Report by Yvette Crane, co-leader of the Shoreline Group.
The Shoreline and Marine Group of CVN enjoyed several wonderful field trips this season. Here is a highlight from our trip to Quinsam River Hatchery and hike along the Quinsam nature trail on September 9.
We were able to view black bears catching salmon at both the hatchery fence and downstream.
This bear studied our group carefully before venturing into the river to get her salmon. Our guide, Kyle Fitzpatrick from Greenways Land Trust, explained that when fish are this plentiful, the bears will selectively eat the most nutritious parts of the salmon—the brains and internal organs.
Thanks to Kathleen Wilkinson for these photos from one of our most memorable Shoreline & Marine moments in 2025.
Comox Valley Nature invites its members and the public to CVN’s November general meeting. where you can hear the following keynote presentation by our guest speakers:
Title: Sea Star Wasting DiseaseMonitoring on the BC Coast Speakers: Carolyn Prentice and Ondine Pontier (Hakai Institute) Date: Sunday, November 23, 2025 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Carolyn and Ondine will present on some of the work their team at the Hakai Institute does monitoring sea star wasting disease along the BC coast. They will provide an overview of what sea star wasting disease is and what has happened since the initial outbreak over 10 years ago, including the recent discovery of the causative agent of the disease.
About the speakers
Carolyn Prentice completed an undergraduate degree in Biology at UBC as well as a Masters in Resource Management at SFU and has been working at the Hakai Institute on Quadra Island full time since 2018. Most of her work uses field surveys and genetic techniques to better understand drivers of change in nearshore ecosystems such as seagrass meadows and rocky intertidal ecosystems. She currently runs the Biodiversity and Sentinels of Change Lab on Quadra Island.
Ondine Pontier also completed her undergraduate in Biology at UBC and has been working at the Hakai Institute on Quadra Island since 2014. She is a scientific and commercial diver and has spent many hours underwater working in kelp forests and other nearshore ecosystems. She currently runs the kelp monitoring program at the Hakai Institute working with many partners along the BC coast to understand how giant kelp and bull kelp are responding to changing ocean conditions.
More about the meeting
After the keynote presentation there will be a break with coffee/tea, goodies and socializing, followed by the business part of the meeting. This consists mainly of brief reports from our interest groups and projects, an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do.
The NatureKidsBC Comox Valley Club is looking for a Volunteer Club Leader! Join their amazing volunteer team of over 65 passionate nature leaders from across British Columbia! Working alone or with co-leaders, Nature Club Leaders organize and deliver Explorer Days for children and their families across the province and go out of their way to educate and inspire our youth members about nature.
As a club leader, your primary responsibility is to organize outdoor field trips called Explorer Days (1 to 2 hour activities in nature). If you share our passion for connecting kids with nature, enjoy organizing activities, and can help plan about 8 Explorer Days a year, this is perfect for you! NatureKidsBC provides training, support and liability insurance.
The volunteer club leaders receive many exciting perks including professional development training, networking opportunities, access to outdoor education resources and much more!
To volunteer or for more information, email Katelyn Bissat at NatureKidsBC headquarters.
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The Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) has launched a Conditional Pledge Drive to help secure the remaining 24.8% of the $30,000,000 goal to acquire the ecologically vital 360-hectare Hamilton Marsh and Forest.
Hamilton Marsh is one of the last remaining large wetlands on Vancouver Island, a haven for countless species of birds, amphibians, and native plants. Among its most secretive residents is the blue-listed American Bittern – a master of camouflage whose survival depends on the health of large wetlands. Protecting Hamilton Marsh and Forest will support the stability of the threatened French Creek watershed, and ensure preservation of one of the most critical natural ecosystems within the MABR.
Through fundraising efforts that include donations and pledges from the community, MABR needs to raise the remaining $7,450,000.000 before November 18 in order for the Regional District of Nanaimo to purchase the lands. Help build a lasting Nature Legacy in the MABR by submitting a Conditional Pledge today.
Enjoy an afternoon of music to celebrate wildlife and support MARS Wildlife Rescue!
Saturday, November 15th, 2:30 p.m. Comox United Church in Comox, 250 Beach Dr. Doors open at 2 p.m.
Concert followed by wine, cheese, and refreshments. Meet a MARS ambassador bird and learn more about the work at MARS.
Most of all, enjoy stellar vocal and instrumental performances of classical, jazz, and pop music featuring:
Christine Constabel & Antonia Mahon – Flute Duo Indigo Jazz Trio – Dale Graham (vocals), Rick Husband (guitar) & John Hyde (bass) Orlando Weibe – Piano & Vocals Crown Isle Piano Duo – Michelle Stewart & Alistair Taylor Austin Diotte-Turner – Vocalist Rachel Cooper – Clarinet / Sax with guests Jeff Agopsowicz (trombone) and Dave Lymburner (trumpet) Mindy Wise – Vocalist
As a bonus, local wildlife photographer, Bruce Moffat, will share his enchanting photos of local birds.
Tickets: $35 Adults / $15 Youth 13 & under Available at Blue Heron Books, Benjamin Moore House of Color, and on the MARS website.
Title: Slime Moulds of Strathcona Provincial Park 2025 Speaker: Zeke Gilmour Date: Monday, September 29, 2025
If you missed this event or would like to see it again, CSEB has made the recording available here. To access it you will need to provide your name and email address.
For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.
Posted inGuest Speakers, Other taxa|Comments Off on Recording for talk on slime moulds of Strathcona Park
Comox Valley Nature invites its members and the public to CVN’s October general meeting. where you can hear the following keynote presentation by our guest speaker:
Title: Bioblitzes and rare plants: Keeping current on BC plant diversity Speaker: Dr. Gerry Allen Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Trillium hibbersonii (Photo: Ian Cruickshank, CC-BY-NC-iNaturalist-Apr-2023)
BC has the highest plant diversity in Canada due to the high diversity of ecosystems. The BC Conservation Data Centre maintains a complete and regularly revised list of all plant species in the province (whether common or rare, native or not). However, we want to know more than just the list. Where are species found? In what habitats? Are they getting more common or less? Bioblitzes (concentrated searches for species in a particular time and place) provide new information, especially for less well-known groups like mosses and lichens. Dr. Allen will describe some plant biodiversity results from recent bioblitzes on Calvert and Quadra islands. She will also discuss rare species, which typically require more targeted searches. An example is the discovery of many new populations of the currently threatened Hibberson’s trillium (Trillium hibbersonii). Continuing field observations by knowledgeable observers are an essential part of these discoveries and are critical to keeping diversity assessments current.
About the speaker
Dr. Gerry Allen is a retired professor of biology but continues working on a number of ongoing projects. Her research is broadly focused on the evolution, ecology and conservation biology of plants. Current and recent projects in her lab include the ecology of arctic-alpine plants, especially migration in response to postglacial climate change, and the reproductive ecology of rare plants. She was also the curator of the University of Victoria Herbarium for many years.
More about the meeting
This will be a hybrid meeting (in-person and videoconference). We encourage members and the public to attend the in-person meeting. Members (only) who cannot attend can participate via videoconference. The link to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to members by email before the meeting.
After the keynote presentation there will be a break with coffee/tea, goodies and socializing, followed by the business part of the meeting. This consists mainly of brief reports from our interest groups and projects, an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do.
Comox Valley Nature hosted the following presentation at our September 2025 general meeting:
Title: 2024 – A Big Year: One birder’s attempt to see more birds on Vancouver Island in a single year than ever before Speaker: Liam Ragan (BC Nature and Rocky Point Bird Observatory) Date: Sunday, September 28, 2025
If you missed this event or would like to see it again, a recording is available here (MP4, 107 MB if downloaded).
For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.
Title: Slime Moulds of Strathcona Provincial Park 2025 Speaker: Zeke Gilmour Date: Monday, September 29, 2025 Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
See the registration link below.
This presentation will focus on the progress made in 2025 on studying and cataloging the slime moulds in Strathcona Park, including select species of interest and diversity projections for the future.
About the speaker
This summer, Zeke Gilmour was a Research Student at Strathcona Wilderness Institute.
The Cumberland Community Forest Society invites you to participate in an autumn herb walk to learn about the medicinal plants of Cumberland. Herbalist Amanda Howe will lead this fundraising event and donate all proceeds to CCFS to support their campaign to acquire and conserve the area known as Middle Earth.
Date: Sunday, September 28 Time: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost: $30 Location: Cumberland trails (exact meeting place provided on registration) Difficulty: We will be walking for 10 minutes on a logging road at the start to reach the access to the trails. These trails are not suitable for strollers.
Middle Earth is the Cumberland Community Forest Society’s newest focus for acquisition. It is a beautiful, forested wetland corridor that offers refuge for species big and small. Amanda is excited to be leading a herb walk in this area and to introduce people to the wealth of medicinal plants growing there. The walk will take you through some of the trails that are closer to the village and and will be alive with the folklore and medicinal use of the plants and their connection with the land.
You will learn how to make simple and safe preparations with these plants to use in your everyday life. Amanda will be sharing her 40 plus years experience as a herbalist immersed in the world of medicinal plants.
About the walk leader
Amanda Howe has been a herbalist for over forty years. She’s passionate about herbs and herbal medicine and about sharing the connection with the natural world that can be found through connecting with and learning about the healing power of plants. She trained in England in the early 1980s and became a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK). She went on to receive her MSc in Herbal Medicine from the University of Wales. Amanda teaches in the Pacific Rim College Herbal Practitioner program in Victoria, BC. She also teaches workshops and classes from her home and garden in Cumberland, BC. Amanda loves to teach and is happiest when she is in the garden and forest teaching people how to grow, harvest, use and listen to the magic of the plants that are thriving there.
Join the Comox Valley Conservation Community for a day long celebration of the watersheds and waterways that connect us all in the Comox Valley!Learn about restoration and habitat enhancement projects, salmon cycles, drinking water, forests, creeks, wetlands and estuaries – and so much more. Art projects, kids activities, volunteer engagement opportunities, hands on learning and guided walks – all looking out over the beautiful Puntledge River.Comox Valley Nature will be there with our new outreach tent. Come by and say hello, and try our bird identification game. We can also show you why native plants are best for your garden, and how to spot invasive species.Pack a picnic and stay for the day! Saturday Sept 19th from 9 am – 3 pmin Puntledge Park 1111 1st , Courtenay ...
In her memoir, Pacific Northwest author Caroll Simpson recounts the highs and lows of running a remote fishing lodge on her own following the untimely death of her husband, and of falling in love with the natural world. Simpson tells stories of living in the remote wilderness and managing the lodge, becoming an accidental environmental activist, fending off wild animals, working as an angling guide and finally, fighting off a proposed mining operation and participating in the development of a government land management plan as a spokesperson for the wilderness tourism industry.While Simpson welcomed paying guests at Ookpik Lodge, unwanted house guests included a woodchuck, a pack rat, and martens. Simpson constantly had to watch out for grizzlies, moose, and cougars. Storms and extreme weather also provided fodder for hair-raising tales. All this makes for wonderful storytelling.Caroll’s story is essentially a love story. In an essay for Sierra Club, Simpson wrote: “I developed an immense passion for flora and fauna. Just walking back and forth on the 300’ dock several times a day, I was exposed to the unbelievable beauty of the northern spectrum of water life: the golden eagle soaring above, the osprey and kingfisher diving and coming up with fish for their hatchlings, the muskrats and otters looking for an easy meal, the tireless beaver working into the late evening sunsets. All of these creatures and more expressed their generational ownership of this small piece of the world. In return each was given my utmost respect and admiration…As I listened to the loons at the end of each day and the owl and the wolf in the night, I felt blessed to be witnessing such beauty. “On September 20th, join Comox Valley Nature and Save Our Forests Team for an afternoon of storytelling about this remarkable time spent living on a remote British Columbia lake.The event is being held at the Comox United Church Hall. (250 Beach Drive, Comox) Admission is by donation. Doors open at 2:30; the event begins at 3:00 p.m. There will be time for Q&A after the presentation, as well as books available for purchase. Tea/coffee and cookies - including forest-themed cupcakes - will be available for a donation.Join us, and prepare to fall in love. ...
🎟️ Get your tickets to the Project Watershed 2026 Keeping It Living Dinner today! projectwatershed.ca/2026-keeping-it-living-dinner/Every ticket holder makes a difference. 💙 🎟️ Get your tickets to our 2026 Keeping It Living Dinner today! projectwatershed.ca/2026-keeping-it-living-dinner/When community and local businesses invest in conservation, our entire ecosystem benefits. Ticket sales directly support habitat restoration, scientific research, and environmental education, while the generosity of our sponsors helps offset event costs, ensuring that more of the funds raised can go directly toward this important work. Thank you to our incredible sponsors and dinner attendees for believing in the power of community-led conservation. Odlum Brown Community and Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, 40 Knots Winery, CNB Together, we're keeping our watersheds living. 🌿 Hope to see you September 12, 5 - 8 pm at 40 KNOTS Winery #KeepingItLiving #ProjectWatershed #CommunitySupport #Conservation #ComoxValley ...
The City of Courtenay is developing a long-term vision for Bill Moore Park and Dogwood Park to guide future improvements. To help guide these decisions, three initial concepts have been developed, and there is an opportunity for you to offer your input.The latest survey on the City website engagecomoxvalley.ca/bill-moore-and-dogwood-park asks for feedback on three concept plans and specifically which concept you prefer. The three concepts present a range of recreation possibilities and there is room on the survey for your comments.Dogwood Park is a 2.32‑hectare nature park featuring mature forested areas, natural habitat and a small wetland. Only Concept A will maintain the intact forest areas in Dogwood Park. Concepts B and C propose increased recreation in the park including an off leash dog park, disc golf course, pump track (a purpose built track for children’s cycling) and nature play areas. While the planners may say that no trees or few trees will be taken down to accommodate this, the under-story will not survive this level of trampling and fragmentation. The trees as well as all the wildlife who now call that area home will disappear over time. For those of us who value this forest, Concept A is the only option that makes sense.Dogwood Park is one of the few islands of green for many, many blocks. It provides habitat for wildlife, shade, retains water and acts as a carbon sink. On the architect's base plan of current conditions it is now characterized as an "underutilized space". The City has heard from sports enthusiasts but not nature lovers. Let them know why you value an intact forest and your connection to it. The survey is open until Sept 15. ...
The Canadian Coalition for Invasive Plant Regulation (CCIPR) wants the federal government to establish a regulatory body for the horticultural industry and create a national database identifying invasive plants and their risks in different regions. "Even if we don't prohibit them, we need to let the public know when there is potential harm," said CCIPR co-founder Cathy Kavassalis. "We do this on other products, and we should do it on plants too. It's just common sense."In July, Nanaimo council passed a motion to pursue a bylaw amendment restricting the sale of plants on a list maintained by the Invasive Species Council of B.C. A week later, Surrey moved to ban sales by businesses including nurseries, large retail chains and florists. Kavassalis said a problem that could be addressed at higher levels of government is being pushed down to municipalities."These are all patchwork solutions that, in some ways, just waste a lot of resources," she said. The CCIPR says a national database could give provinces, territories, retailers and gardeners a shared source of information about which plants pose risks in different regions. Kavassalis also wants invasive plants removed from shelves or clearly labelled.For more on this story visit www.cbc.ca/news/science/invasive-plants-sale-federal-regulation-9.7312362 or see our link in bio ...
Saturday, November 15th, 2:30 p.m.
Comox United Church in Comox, 250 Beach Dr.
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Concert followed by wine, cheese, and refreshments.
Meet a MARS ambassador bird and learn more about the work at MARS.
Christine Constabel & Antonia Mahon – Flute Duo
As a bonus, local wildlife photographer, Bruce Moffat, will share his enchanting photos of local birds.
