by Michael Stewart, 15 September 2016. Mike, skipper of Misty Isles, his wife Samantha, guest historian Judith Williams, and six naturalists departed Lund Harbour, thrilled to hear that there were  Humpbacks just outside the harbour.  We were able to watch the 2 humpbacks  and have  this extra  unplanned “event”  for the beginning of our 2 … Continue reading Rock Art with Judith Williams

  by Caroline Brown, 29 Aug 2016. Pictographs, a “brand new” petroglyph, exotic geology, whales, dolphins, stories of gin and tonic sailors, mistresses, tall and not-so-tall tales were some of the highlights for twelve of the Malaspina Naturalists as we headed to East Thurlow Island aboard the Misty Isles – for three whole days! For most … Continue reading East Thurlow Island

  by Lu Wuthrich, 13 August 2016. On a sunny Saturday eleven of the Naturalists went up to Mount Washington for a second Marmot tour, led by Andrew Bryant. We were on the chair lift early in the morning and had a sunny, clear day to view the wonderful vistas around the top of Mount Washington.   … Continue reading Marmots at Mount Washington

  by Tom Koleszar, 19 July 2016. On July 19 the Malaspina Naturalists made the annual trip out to Mitlenatch Island, departing from Lund once again aboard the Misty Isles with Captain Mike Moore. The weather was a bit cooler and windier that we are used to in mid-July – but at least the wind meant … Continue reading Mitlenatch Island

  by Laurette Hamoline, 26 June 2016. A small gaggle of enthusiastic naturalists (about 10-12 of us) gathered in Willingdon Park on Sunday to learn about plant classification.  Ioni Wais was our charming and knowledgeable guide as we wandered around the grounds learning about strange “relations” in the plant kingdom.  There are numerous ways in which … Continue reading Plant Walk with Ioni Wais

  by Julia Young, 5 June 2016. On a calm sunny morning the Misty Isles, captained by Mike, left Lund with 12 passengers.   En route to the reef, Mike used his navigational maps to illustrate the uplifting of peaks around us, the carving of deep channels by ice, and the effects of tides, currents and water … Continue reading Hernando Reef with Rick Harbo

by Heather Harbord, 26 May 2016.  Ten members boarded the schooner, Misty Isles, at Lund on May 26th bound for Mitlenatch and Twin Islands.  It was great to have extra time on Mitlenatch especially as the Tiger Lilies were coming into bloom in the meadow and the Glaucous-winged gulls were beginning to sit on eggs.  The … Continue reading Twin Islands and Mitlenatch

by Andrew Bryant, 30 April 2016 Both Pierre Geoffray and I thought it a bit strange that nobody had showed at the Italian Hall by 8:00 AM – so we hung around for a bit, and decided to go birding anyway. Thus I was horrified to later learn that I’d mis-remembered the time – our advertised … Continue reading Birding by Ear Part VI

by Heather Harbord, 7 May 2016 Eighteen members attended the May 7th, 2016 field trip following Judith Williams’ talk on Clam Gardens.  Since Judith was unable to walk far, most of us did not go down onto Westview Beach which is mapped on pages 110-111 of her 2006 book Clam Gardens; Aboriginal Mariculture on Canada’s West … Continue reading Clam Gardens with Judith Williams

by Heather Harbord, 18 March 2016.  Ten members accompanied Art Martell to Willingdon Beach and Sliammon on Friday. On the way down to the creek mouth at Willingdon, we stopped to look at a lone Mew Gull with magnificent mirrors on its tail feathers.  At the creek, we found three mature California Gulls which loomed clear … Continue reading Gulls with Art Martell

by Barbara Sherriff, 23 January 2015. Bert Finnegan of the Powell River Hisorical Museum and Archives gave us a slide show of magnificent photographs and explanations of early logging operations in and around Powell River. He began by putting things in context, that is by stressing with the fact that the First Nation Sliammon people had been … Continue reading Early Logging Practices

by Tom Koleszar, 17 October 2015. Twelve Naturalists participated in the forest ecosystems field trip.  The goal of this trip was to examine forest soils and plants at different elevations near Powell River. Lead by our guide, Nancy Pezel of Western Forest Products, we looked at 4 sites along A Branch between 500 and 1100m elevation. … Continue reading Forest Ecosystems

by David Bedry, 10 October 2015. Ten hardy people braved the miserable weather to see the Sliammon hatchery. Lee George, the hatchery manager, talked to us about the returning salmon, the harvesting of eggs, rearing the fish and their final release back into the river. We also saw the rebuilt weir over the stream. Besides seeing chum salmon in the … Continue reading Salmon at Sliammon

by Barbara Sherriff, 26 September 2015.  Seven Malaspina Naturalists met with 3 other intrepid adventurers and boatman John at Lund. We had a fast 2 hour boat trip on Homolka 1 to Bute Inlet.  We just missed seeing a humpback whale as it headed up the Hole in the Wall channel just before we arrived there. … Continue reading Orford River grizzlies