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

by Tammy Siddall, 22 July 2015.  It was a perfect July day in Lund when 12 naturalists boarded the Misty Isles in search of rocks. Captain Mike and crewmate Amy had planned an exciting two-day circumnavigation of Cortes Island for us.  From Lund Harbour we first headed north towards the Twin Islands. As we travelled, … Continue reading Cortes Island geology

by Andrew Bryant, 14 June 2015.  David Bedry, Heidi Rohard and I arranged (led is too strong a word)  a leisurely stroll out to Myrtle Rocks on a fine Sunday morning. Fifteen club members and a few interested passers-by participated. Together we braved the bright sun, quiet winds, noticeably low tide conditions, and still waters  to … Continue reading A low-tide stroll out to Myrtle Rocks

by Heather Harbord, 11 June 2015.   Twelve of us went on Captain Mike Moore’s schooner, Misty Isles, to check out the entrance to Bute Inlet and circumnavigate Maurelle Island. After the compulsory visit to Nancy’s Bakery, we left Lund at 10am, and powered up Thulin Passage to see the pictograph.   It was nice to … Continue reading Bute Inlet and Maurelle Island

by Tom Koleszar, 30 May 2015.  Sixteen  Naturalists traveled to Vancouver Island to visit the Horne Lake Caves. Lead by our guide, Sarah, we had a 1/2 hour walk (uphill!), complete with interpretive stops, to the entrance of the Riverbend Cave. From there, with helmets and lights on, all 16 of us descended (steeply!) into … Continue reading Underground! Horne Lake Caves

by Cindy Dalcourt, 9 May 2015.  On a beautiful, sunny morning 12 members carpooled to Lund where we met Captain Mike Moore aboard the Misty Isles for a trip to the B.C. Park nature preserve Mitlenatch Island. The very personable Captain briefed us on what the trip would consist of and shared his vast knowledge … Continue reading A day on Mitlenatch

by Andrew Bryant, 25 April 2015. Pierre Geoffray and Neil Hughes led eight of us on a leisurely ear-birding expedition along along the muddy trails behind the Italian Hall.  We started at the crack of eight and walked neither fast nor far. The rains held off, but the woods were relatively quiet.  There were a … Continue reading Birding by ear Part V

by Barbara Sherriff, 21 March 2015. Diana Rosburgh and Suzan Roos led nineteen of us on a gentle walk along the forest trails at the rear of the Recreational Complex.  They not only identified many plants, they also explained which ones were edible and which would make us very sick.  Among the plants that they described were trailing blackberry, … Continue reading Edible plants, mosses and ferns

by Andrew Bryant, 28 February 2015. Saturday was sunny and calm as nine of us gathered for a low-key birdwatching excursion with Neil Hughes and myself. We began at Palm Beach Regional Park, where we saw a hundred or more Surf Scoters, together with smaller numbers of the “usual suspects” (Horned Grebes, Harlequin ducks, Buffleheads, … Continue reading Casual birdwalk

by Andrew Bryant, 23 January 2015. As somewhat of a non sequitur to his talk about Madagascar the previous evening, Bill Merilees followed up with  a more informal discussion of his garden in Nanaimo and the mysteries of plant phenology.   “Phenology”, by the way, is just a scientific buzzword to describe the study of … Continue reading Plant phenology workshop

by Heather Harbord, 21 January 2015.  7 Jan 2015 trip:  The fog horn sounded every 2 minutes as nine of us crossed over to Egmont and then drove to Secret Cove where the fog began to lift. From there John Dafoe on the HiBaller II, a small landing craft, took us over smooth seas to Jedediah Island.  En … Continue reading Two landings on Jedediah Island

by Tom Koleszar, 22 November 2014. As a follow-up to the talk on Thursday, on Saturday twelve of us, led by Rod Tysdal (Director) and Al Barker (Operations Manager) of the Powell River Community Forest, toured parts of the Community Forest area, stopping at five sites to discuss various aspects of forest ecology and site … Continue reading Sustainable Forests field-trip

by David Bedry, 17 October 2014.  Twenty adults and three children headed into the woods for a follow-up field trip after our monthly meeting. Brian Lee, the previous nights speaker, led a great trip into the forest at Squirrel Crossing. Despite a forecast of heavy rain and strong winds the weatherman cooperated for our field … Continue reading Mushroom cook-out

by Barbara Sherriff and others, 9-10 August 2014. Twelve of us took a two-day voyage up Homfray Channel, Desolation Sound, and Toba Inlet aboard the trusty Misty Isles, with Captain Mike Moore at the helm. I asked everyone what their personal highlights were.  Here’s what I learned… Jane Lying in the bowsprit the colour of the water … Continue reading Toba Inlet

by Tom Koleszar, 26 July 2014. Twelve naturalists, led by our own Barbara Sherriff, boarded the Misty Isles with Captain Mike Moore for a day-long geological tour of Hernando, Twin, and Cortes Islands. We first cruised past Hernando Island before landing at Iron Point at the south end of Twin Islands, where we had ample opportunity … Continue reading Cortez Island Geology

by Lu Wuthrich, 13 July 2014. Eleven of the naturalists group had the pleasure of exploring the intertidal zone at Limekiln Bay on Sunday, July 13th. The weather was wonderful and a low tide provided an opportunity for three hours of fun turning over rocks and digging bivalves on the sandy part of the beach. The rock formations … Continue reading Texada Tidepools

by Heidi Rohard, 7 June 2014. This Saturday was a perfect day for a stroll in the woods: big, beautiful sunshine! Five of us joined our plant expert, Shirley Cole, for a follow-up field trip to Squirrel Crossing to see the bushes, trees and other flora which we had visited earlier this year and are now in their … Continue reading Twigs and more Part II

  by nobody, 31 May 2014.   

by Janet May, 10 May 2014. Ten members met Pierre Geoffray at the Italian Hall in Wildwood and immediately we began listening for birds. We encountered several migrant flocks passing through the area. Warblers of many varieties sang out, and we were delighted to spot orange-crowned, black-throated grey, and Townsend’s as well as a warbling vireo … Continue reading Birding by ear Part IV

by David Bedry, 3 May 2014. On Saturday I led a small group to view the spring wildflowers at Dinner Rock.  We saw quite a few wild flowers, had a good walk and made some new friends.  It was an enjoyable day out as always.

by Heidi Rohard, 20 February 2014. Shirley Cole led a group of seven on a nature walk along some Squirrel Crossing trails. She pointed out to us various twigs, such as huckleberry, hardhack, salmonberry and pacific crabapple.  We learned the difference between a yew and a hemlock and can now identify bunchberry, oregon grape and salal. … Continue reading Twigs and more with Shirley Cole

by Heather Harbord, 5 November 2013. Eleven of us boarded John Dafoe’s comfortable power boat at the government dock at Saltery Bay.  As we drew into Hotham Sound,  we saw the hump and dorsal fin of a humpback whale.  As we lingered to watch several of us got good pictures of the fin, the blow and … Continue reading Princess Louisa Inlet

by Michael Stewart, 20 October 2013. Twenty-nine eager participants arrived to learn about Mushrooms from Izi Loveluck.  We met and carpooled from the Town Center Mall or the south end of Duck Lake Road and travelled to Squirrel Crossing. We walked the short distance to the bridge crossing the river and then Izi gave us a … Continue reading Mushrooms

by Heidi Rohard, 5 October 2013.  A group of 15 club members met at the Lang Creek spawning channel on Saturday.  The weather was overcast, but dry and not too cold.  Michael Stewart started off by explaining the work that had been done by volunteers of the Powell River Garden Club, creating a beautiful setting of … Continue reading Lang Creek salmon

by Sharon Godkin, 30 July 2013. Five members jammed into Barbara Sherriff’s car on the noon ferry to Comox to meet our February speaker, Terry Thormin, for a dragonfly field trip. By the time we arrived at Little River Park near the ferry terminal, the dragonflies were in full form skimming over the two ponds in … Continue reading Dragonflies

by Andrew Bryant, 22 July 2013. Twelve of us embarked upon the Misty Isles in Lund and set out for the unknown (at least to me) waters surrounding Hernando Island.  Luckily Mike Moore AKA “Captain Mike” clearly knew his stuff and made us feel comfortable and safe.  The skies were clear and the ocean blue.  We saw a … Continue reading Hernando Reef

by David Bedry, 22 June 2013. With a one foot tide five of us met Heather at the foot of Masset Street.  We walked out onto the beach from there to look for various saltwater flora and fauna.  There were a variety of small crab in the 1-2 inch deep water.  As soon as they detected … Continue reading Westview seashore photography

by Heather Habord, 15 June 2013. Participants not only got to visit the island, they get there on the trusty Misty Isles with Mike Moore.   Mike is an expert captain who shared all kinds of coastal stories.   His wife is the botanist who led the on-shore trip.   The spring flowers were out in … Continue reading Mitlenatch visit

by David Bedry, 11 May 2013. Eleven people met in Lund to take the water taxi over to Savary Island.  We were met by the Treen’s who had scouted out and marked various wild flowers for us to see.  We started with a nice walk along the beach then John directed us up off the beach and into … Continue reading Savary beaches and spring flowers

by Heather Harbord, 20 April 2013. Four of us met Pierre at the Italian Hall and walked north along a muddy trail where we saw or heard 29 species. We mostly focused on the Orange-crowned Warbler’s song.  The long, thin trill that drops at the end.  Luckily there were lots of them today.  Also the “wetchidi-witchidi” of … Continue reading Birding by ear Part III