Vancouver Island Nature Tours

I don’t normally flagrantly self-promote on this site. But an incident a couple of weeks ago has prompted me to post something about what tour guides such as myself bring to the table for visitors. This article is aimed at some of the local people who may not appreciate this. And sadly, there seem to [...]

Classic adult Herring Gull Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Contrary to many Vancouver Islander’s opinion Herring Gulls are not the common gull species on Vancouver Island. The Glaucous-winged Gull is. I was guilty of this for the first two years I was on the island. Adult Herring Gulls are relativley easy to distinguish from the Glaugous-winged. [...]

I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all the readers who come here over the next month or so a warm greeting. This image was taken during an unusually early snowstorm a couple of weeks ago. I photo-shopped it to make it look like a drawing.  It ‘s a Varied Thrush. Which reminds me [...]

I think that there is lots of unrealized potential in Sproat Lake to attract visitors to the area. Even in the summer there is plenty of space for everyone. Two Rivers Arm is vacant for most of the year. And Taylor Arm, the largest arm on the lake, is also largely empty. But every summer [...]

Celebrating the first Matsutake Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Masaya is a very persistent fellow! He has been on a mushroom tour with me before, but he didn’t quite get what he was hoping for. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they had a great time. But he was hoping to pick some Matsutake Mushrooms on [...]

Bear on the Somass River Originally uploaded by TheRainbird For most of the year bears are not seen on the far bank of the Somass River. But from mid-August to late October this is the best place to see Black Bears on Vancouver Island. They are commonly seen on low tides at the mouth of [...]

Alberni Valley Tourism Award Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Alberni Valley Tourism Award At Tourism Vancouver Island’s 45th Annual Conference on 25 October, Alberni Valley Tourism won the award for Multi-faceted Advertising Campaign. As a board member of Alberni Valley Tourism, I was at the awards dinner and took a couple of shots of the event. [...]

It is near the end of November and business has dried up completely. But the weather hasn’t dried up! It’s coming down in torrents right now. So what does a tour operator do in the off season? Plan for next year!And I have put a bunch of irons in the fire. First, Rainbird Excursions has [...]

It was one of those rare days on Vancouver Island; the weatherman called for sun and it was the weekend! So, the nature tour season having ended about two weeks ago, I said to my better half, lets go for an outing this afternoon.  I suggested we go and see if the Sockeye Salmon were [...]

Long Beach Originally uploaded by TheRainbird This was taken a couple of years ago near Combers Beach parking area. I love how the walkers have their shoes in their hands. And how the flock of gulls are nearly hidden in the fog. And how she has turned to watch a gull flying. The peace, tranquility [...]