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April, 2021
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News
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Spring Native Plant Sale
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Spring is here and the plants in our small native plant nursery are starting to wake up! We have limited availability this year due to an increase in demand for native plants in our habitat restoration projects, and an early-bird opportunity that was available only to those that held membership in 2020. To make sure you take advantage of future …
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Big Challenge, Tiny Island - Part 1
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A new series exploring the effects of climate change on Mayne and specific ways we can adapt.
The growing quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—because of all the fossil fuels we burn, forests we clear and fertilizers we use—are warming our world. This is leading to more extreme weather events around the world: floods, storms, …
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Monthly Species Feature: Red Alder
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Red Alder: Young Forest Community Members Red alder (Alnus rubra) is a deciduous tree that grows abundantly in the Pacific Northwest. Their range spans between California and Alaska, and they grow particularly well in British Columbia’s climate. In the past this species was thought of as being over abundant, but recently people have begun to realize their value. Red alders …
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Book Review:
Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder
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I noticed Julia Zarankin’s memoir Field Notes From An Unintentional Birder on the B.C. Bestsellers list recently and it piqued my interest. I consider myself a bird watcher—I enjoy looking at birds that visit my feeders and it is fun to try to identify birds in the forest and on the ocean while on walks. …
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Habitat Restoration at St. John Point
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Our staff and volunteers have been busy at St. John Point over the fall and early spring, creating habitat for native species to thrive. If you frequent the park you may have noticed two fenced areas were created in recent months, one down slope from the parking lot around a small wetland, and the second nearer the beach access at …
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Whats For Dinner Next?
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As I was making a salad for dinner last night with fresh greens from our small greenhouse (which made a surprisingly amazing bounce back following our late season cold snap), my six-year-old son started talking to me about science. Now, my son tends to be extreme in all things, sometimes this is a good thing, and at other times… not …
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Notes from the Field
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Spring is full of surprises, and at this time of year everywhere we look there's something new. It's my favourite season—after a dark and cold winter it's wonderful to feel the energy that surges up as the days grow longer and life emerges after its seasonal rest.
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On a grey March day, as a friend and I were conversing in a still sleeping apple orchard, it seemed a piece of bright blue sky alighted on a branch a stone's throw away. This winged visitor was unlike any bird we had seen before (except for an escaped budgerigar), but judging by its colour we could safely assume that it was a very blue bird. I excitedly snapped a few grainy shots for proof as he dropped to the ground to feed and quickly returned to a low perch, a behaviour he repeated moving about the orchard. Perhaps he could read our minds, or maybe he wanted some Facebook fame, but whatever the reason, our cerulean serenader's foraging brought him to pose in the nearest tree, unbothered by our attention.
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I later learned that our feathered friend was a male Mountain Bluebird. Usually travelling in groups, this solo vagabond was on a Gulf Islands detour on his way to his summer retreat in the mountainous interior of the mainland. This chance encounter was a first recorded sighting here! You just never know what delights nature has in store when you venture outside to take in the sights of spring.
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Events
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Boundary Pass - Whale Highway
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April 28 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm via Zoom
Do you want to learn more about whales that live in the Salish Sea and how we can help them thrive? We do! So we've invited researcher Lucy Quayle from Simon Fraser University to share what she's learned about local whales and the challenges they face in local waters. Click the registration button below to join us. "Last year I …
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Beach Cleanup 2021
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May 30th 1-3 pm
We hope you can join us on May 30th for the annual Mayne Island Beach Cleanup. To get involved, contact your local Beach Captain from the list below. This year we are asking everyone to please bring their own gloves and buckets or bags if you have them. Bennett Bay - Mike Nadeau – 250 539-0123 Briggs Landing – Jeanine …
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