Field Notes

There’s nothing like the thrill of the hunt – even if your quarry is a slim and gregarious grey bird with a long tail and a penchant for flitting through dense brush while you circle around and around on the ground through brambles, mud, low branches, and dense vexation. Our quarry, on a chilly November morning along Dallas Road in Victoria, was a blue-gray gnatcatcher that was not supposed to be anywhere around there. The last one I spotted had been near a sewage treatment p

With David Manning A writing expert I admire says I should, as a writer, place myself in the background. Pardon me in this introduction to a new series on birding if I dispense with this cardinal rule and indulge a bit in ego. I promise in future articles to place birds in the foreground. Remind me if I’m unsuccessful. Like most naturalists I appreciate the many aspects of our wildlife world, from whales to woodpeckers. But if I had to pick one area of particular interest, it

By the light of the Snow Moon, a whispered series of soft whistles echoed through the misty forest, just louder than the sound of water flowing over the falls of Shingle Creek on North Pender Island. This was the call of a Northern Saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus) – a tiny owl no bigger than a robin. These tiny forest dwellers are increasingly rare on Pender thanks to the loss of intact, old forests with large standing dead trees, or snags, containing woodpecker holes they ne

by Bob Vergette The Banana Slug is one of only three (known!) native slugs on Pender Island. Which local creature is almost everyone on Pender familiar with? The Banana Slug, of course! Slugs are members of the Phylum Mollusca, in the Gastropod Class that also includes their hard-shelled snail cousins. Several species of slugs can be found on Pender; however, only a few are native. This includes the Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) - the second-largest slug in the world, g

By David Manning Trailhead: South Pender, Spalding Road, west entrance/leg of the Enchanted Forest Trail, beginning just left of a private driveway at a sign saying “Waterfall and Viewpoint.” A few steps into your walk, Take One moment to center yourself. Remember, you’re going to pay attention only to this walk, not allowing your mind to wander elsewhere. Early in the walk, can you see what I call Quintet Tree, where 5 tree trunks appear to emerge from one place in the groun

David Manning Image by David Manning Trailheads: South Pender—Ainsley Pt. Road and Canal Road Both these trails end at the summit of Mt. Norman . With spectacular views, this hike is worth the effort and best done on a clear day. For our walk here we will begin at the Ainsley Point Road Trailhead. This 2.4 km round-trip trail in Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, mostly an invigorating uphill trek, climaxes at a lovely bluff viewpoint, the highest point on Pender at 244 met

For the first time in at least 25 years, the Shingle-Masthead osprey nest sits empty and silent. Every year, a pair of ospreys have rebuilt their large and complex stick nest on the supporting branch of one of the several veteran Douglas-fir trees along Shingle Creek, overlooking Shingle Bay in Magic Lake. Every year they incubated a clutch of 1-4 eggs; many years these efforts produced young, and many years those young successfully fledged. But never in the past 25 years hav

David Manning Oaks Bluff Viewpoint is a grand spot for feeling above it all, with great views and a fine spot for watching Raptors and other birds. Before we begin our walk, in your car or standing at the trailhead, Take One. Take one moment of silence to centre yourself. As you begin your walk, check out the signpost depicting all the Southern Resident Killer Whales that have been born since 1998. Before achieving the viewpoint, you will have a steep climb of almost ½ kilome

By David Manning Introduction Buck Lake to Schooner Way Image by Dave Manning Introduction We need not look or think very far afield to...

Photo by Oliver Tweedie Near the top of the earthen slope that descends to the shoreline of KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest, overlooking the viridian waters of Plumper Sound, are several excavated holes. Their engineer, the belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), is the only member in Canada of a unique and globally diverse family of birds. While some kingfishers are mainly terrestrial species, the belted kingfisher is known as a “fishing kingfisher”, inhabiting the edges of stream

Historical photo of Gowlland Point (Davy Rippner) The campaign to protect Brooks Point succeeded because of a combination of a generous land donation by the Brooks family, tireless fundraising efforts led by volunteers with Friends of Brooks Point and supported by the Pender Conservancy, a huge response by local donors, contributions by the CRD, and a federal government grant for the protection of species at risk. The snake Sharp-tailed snake at Gowlland Point (Paul Petrie) T

Shauna Doll Photo by Alex Harris Explore the incredible world of fungi at KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest at EcoFair on S,DÁYES, Pender Island this fall! From October 22-23, 2022, Dr. Hugues Massicotte will be on S,DÁYES for EcoFair, an initiative organized by Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Pender Islands Conservancy, and PenderPOD. He will be leading two guided fungi forays through KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest near Razor Point, North Pender Island to introduce visitors and resi

Dr. Pamela Wright On S’Dayes (Pender Island), we are blessed with a diverse suite of ecosystems from rich intertidal areas to nearshore kelp forests, coastal Douglas Fir ecosystems, wetlands and small lakes, like Gardom Pond and Roe Lake, and others. The diversity of these ecosystems, like in human communities, gives them strength. However, these diverse ecosystems are insufficient if they are not connected. Ecological connectivity is the unimpeded movement of species and

Belted kingfishers are the only species of kingfisher found in Canada. Living at the interface between land and water, these iconic blue birds symbolize the interconnectedness of all ecosystems surrounding the Salish Sea. Photo by: Oliver Tweedie By: Dr. Erin O’Brien, Avian Biologist, Pender Islands Conservancy Association Near the top of the cutbank that slopes down to the shoreline of KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest are several excavated holes burrowed into the bank. These burro