destination was a large rock islet in Schooner Cove, a fabulous location for birds …
Scenic South Beach
I took advantage of the last couple of days of passable weather on the west coast of Vancouver Island to revisit one of my many favourite beaches in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It’s only a short 800 meter walk from the Wickaninnish Centre to South Beach and there is much for the naturalist to see and experience. Birds Along …