Spherical panoramas now in Nature Viewing Guide!

Posted on July 10, 2023 by web_admin
Spherical panorama of Kye Bay, as a static image.
Spherical panorama of Kye Bay (thumbnail image)

As the result of a recent project, our online Nature Viewing Guide now features a new photographic element: spherical (360º) panoramas. These great images give you a birds-eye view of the location. Try the one above (tip: when the static image appears, click the circular arrow symbol to start the viewer, then drag the photo in any direction).

The project was the initiative of Bruce Moffat, leader of CVN’s Photography Group, and was a collaboration between CVN and the Drone Group of the Comox Valley Photographic Society. It was an offshoot of the project led by Karen Cummins to update our printed Nature Viewing Guide brochure.

We are grateful for the enthusiastic efforts of the members of the Drone Group. By all accounts they had fun flying their drones to capture these wonderful aerial images of the various nature viewing sites.

Be sure to check out this new feature. The web page for each site now includes a link to the spherical panorama in addition to the link to the photo gallery of which it is a part. Or you can go directly to a list of the spherical panoramas and choose any site.

This project is planning also to provide videos of the sites, and work on these is ongoing. Watch for a future announcement.

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Black Swift workshop at SWI

Posted on July 9, 2023 by web_admin

Strathcona Wilderness Institute (SWI) is sponsoring a workshop on July 15 by Birds Canada on birding and the Black Swift. See the details in the poster below.

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Tidepooling at Point Holmes with Rick Harbo

Posted on July 8, 2023 by web_admin

On June 4, 2023, the Shoreline Group enjoyed an excellent outing at Point Holmes with special guest leader Rick Harbo.

Shoreline Group with Rick Harbo (Photo: Shirley Coulson)

You can download the full trip report and a list of species observed. Below are photos of a few of the organisms that the group observed (click a photo to enlarge it).

Leather star (Photo: Ann Tarves)
Orange sea cucumber (Photo: Ann Tarves)
Cockscomb blenny (Photo: Shirley Coulson)
Plainfin midshipman and eggs (Photo: Shirley Coulson)
Snails and eggs (Photo: Shirley Coulson)

About Rick Harbo

From the Harbour Publishing website:

Rick M. Harbo, BSc, is the author of the bestselling Tidepool & Reef (Big Country Books, 1980), Shells & Shellfish of the Pacific Northwest (Harbour Publishing, 1997), Pacific Reef and Shore (Harbour Publishing, 2017) plus several pocket field guides to marine life of the Pacific Northwest (Harbour Publishing).

Harbo is a diver and a retired senior marine biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He currently volunteers as a research associate with the Royal BC Museum. Harbo lives in Nanaimo, BC.

Be sure to check out the recently revised and expanded third edition of his popular field guide Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest.

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Tia Nu’u, CVN Bursary recipient, 2023

Posted on July 7, 2023 by web_admin

Tiare Nu’u, a graduate of Isfeld Secondary School, is the 2023 recipient of the CVN Bursary. She will study Biological Sciences at Queen’s University. Her program will include environmental science in order to pursue her passion for nature and environmental stewardship.

Tia grew up on a small farm in Royston. Her daily experiences and responsibilities taught her the value of healthy ecosystems while fostering her love of the natural world.

Congratulations, Tia!

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Botany on the Trent River trail (part 1)

Posted on June 23, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on June 21. Click a photo to enlarge it.

On Monday we enjoyed a leisurely ramble along the ridge above the Trent River, accessing the trail from the end of Hatton Rd. off of Briardale Crescent.

Hard questions were asked, like “why do spittlebugs spit.” The bugs apparently excrete the spit-like substance that we see on plant stalks, which protects them from predators.

Kathryn pointed out that the flower-bearing stalks of the vanilla-leaf are free-floating, and not attached to the leaves at all…who knew!

Here are a few highlights, and I’ll be sending a second instalment with more of Veronique’s photos.

Photos: Jocie, Veronique and Isabella (people pics). Thanks for sending!

  1. False bugbane (Trautvetteria caroliniensis).
  1. Cooley’s hedge-nettle (Stachys chamissonis var. cooleyae).
  1. Prince’s pine (Chimaphila umbellata).
  1. Pathfinder flower close-up (Adenocaulon bicolor). Note the absence of ray flowers and oblong green seedpods (achenes) with tiny stalked purple glands. This plant looks quite boring at a glance, but check out how amazing the flowers are close-up! The pathfinder’s green leaves have a silvery underside, a good clue for tracking an animal or human.
  1. Pathfinder achene close-up (Veronique zoomed in more for a better look!).
  1. Purple peavine (Lathyrus nevadensis).
  1. Pacific sideband snail (Monadenia fidelis).
  1. Small-flowered nemophila (Nemophila parviflora). A more prostrate growth form than usual, and some odd looking terminal leaflets made me wonder if it was something else…but turns out to be Nemophila, which is quite common.
  1. Twinflower (Linnaea borealis).
  1. Red columbine (Aquilegia formosa).
  1. Salal (Gaultheria shallon).
  1. Twisted mossy trunks looking down to the Trent.
  1. Botanizing!
  1. Lunch stop.
  1. A birding moment: looking at a monstrous cowbird fledgling being fed by a tiny black-throated gray warbler!
Posted in Field Trips, Molluscs, Plants and fungi | Comments Off on Botany on the Trent River trail (part 1)

Paradise Meadows – spring 2023

Posted on June 18, 2023 by web_admin

Notes and photos by Alison M. distributed by email to the Botany Group on June 18. Click a photo to enlarge it.

The main Boardwalk loop in Paradise Meadows is now clear of snow. 

(1) Loys M. on the boardwalk on June 10.

The abnormally hot weather in May caused the rapid melt of the subalpine snowpack which was shallower than that of 2022. Over the past two weeks the early spring flowers are emerging in Paradise Meadows 4-6 weeks earlier than last year.  

The white marsh-marigolds (Caltha leptosepala) which always appear as the snow receded now lie in runnels devoid of snow (photo #2).

(2) Marsh-marigolds

By June 10 the pinks of western bog-laurel (Kalmia macrophylla) and the shooting stars (Primula jeffreyi, formerly Dodecatheon jeffreyi) were to be seen in that warm corner  on the north side of the Boardwalk below Nordic Drive.

(3) Western bog-laurel
(4) Shooting star

Lots of yellow stream violets (Viola glabella) are to be seen, and even a few of the pale purple marsh violets (Viola palustris).

(5) Stream violets
(6) Marsh violet

And the patch of fern-leafed goldthread (Coptis asplenifolia) has numerous blooms.  Appearing as it does just after the snow melts, its short-lived blooms are often missed (location: along the boardwalk, keeping right at the junction, about half way between there and the trail to Lake Helen Mackenzie, on the left-hand side). It was already in bloom at lower elevations on the Elk River Trail at the end of April.

(7) Fern-leafed goldthread
(8) Fern-leafed goldthread
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Strathcona Wilderness Institute events

Posted on June 18, 2023 by web_admin

This summer the Strathcona Wilderness Institute (SWI) is planning workshops and hikes that will be of interest to CVN members and others.

The first workshop is an Introduction to iNaturalist by Loys Maingon on June 25 (pre-registration required).

For details of this event and others to come, see the SWI website.

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2023 CVN Tree of the Year announced!

Posted on June 14, 2023 by web_admin

While the CVN Tree of the Year event focuses on the benefits and the stories of all the trees nominated, the votes have been tallied and the winner determined by public vote for 2023. [Click a photo to enlarge it.]

 In first place: #9, a western redcedar in Seal Bay Park, which was nominated by Ted Grainger.

Second place was taken by #6 (Douglas-fir wildlife tree) off Smith Rd., nominated by Jamie Dobbs.

In third place was #7, a silk mimosa, on Bolt Ave. in Comox, nominated by Kathy Tae.

Fourth place went to #23, a bigleaf maple, in Hurford Hill park, nominated by Shane Tillapaugh.

All four of these trees were quite close in their number of votes, so we are featuring all four trees in our press releases which you should see out within the next week or two at the most.

Thank you to everyone who nominated trees and to our volunteers who checked trees, created posters, put up or took down signs, created cycle routes, wrote or edited press releases and summarized nominations.

Have a wonderful summer, and if you haven’t toured all the nominated trees yet, you can still check out the 27 tree descriptions and the cycle tour maps for a community tree adventure.

To learn more about the CVN Tree of the Year contest and its history, visit this page.

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Book review: The Race for What’s Left

Posted on May 26, 2023 by web_admin

CVN member Tony de Castro has shared his review of the book The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources by Michael T. Klare. As a longer-form article the review has its own page on the site. You can read the review here.

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Cumberland Marsh botany highlights

Posted on May 20, 2023 by web_admin

From an email by Jocie to the Botany/Mycology Group on May 17. Click a photo to enlarge it.

Last week we took a walk along Cumberland Marsh from Jumbo’s cabin to the coal hills above the old Japanese townsite. Many blooming shrubs and other lovely plants. If anyone has the answer to the “mystery plant” (#11 and #12) let me know.

Thanks to Véronique for the photos!

A few highlights: 

  1. Cascara (Frangula purshiana). The well-defined veins of the leaves give it a “washboard” appearance. Doesn’t have toothed edges like the red alder. Bark used to be stripped and sold for its laxative properties. Old-timers remember harvesting from our area.
  1. Black twinberry (Lonicera involucrata). Twinned yellow flowers develop into twinned black berries (not edible).
  1. Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa). Sprays of white blooms. Bright red non-edible berries coming soon (birds eat them).
  1. Red huckleberry (Rubus parvifolium). Inconspicuous green bell-like flowers.
  1. Vanilla-leaf (Achlys triphylla). Spikes of white flowers are appearing now.
  1. Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).  Likes drier sunny sites, as seen here on the edges of the coal hill.
  1. Marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre). Likes to have its feet wet: look for it in marshes, bogs and along pond edges.
  1. Western yellow pond lily (Nuphar polysepala). I was out in the canoe recently and noticed just how many insects, spiders and birds use lily pads as landing platforms. The lilies support a whole ecosystem above and below the surface.
  1. Western yew (Taxus brevifolia). An often overlooked tree….most that we see are small and scraggly, but in an old-growth forest they are larger and more conspicuous.
  1. Western yew bark: peeling and a reddish mahogany colour, reminiscent of arbutus.
  1. Everyone loves a plant mystery….there are quite a few gone-wild garden plants in the Cumberland marsh area which are remnants from the old townsite. This one had us stumped, maybe some sort of saxifrage??
  1. Mystery plant flower close-up.
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