As Halloween approaches, images of scary bats become commonplace. This is the perfect time of year to counter bat myths and do something to help bats, by taking part in International Bat Week (October 24-31). Bat Week is all about appreciating these amazing animals and their benefits. Our bats are tremendous consumers Read more…
Spiders aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. They can be unpredictable, fast-moving, hairy-looking, and they show up in inconvenient places like your bath tub. But spiders are wonders of nature that deserve our respect. All of them are predators—that is to say, they don’t chew on your petunias nor bore into Read more…
International Travellers If being a human feels challenging these days, take a moment to consider the awe-inspiring purple martins who are now on their epic journey to southeastern Brazil – an extraordinary round trip migration of 22,000 km. These large swallows have spent their summers on the Pacific Northwest coast Read more…
What might cause a biologist to spend three hopeful days on a paddleboard in the Saanich Inlet in the middle of winter? I’d heard rumour of a basking shark sighted in the area, and the slim possibility of seeing one sent me paddling out in the limited daylight. Although I Read more…
If you can find a rocky place beside the sea, you might spy one of our fin-footed neighbours soaking up the sun. Known collectively as pinnipeds, seals and sea lions are important players in maintaining a diverse and healthy west coast. Local Pinnipeds Globally, there are 33 species of pinnipeds, Read more…
Silver-haired Bat This bat species has been confirmed on Mayne Island using DNA testing. The Silver-Haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) ranges across North America from northern Mexico to southeastern Alaska. In British Columbia, this bat uses forests and grassland habitats that range in elevation between 0 and 1220 metres. These bats migrate Read more…
Do you ever stand on the shore or peer off the side of a boat and wonder what’s beneath the waves? If you’re close to an underwater rocky shelf, you could be looking down on a fish born decades before Elvis Presley’s birth. Rockfish are slow growing and long lived, Read more…
Celebrating International Migratory Bird Day Many of you may not know that every year, May 8th is celebrated as International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) to recognize and appreciate the amazing journeys of migratory birds from their wintering grounds to the spring and summer breeding grounds. The first IMBD for North America Read more…
Six bat species have been confirmed on Mayne Island through DNA testing. Yuma Myotis Long-legged Myotis Silver-haired Bat Hoary Bat Big Brown Bat California Myotis Our overarching concern Currently in North America certain bat species are being impacted by a disease called White Nose Syndrome which is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus Read more…
From Yves and Yvonne Tiberghien, Mayne Island One of our new resolutions for 2021 is to test the results of the famed Japanese technique of forest bathing, or shinrinyoku (森林浴). It is very simple: all you need to do is to get lost in the woods and feel the life and connectivity Read more…