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 Regional District (similar to a County Government). And they won’t give you a copy. There are rarely any signs approaching trail-heads, at them, or along them. For visitors and travelers this situation is even worse. They have no idea that there are even any trails.

Often these trails are quite lovely. They often go to wonderful places, like waterfalls, groves of old forest, unique rock formations or wonderful views. Travelers are missing out.

And this post is a first attempt to put local knowledge of trails on line. As much as possible, I will be posting GPS tracks so that people with a GPS unit can be certain they are at the trail-heads without the need for a sign.

In the Alberni Valley, there are three locations where you can find reasonably good trail information. But each of them is missing bits of information that is very helpful.

First, and best is the web page on the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District’s site. The ACRD, as it is also known is the local regional government similar to county government in other areas. Anyway, the trails are all relatively easy except the CNPR Trail. It is quite steep in places and it is a long climb. The Adobe Acrobat files provide a good description of the trails and how to get there. However, there are no GPS files of the trails available to the public…yet!

More to in the coming weeks…

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 the seedling to survive and extend its roots all the way to the ground. As the stump rotted the tree roots has to grow thicker and more supportive. Eventually the stump was virtually gone leaving the tree supported by its roots, in this case ten feet in the air like stilts.

This sort of situation is very common in the rainforest. You see this on the west coast of Vancouver Island again and again. Germinating on a log or stump confers an advantage to a seedling. The ground vegetation is often so thick and so high that it is impossible for a seedling to compete for light. But by germinating on something as high as the brush or higher, it can compete successfully.

Another little nugget of forestry wisdom brought to you by Rainbird Excursions.

I’ve written about the sanctuary, that is, the Somass Estuary Project before in another blog entry (A Birder’s Site Guide for the Somass Estuary, Vancouver Island). But I realized, in talking to them, that there are quite a number of other places to find birds in the Valley. So here is an entry that addresses that. Here are my top five birding locations in the Alberni Valley.

The Somass Estuary

This area is an excellent place to look for birds. It is best in the winter when the waterfowl are wintering. However summer birding is also good. For a detailed guide to it you can follow the link provided above.

Kitsuksis Dyke

This is the most easily accessible spot where you can find decent birding in the Alberni Valley. Kitsuksis Creek flows into the Somass River just right beside the Clutesi Haven Marina, you drive by on Highway 4 on your way to the west coast. The easiest way to visit is to take the right fork just after the little bridge over the creek and park just past the restaurant on the right.

I have created a map from Google to show the route. The entire route is paved and located on a dyke that was created after the tsunami in 1964. I have marked the main route in red. In Green are interesting alternatives. The creek is tidal up to the Gertrude Street Bridge. Across from the Marina is a swampy little wood where I suspect the beaver I see there lives. The entire creek is lined with willow and there are wooded areas mainly on the west side of the walkway and upstream from the Gertrude Street bridge. There are two foot bridges at the top and at the bottom. Recently a trail has been built from the upstream pavement as far as the railway trestle to a little falls where a strong run of Coho now exists thanks to dedicated efforts of a salmon enhancement group. The entire walkway is very good for warblers like Orange-crowned, Black-throated Grey and Wilson’s in the spring. In the summer, this area is one of the few areas on Vancouver Island where you can find Green Herons. And of course, there are a variety of sparrows, towhees, juncos and a resident Merlin. In the winter, it’s a good idea to walk up to the little pond where you often find Ring-necked ducks among others.

Burde Street Ponds

Located on the east edge of Port Alberni, there are two beautiful little ponds that I enjoy visiting at any time of year. To get to them, you need to take the left fork as you arrive in town off the hill. You will pass the Visitor Information Centre on your right. Follow the road past the West Coast General Hospital and take a left on 17^th, 16^th or if you miss them 15^th Avenue and go a couple of blocks to Burde Street. Turn right and drive past to the 4-way stop sign and past the subdivision on your left. Look for a small parking area with a yellow gat on the left. Park here or across the street if it is full. You will be at one access point to the Log Train Trail. About 100 meters in there is a short path up off the rail grade that will take you to a good view of the lower pond. In June, it is a magnificent place when the Yellow Flag is in bloom. It’s very invasive, but beautiful. This pond and the upper one are excellent places to find Wood Ducks, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, and Hooded Mergansers in season. From time to time, you may also see the beaver that make their home in the upper pond. Herons and Kingfishers are also possible here. All along the rail grade, you will encounter a very good variety of forest birds.

After you return to the rail grade, about 100 meters further on look for a trail leading east up off the rail grade. It will take you through the older second-growth forest into a 10-year-old cut block with mostly Red Alder regenerating. The path leads up to the second pond that is easily visible. There are a couple of good access points to see what is on the pond. The beaver lodge is easily visible. And look for a short side trail to the beaver dam! The path loops back to Burde Street along the access road for the logging through the young alder and Douglas fir. You’ll find White-crowned Sparrows, MacGillivray’s and Orange-crowned Warblers here as well as Red-breasted Sapsucker in the older fringe of trees along the ponds.

McCoy Lake Area

McCoy Lake is a broad shallow lake surrounded by private property and Indian Reserve. The reserve side is undeveloped and consists of swampy bog. The west side is swampy farmland. Bring a spotting scope if you want to see what is on the lake.

This area is interesting in any season. The lake is one of the few places on Vancouver Island where you can find Ruddy ducks in winter. The winter rains create flooding around the perimeter of the lake and attract a good variety of ducks and raptors as well as snipe, and killdeer. The open fields attract thousands of migrating Savannah Sparrows, American Pipits and sometimes interesting shorebirds like Whimbrel and Pectoral Sandpipers in the spring and fall. The summer sees good populations of four species of swallows; Violet-green, Tree, Cliff and Barn. This is partly thanks to Bill Thompson Sr. who built twenty or so swallow boxes around his house when he was alive.

To get there, drive up River Road from Port Alberni along the Somass River to the grey iron bridge. After going over the bridge look for the second left turn onto McCoy Lake Road about 500 meters further on around the bend. The road will take you up past the road to the local landfill and then the view opens up when you get to the agricultural area. The road will bend to the right. There will be a turn off onto Stirling Arm Drive. Don’t take the turn but continue straight. You will go past an old farm, across a small creek and up onto a knoll with a house on it. This is the most productive area. There are a couple of turnout spots in the area. But the whole road is a good area to walk along. You can continue along this road until you meet highway 4 again.

Taylor River Estuary

The Taylor River flows into the west end of Sproat Lake. The mouth of it has many side channels and sloughs. The vegetation is dominated by alder and salmonberry. Interestingly, a major part of the estuary contains a patch of deciduous old growth that survived the 1967 fire that burned the entire end of the valley. This is extremely unusual. The riparian character of the area below the river contrasts sharply with the hillsides dominated by second-growth Douglas fir. And the views of the surrounding mountains are wonderful. The birdlife here is prolific in the summer months but pretty quiet during the winter.

Finding this area is easy. Follow Highway 4 westward out of Port Alberni. There is a turnoff to the left 20 km past the West Bay Hotel, the last commercial establishment before you get to the Tourist Info Centre at Pacific Rim. Immediately, you will have to choose between a left or right turn. Right leads to a very popular unofficial camping area. Along the road, there is a view of the mouth of the river where you may see Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks ad perhaps a Common Loon. The dense shrubbery contains Wilson’s, Yellow, Black-throated Grey, Orange-crowned and MacGillivrays’ warblers as well as Common Yellowthroats, Warbling Vireos and even a Red-eyed Vireo if you are lucky. Going the other way takes a short distance to where the road is ditched, making any further progress by car impossible. Half a kilometer up is an old bridge. From it, you may see a Spotted Sandpiper, or Common Mergansers. A Dipper is also possible here. On the other side is a junction where the road runs back to the lake or west to Highway 4.

Back at the initial turnoff, you can also turn right and follow the road up the mountain side. This road has been deactivated and so don’t try to drive this one. However, a short walk up it leads to a rocky bluff where there is a good view of a little pond you can see from the highway. A longer hike takes you up the side of the valley to some dead trees remaining from the fire I mentioned. This area has become a good place for woodpeckers and for Band-tailed Pigeons.

There are a number of other places to bird in the Alberni Valley. Sproat Lake Provincial Park, Mulcaster Slough or Swamp, McLean Mill, and Turtle Lake are some others. In fact, there are so many lakes, swamps, bluffs, and trails around the area that you are bound to find some other interesting places on your own. These places are offered just to get you started.

I like the park because there are quite a few really pleasant features about it. First, the park is not crowded. It is a bit off the beaten track so it isn’t used that much. For me that’s a big attraction.

Second, it has a beautiful little waterfall in it.  St. Andrews Creek flows down from the hillside overlooking the south side of the lake and through the park. Just when it reaches the flats is where the waterfall is located.

Third, there is a magnificent old Big Leaf Maple tree in the middle of a grove of second-growth alder. It is so old and gnarled. It’s amazing. In several places there are branches that look like trees growing out of other branches. Quite unusual. I was there earlier this week. It was damaged by a winter storm. But it is still standing and just beginning to put out leaves.

There is also a beautiful little beach with a lovely view of Sproat Lake where you can spend a warm spring or summer day swimming or picnicking. Sometimes people camp there on the beach or on the flat grassy area just up from the beach. But the park is designated for day use only.

And finally, there is a network of trails in the park that allow access to it from the logging road about 25 minutes away. It’s not a long hike and on the way there is a little suspension footbridge that has been recently upgraded to make it safer to cross. The trail begins just before the bridge over St. Andrews Creek. You’ll see a painted brown wooden post by the start of an old logging road that is now more of a trail. The trail follows the old road downwards. There are some turnoffs along the way. Right at the start, take the right fork. Then stay left every time you have a choice until you come to the suspension bridge. After that the trail follows the creek and then bends away above a steep bank. Look for a trail leading off to the left that traverses down that bank to the creek. Step out on the cobbles a few feet and look upstream. You’ll see the falls.

A perfect place to spend time on a warm summer afternoon

The trail follows the creek down a distance and then it becomes obscured because the creek has overflowed its banks and washed across it. But if you have a sharp eye you will notice a few plastic ribbons tied to trees marking the original location of the trail. You will then come to the trail again about 50 meters further on. It winds through an alder flat and past the enormous maple I mentioned earlier and eventually to the beach. There is a plaque , a pit toilet and a picnic table near a flat grassy area just up from this beach.

If you go, don’t forget to wear sensible rubber soled shoes, or day hikers. You might consider bringing along a pair of water sandals because you may be tempted to wade in the creek a bit. But don’t forget, it’s slippery. So a walking stick or trekking poles might be a good idea too.

Happy trails!

A herring skiff

Originally uploaded by TheRainbird

Each year herring spawns around Vancouver Island in early March. This year is no exception. Just this morning I heard that the herring were spawning near French Creek between Parksville and Qualicum Beach. this attracts tens of thousands of birds, of all kinds as well as seals, and sea lions. This is a real spectacle of whirling wildlife and avid consumption of the eggs of the herring.

In some ways it is the foundation of all the ocean life around Vancouver Island. Herring is the most populous fish in the ocean here. It has the largest biomass too. And the wildlife know this and depend on the fecundity of the herring spawn.

One of the birds that depends on it is a little sea goose called Brant, just Brant. Smaller than our familiar Canada Goose, it also sports a black head and neck. But the white patch is around the neck not under the chin. It starts arriving on the shores of the island in late February in time to feed on eel grass that is impregnated with herring roe. This is a vital food source that will sustain them on their migration to Alaska. This little goose has inspired an annual festival, the Brant Festival where there are interpretive tours, a bird-watching competition, art shows, and a number of other events spaced across March & April. http://www.brantfestival.bc.ca/index.php

Other sea birds that depend on herring roe are vast flocks, or rafts of sea-ducks like three species of Scoters, Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Ducks, Mergansers, and Goldeneyes. these rafts can contain as many as 13,000 birds. And gulls also gather from all parts of the Salish Sea (Straight of Georgia), interior island lakes and the Alberni Inlet. Enormous flocks of up to 10 species of gulls can be found loafing on the beaches and erupting into whirling masses of birds when the herring fleet goes to work.

At Deep Bay a huge flock of gulls is massed ready to prey on the herring span.

Yes, the herring fleet. Another creature that gathers to await the spawning of these fish. It is a hugely controversial fishery. Old timers tell stories about how abundant the herring were even 20 years ago! And they are disgusted to see it still happening when the abundance of the herring is a shadow of their former numbers. Yet on it goes.

Rainbird Excursions will be hosting a tour next next weekend on Saturday to see this spectacle. The Van leaves at 10:00 AM from The visitor Information centre in Port Alberni. For more, click the link below.

RainbirdExcursions.com

I was surprised when this boy from Britain didn't flinch when he was pinched.

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 Flicker and have been surprised to find out how popular the picture was. So, of course, I googled “Signal Crayfish”.
I found out that this crustacean has been introduced to northern Europe because the popular native crayfish was nearly completely killed off by a plague. It’s a kind of water-bourne fungus brought from North America, presumably in the ballast of some ship in the nineteenth century.

The Signal crayfish is immune to the fungal disease. And it not only has out competed the native variety, but it is a carrier of the disease. So as it spreads, it spreads the disease. There are all kinds of articles about it on line. So that’s why this picture is so popular!

Crayfish are quite popular delicacies in northern Europe, and also in places around North America. My Friend Roy lives on a nice property on the banks of the Stamp River. He likes a good feed of them once in a while. In talking to him , he said he had thought he had fished out the crawfish around his place. But some fishermen left some fish guts in the river. A few days later, he found at least 20 feasting on the guts. So they are pretty resilliant to fishing.

According to Tina Neal, the Adaptation Advisor for the BC Ministry of the Environment, “This initiative will help us identify and catalogue coastal areas currently vulnerable to tidal inundation.  Local expertise and local knowledge will be extremely valuable in identifying locations that are already subject to high water events and helping us to visualize what future sea level rise could mean for BC.”

So I got out on January 4th with my camera on the Somass Estuary.  Here are a few of the pictures. The first one was taken on 26 December about an hour before an average high tide.  The highest it would have gotten would be another 10 centimeters. The second picture is from approximately the same location taken on the king tide.

Normal High Tide at Somass Estuary

King Tide at the Somass Estuary, 4 Jan 2010

There is a dramatic difference! In this case there is very little to damage. A flooded hayfield isn’t much of a big deal. But if I turn around and look the other way, there is a big differnence. The city sewage lagoon and the paper mill effluent lagoon are both situated on the estuary and there both vulnerable to sea level rise.  In this case, I figure it is about 1.5 meters before flooding of these ponds happens.

A foot access from the pipeline that crosses the estuary.

City sewage lagoon is on the left

Finally there is a pipeline that traverses the entire estuary carrying water from Sproat lake to the paper mill. It is raised and is supported along it’s length by pilings so that it is quite a bit higher even than the dykes around the mill pond and the sewage lagoon.  (As an aside there is a wonderful walkway along each side of it that allows you a nice view of the estuary.)  Still it was ruptured by the Tsunami from the Ankorage earthquake in 1964.

The pipeline that carries water from Sproat lake to the paper mill.

How many birds in the flock?

Originally uploaded by TheRainbird

With Christmas Bird Counts starting all across North America next week it is timely to begin thinking about how good you are at counting birds in a flock. In this case, it is a flock of Starlings congregating in the evening before settling on a roost for the night. I guessed very low. Most people do. But it is a skill you can improve upon.

One technique that is mentioned, is to group the birds in a flock into tens, or fives. whatever is convenient. And then say that if a group of ten takes up this much space, there must be 60, say, in the flock.

Another way is to take a picture of the flock and count the birds in the picture. This is a great way to improve your skill. I originally estimated 350 or so in this flock. There are really 533!

This show part of the original photo cropped where the last group of 10 is.

And there are a variety of sites on the web that help. Here are a few:

Counting Flocks at Feeders

Bird Counting 101

Bird Counting 201

And for those who realy want to delve into the subject, there’s a book called Bird Census Techniques. And there are an number of other technical references

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 minute hike from a spot near the West Bay Hotel on Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island.

It’s a little tricky to find as there are no signs to get you there. So I used Google earth to create a map for you to find it. If you are driving from Port Alberni, drive past the turnoff to Great Central Lake and take the next right turn just before the entrance to Sproat Lake Provincial Park about 300m further on around the bend in the road. Follow the gravel road about 500 or 600 m to a left turn at the start of a recent clearcut. (The photo below is out of date. It shows the area with trees still standing.). This road parallels the highway. Follow it until it ends at a creek, and park in the turn-around. You will be at the “P” in the picture below.

From there walk back about 30 feet and follow the road leading up the hill (away from the lake) toward the powerlines. You will walk through some large second-growth forest and emerge unde the powerlines within about 100 meters. As you follow the road it will quickly deteriorates as the hill gets steeper. Look for a trail that leaves the road on the left and parallels the powerlines. Really it is an old eroded logging road. You will go by a couple of old rusted car wrecks and an obvious trail to the left. Do not take this first trail! Go past it and hike for another 10-15 minutes until you come to a bush with a faded pink ribbon and another more recent blue ribbon on it. There will also be a bunch of rocks there, the remains of a small cairn that got knocked over. This is where you turn off the trail onto another less obvious one. You will hear the falls at this point. The trail will take you to the top of the falls. At the fork you can either go to a ledge at the top or go left to the top of the canyon below the falls. Here there are some ropes attached to trees to assist you to get to the bottom for the best view of the falls.

I often see Red-legged Frogs above or below the falls. They are listed as species of concern in British Columbia. I have seen bears in the area a number of times. I have never been bothered by one. But I also don’t chase them down for a better picture either. that could be dangerous. Below are a few more pictures.

Winer Falls in the Rain

Originally uploaded by TheRainbird

One of the questions I often get asked by guests is, “How much does it rain on Vancouver Island? Good question. After all we live here in a temperate rainforest. And the answer, of course, is “It varies!”

I pulled out some precipitation data from the Environment Canada Weather Office site. I selected a few communities from up and down Vancouver Island, and on both the east side and the west side. A chart of the data is below.

Monthly precipitation at several locations on Vancouver Island

The locations used in the chart

The trends are quite interesting. Holberg, on northern Vancouver Island, gets close to 4 meters, or 12.5 feet, of rain. Wow! That’s a lot of rain! And Tofino, about a third of the way up the island on the west side gets a similar amount, 3.3 meters or 11 ft. But Henderson Lake takes the cake at 6.6 meters or almost 22 ft of rain a year! All these location are on the west side of the Island.

The east side of Vancouver Island is much drier. At 0.83m, Victoria gets about 4 cm more precipitation a year than Toronto. That’s not much. Less than two inches difference considering that both cities get less than a yard of rain a year. It’s less than ¼ of what Holberg gets. About half-way up the east side of the island is Campbell River. It gets more precipitation, about 1.3 m or 4.4 feet. But still much drier than the west side. Port Alberni lies in the middle of the Island at the end of a long inlet or fjord. The precipitation here is about half of Tofino’s. And Tofino is only 80 km away.

All these lower precipitation levels can be explained by the mountains in the middle of the island. The prevailing winds are from the west. Moisture-laden air is pushed up over the mountains. And in doing this the air temperature drops and the air cannot carry as much water. It falls on the west side, leaving the air drier when it arrives further east. This of course, is called the rain-shadow effect. The further south you get on the east side of the island, the more pronounced this effect becomes. Astonishingly there is a cactus that grows on the southernmost parts of Vancouver Island.

The driest months of the year are June, July, August and September. Depending on where you are on the island, you can count on it raining less at this time of year than in Toronto. So unless you want to do some winter storm-watching on the west coast. The time to visit is during these months.