If space allows, guests may join for up to three trips, after which they are expected to join the Society.
Codes for Field Trip Difficulty Levels:
LEVEL 1—Easy walking, mostly level paths.
LEVEL 2—Paths can be narrow with uneven terrain.
LEVEL 3—Obstacles in paths or steeper grades, requiring agility.
LEVEL 4—Very steep, insecure footing, or longer hikes requiring good physical condition.
Please—no pets on VNHS field trips.
If you would like to do a talk or know someone who might, please contact one of the presentation night coordinators. If you have an idea for a field trip or wish to volunteer as a leader, please contact the Field Trip Coordinator. Many of you do interesting things either for fun or for work, and it would be great to share! See Contact page for email addresses and phone numbers.
TUESDAY MORNING BIRDING – Meets every Tuesday one block south of the foot of Bowker Ave on the waterfront (off Beach Drive) at 9:00 a.m. or at the foot of Bowker Ave at 9:30 a.m. Birding activities take place at various locations around Greater Victoria. For more information call Bill Dancer at 250-721-5273. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
SATURDAY MORNING BIRDING –Meets every Saturday morning, usually at 8:00 a.m., rain or shine. Check on the Calendar on the Thursday/Friday before to find out the week’s location. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
SWAN LAKE GUIDED BIRD WALKS – Every Wednesday 9:00 a.m. Bring your binoculars and walking shoes and meet in the parking lot for this informal and informative walk around the lake area. Walks are led by Victoria Natural History Society members. Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is at 3873 Swan Lake Road, off Ralph Street.
March 1, 2025 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am Victoria Region
FIELD TRIP (LEVEL 2.5)
Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Witty’s Lagoon parking lot. With a diversity of habitat types, Witty’s Lagoon is a year-round birding hotspot and one of the 10 most productive sites in our region. It hosts a wide variety of shorebirds, gulls, diving ducks, dabblers, raptors, and passerines. Our route will take us through the upper Douglas-fir forest, the Sitting Lady Falls overlook, the lower forest next to the lagoon, and finally an orchard to reach the beach. We will look for early spring migrants and possibly some shorebirds, along the estuary and in the trees beside the beach and salt marsh. The trail will likely be muddy so please wear boots. DIRECTIONS: The parking lot is on Metchosin Road across from the golf course.
Field Trip: Exploring the lichens of PKOLS with Juliet Pendray at Mt Douglas Park / PKOLS
Field Trip: Exploring the lichens of PKOLS with Juliet Pendray at Mt Douglas Park / PKOLS
March 1, 2025 @ 9:45 am - 12:00 pm
Check in @ 9:45 a.m., walk starts at 10 a.m. and runs until about noon.
Come join us in an exploration of the lichens of PKOLS; discovering their diverse habitats and celebrating their colourful and intricate beauty. On this walk we’ll talk about lichen partnerships and ecologies, exploring what lichens do and how and some identification basics. Please dress warmly, as we will be moving slowly. If you have your own magnification tool (e.g. hand lens, magnifier, cellphone camera), please bring it, and if you don’t, we will have some magnifiers to share. Maximum 15 participants.
NOTE: Registration is required. Meet-up location details will be sent with registration confirmation. Please send registration requests to: eeaston.vnhs@gmail.com after January 1, 2025.
March 4, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Corner of Bowker Ave. and Bowker Place, Victoria
TUESDAY BIRDING. We meet every Tuesday, one block south of the foot of Bowker Ave on the waterfront (off Beach Drive) at 9:00 am, or at the foot of Bowker Ave at 9:30 am, rain or shine. Birding activities take place at various locations around Greater Victoria. For more information call Bill Dancer at 250-721-5273 or Agnes Lynn at thelynns at shaw.ca or 250-721-0634. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
March 8, 2025 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am Victoria Region
FIELD TRIP (LEVEL 1.5)
Meet at 8:00 a.m. Esquimalt Lagoon ranks third in Capital Region birding hotspots, with regard to species diversity. Many birds, notably ducks, are very habituated to people, allowing close-up viewing of species that are typically seen more distantly. This trip will cover the birds on the oceanside and inside the lagoon. DIRECTIONS: Esquimalt Lagoon is in Colwood on Ocean Boulevard, off the Old Island Highway. Meet and park near the bridge.
March 11, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Corner of Bowker Ave. and Bowker Place, Victoria
TUESDAY BIRDING. We meet every Tuesday, one block south of the foot of Bowker Ave on the waterfront (off Beach Drive) at 9:00 am, or at the foot of Bowker Ave at 9:30 am, rain or shine. Birding activities take place at various locations around Greater Victoria. For more information call Bill Dancer at 250-721-5273 or Agnes Lynn at thelynns at shaw.ca or 250-721-0634. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
Natural History Night and Annual General Meeting (in-person and Zoom)
Natural History Night and Annual General Meeting (in-person and Zoom)
March 11, 2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Biodiversity of Borneo
Join fellow members for a brief Annual General Meeting to be followed by a presentation by Andrew Harcombe on colourful and varied wildlife, plants and ecosystems in Borneo’s Sabah state, and on Fraser’s Hill on the Malay peninsula. LOCATION: Owen Room at Pearkes Rec Centre, near Tillicum Mall. TIME: The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. but come early for refreshments and to socialize!
March 15, 2025 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am Victoria Region
Meet at 8:00 a.m. We will start in Centennial Park but will go down towards ȾIKEL (Maber Flats) as well. To get to the starting point, turn off Wallace Drive at the Hovey Road entrance to Centennial Park. Meet at the main parking lot next to the Lawn Bowling Club. Just to the south before the turnoff, watch for the American Kestrel that often hangs out on the hydro lines around Stelly's Cross Road and Wallace Drive. DIRECTIONS: To get to the starting point, turn off Wallace Drive at the Hovey Road entrance to Centennial Park.
March 18, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Corner of Bowker Ave. and Bowker Place, Victoria
TUESDAY BIRDING. We meet every Tuesday, one block south of the foot of Bowker Ave on the waterfront (off Beach Drive) at 9:00 am, or at the foot of Bowker Ave at 9:30 am, rain or shine. Birding activities take place at various locations around Greater Victoria. For more information call Bill Dancer at 250-721-5273 or Agnes Lynn at thelynns at shaw.ca or 250-721-0634. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
March 22, 2025 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am Victoria Region
Meet at 8:00 a.m. Spring is here and early migrants are arriving. After crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca, many rest and refuel at parks and green spaces near the shoreline, including Beacon Hill Park. We'll focus mainly on the area around the summit, the Southeast Woods, and Garry oak meadows. We'll also look for the Green-tailed Towhee that arrived on December 30 and has been reported almost daily since then. DIRECTIONS: Meet at the large parking lot next to the petting zoo on Circle Drive.
March 25, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Corner of Bowker Ave. and Bowker Place, Victoria
TUESDAY BIRDING. We meet every Tuesday, one block south of the foot of Bowker Ave on the waterfront (off Beach Drive) at 9:00 am, or at the foot of Bowker Ave at 9:30 am, rain or shine. Birding activities take place at various locations around Greater Victoria. For more information call Bill Dancer at 250-721-5273 or Agnes Lynn at thelynns at shaw.ca or 250-721-0634. Novice and experienced VNHS members all welcome.
Join naturalist and videographer Eric Pittman in person at Berwick Royal Oak or on Zoom to view the award-winning Ryan Wilkes film on Eric and his favourite subjects. Eric has been photographing and filming hummingbirds for more than fifteen years. In addition to sharing this film with us, Eric will tell us how we can attract hummingbirds to our yards, protect the nests and chicks and make our neighbourhoods more hummingbird-friendly.
March 29, 2025 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am Victoria Region
FIELD TRIP (LEVEL 1.5)
Meet at 8:00 a.m.This walk is along a loop trail and may produce Virginia Rails, Anna's Hummingbirds, wetland-loving warblers, and swallows, plus migrating teal and other ducks. There should also be some early migrants among the resident passerines. DIRECTIONS:Park along Dalewood Lane, just off Chatterton Way at the northwest corner of the Bog. For more information, please contact birdingfieldtrips@gmail.com.
Marine Night (Zoom only): Straight from the fish’s mouth: salmon diets as a tool for exploring the marine ecosystem
Marine Night (Zoom only): Straight from the fish’s mouth: salmon diets as a tool for exploring the marine ecosystem
March 31, 2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Pacific salmon are important marine predators in the coastal waters of British Columbia. They are integral to First Nations, support valuable recreational and commercial fisheries, and are ecologically important as the primary prey of Southern Resident Killer Whales. Over the last few decades, many salmon populations have been declining resulting in a variety of research initiatives focused on their ecology and conservation. However, one area that has not received much attention is the diets of adult salmon in southern British Columbia, the most recently published data being from the 1960s. Nathanael Tabert, project coordinator for the Adult Salmon Diet Program in the Juanes Lab at the University of Victoria, will present diet data collected by the Adult Salmon Diet Program from 2017-present on Chinook and coho salmon, two species that feed primarily on other fish. He will highlight spatial and seasonal trends in the diets and show how this information can be used to gain insight on the ecology of Chinook and coho salmon and the prey that they feed on, and compare these results to historical data, highlighting what has changed and what has remained the same through time.
