Vancouver Island Nature Tours

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 [...]

Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)
Originally uploaded by TheRainbird
This lobster-like creature is very common in the streams and lakes of the Pacific Northwest. Although its claws are much smaller than it’s saltwater cousin they can still give a nasty pinch!
I took the first picture last summer on one of my nature tours. I had posted it on [...]

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 it. [...]

Thanks to a very strong web presence and new marketing strategies, Rainbird Excursions’ Magical Mushroom tour went off without a hitch this weekend. In fact I had to turn down some people. Next year promises to be bigger and better than ever. I plan on having more expertise on site and accommodating more people.
Planning an [...]

The more I go to Stamp Falls, the more I am convinced that this Provincial park is the best place to see salmon migrating on Vancouver Island.  And by way of a photo essay I will prove it to you.
It is a little off the beaten track. Those of you who are fixated on [...]

Photographing a Cassin’s Auklet
Originally uploaded by TheRainbird
I just got back from a really successful pelagic birding trip to northern Vancouver Island.  The American Birding Association (ABA) had a regional conference in Vancouver, which moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island. ABA conferences usually have pre and post conference excursions which explore the region the conference is [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

The pelagic trip I wrote about earlier this month is now officially going to happen.
The date of the trip is Sept 7th. It will be the only pelagic birding trip in a boat with a heated cabin and on-board washroom facilities offered on the west coast of Canada this summer.
For those of you who [...]