Join us for Bin Day on October 26, 9:30

Come out to flex some muscles at the local bog "gym". We guarantee a heart pumping, muscle building workout hauling stumps, salal, and blackberry! BYO mug for a draft of hot tea with baked goodies as we celebrate slaying a huge pile of invasive species! Rain or shine! Oct 26,2013, 9:30, wear closed toe shoes and bring garden gloves LOCATION: 19th ave and Camosun St, Vancouver.

Camosun Bog Work Party, Sat. Oct.12, 9am -12 noon

Hi Crazy Boggers:

We had another productive day in the bog last Saturday. The area east of the boardwalk that we had lowered the previous week was planted with sphagnum pacificum. We harvested the moss from around the pond. As you can see from the photo taken by Ed, it looks great and we hope in a year or two it will fill this area cpmpletely.

There is another area just south/east of the planting that we will be replanting this Saturday if we can find enough moss.

Metro Van. Parks staff we in the bog this past Wed. and cut down several shore pines that were leaning across the boardwalk and a potential hazard. The area looks much better and safer. The wood and branches will have to be removed.

Hope to see you out this Saturday.

Wishing every one and their family a

Happy Thanksgiving.

Camosun Bog Work Party, Sat. Oct. 5th, 9 am - 12 noon

Hi Crazy Boggers: Although the weather did not cooperate last Saturday we had an enjoyable time with the Underhill family reminiscing about Denis and enjoying tea and treats. (See the attached pictures) "I could see Denis reaching for the butter tarts, his favorite treat ." This Saturday we will be planting sphagnum moss in the small area we lowered over the past few weeks. There is still weeding that needs to be completed, if it is not too wet and polytrichum to be removed in a number of areas. Looks like the weather is going to cooperate so hope to see you in the bog on Saturday. Gerry

The Inconspicuous Carnivore of Camosun Bog - by Sara Mimick, Museum Interpreter, Beaty Biodiversity Museum

When visiting Camosun Bog you might hear or catch a glimpse of a few cagey carnivores that love to eat insects, such as the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla), Northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile) or a variety of bird species that inhabit the Bog. However, there is one living organism, that, even though it grows in plain sight, you might never guess, it also ensnares and digests insects as prey. This inconspicuous carnivore is a flowering plant, or angiosperm, called the Round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). The Round-leaved sundew is a common sundew species found across British Columbia in bogs, marshes, fens and other wet habitats where the soil is poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen. The sundew has adapted to these habitats by finding needed nutrients elsewhere, in particular from the strange yet fascinating and important world of insects. The Round-leaved sundew mainly feasts on midges, gnats and mosquitoes; however, it has the ability to digest insects the size of small flies and ants. The small and rounded leaves of the Rounded-leaved sundew grow in a basal rosette formation. These leaves are equipped with hairy tentacles called laminae. The laminae are stalked with sweet, sticky mucilage that appears like morning dew and attracts tasty insects. Once the insect is trapped, the sundew secretes various enzymes that digest and extract a form of nitrogen and other nutrients from the soft parts of the insect’s body. Many people are aware of other carnivorous plants, such as the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) or Pitcher plant (Nepenthes spp.); however, these plants are not native to the Lower Mainland, British Columbia. The Round-leaved sundew is local, found right here in UBC’s own backyard in Camosun Bog. Camosun Bog is an unfamiliar and open ecosystem that dates back to 2,000 years ago. Its characteristics components consist of sunlight, nutrient-poor soil and sphagnum moss. Now is an excellent time to view the Rounded-leaved sundew in Camosun Bog as its dew-like mucilage shimmers in the summer sun and its white, five-petalled flowers are blooming. Camosun Bog is located in Pacific Spirit Regional Park at the corner of W 16th and Camosun Streets. When you visit the Bog, make sure to explore the other weird and wonderful plant species of this ecosystem as well as the sundew, including the 13 different species of Spagnum mosses (Sphagnum spp.), Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum), and the Arctic starflower (Trientalis europaea), to name just a few. These species are largely accessible to visitors because of a group of highly-dedicated volunteer nature-lovers, the Camosun Bog Restoration Group (also known as the Crazy Boggers). Since the early 1990s, the Camosun Bog Restoration Group has worked with Metro Vancouver park management and the Pacific Spirit Park Society to restore the Bog. You can also experience a piece of Camosun Bog at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum on campus at 2212 Main Mall. Susan Chung of the Camosun Bog Restoration Group generously loaned the Museum a mini piece of the bog for public access and education. This mini bog displays some of Camosun Bog’s amazing plant species, including the Round-leaved sundew, Labrador tea, Bog laurel (Kalmia microphylla ssp. occidentalis), Bog cranberry (Oxycoccus palustris), Oval-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) and the Arctic starflower. --This article was first published in The Campus Resident Magazine Volume 4 Issue 8, August 19, 2013