The Botany Group’s early-spring field trip to Ruth Masters Greenway on April 1 (repeated on April 12) was a followup to the winter outing in January. Although plenty of spring growth was visible, including some flowers, observing bark, branches and buds still played a significant role, particularly in identifying the trees and shrubs that had not leafed out yet. Forbs were identified mostly by leaves, but the abundance of trillium and fawn lily flowers was appreciated. As usual, the group was also keen to identify mosses, fungi, and lichens.
Co-leader Véronique has again prepared a photographic guide to the observed plants using her own photographs and research. You can download it here.
Here’s a selection of photos from the guide [click a photo to see the whole image]:
GoatsbeardLarge-leaved avensOregon beaked-mossPacific bleeding heartRed huckleberrySalmonberrySaskatoonSpeckled tar spot (fungus) on a maple leafStraggly gooseberryVanilla-leafWhite fawn lilyWild ginger (toxic!)
Comox Valley Nature hosted the following presentation at our April 2025 general meeting:
Title: The Bird Friendly Cities Initiative in Comox Speakers: Robert McLennan, James MacKenzie, Dianna Talbot Date: Sunday, April 27, 2025
The presentation was in two parts. Robert and James described the overall “Bird Friendly” initiative. Dianna described her progress to date on creating a native plant demonstration garden in Comox, an important factor in making a community bird friendly.
Due to technical difficulties, the usual Zoom recording is not available. However, you can hear the presentations in the audio recordings listed below, and follow along in the corresponding copies of the slides:
Robert and James’s audio (MP3, 20.3 MB) and slides (PDF, 556 KB)
Dianna’s audio (MP3, 11.8 MB) and slides (PDF, 1.1 MB)
For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.
Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s April general meeting. where you can hear the following keynote presentation by our guest speaker:
Title: The Bird Friendly Cities Initiative in Comox Speakers: Robert McLennan, James MacKenzie, Dianna Talbot Date: Sunday, April 27, 2025 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Common Yellowthroat (Photo: Terry Thormin)
A group of Comox Valley residents has formed Comox’s Bird Friendly Team to pursue the Bird Friendly designation for the Town of Comox. This initiative is part of the Bird Friendly Cities program run by Nature Canada. The program recognizes communities that have programs and volunteer organizations creating a safe environment for birds to thrive within their community.
For a community to be designated as Bird Friendly, it must satisfy criteria in these categories:
Threat reduction
Habitat protection, restoration and climate resiliency
Community outreach/education
The first goal of the Bird Friendly Team is to have the Town of Comox designated as Bird Friendly by September 2025. They are aiming to have the rest of the Comox Valley and surrounding communities designated in the near future.
Robert McLennanhas a long history with the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society, as described on the MARS website:
Robert joined MARS as a volunteer wildlife caregiver when MARS was located on its Headquarters Road location and joined the board shortly after. When MARS founder Maj passed away, he was asked to fill in as manager. He was actively involved in the search for a new property and the transition to the current location when the hospital was under construction.
With a background in adult education and training, he took on the role of education coordinator when the new visitor’s centre was still in the planning stages before construction started. After a few years pursuing other opportunities, Robert returned as visitor centre manager. Recently he rejoined the board, continuing to advocate for the MARS mission and connecting us with the Bird Friendly Cities initiative.
Robert brought the Bird Friendly program to Comox Valley and is the Coordinator of the Comox Bird Friendly Team.
James MacKenzie and Dianna Talbot are members of the Comox Bird Friendly Team. James is an expert birder, and Dianna is an expert gardener.
The Botany Group made a late-winter visit to Lazo Marsh on March 4 (repeated on March 15) to continue identifying plants without the aids of leaves, flowers or fruits. This was the first trip that repeated the usual first Tuesday outing on a Saturday to give more members a chance to participate. Both outings were well attended.
The leaders described some of the history of the marsh and how that has led to the variety of plant communities that were observed. Of particular note were soil moisture differences and (inferred) differences in soil nitrogen.
Co-leader Véronique has produced another enlightening photographic guide to help us identify the species seen during this pair of outings. In this case the guide comes in two parts which you can download:
Chum fry ready to be released. (Photo: Little River Enhancement Society)
Comox Valley Nature hosted the following keynote presentation at our March 2025 general meeting:
Title: Introduction to the Little River Enhancement Society Speaker: Henry Ellis and Don Hicks (Little River Enhancement Society) Date: Sunday, March 23, 2025
If you missed this event or would like to see it again, a recording is available here (MP4, 89 MB if downloaded).
For more information about this talk, see the announcement in our earlier post.
Horned Grebe (Photo: Neal Erickson)
In addition, the leader of CVN’s Birding Group presented a short summary of the group’s activities in 2024. Be sure to see some of the great photographs taken by members on the group’s field trips in this recording of the birding presentation (MP4, 47 MB if downloaded).
Title: All paths stop at the fence: Pronghorn antelope management in southern Alberta Speaker: Paul Jones (Alberta Conservation Association) Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025 Time: 12:00 p.m. (noon) PT
See the registration link below.
About the speaker
Paul Jones tells us:
In life they say that there is always a fork in the road for which one needs to decide which direction to take. As a senior biologist with Alberta Conservation Association, but even before, my career has not been directed by the road taken (or not) but by the path to the fence. As with the pronghorn, I may not have found my way across the fence yet, but it has led me to being the 2024 recipient of the Berrendo Award at the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ 30th Biennial Pronghorn Workshop.
Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s March general meeting for the following keynote presentation:
Title: Introduction to the Little River Enhancement Society Speakers: Henry Ellis and Don Hicks Date: Sunday, March 23, 2025 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
In addition, the coordinator of CVN’s Birding Group, Kelly Kline, will report on the group’s 2024 activities and observations.
Chum fry ready to be released. (Photo: Little River Enhancement Society)
More about the meeting
This will be a hybrid meeting (in-person and videoconference). We encourage members and the general public to attend the in-person meeting. Members who cannot attend can participate via videoconference. The link to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to members by email before the meeting.
Title: Why nuclear energy cannot solve the climate crisis Speaker: Dr. M.V. Ramana (UBC) Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025 Time: 12:00 p.m. (noon) PT
See the registration link below.
This talk will lay out the key arguments for why nuclear energy is neither a feasible nor a desirable solution to climate change, highlighting the high economic costs, the lengthy timelines for reactor construction, the risks of accidents, and the environmental consequences of building nuclear power plants.
About the speaker
Dr. M.V. Ramana is UBC Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Dr. Ramana will draw on his expertise as a noted theoretical physicist to discuss why nuclear energy is incompatible with Canada’s climate goals.
Ruby Vie, a graduate of Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School, was the 2024 recipient of the CVN Bursary. Ruby credits curiosity as the incentive that resulted in her academic success. She was involved in school Environment, UN, and Arts clubs and was part of the Comox Youth Action Council. She had volunteered with Project Watershed, and her capstone project for school was creating a pollinator garden.
Ruby will be attending BCIT to earn a bachelor’s degree, doing two consecutive programs, Fish, Wildlife and Recreation and Ecological Restoration, each two years long. BCIT is her choice because of the practical skills training it offers. She plans to eventually obtain accreditation to become a professional biologist. She told us that this path will allow her to contribute to ecosystem and environmental health, as they face monumental challenges.
Congratulations, Ruby!
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The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis laingi) is a top-level avian predator in mature and old coastal rainforests and is considered an indicator species of these habitats, as well as an indicator of forest health and biodiversity.Over half of the global range of this subspecies occurs in coastal British Columbia, where it favours mature coniferous forest. This non-migratory bird needs a relatively large home range that contains a good food supply. Despite some recent habitat protection efforts, continuing habitat loss is predicted, in part because of anticipated short rotation times in forest harvest. On Haida Gwaii, populations are very low and face an added risk from declines of prey species due to forest understory losses associated with high levels of browsing from an introduced population of deer.The Gitsegukla Huwilp of the Gitxsan.have drafted a petition to call for the legal protection of Northern Goshawks. These birds are keystone species in the Skeena Natural Resource Region which covers northwest British Columbia and includes the northern half of the Great Bear Rainforest. The coastal subspecies of Northern Goshawk on Haida Gwaii is the most vulnerable.The petition urges the Province of British Columbia to recognize and implement Regionally Important Wildlife protection for the Northern Goshawk. To sign please go to form.jotform.com/261745367749068For more information on the Goshawk visit www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry/cosewic-assessm......
Our partners in conservation; CV Land Trust & Conservation Partnership are crowdfunding to purchase a very ecologically important property in Deep Bay. ...
Comox Valley Nature invites its members and the public to CVN’s September general meeting, this Sunday, September 27th.This month John Neilson will be speaking on “The Challenges in Maintaining an Urban Salmon Population – the Brooklyn Creek Story”Streams in urban environments that support healthy Pacific salmon populations are uncommon, as natural watercourses are often degraded or even buried during the course of development of roads and other urban infrastructure. Of the various Pacific salmon species, coho salmon show special abilities to survive and even thrive in close proximity to human settlements. In this talk, John Neilson reviews the status of coho salmon in the region, and explores the characteristics of this species that promote their resilience. He will also speak of the work of the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society as they work to conserve the watershed in Comox.Dr. John Neilson has had a 30-year long career as a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, including leading research on the population status and ecology of bluefin tuna and swordfish in Canadian waters. He was also a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), and most recently, led the preparation of the status report on chinook salmon in southern British Columbia. He is the President of the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society.A brief business meeting follows. Reports from some of our interest groups and projects are an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do. ...
☀️ 💦 What a great way to wrap up the summer with a splash! We're joining our large community of folks who love and care for our watersheds. Come celebrate and learn--and chat with MARS and meet one of our wildlife ambassadors on the glove. Look for our green tent.It's wonderful opportunity to get to know the special community organizations who steward the natural systems and beautiful landscapes that surround us. Discover key land, water, and climate issues facing our community, find out how you can get involved, and learn more about the long standing stewardship of K'omoks people, the original keepers of this land. Explore restoration and habitat enhancement projects, salmon cycles, drinking water, forests, creeks, wetlands and estuaries - and so much more. Start the day with Yoga by the River, participate in watershed art projects, enjoy kids activities, take in some hands-on learning, or join a guided walk - all looking out over the Puntledge River. Uncover all the ways we are truly Connected by Water in the Comox Valley.Look at these activities!🧘 Gentle Flow Yoga for the River (bring a mat!) with Annicia 9:30-10:30 am💦 Lake Park Society - Environmental Games for Kids - all day🌀 Woven by Water - Participatory Watershed Art with Plants are Teachers - all day🥒 Luke the Cuke - Pop Up Poetry, Games and Riverside Antics 9 am -1 pm🚶 Morrison Creek Guided Walk 11 am - Meet at Morrison Streamkeepers Tent🎶 Reverberation Song Circle - join in and sing 12 noon🎨 Intro to Field Drawing with Lyndsay 1:00 pm - Meet at Cumberland Forest tent🎻 Music for the River w/ Cam Boyce - to close the dayFamily Watershed Day is presented by the members of the Comox Valley Conservation Partnership and their community partners. K'ómoks First Nation Project Watershed Plants Are Teachers Cumberland Forest Comox Valley Nature CV Land Trust & Conservation Partnership ...
The CVN photo group met last night for its September meeting and here are a few of the photos we shared with one another.Species and photographer shown in each photo... ...
