Brant Wildlife Festival Blog

Brant for Christmas Day!!

2009-12-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

What a nice gift on Christmas Day! Donna and Guy Monty spotted 6 Pacific Black Brant on Christmas Day at Parksville Bay (Community Park) There were 5 adults and one juvenille.

"Around 2 pm December 25, 2009 Parksville Bay Community Park.

As I approached the beach where Guy was waiting, the sun appeared and made the gulls sitting on the gravel bar appear to glow like platinum.

Guy hollered 'Hurry up..come and see who came to visit!" Just then six Brant lifted off and began to fly way out into the Strait...but as Brant so often do, they did a 360 and sailed back in to land just out of sight beyond the gravel bar, but not before Guy captured this image of 5 adults and one juvenile. The lowest bird is the baby."

Thanks Whole Show Restorations

2009-12-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

Very Special thanks to The Whole Show Restorations in Parksville BC. This is the 2nd year that Lene Klassen has donated $500 toward the Robert Bateman Kids Nature Camps over spring break.

Thanks to Whole Show Restorations the Robert Bateman Kids Camp was a ‘wild’ success in 2009.
Last year over 30 children and 12 volunteers spent 5 days really getting to know about their wild neighbours. In 2010 we would like to expand the program to include more children and run it over the extra long 2 week spring vacation.
This year the art works from the Kids Camps will be taken to an amazing full month exhibit in the Parksville Art Gallery and some of their works will be auctioned at a very special gala event at Pacific Shores called SPLASH.
SPLASH will be a semi-formal evening event to spotlight local, gourmet cuisine from local and organic farms including wines and cheeses. Whole Show would be welcome to participate in SPLASH as well. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM 2009

BRANT ID CHALLENGE

2009-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE FOR THE CHALLENGE!

Padilla Bay Brant Flyover

2009-12-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

On December 3, 2009 the US Departmentof Fish & Wildlife did a flyover to count Brant numbers.

Total Brant Seen: 6113

Visit the web site for the Internation Brant Monitoring Program to keep updated on Brant overwintering populations in Washington as well as the spring migration.

Click here for the 2009/2010 log

Photo: Padilla Bay Website

Mark Your Calendar- March 6, 2010

2009-12-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

FIRST DAY OF EVENTS FOR BWF 2010
Saturday, March 6
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Parksville Bay Community Park
Free

Join the Brant Wildlife Festival volunteers and a cast of ‘thousands’ of migrating seabirds, sea lions, seals, eagles, gulls, and Brant as they congregate in the Strait of Georgia waiting for the amazing spring phenomena of the Pacific Herring Spawn. Spotting scopes will be set up and Arrowsmith Naturalists will be on hand to answer all of your questions about the biodiversity in Parksville Bay and the Strait of Georgia.

Learn about the life history of Brant, how biologists keep track of individuals that have been coming to Parksville & Qualicum for decades and about the biodiversity of species that are make the Strait of Georgia ( the Salish Sea) one of the most fascinating places on earth.

Wear comfortable shoes/boots and be prepared for some wet and muddy conditions. Dress warm in layers to be ready for rapidly changing weather conditions. Beaches can be very cold and windy in spring. Binoculars, camera, and boots will be an asset.

Drop by for a hot cupa' joe and join in the fun.

For more information please contact Robin Rivers at 1-866-288-7878 ext. 226
E-mail rrivers@naturetrust.bc.ca or go to our website at www.brantfestival.bc.ca

2010 Events Taking Shape

2009-12-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Brant Wildlife Festival is really an all year endeavor. It takes months of planning and batting ideas around to come up with a new and exciting lineup of activities and events to celebrate nature and the return of the Pacific Black Brant.
It's not too late to contact organizors with your Brant Festival Ideas. Perhaps you are an expert and would like to join one of the bi-weekely tours as a guest interpretor? Maybe you have a community event that you would like to link up with the festival. Don't be shy! Let us know what you want to see in OUR community!

2010 - The Year of Biodiversity

2009-11-06T12:45:00.001-08:00

Join us in our ~Celebration of Nature~ as the Brant Wildlife Festival events bring focus to the UN's International Year of Biodiversity.

The United Nations declared the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) global initiative, with the following aims:

to increase awareness of the importance of biodiversity for our well being
to halt the loss of biodiversity, which is currently up to 100 times greater than the natural rate of extinction
to celebrate the success stories

Keep watching the blog and the brantfestival.bc.ca for events.

Wings for the Future 2009 Events

2009-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

The Brant Wildlife Festival is the oldest wildlife festival in North America hosting celebrations and community events that begin as thousands of migrating seabirds, sea lions, seals, salmon, eagles, gulls, Brant, and fishermen congregate to await the life-sustaining phenomena of the Pacific herring spawn.

Website: www.brantfestival.bc.ca
2009 Brant Wildlife Festival Events
For registration call 1-866-288-7878 ext. 226 or
e-mail rrivers@naturetrust.bc.ca
********************************************************
Full List of Events PDF

Brant in the Bay
Saturday, March 7, 10 am–1 pm, Parksville Community Park. Join expert guides to learn about Brant geese and to witness the phenomena of spring migration in the Strait of Georgia.
Free

The Ubiquitous Mason Bee
Tuesday, March 10, 1–2 pm, Cannor Nursery.
Learn all about native mason bees that can help you get a bumper crop of fruit, berries and flowers. Call Cannor Nursery to register 250-248-0093.
Free

Sights & Sounds of Nature Presentation
Friday, March 13, 6–9 pm, Beach Acres Resort.
Evening presentation of images and sound with Andrew Klaver & John Neville. Refreshments.
Pre-register. By Donation

Wildlife & Nature Photography Tour
Saturday March 14, 7 am–3 pm, Beach Acres Resort. A learning adventure with expert photographers Andrew Klaver & Dave Graham. Pre-register.
$40 for morning (includes lunch); $70 for whole day

Learn to Record Sounds of Nature
Saturday, March 14 9 am– noon, Beach Acres Resort. Walk & seminar to learn how to record bird songs & sounds of nature with recordist John Neville.
Pre-register $25 (includes lunch)

Nature Escape & Artisan Tour
Saturday, March 14
Half day nature tour with visits to local artisans.
Call Pacific Rainforest Adventures 250-248-3667
Pre-register $85 + GST

Planet Walk: Random Acts of Sustainability
Sunday, March 15, Noon–4 pm, Shelly Road Centre. Walk & learn about John Francis and PlanetWalk. Discussion. Refreshments.
Pre-register $5

Robert Bateman’s Kids Camp
March 16 & 17: noon–3 pm
March 18, 19, 20: 9 am–noon, Rathtrevor Nature House. For children ages 5-12
Pre-register $10 per session or $45 for 5 sessions

Call of the Wild: Celebrating Nature in Story & Song
Saturday, March 21, 2–4 pm, Shelly Road Centre
Storyteller Margaret Murphy and musician Sue Averill will create a tapestry of stories and music for all ages. Pre-register $5

Heritage Forest & Story Tour
Sunday, March 22, 9 am–Noon. Meet at the Heritage Forest sign on West Crescent Road. Learn about a 300 year old forest. Then learn how to create a timeless story from your experience.
Pre-register $20 (includes lunch)

Wild Shores Inter-tidal Tour
Sunday, March 22, 10 am–1 pm. Meet at the Brant Viewing Stand, Hwy 19A bottom of Grandon Creek Trail. Take a walk on the bottom of the ocean at low tide with marine biologist Karen Barry.
Pre-register $20 (includes lunch)

Mt. Arrowsmith Biosphere Community Café
Sunday, March 22, 1-3 pm, Qualicum Beach Community Hall. Displays & Guest speakers: Peter Rothermel, Karen Barry. Host: Rich Crowley will lead a discussion to hear your ideas about biodiversity & sustainable communities. Refreshments.
By Donation

Nature Escape & Artisan Tour
Friday, March 27
Half day nature tour with visits to local artisans.
Call Pacific Rainforest Adventures 250-248-3667
Pre-register $85 + GST

The Poetry of Nature
Saturday, March 28 Shelly Road Centre
Join poets, Maleea Acker and Joe Rossenblatt, for an entertaining afternoon of award winning poetry.
1:00– 2:30 pm Discussion
3:00 – 4:00 pm Readings
Pre-register $5

Nanoose Bird Walk
Sunday, March 29, 7–11 am, Nanoose Library Hall. Join Guy Monty for a birding adventure in beautiful Nanoose Bay. Discussion and refreshments.
Pre-register $5

Wild in Alberni: Somass Estuary Tour
Sunday, March 29 1–4 pm. Meet at Athletic Hall parking lot on Beaver Creek Road, Port Alberni. Enjoy amazing scenery, wildlife and 4000 year old historical sites with Rick & Libby from Alberni Outdoor Club. Free

Nature Photography Exhibit
Opening reception, Friday, April 3, 7–9 pm
Exhibit April 4 to April 30, Oceanside Gallery, Parksville. By donation

Big Day Birding Competition
Saturday, April 4, Counting: 5 am –3 pm
Meal and prizes at Rockinghorse Pub 3:3.–5:30 pm Enter your team. Pre-register $20

Wildlife Wood Carving Show & Competitions
Saturday, April 4 10 am – 5 p.m. Sunday, April 5 10 am – 4 pm. Parksville Community Centre
For details, visit www.thebrant.ca
Admission $5.

Wetlands & Wineries Tour
Sunday, April 5, 8 am – 6 pm. Leave from Parksville. Take a journey down roads-less-traveled to discover wildlife, wetlands and wine. Call Pacific Rainforest Adventures 250-248-3667
Pre-register $100 +GST

Parksville Community Garden Open House
Sunday, April 5, 11 – 3 pm. 205 McVickers Street, Parksville. Activities for all ages.
Free

Majestic Mount Arrowsmith ~ Then & Now
Sunday, April 5, Rod & Gun Pub, Parksville
Noon –3 pm
Join us at the historical Rod & Gun Pub for an amazing slide presentation by alpinist Peter Rothermel.
Pre-register. By Donation

Hamilton Marsh Easter Tour
Saturday, April 11, Noon– 4 pm
Explore and learn about marsh creatures with Friends of French Creek. Visit the Easter Bunny station.
$5 per person, $10 per family

Buttertubs Marsh Nature Walk
Saturday, April 11, 10 am – noon. Nanaimo. Discover wild places in the city with naturalist Bill Merilees.
$5 per person

Natural Treasures Family Day
Sunday, April 12, Noon–4 pm. Nanoose Library Hall. Nature treasure hunt, nature journals & build a bird house. Refreshments.
Pre-register $5

Nanoose Edibles Organic Farm Open House
Sunday, April 12, 10 am – 2 pm. Stewart Rd. Nanoose Bay. Take at tour and learn about organic, local food production and life on the farm.
Free

Learn to Fish
Saturday, April 18 10 am – 2 pm. Spider Lake.
Learn to fish with expert instructors from Go Fish BC.
Ages 5–15, parent supervision mandatory.
Pre-register $10

Voices of Nature Concert
Thursday, April 23, 7–8:45 pm. Port Theatre, Nanaimo
Celebrate children, music and the wonders of nature with Holly Arntzen and the Dream Band, featuring singers from Winchelsea Elementary and North Oyster Elementary.
Early bird tickets $12; after April 3 tickets $20.
Available at www.porttheatre.com or 250-754-8550.

Eagle Release
Saturday, April 25, North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre, 1240 Leffler Road, Errington
1 pm meet Bardo and Sandor.
Eagle release at 2 pm
By donation

2-Day Tofino Shorebird Festival Tour
Saturday, April 25 5 am - Sunday April 26 6 pm Leaving Parksville Community Centre. Professional guides. Stay at Clayoquot Field Station in botanical gardens. Pre-register $142 includes dorm room and basic meals.

1-day Tofino Shorebird Festival Excursion
Sunday, April 26, 7:30 am to 6:00 pm.
Leaving Parksville Community Centre. Amazing wildlife tour and lunch at Clayoquot Field Station.
Pre-register $65

NMT - No Motorized Transport Big Year

2009-02-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

January 1, 2009
Hi all,
This morning I went out for a walk in the wind and sleet, and got started on a new type of big year. One I haven't tried before, but am looking forward to.
It's a "No Motorized Transport Big Year". Like the name says, no motor vehicles of
any kind allowed.
The rules are few and simple.
No cars, no motorcycles, buses, motorboats or airplanes. Your own two feet, a bike, a row boat, canoe or kayak, are all ok.
You can count any bird you see while on foot from your home base. The second you use motorized transport though, you are done counting until you have re-established yourself back home, and on foot. In other words, if you live in Nanoose, you can count every species you see if you walk to Nanaimo and back.
You could also count every species you saw on the way to Nanaimo, but if you
took a bus back home, you couldn't count anything from when you got on the bus,
to when you got back home. Make sense? I'm also going to use a gps to map my
routes and record how far I walk over the next year.
I think it's a good way to keep birding, do a big year of sorts, get more exercise, and most importantly, rely less on cars in general.
Rich and Dr. Brighton have both signed on, although both may have been drinking when they did so. Anybody else?
In my walk today I saw 34 species. The highlight was a large flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets feeding on my driveway, and two immature Trumpeter Swans resting quietly in a front yard near the Nanoose estuary. I think part of doing this type of big year is re-learning to appreciate the small things, over going nuts chasing the big things.
Thanks all, and good birding in 2009
Guy L. Monty
Nanoose Bay, BC
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BCVIBIRDS/message/9108

Link to PQBNews article:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/parksville_qualicumbeachnews/lifestyles/39332554.html

PHOTOS: top Guy Monty and Nolan Lynch on foot. Bottom Rich Mooney and Nolan Lynch heading out on bikes.

Hosts Helpers and Sponsors - Open House

2009-01-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

2009 Brant Wildlife Festival – Open House
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Drop by for a cuppa 'Karma' (coffee that is) at the new Brant Wildlife Festival resource office at Shelly Road Centre for a sneak preview of 2009 celebrations. Reserve your spot for 2009 events or find out how you can host, help or participate in festival activities.

The Brant Wildlife Festival is the oldest wildlife festival in North America hosting events and community celebrations that signal the promise of spring. Wildlife tours, nature walks, talks, and workshops run from March through April.

Join the festival team in celebrating our wild heritage as the briny blue waters of Georgia Strait explode in a spectacle of spring fever when hundreds of thousands of migrating seabirds, sea lions, seals, salmon, eagles, gulls, brant and thousands of their friends, congregate to await the life-sustaining phenomena of the Pacific Herring Spawn.

Brant Wildlife Festival Resource Office
Shelly Road Centre
186 Shelly Road
Parksville, BC
250.586.1311 (New Office Phone Number)
866.288.7878 (Nature Trust Toll Free)

Donna Monty - Festival Coordinator donnalmonty@gmail.com

Lori Lynch - Assistant Coordinator lynch.lori@hotmail.com

To Sign Up for Events Contact Robin Rivers at rrivers@naturetrust.bc.ca

Many thanks from the new resource centre!

2009-01-21T09:12:00.001-08:00

I am very pleased to announce that Cloverdale Paint in Parksville has donated supplies to The Brant Wildlife Festival for a fresh start in our new office and resource centre.
Than you to Mark Arruda and Cloverdale Paint!
Our new office is located upstairs at Shelly Road Centre at 186 Shelly Road, Parksville.
Our Open House Event is slated for February 1, 2009 between 12-4PM
Brant Wildlife Festival Resource Centre
186 Shelly Road
Parksville, BC
250.586.1331 (as of Friday Jan 23)
Many thanks to Rich Mooney and Nolan Lynch for volunteering to paint the office over the weekend!
Rich is a painter/drywaller by day so we are extra grateful to him for giving up precious birding time on the weekend to help us out!!!
Thank you to Tim Clermont for assisting with moving furniture and so much more!
Featured here are the "during" photos here. After a little more office organization we will post the "after" photos. Maybe even a shot of the outside of the building if the fog ever clears here in sunny Parksville.
The hall has inside space as well as a huge yard for outdoor events. Thank you to Bard to Broadway for sharing the space with us and to Leana and Rich, the hall managers, who have bent over backwards to make sure we had a smooth transition.
This resource centre will serve as headquarters for the festival. Many events in 2009 will be held right here in the hall spaces below the office! As well, the public can drop in any time the sign is out for information on the festival or about Brant. The space is a perfect location as it is located right in town and it is so close to the entrance to the Nature Trust of BC trails at the Englishman River Estuary.
Looking forward to a fantastic 2009 season!

Adopt a Brant

2009-01-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

Every spring during migration disturbance, habitat fragmentation and other threats make survival more and more challenging for Brant geese. Each year we see dramatic drops in body weight and numbers of returning Brant to the Oceanside area.

YOU CAN HELP!

Adopt a Brant for only $20. Help protect Brant and the delicate ecosystems that support us all.

Your contribution will support The Nature Trust's Brant Conservation Programs.
Brant Conservation Crew
Habitat acquisition
Land Maintenance

Contact T he Brant Wildlife Festival or The Nature Trust of BC for more information.

Christmas Bird Count Brant Numbers

2008-12-30T13:28:00.000-08:00

For the first time since 1971 all of Canada had a white Christmas. Snow storms on Vancouver Island have canceled most of the planned Christmas Bird Counts but Parksville-Qualicum braved the first big snows on December 14th and saw 106 species.18 Brant were counted

Happy Holidays!!

2008-12-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

See you in 2009!

Brant Wildlife Festival 2009

2008-12-05T12:30:00.001-08:00

The 2009 festival runs from March 7 to April 25 in Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Events include wildlife viewing tours, marsh walks, nature photography, Big Day Birding, eagle release, Voices of Nature concert and much more. The festival celebrates nature,
particularly the return of Brant geese as they migrate from Baja to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.
See the web site for more details
www.brantfestival.bc.ca