The Mayne Island Big Day Bird Count is a part of the Global Big Day; an annual celebration of wild birds coinciding with International Migratory Bird Day. This event was first held in 2015 by Cornell University, a leader in wild bird science. Cornell manages the website eBird.org and tracks Read more…
Spring is here, and with warmer night time temperatures our B.C. bats are now returning to summer roost sites. One of our more familiar species in buildings and bat boxes is the little brown myotis. Like all B.C. bats, the little brown myotis is an essential part of our ecology, Read more…
With Oceans Day coming up on June 8th, it’s a great time to take a closer look at one of coastal B.C.’s more elusive creatures – the humble clam! These molluscs call the sandy shorelines of Mayne Island home. The native clam species found in the Salish Sea include littleneck Read more…
Calling all photography and nature enthusiasts! The Conservancy is pleased to announce our 10th Annual Nature Photography Contest. Share your sunset photos, “planet Earth” moments, and the beauty of the island in our community-wide celebration of photography and nature! Don’t yet have a photograph you’d like to share? Don’t worry, Read more…
If you were to ever invite a turkey vulture to dinner, it’d be a long, drawn out, rather repelling affair: The meal would begin by not beginning, as turkey vultures don’t have very sharp beaks and therefore need to wait for other scavengers such as eagles or ravens to tear Read more…
This month we’re shining the spotlight on a very popular plant called great camas. You may have heard of this sun loving native perennial bulb or seen its showy purple flower. If you haven’t seen it before, soon it will be a perfect time to head down and check it Read more…
International Bat Appreciation Day was celebrated on April 17, 2023, and this was a great way to start discovering more about these fascinating creatures who are emerging from hibernation to once again share our skies, homes, woodpiles, and trees, and who rely on us to help their habitats and populations Read more…
These days it seems like you can’t visit the beach or take a walk along the shoreline without spotting refuse of some kind: plastic bags, old shoes, rope, an increasing amount of single-use face masks, and Styrofoam, Styrofoam, Styrofoam everywhere! Cleaning up beach plastics can sometimes feel like a hopeless Read more…
During my youth growing up in north-western BC, my first physical encounter with stinging nettle was while ambling along a creek side close to where my friends Joy and June lived. Although I was still in elementary school, I had some knowledge of the native plants that grew in our Read more…
2022 Christmas Bird Count There are many factors (weather, temperature, visibility, number of counters, food supply, suitable habitats, etc.) that influence the outcomes of the annual Christmas Bird Counts (CBC). Either singly or in combination, they can cause great variations within count areas, between adjacent count areas and the whole Read more…