Vancouver Island Nature Tours

Many of the trails on Central Vancouver Island, including the Alberni Valley, are only known by locals. Often people new to the area need to meet people who have been in the area for a while before they find out where these trails are. They are usually not mapped by anyone except perhaps by a [...]

This is a classic example of a stilt-tree. What’s a stilt-tree?
Well this tree germinated where the red dot in this photo is. When this tree germinated from a seed there was a stump here. and it germinated on the stump. As time passed the seedling grew as the stump rotted. The moist rainforest climate allowed [...]

I recently ran across a couple at Victoria Quay in Port Alberni. They had the tell-tale sign of a birder and a visitor - binoculars hanging from their necks and hanging around the signs by the Somass River. I approached them and they started asking about how to get to the bird sanctuary on [...]

One of my favourite places to go is Fossli Provincial Park. Despite it being a provincial park, few people are aware of it. It’s on the other side of Sproat Lake. That is, on the south side. But it’s not that hard to get to. And it is a wonderful place to spend [...]

WeinerFalls
Originally uploaded by TheRainbird
Last summer, Weiner Falls and Rainbird Excursions were featured in a local cable television production. This magnificent waterfall is completely unknown to most of the people in the the community. And I’ve been getting calls even now (It’s December) asking how to get to it. The waterfall is only about a 30 [...]

A couple of weeks ago Patti and I went for a hike along the Teodoro Trail in the Alberni Valley. It is a nice trail mostly through second-growth forest to a remnant patch of old growth. There are also a couple of nice views of Sproat Lake. What prompted me to do this was [...]

It’s called the Angler’s Trail, Stamp Long River Trail, and Sayachlas t’a saa’nim in the Hupacasath language. Don’t ask me how to pronounce the last name. I have no idea! I did find out that it means Stamp Long River Trail! This trail was constructed a year and a half ago by local people with [...]

A while ago I published an ad that asked people three questions. One was if they knew where the suspension bridge in the Alberni Valley is. For months after the ad was printed, people were coming up to me and asking where it was. So now, for everyone’s benefit I can say it is [...]

Edited 9 February 2009. Although it wasn’t part of the trips I do, I took some people to the Carmanah Valley a couple of years ago. I didn’t go there very often then. But now I do a few times every year, I am always impressed. It is home to the largest tree in Canada, [...]

It’s not often you find a guest who demonstrates to you how much he and his family enjoyed their trip with Rainbird Excursions. But Micheal Pratt has done just that. He sent all 130 of his photos to me. And some of them are really nice. So I thought I would share them and his [...]