Vancouver Island Nature Tours

There are taller trees. There are trees with larger circumferences. And there are trees whose crowns spread further. But there are no other trees in Canada that combine all three to be the most massive tree than the Cheewhat Giant. It is a Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, near the shore of Cheewhat Lake on the [...]

Many people think that winter still has its icy grip on us. But there are a few signs of spring already in the fields and forests of Vancouver Island. One of them is that the Beaked Hazelnut bushes are in bloom. Hazelnuts are large shrubs found in the wild lowland areas of Vancouver Island. They [...]

Boggy ground at Pacific Rim Originally uploaded by TheRainbird One aspect of being in the Pacific temperate rainforest is the boggy ground. Wherever there is flat subdued terrain, there is poor drainage. The vast amount of water that falls on the land can’t be absorbed into the ground fast enough. Added to this is the [...]

Hairy Woodpecker Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Woodpeckers around our place have started drilling. For some people it ca be a taxing experience when they are woken up far earlier than they want to be by a lovely Northern Flicker who has found a wonderful bit of flashing in their roof to drum away on. To [...]

Lobaria oregana or Lettuce Lung Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Lobaria is a genus of lichens that is becoming rare world wide. This species is most common in old growth Douglas fir. They have a unique ability to “fix” nitrogen from the air. That is, extract the gas from the air and incorporate it into living [...]

Gnarly Branch Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Old growth branches are amazing places to the few people who see them from above. They are covered not just with moss and lichen, but also ferns, blueberry bushes, salal, other trees, earthworms, and beautifully composted rich organic soil.   Odd things like frogs and salamanders have been found in [...]

White Fawn Lilies (Erythronium Oregonum) Originally uploaded by TheRainbird Only February and already I am thinking about spring! We’ve had an almost eastern Canadian winter here. There is still snow all over the place on the ground here. But despite getting a couple of centimeters of snow the night before last, the snow is melting. [...]

One of the stories I like to tell…Ok it’s not really a story in that there’s no beginning, middle and end. It’s like a narrative story or voice-over…. One of the stories I like to tell people from outside BC is about the scale of the vegetation in the rainforest here on Vancouver Island. Everything [...]

Rainbird Excursions and Batstar Cafe & Picnic have teamed up to create a unique outdoor and gourmet experience. Ron Storey, Batstar’s gourmet chef and creator of the superb meal served last year to a lucky group of guests, will again create a meal fit for an epicure. But first, guests will be escorted to a [...]

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 because [...]