Mayne Island is full of beautiful, brightly-coloured birds right now—they’re just a bit hard to spot. As a kid growing up, I was captivated by images of tropical birds, with their impossibly bright feathers. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I realized we have some outrageously bright Read more…
Do you have bats on your property? Have you seen them entering or exiting their daytime roosts? The Mayne Island Community Bat Conservation Program is looking for roosting colony sites for our Annual Bat Count. Currently we know of only one roost colony, and we are looking for more on Read more…
What’s up with all the Steller’s jays? Article by Michael Dunn. Photos by Don Enright When I was young and growing up in Victoria, I recall late summer and early fall months when Steller’s jays were everywhere around my neighbourhood. I lived very close to Beacon Hill Park and knew then Read more…
A Community Resource Towering trees, feathery moss, chirping birds, and epic views. Together, Mt. Parke Regional Parke, Mary Jeffery Park, and Plumper Pass Community Park make up the largest public park on Mayne Island. With many kilometres of hiking trails and 66 acres of mature forest, visitors and residents alike Read more…
The Conservancy’s second annual Community Bat Program has increased in size with several important milestones including: a celebrated Community Bat presentation by HAT wildlife biologists, 18 bat surveys across Mayne Island, and over 100 bat sightings. These observations coupled with guano samples support species identification and assist in monitoring population Read more…
The long, dark winter is over. by Don Enright Yesterday, we took a walk along St. John Point. We’ve been leading our Sunday visits there for a while now, and it has been remarkable to watch the changing of the seasons along its rocky shores. Particularly this year, with its wild Read more…
One of my favourite rituals of spring is to seek out the very first flowers of the salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis). Once I’ve found a good patch of blooms, I settle in and listen for quick, low humming sound whizzing by my ears. There! A rufous hummingbird, hovering for salmonberry nectar. Read more…
By Rob Underhill You may have heard about the current housing shortage on Mayne Island. As the inventory of homes for sale has decreased, so has rental availability. This has created a challenging problem for our community that will require us to work together to solve. There is another housing Read more…
A short video talking about the work done on Mayne Island and the importance of eelgrass to our local ecosystems,
About Kelp Beds Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is an annual marine seaweed that is common throughout the Gulf Islands. Its range extends from Alaska to California, and it provides important habitat for many kinds of marine life. The plant consists of a long stipe (up to 36 m long), attached Read more…