A New Camosun Bog Display

Zavi (age 9) has been busy publicizing Camosun Bog. He had a display at a science fair at Queen Mary School and this was so well received that he was asked to show it at a city-wide fair at Science World.  This went very well and he was continuously busy answering questions and showing off his meat-eating sundews. As you can see the display looks very attractive. Congratulations Zavi!

The Stanley Cup Playoffs in Devil's hole

this hockey puck is likely from the days when boys played hockey in devil's hole.

 With the Stanley cup finals on, everyone in Vancouver is a hockey fan, it seems.  The boys used to play hockey on Devil's hole, the pond in Camosun bog, about seventy years ago.  Listen to a neighbour's account (video).  Select the article below to read about the hockey puck found during a work party.

Bin Day Pics

The bin loading went very well last Saturday (see photos). We had 21 people present including 7 students from Prince of Wales Secondary school. Everybody worked really hard and we got the bin loaded by 11am. We were certainly ready for our tea break!  This Saturday we will get back to our clearing. We still have to take out one large stump and hopefully we can get an area ready for planting with sphagnum.

PSPS, our umbrella organization, is helping sponsor a “Walk on the Wide Side” on May 15 to raise funds for the Leukemia Society for Canada. The walks are interesting and the cause is important. For more info check  Take a Walk on the Wild Side 2011

Forecast for Saturday is fairly good (no snow!). Hope to see you in the bog

Regards

Laurence

Bin Day, April 9th Come one, come all!

Come and demolish the big pile of invasive species!  pick up a wheel barrow and join this uber work party!  Last year we demolished it in about an hour.

And from Gerry:

Hi Everyone: This Saturday is "Bin Day" and is always a fun day as there is always lots of volunteers, goodies socializing and lots of removal of invasive plants.

    We had a beautiful day weather wise last Saturday. Thanks to Ed and his "block and tackle" we removed several stumps (see picture). More rich soil and salal was removed and a number of oval leaf blueberries were removed and transplanted by Laura along the eastern boardwalk so the children and families will be able to reach and pick the berries later in the season.

    A good time should be had by all on Saturday!

    Gerry 

wily coyotes and hummingbird babies

mother hummingbird feeds her baby
all photos copyright Gerry M

"I had quite the experience in the bog on Saturday afternoon. I was crouched on one knee on the platform waiting to snap a picture of the mother Anna's Hummingbird when she returned to feed her baby. I looked up when I saw a "dog" running towards me on the boardwalk and a cyclist riding close behind. I was just about to shout for him to put the dog on a leash when I realized it was a coyote. When the coyote saw me he turned to the cyclist, then back to me, and then jumped over the green plastic fencing in one bound. The picture is of the coyote scampering across the bog. Guess the fencing keeps dogs out but not coyotes.

    As you can see, I did get back to photographing the mother feeding her baby. It was as though my camera didn't want to provide me with a clear picture of mother and baby as all three I took were blurred. When the baby was alone the pictures were all crystal clear. However, for me, it was all worth the wait. It was a beautiful day in the bog.

    The nine volunteers who showed up for the work party on Saturday  worked really hard and got a lot done. We enjoyed the tea and goodies provided by Issaku.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the warm weather and each others company.  A job well done! "
                                                      -- Gerry M

baby hummingbird waiting for food

March 25th saw the first of the blueberry bushes flower and these might have been what the hummingbird was sipping from.  Imagine the sweetness of blueberry nectar.  no wonder the baby looks so content 

Dogs respect the dog fence (this photo: Susan)

not a dog 

    

Fungi amongst the sphagnum in Camosun Bog

Imagine being an insect in Camosun bog; a forest of sphagnum, flying over mushrooms, walking around hemlock cones, cranberries,  avoiding the sticky sundews... a compound eye view of the bog, courtesy of Gerry.

Night Quest

Metro Van is hosting Night Quest yet again.  The Crazy boggers will be there!

The good old hockey game, a girl's perspective

What was it like in the bog over seventy years ago? We know kids played hockey here.  Bogs can preserve things for a very long time and we have found hockey pucks, with initials carved in them, dating back to that time.  Listen carefully to someone who remembers...