I made a very short PowerPoint from the Mount Washington outing we did July 7 under Martin Dollenkamp’s leadership. He is a first class entomologist and regaled us with all sorts of tidbits on butterfly habits.

The highlight was the mating hydaspe fritillaria couple with a third one trying repeatedly to force himself on the mating couple.

The many flowering sub-alpine flowers were a bonus.

Nice views and weather helped make the day a great success. All our thanks to Martin for donating his time to share something close to his heart with us.

Download the slides here (PDF, 2.1 MB), and see a selection of the photos below.

The post Entomology and botany at Mt. Washington, July 2026 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Smartphone cameras are great for taking photos of your friends, your food, and yourself, but what about the insects, plants, spiders, and fungi you want to post to iNaturalist? How do you get it to focus on that small piece of grass, or a flighty moth?

Join us on Tuesday, August 4 at 9:00 am PDT for Smartphone Photography for iNaturalist, a free webinar with Tony Iwane (Director of Community Support) and Arya Natarajan (Sr. Communications Manager). We’ll share tips and tricks for getting the best nature photos you can out of your smartphone, and then posting them to iNat.

Even if you can’t join us live, please register to receive the recording!

Register Now

We’ll cover:

• The best way to approach an insect
• How to photograph the different features of a plant
• Getting the underside of a mushroom
• How to quickly post your batch of photos to iNaturalist

Whether you joined iNaturalist last week or have thousands of observations already, you may find this webinar helpful. Clearer photos mean faster identifications, more observations reaching Research Grade, and better data for the researchers who use it.

Hope to see you there,
The iNaturalist Team

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The post appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

The New Forest Act Roadshow, initiated by the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society (BFWSS), is a series of public presentations across British Columbia explaining why BC’s current forestry system is failing, and what a workable legislative solution looks like.

That solution is the New Forest Act—a proposed policy framework developed over several years through research, public input, and lived experience in communities directly affected by forestry decisions.

BC’s forestry challenges are not isolated incidents—they are the result of a system that no longer reflects the realities on the land.

Join Jennifer Houghton and Dave Weaver on Monday June 15, 7:00 p.m., at the Stan Hagen Theatre in Courtenay for a presentation that offers a clear, developed alternative.

This event is for:

• Residents concerned about forestry in their region
• People working in or affected by the forestry sector
• Those interested in practical, policy-level solutions
• Anyone who wants a clear explanation of what’s happening—and what can be done

This is a free public event. Donations are welcome.

About the speakers

Jennifer Houghton is lead developer of the New Forest Act, a legislative proposal to replace British Columbia’s current forestry system. She works directly on forestry policy analysis, public education, and government engagement to advance structural reform in how BC’s forests are managed.

Dave Weaver has 37 years of experience in British Columbia’s forestry sector, working across industry, consulting, and government. His career includes field forestry with MacMillan Bloedel, forest consulting and applied ecology instruction in the northern interior, and 12 years with the BC Ministry of Forests developing silviculture policy and training in alternatives to clearcutting.

He now focuses on watershed-level impacts of forestry through his work with the Beaufort Watershed Stewards, bringing decades of on-the-ground and policy experience to the discussion of forestry reform in BC.

More…

To view the schedule for other presentations and for full details on the legislative framework visit the BFWSS website.

Sentinel Educational Foundation and the Watershed Sentinel magazine are the sponsors of the Vancouver Island leg of the 2026 New Forest Act Roadshow. Their support is helping bring public education about forest policy reform to communities across Vancouver Island.

The post Learn about the proposed New Forest Act, June 15 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Title: From the Salish Sea to Paradise Meadows: exploring flora, habitats, and communities
Leaders: Mary Sanseverino and Loys Maingon
When: Sunday, June 28, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Strathcona Provincial Park
Participant limit: 20
To register: Email strathconawilderness@gmail.com
Registration Fee: $15 (adult); $10 (student / volunteer)

Join photographer Mary Sanseverino and SWI research director Loys Maingon, together with local botanists, for a day of exploring the amazing flora from VI’s east coast to the mountains of Strathcona Park. The day will also be an homage to ecologist Dr. Hans Roemer, who passed away earlier this year. We will use his method of presenting plant diversity in defined communities as a guide to developing a greater understanding of plant ecology in both Paradise Meadows and lower down in the Comox Valley.

The day will be a mix of classroom instruction in the morning and fieldwork in Paradise Meadows in the afternoon. Everyone is welcome! The only prerequisite is a curious mind. We think there will be something here for beginners and experts alike.

The morning session will consist of two slide presentations—Loys, revealing “All You Wanted to Know About Plants but Were Afraid to Ask,” followed by Mary, featuring Native Plants of BC’s Coastal Dry Belt, which she co-authored with Hans Roemer. The group will then turn to a Q&A session with the presenters to discuss the issues raised.

After a lunch break, we will venture out to examine plant diversity within the subalpine meadow ecosystems of Paradise Meadows.

For more details

Download SWI’s notice.

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Sophia Priestman, a graduate of Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School, is the 2026 recipient of the CVN Bursary. Our $1000 bursary was presented to her at the school’s awards ceremony on May 28.

Sophia graduates with straight A grades. She made extensive contributions to the Environment Club throughout her career at Isfeld, taking on the president’s role in grades 11 and 12. She was also very involved in the Model UN Program, and participated in other school clubs and sports.

Outside school, Sophia has volunteered with Anderton Therapeutic Garden and with Lush Valley for several years.  At 12 years old she was offered a job by five vendors at the Farmer’s Market and chose Alderlane Bakery where she is in her sixth year of employment. She also has helped out at Pendleton Farm.

Sophia has been accepted at the University of Victoria where she will pursue a dual major in Environmental Studies and Economics with a minor in Applied Ethics. Of this somewhat unusual combination of disciplines, Sophia says:

This variety of disciplines will allow me to see complex political and environmental issues from multiple perspectives and find innovative solutions that both foster sustainability and ensure welfare for all (human and non-human alike).

Congratulations, Sophia!

The post Sophia Priestman, CVN Bursary recipient, 2026 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Comox Valley Nature hosted the following presentation at our May 2026 general meeting:

Title: Island vignettes from a nature photographer’s life
Speaker: Bruce Moffat (moffatphotography.zenfolio.com)
Date: Sunday, May 24, 2026

If you missed this event or would like to see some of it again, Bruce has kindly provided his slides (PDF, 72 MB) and links to the subset of the videos he showed for which the sound track is suitably licensed (on YouTube).

Black bear video

Black Oystercatcher video

Surf Scoter video

For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.

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