On December 3, a large contingent of Botany Group members enjoyed a walk in Seal Bay Nature Park, following the Coupland Loop trail. The main themes of this late-autumn outing were mosses and fungi, and many interesting and beautiful specimens were observed, even on the logs bordering the parking lot. Other taxa that drew attention included a liverwort, lichens, slime molds, and a few herbaceous vascular plants.
Co-leader Véronique continues her practice of producing a photographic identification guide to many of these specimens using her own photographs. You can download the guide here (PDF, 6.4 MB).
Here’s a selection of photos from the guide [click a photo to see the whole image]:
I wish to thank all the volunteers who showed up in record numbers helping the project for its 29th year. Another hot dry summer required lots of watering the new plantings. We are looking forward to 2025 and starting to replace our native plant signage. A limited number of hard copies of the report are available from myself or Karen Cummins.
Thanks once again. Frank Hovenden
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The Botany Group delved into the plentiful and diverse world of fungi in the Puntledge forest on their November field trip. Although walking only a short distance, it seemed the group saw specimens to examine every metre along the side of the trail. Examples from almost all the 14 morphological groups of fungi (gilled, toothed, etc.) were found.
Co-leader Véronique has provided us with another photographic guide to help us learn about these fungi. You can download the guide here (PDF, 4.5 MB).
The Puntledge forest is currently the subject of a campaign by the Comox Valley Land Trust to save this special forest by purchasing the logging rights. David Stapley of CVLT was recently the keynote speaker at CVN’s November general meeting, where he described the forest and this campaign. To learn more about it and how you can contribute, visit CVLT’s website here.
Here’s a selection of photos from the guide [click a thumbnail to see the whole image]:
Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s November general meeting for the following keynote presentation:
Title: Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) programs and the Puntledge Forest land protection project Speaker: David Stapley (CVLT) Date: Sunday, November 24, 2024 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
David will provide an overview of CVLT programs with a special focus on the “Save the Puntledge Forest” land protection project. He will outline the ecological characteristics and benefits of protecting this 100 to 120 year-old naturally regenerating forest. The history of human disturbance and current risks, from mining to hydro power generation and logging, will be presented. The complicated story of protecting this area due to the unique challenges posed through land ownership and a private timber reservation registered on title will be shared.
David Stapley is currently the treasurer on the board of the CVLT. He is a retired organizational development consultant and group facilitator. He worked as a contract facilitator for the CVLT from 2009 to 2018. Over this time, he established the Comox Valley Conservation Partnership program. In his roles with CVLT he has advocated for better protection of local forests, wetlands and watersheds by local governments. Since retiring in 2018, David has continued to promote the benefits of conservation in the community and to develop resources to grow the capacity of the CVLT to conserve lands.
More about the meeting
Following the keynote presentation, the meeting will include brief reports from CVN interest groups and other activity leaders.
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.
Now that the flowering season is over, the Botany Group returned to Paradise Meadows on October 8 to learn to identify the plants there by their other characteristics—growth habit, leaves, seeds and other clues. And, of course, to enjoy the beautiful fall colours in the meadows.
The focus plants on this fall trip included subalpine fir, amabilis fir, partridge-foot, queen’s cup, black huckleberry, white-flowered rhododendron, false azalea, spleenwort-leaved goldthread, western bog-laurel, western tea-berry, and Pacific soft rush. These all occur only above 300 m elevation.
Once again, co-leader Véronique has provided us with a photographic identification guide to plants observed on this trip. You can download the guide here (PDF, 5.3 MB).
Here’s a selection of photos from the guide [click a thumbnail to see the whole image]:
Alaskan bunchberryBog blueberryBuds on oval-leaved blueberryGreen false-helleboreSeed head of hooded ladies’ tressesSeed capsules of Jeffrey’s shootingstarLong-styled sedgeNagoonberryNorthern bedstraw leaf whorlPacific soft rushValley wolf lichenWhite-flowered rhododendron
We have revived a former website feature—a calendar of CVN activities—for the convenience of members who want to know about upcoming activities. See it here, or navigate to it anytime via the About menu.
One benefit of this calendar is that it enables activity leaders to know about the scheduling of the activities of other groups to help them avoid conflicts.
Here, the calendar is view-only. Activity leaders who need to add entries to the calendar should contact the secretary for instructions.
Note that this calendar is distinct from the Events page of this website which provides details and registration (where needed) for CVN’s public events.
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Comox Valley Nature members and the general public are invited to CVN’s October general meeting for the following keynote presentation:
Title: An Overview of the Kus-kus-sum Restoration Project Speaker: Caitlin Pierzchalski (Project Watershed) Date: Sunday, October 27, 2024 Time: 3:00 p.m. PT Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
“Sedges have edges” (Photo: Dylan Thiessen)
Caitlin will provide an update of the current restoration works and the works planned for next year at Kus-kus-sum. She will also update and summarize the status of planned work and long-term monitoring and maintenance of the site. Caitlin will emphasize the plant prescription chosen for Kus-kus-sum and the ongoing planting efforts. For more information on this project see Project Watershed’s website.
About the speaker
Caitlin Pierzchalski is the Executive Director of Project Watershed. She is a restoration ecologist, watershed steward, and experienced program manager. She was born and raised on the traditional territory of the Sylix-speaking peoples and is currently based on unceded Coast Salish territory. She is inspired by her love of oceans, and has been working in and learning from marine and coastal environments throughout the Salish Sea for the past 10 years. She believes in exploring the unique ways each of us can contribute to and support healthy, future ecosystems for our communities, and is always reflecting on her own role in this. She’s keen to support and further community-engaged stewardship in the Comox Valley that contributes to thriving watersheds, and holds a cautiously hopeful view for the future for our lands and waters.
More about the meeting
Following the keynote presentation, the meeting will include brief reports from CVN interest groups and other activity leaders.
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.
The CVN Shoreline Group had a productive field trip to the Willow Point reef in Campbell River this year on July 5. As on trips to this location in previous years, the group enjoyed the excellent leadership of Campbell River’s Sandra Milligan.
This reef is rich in intertidal life, and Sandra has been accumulating a list of the species she’s seen there for many years. To provide context for this trip, Sandra made these comments about her cumulative list:
The reef species composition does change, so some species haven’t been seen recently, but I leave them on the list in hopes they will reappear. The reef is still changing because of the sea star die-off 10 years ago and subsequent increase in urchin and mussel abundance.
Following the trip, Sandra updated her list. You can download the full species list here. Check marks indicate the species that were observed on this occasion.
Thanks to CVN members Stuart and Véronique for the photo above and those below. Click a photo to enlarge it.
Title: Observations on the fish and aquatic ecology of Buttle Lake Speaker: Paige Stuart Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2024
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.
In the last couple of decades you might have seen reports of some hybrid swans (Mute Swan x Trumpter Swan) in our region. In her latest long-form article, CVN member Véronique McIntyre collects those reports and delves into the behaviour and biology of swans to shed light on this phenomenon. In her inimitable style, Véronique presents the story of the swans as a conversation between a hybrid swan and a Trumpeter Swan. Be sure to check out the article here: Hybrid Swans: Mixed-up and Proud of It.
You can always find this and other long-form articles via the Articles category in the sidebar.
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(THIS EVENT IS FULL, join the waitlist through our events page) Comox Valley Nature invites you to a special opportunity to learn and connect with K'omoks First Nation storytelling, benefiting the KFN culture department. Pamela Mitchell, Culture Manager for KFN, has created a workshop around the legend of Dzunuk’wa the wild Woman of the Woods. Kwakwak’wakw oral tradition tells of a giantess that lives in dark forests and has thick messy hair, a black face and full red lips.This workshop is a great way to learn about local Indigenous traditions through a hands-on project that creates lasting memories about the K’ómoks First Nation culture. For this project we will be creating a wild woman ornament; you will colour the iconic red lips and face of the wild woman and hand-spin the wool for the crazy wild woman hair. While we work on our ornaments, Pamela will read her version of the wild woman story.This project takes about 1-1.5 hours. Workshop fee is $36 which includes the cost of a supply kit. Proceeds go to the KFN Culture Dept.Register through our CVN events page.https://comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/events/ ...
Drawing on the Salish Sea: A Zoom course in support of the Mitlenatch Island Stewardship Team (MIST)Have you wished that you could keep a nature journal or paint the life around you? During three Zoom sessions you can explore how to quickly capture wildflowers, inter-tidal life and birds You’ll learn how to draw quickly and accurately, starting with simple shapes, then using some refining techniques, which will help you draw with less frustration!You’ll look at materials: papers, pens, and coloured mediums like pencil crayons. Then you’ll jump into watercolours with a simple palette and mixes as well as quick watercolour techniques you can use in the field or at home. All the lessons will be accompanied with downloadable notes.You will finish the course ready to start your own Nature Journal.Zoom recordings will allow you watch the sessions at your convenience during the course and for a month after we wrap up. About Mitlenatch Island:Mitlenatch Island is a small rocky island that sits between Campbell River and Powell River, in the Salish Sea. Cast in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island, its flanks are clad in golden grasses and its meadows host an explosion of spring wildflowers. Anchored where tides rush in from the north and south, rich waters encircling the island teem with fish; intertidal life flourishes and thousands of seabirds nest on cliffs, in rocks, and on open ground. It’s shores provide refuge for mother seals with their pups, and haul out for sea lions in the winter. In recent years Humpbacks have returned to nearby waters, to feed on krill and schooling fish. With so much life, much of it on exposed nesting areas, the island has a special vulnerability. The Mist volunteer wardens are in place for the summer months to welcome people to the island (which is accessible by boat only) and to relate to visitors the natural and human history of the island. For 25 years Alison Watt has spent a week on the island in the summer, as a volunteer warden. Her journals are full of Mitlenatch sketches. She finds it a delight and a privilege to return each year to this jewel of the Salish Sea. MIST is a special organisation which works closely with BC Provincial Parks to ensure that Mitlenatch Island remains a haven for the plants and animals of the Salish Sea.Sign up and donate through www.alisonwatt.ca/drawing-on-the-salish-seaFor more information on Mitlenatch Island visit www.mitlenatch.ca/mitlenatch-island...
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: Birdbrains – Smarter than you think- with Sandra Milligan Once dismissed as “birdbrains,” birds are now recognized for their remarkable intelligence. Sandra explores the evolution of our understanding of avian neuroanatomy, focusing on local species. Through engaging stories and videos, Sandra explores how birds solve problems, use tools, express empathy, and communicate with rich vocabulary – inviting you to see these creatures with newfound respect and wonder.Sandra Milligan has been teaching university level biology at North Island College for over twenty years. With graduate degrees in neuroscience, she’s now a generalist, naturalist, and lifelong learner. In Campbell River, she’s a recognized environmental advocate and public educator. Her passion for birding has evolved into a deep interest in avian behaviour and intelligence. Drawing on her neuroanatomy background, Sandra has followed the growing research on bird cognition, confirming what many intuitively felt – birds display an extraordinary range of intelligent behaviours. Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3 pm in the main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox. Members of the public welcome.This will be an in-person only meeting. We will not record the presentation on this occasion [this is a correction to previous information].As always, there will be a break after the presentation with a chance to meet new people and socialize with old friends. Tea, coffee and treats will be available (by donation).A brief meeting follows. Reports from some of our interest groups and projects are an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do. ...
It's that time of year! A couple of off leash dogs have been seen romping at the confluence of Morrison Creek and the Puntledge River. Dogs get quite excited to see those big chum. The chum do spawn right at the mouth of the creek, salmon eggs are very sensitive to disturbance so paws, or feet, in the creek kill eggs. Keep your dog on a leash, especially if you do not want a smelly dog! Dogs like to roll in dead fish. Salmon spook, be a quiet calm wildlife paparazzi. ...
Fish Walk!!! ( Well, not really...but don't miss this chance to follow their journey!)Join the Morrison Creek Streamkeepers for a walk along Morrison Creek, starting at its confluence with the Puntledge River in Puntledge Park, to watch salmon spawning after their remarkable journey back from the ocean. Register here: form.jotform.com/262924316992264...
