Vancouver Naturalist - Nature Vancouver

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NATURE VANCOUVER SUMMER PICNIC SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2011 at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver Nature Vancouver is hosting a summer picnic at Lighthouse Park, a federally owned park leased to the Municipality of West Vancouver. It is approximately 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver by public transportation and 20 minutes by car. Lighthouse Park marks the point where Burrard Inlet meets Howe Sound. It is an example of the transition from the dry Coastal Douglas-fir Zone to the wetter Coastal Western Hemlock Zone. The park has the largest Douglas-fir trees in Greater Vancouver, and has the largest uncut, coastal-elevation trees in the Lower Mainland. It has spectacular views of the water, Stanley Park and the city to the east, Bowen Island and the Strait of Georgia to the west. Where to meet: Phyl Munday Hut approximately 10 minutes from the parking lot (map at info board at entrance to the park). How to get there: The park is serviced by public transportation. Visit the following webpage for driving and transit directions; http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/lighthouse-park/#transit. (Transit directions should be verified by contacting Translink. Also refer to Nature Vancouver’s book, Parks and Nature Places Around Vancouver. There is parking just inside the entrance to the park. Access is from Marine Drive via Beacon Lane. Time: Trail walks start at 10:00am. Picnic is at noon 12:00pm to 2:00pm. Members can mingle at the Hut until 3:00pm. Afternoon trail walks start after 2:00pm. Elevation: The trails are all fairly easy with only a few having a short hill to ascend or descend. Trails can be muddy, and rocky areas and roots are slippery due to the damp microclimate. Wear appropriate walking shoes. The picnic: Takes place at the Phyl Munday Hut between 12:00pm and 2:00pm. The hut will provide shelter for us from any inclement weather and function as an outpost (starting point) for our scheduled walks. It has a kitchen but please bring your own implements. Nature Vancouver will provide beverages and fruit plates. Please bring finger food to share with other members and your mug/plate, if you can. Bring your enthusiasm. Come for the walks and the picnic, or, just come for the picnic and a chance to socialize with fellow nature enthusiasts. Join us! Rain or shine! Everyone is Welcome! Guided Walks: Several of our members will be leading nature walks and talking about the western red cedar and Douglas-fir old growth trees, forest ecology, bird life, intertidal/marine life, coastal bluff ecology, geology, and the invasive plant removal and native plant restoration programme. The walks are scheduled to take place before and after the picnic. For more info, ideas you would like to share, ways you can help out, finger food you can bring, and if you will be attending, please contact Nellie at nellieba@telus.net. By contacting us we can plan accordingly. Keep checking the Nature Vancouver website, as more details will follow. 8 Vancouver Naturalist March 2011
Nature Vancouver Field Trips Co-ordinator: Cynthia Crampton cynthiacrampton@yahoo.ca; 604-738-1405 General Information Field Trips are offered almost every weekend by Nature Vancouver and are the most popular activity for members. Non-members are welcome to join these trips as a way to review the activities of the Society but are asked to limit their participation to three events. Our liability insurance coverage only applies to members in good standing. Those who participate do so at their own risk. Depending on the nature of the field trip, participants will be required to sign a Release of Liability form at the start of the trip. PDF copy of this form is available on the website at http://www.naturevancouver. ca/Main_Field_Trips. It is recommended that members read it before the day of the trip to avoid delays when signing it at the meeting place. Important Information for Participants Members planning to join these trips should contact the leader in advance to confirm carpool arrangements, especially when ferry travel or border crossings are planned. Please do not call after 9 p.m. An adult must accompany children under 15. On trips to the United States, a valid passport or enhanced driver's licence is now required for identification and it is advisable to have additional medical insurance as the BC Medical plan covers only a small portion of any medical costs in the US. For information on travel to the United States, see http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel. Safety Tips for Participants Consider the weather in the trip area (it is often very different from where you live) and bring suitable clothing and footwear! Depending on destination and season, bring insect repellent, sunscreen, a hat, lunch if necessary, more water than you think you’ll need, raingear, walking poles and boots with deep-tread soles and ankle support. Stay together and stay on the trails. Keep behind the coordinator (and ahead of the tail person, if there is one). To avoid false alarms, please tell the coordinator if you’re leaving the group and sign yourself off on the waiver form. Guidelines for Field Trip Leaders In order to conduct field trips, leaders do not need to be especially knowledgeable about birds, plants or other aspects of nature, since that sort of expertise is generally found among the participants. However, it is essential that one person coordinate the organization of the trip for the safety and well-being of all participants. That person is the field trip leader - and that is you. These guidelines are important both for your own legal protection and that of Nature Vancouver. Please read them carefully. The full text of the Guidelines for Field Trip Leaders and the PDF copy of Release of Liability form are available on the website at http:// www.naturevancouver.ca/Main_Field_Trips. Please return the completed forms to Field Trip Co-ordinator, Cynthia Crampton, 1230 Shorepine Walk, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3T8. Public Transit Information For public transit information in the Lower Mainland, contact TransLink at 604-953-3333 or http://www.translink.ca. For trips requiring a ferry journey, please confirm ferry sailing times. Contact British Columbia Ferries at 1-888-223-3779 or http:// www.bcferries.com/ *NEW* Trip Difficulty Rating For risk management purposes Nature Vancouver uses a system of classifying field trips by rating their level of difficulty and adding an estimate of the time to be spent on the trail. The trip leader is responsible for deciding on the appropriate classification in conjunction with the Field Trip Coordinator. The difficulty rating system is as follows: A. Easy path or road with minimal elevation change and minimal hazards. B. Trail with possible rocks, roots or other hazards. Moderate gradient, occasional steep but short sections. Up to 100 m elevation change. C. Moderately steep gradient. 100 m to 500 m elevation change. D. Constant steep gradient. 500 m to 1,000 m elevation change. E. Any of the above with some scrambling, use of hands or bushwacking. Not commonly found on regular day hikes but sometimes experienced during Summer Camp field trips. The expected duration is then added to the letter category to obtain a combined letter/figure rating. Example: A C6 hike will be a C hike, as described above, with an estimated time on the trail of 6 hours. The estimated time spent during a field trip should be estimated to the nearest hour, and should not include driving time or time spent on ferries and Information for Carpooling On all trips, passengers should share gas expenses with their driver. The suggested cost of carpooling is $10 per car / per hour of driving, the total cost to be shared by all passengers excluding the driver. • For trips to West Vancouver, Cypress, Howe Sound, Squamish and Whistler, car pool at McDonald’s in Park Royal, West Vancouver. Take bus #250 or 257 Horseshoe Bay from any stop on Georgia Street downtown. From North Vancouver, take #239 or 255 Park Royal. Get off at the first stop after Taylor Way. Cross on the pedestrian crossing directly behind the stop, turn right and walk underneath the first overpass to the McDonald’s car park where we meet. • For trips to North Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Mt. Baker area, carpool at Franklin & Penticton in Vancouver. From downtown, take bus #10 Hastings or #16 29th Avenue Station. Get off at Kamloops Street (the first stop after Nanaimo) and walk one block east and one north. From Skytrain, take bus #16 Arbutus from 29th Avenue or Renfrew station and get off at Hastings and Penticton. From north Burnaby, take bus #135 and from Coquitlam or Port Moody, take #160 and get off at Nanaimo. • For trips to South Vancouver, Richmond, Delta and the Islands, carpool at 49th and Ash in Vancouver. Meet near the southeast corner of Tisdall Park on the north side of 49th. Day parking is available on the west side of Ash and the north side of 49th west of Ash (on weekends only). By transit, take Canada Line to 49th / Langara Station and walk one block west to Cambie. Or take bus # 49 between Dunbar and Metrotown, get off at Cambie and walk one block west. Vancouver Naturalist March 2011 9
Page 1 and 2: Vancouver Naturalist Newsletter of
Page 3 and 4: Society News and Information From t
Page 5 and 6: Nature Vancouver Birding Section Ch
Page 7: Nature Vancouver Marine Biology Sec
Page 11 and 12: Nature Vancouver Field Trip Schedul
Page 13 and 14: Editor’s Note: This workshop was
Page 15 and 16: YOUNG NATURALISTS’ CLUB of Britis

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