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…
Two hundred and thirty-five exotic plant species have been documented growing wild on Mayne Island, and it’s safe to assume there are more whose presence has not been recorded, since efforts to observe and document plant species on the island have been somewhat infrequent and patchy. Each new species added Read more…
What does it mean to be a naturalist? Naturalists observe nature in its various forms, most often plants or animals, often investing considerable time in communicating the results to a popular audience. In the case of plants, a naturalist will study the location and growing conditions of a plant, and Read more…
Roughskin newts are small amphibians native to the Pacific Northwest – they can be found from California up to Alaska and when crossing the roads of our little island in the spring and autumn. If you’ve ever spotted a live roughskin newt, it was most likely during one of those Read more…