Jan 4th
A very rainy day. Robin MacKenzie joined us. Kitty and I made up the team. The creek was high, flooding the trail in the usual spot. After walking around and showing what we had done to Robin, we settled in to clearing the plastic tape and downed horsetail from the rest of the hardhack. Much of it is standing up now. We will see how it fares. The two large cedar trees are tilting farther. We will give Saanich another week to get to them before we attempt the job ourselves. [3 people/ 1 hour]
Very high water levels today. 
Photo taken from the west side of the bridge on Goward Road, over the creek where the above water gauge is. 
A little further along Goward Road, looking at the east-side of the park. The Alder trees on the right are on the creek bank. Straight ahead you can see the water has come over the bank and into the park. 
Standing on Site 1 of our plantings, east-side, the creek is into the park by quite a bit. 
Jan 11th
A day that threatened wind and rain but delivered neither while we were there. Lori, Kitty and I took a walk around both sides of the park. Saanich has tied up the tipping cedars very well. The hardhack is starting to stand upright as it reaches for the light. We couldn’t resist doing a little weeding as we went. More cardboard to smother more Reed Canary Grass would be a good idea. [3 people, 1 hour]
Storm damage to the willow picnic area, cordoned off by Saanich. 
High water after all the rain. 
Mary & Kitty clearing off the water gauge. 
Not the highest lately. 
Hardhack.
Jan 18th
Lori and Michael dropped off a bunch of cardboard. We removed the staples and tape and spread it on the reed canary grass below the trail in the hardhack. It was a bit hard to do because we didn’t particularly want to smother any other plants. We spread mulch on some of the cardboard. In the meantime Audrey and Lori were pulling blackberries and replacing the sign on the big fir. Audrey, Kathleen, Lori, Kitty and Mary. [5 people for 2 hours]
Beautiful sky over Prospect Lake. 
This photo and the next are taken from the west-side of the park, 
from the land-side of the creek. This shows how much water is over-flowing the banks. 
Audrey enjoys something here. 
water levels 
Saanich has supported the cedar trees that sloughed over. 
Cardboard for smothering the Reed Canary grass. 
We have to first remove all tape and staples. 
Jan 25th
A busy day in the park. The PSF sign was tipped over. Lori made a few phone calls and people turned up to right it. In the meantime Lori used her truck with Audrey guiding her to pull a Saanich truck out of the mud while Kitty and I were scraping up the last of the mulch and spreading it on the cardboard around the hardhack. (4 people 1 ½ hours)
Arrived today to find the “Salmon Habitat” sign vadalized. Police kindly came out to have a look, get some photos, and a file has been started. Plus a Saanich worker was able to right the sign immediately. 
Very small sprouts of Skunk cabbage showing 
Found a small plant, root-bound, underneath the mulch. Planted with hopes. 
Today’s team: Mary, Kitty & Audrey [and myself, the photographer].
Feb 1st
Only Lori and Mary were able to make it this morning. We spent the time looking over the site to see how the whispers of spring were making themselves felt. We decided we could take some of the fallen alder branches to continue our “fence” cum small bird and animal habitat between the trees along Goward Road. Still pretty wet. [2 people ¾ hour]
Hydrology: water levels are photographed every Monday. 
See our “Hydrology” page for details. 
Clear to see here: where the cardboard has been layed around the hardhack and then mulched. The right side of the photo here awaits the same treatment. 
Snowdrops: native to Europe and the Middle East, introduced here. 
Pulling Together has delivered mulch.
Feb 8th
Time to do serious planning in prep for a visit from Katie and Rick Hatch. We agree the main thing is maintenance. They have booked us in for March 11. [4 people for 1 hour]
Not great photos [cell phone]: Common Merganser 
disturbed. 
This might be a good place to build a rock streambed, diverting the water from the parking lot. 
Today’s team: Kitty, Audrey, Mary, Kathleen & Lori 
The watergauge is often cluttered with stream vegitation. 
Daffodils pushing through. 
Doing a site assessment for Pulling Together.
Feb 15th
No work in the park today due to snow.
Feb 22nd
Slightly damp but we all turned out with relief. So nice to be out of the house and doing. We had a wander on the west side noting some damage that we will have to repair when the water goes down. The large alder with the tunneling under the roots is gone. Over on the east side we cleared the streams of little rock dams that looked like children having fun. Then we got to clearing the branches from the old alders and taking them to build up the “fences” along Goward. Then we got into pulling blackberries from among the rescued roses. And more general tidying around. Lori, Kitty, Audrey, Kathleen and Mary [5 people for 2 hours]
High waters, west-side of Tod Creek. 
Assessing water damage 
and plans for restoration work. 
Kathleen on the other side of the creek. 
Water gauge 
reading. 
Using fallen branches 
to create a fence structure, which demarcates the park and protects the birds. 
Note the pile of wood chips for the trails.
March 1st
Hydro line clearing had left us a big pile of chips. Perfect. In two teams of two we spread them on the trails, using our two wheelbarrows. Audrey and Lori did the central trail and Kitty and Mary did the trail in from Goward Road. We were proud of the results getting ready for spring. [4 people, 1 ½ hours]
Water is receding a bit from the previous weeks. 
Water gauge 
reading. 
Making good use of the wood chips 
along all the trails 
Wood chips gone.
March 8
Mostly getting ready for visit from Katie and Rick Hatch on Thursday. We noted trees that need staking, did some weeding, wondered about getting the Reed Canary Grass from among the other plants. Maintenance is the flavour of the month. [4 people 1 hour]
Geese walking the trails. 
Audrey and Kathleen arriving for work. 
Water gauge level. 
Mary from a distance. 
Trails looking tended. 
Removing invasives. 
Keta, our mascot, walking with his person.
March 11th: Restoration Action Plan tour with Katie Turner & Rick Hatch of Saanich
Meeting with Katie and Rick. On east side it is mostly maintenance. Asked for a few more cedars and some staking. On the west side we asked for some skunk cabbage and a couple of pines and a solution to the water that drains through the parking lot and across the grass. Probably a dry stream bed which would mean we will have to plan for some shrubs in the part nest to the road because the mower would not be able to get across the “stream”. [6 people for 1 ½ hours plus 2 Saanich staff]
Audrey, Kitty, Mary, Lori & Pat arrive for the Restoration Plan assessment. 
Mum & toddler walking the east-side trails. 
Rick Hatch, left; Katie Turner in yellow vest, second from the right. 
Katie will help us with longer lasting plant labels. 
But here we found our violets poking through the soil. 
Goward Road, still shared with horses. 
Winona & friend arrive. 
Wrapping up our assessment of WHP east-side. 
We really appreciate our rural roads, and lowered speed limits, 
as does this beauty. 
First Fawn lily coming up. 
WHP west-side with a couple of Hawthorne trees the worse for wear in wet soil; Saanich will right them, and stake them up with braces. 
Sap draining from Sapsucker holes. 
A small spring on the west-side is running through the parking lot; a meandering creek bed will be created here. 
Stream as viewed from the east-side, looking across Tod Creek.
March 15th
An excellent day. Robin and Brad from Saanich brought the 6 cedar trees we asked for as well a wire and posts in order to stake some tipping trees. Lori, Kitty, Audrey and I planted some trees and assisted in the staking. We also put more mulch on the reed canary grass, some with cardboard underneath and some without. A busy and productive day. 4 people for 1 ½ hours plus 2 Saanich Staff]
Mary & Kitty approach as Audrey watches, 
our water gauge, which we monitor every Monday. 
Saanich brought Cedar trees, 
that we are planting both east & west-side of the park. 
Brad making good post holes for our larger tree supports. 
Robin & Brad from Saanich. 
March 22
A very satisfying day. We completed covering the paths with chips as well as generally tidying up. It is so handy to have two wheelbarrows. Lori and I and Kathleen and Kitty made two teams with the wheelbarrows to get the job done. Meanwhile Audrey was on the west side removing some fencing that trees had outgrown and protecting others. [5 people for 1 ½ hours]
The plum trees blooming, standing on the west side looking across the creek. 
Skunk cabbage working to bloom. 
Wood chipping all the trails. 
Plum tree blooms. 
The Crew: Kitty, Audrey, Mary, Kathleen, and Lori photographing.
March 29
Admired Audrey’s work of last week. There is still a lot of water sitting on the land. It is, after all, still a flood plain on both sides of the creek. Audrey worked on the last (?) of the blackberries by the big tree. Kitty, Lori and I cleaned up more of the branches and other detritus on the rest of the site. We have almost used up the chips and thought we could mix the remaining bit with the mulch for later. First thing next week. Winona brought some cardboard by and we will spread in on the RCG. [4 people 1 ½ hours]
Skunk cabbage on the east-side. 
Tall Oregon-grape flowering [Mahonia aquifolium]. 
Before pruning the Hardhack [Spiraea douglasii]. 
Red-flowering Currant [Ribes sanguineum]. 
June-plum [Oemleria cerasiformis]. 
After pruning the Hardhack. 
Audrey, Kitty, Mary and Lori photographing.
April 5
Skunk cabbage [Lysichiton americanum] blooming on the west-side, a volunteer! 
East-side Skunk cabbage gettiing bigger. 
Kitty with today’s plantings which she has kindly donated from her home site. 
Fringecup [Tellima grandiflora] and Redwood sorrel [Oxalis oregana]. 
Salmon berry bloom [Rubus spectabilis]. 
Tall Oregan-grape flowering. 
Plum tree bloom. 
Today’s team: Kathleen, Kitty, Mary and Lori photographing. 
Traveller. 
Double-headed White Fawn lily [Erythronium oregonum].
April 12
Audrey and Mary pleased with Winona’s donated Chickweed Monkey-flower [Mimulus]. 
The beaver has taken down our six ft Cedar trees [two of them on the west-side]. 
Resident duck family on the creek and east-side. 
Hydrology levels. 
And the newest Cedar trees, on the east-side, are also chewed off. 
Western Trillium [Trillium ovatum]. 
East-side Skunk cabbage doing well. 
Early Blue Violets [Viola adunca] 
White Fawn lily [Erythronium oregonum]. 
Audrey engaging park visitors with our work progress. 
Another park visitor. 
Beaver dam under the bridge.
April 19
April 19
Today’s Team: Kitty, Kathleen, Mary & Caleigh. 
Saanich is restoring one of the picnic areas on the west-side. 
Caleigh, finding a lot of ivy, lakeside. 
Kathleen & Kitty removing invasives. 
Common Horse tail [Equisetum arvense] which grows tall, hiding our plantings from the hungry deer. 
A couple of Western Trillium [Trillium ovattum] struggling. 
April 26
Fringecup [Tellima grandiflora] doing well on the west-side of WHP. 
One of the restored picnic tables. 
Cleaning out the agressive bluebells and daffodils. 
A very small Cedar tree, after a beaver chew. 
Four goslings [only three show up in this photo].
May 3rd
Audrey, Kaleigh, Mary & Lori worked the east-side for 1.5 hrs each.
May 10th
Audrey, Kitty, Mary & Lori for 1.5 hrs each at Lohr Road
May 17th
Audrey, Kitty, Mary & Lori for 1.5 hrs each. First we had a look at Whiteheat Park and then worked at Lohr Road.
Unfortunately, once again there is vandalism. Once again, we called the police to report it and a second police file was started.
The water gauge is normally bolted to the middle post on this bridge. 
Here the gauge is a few feet removed from the post to the left, removed from the bolts and pulled up from the creek bed. 
Lupin at Lohr Road. 
Saanich workers were able to remove our weeds right then. 
Last image at Whitehead Park, neighbours are unhappy with the lack of a portable-potty at the park.
May 24th
Kitty and Mary came to Lori’s for tea, and WHP planning session.
May 31st
Audrey, Mary and Lori at WHP for 1.5 hrs each. Setting cardboard over canary grass.
June 7th
Audrey, Kitty, Mary and Lori at Whitehead Park, continuing to spread cardboard and mulch for 1.5 hrs each.
Friday June 11th
Kathleen arranged for Kitty and Lori to pick up large jute coffee bags from Level Ground. They kindly sold us a lot of bags for $20. We will use these like the cardboard, placed overtop of the Reed canary grass, to suppress growth, and then covered with mulch or wood chips, depending where we put it.
June 14th
Whitehead Park for 1.5 hrs: Audrey, Kitty, Mary and Lori cleared the trails of the summer over-growth. Our park neighbour walked his dog past the park and offered to retrieve the water gauge from the stream. Mary took it home to clean for future re-placement.
After the park, we took a tour of the Plot Market Garden
June 21st
We arrived to find a Stand Up Paddleboarding group coming to enjoy the lake.
Saanich staff came to water and trim branches from the trails. 
We are spreading the burlap coffee bags over the Outdoor Classroom, suppressing weeds, then covering with the wood chip trail mix. 
Beautiful ‘Traveller’ comes by for a visit.
June 28th
Mary & Lori continue the burlap coffee bag cover-up. 
July 5th
Temperature breaking weather: Mary & Lori checked out Whitehead Park, too hot to work much, a little weeding as we walked. 
Also checked out Lohr Road, as the water gauge was also vandalized here and removed from the bridge post it was attached to. 
Here is an old water gauge, not used anymore.
July 12th
Audrey, Mary & Lori finished the Outdoor Classroom. 
July 19th
Kitty & Audrey digging up the last of the trail chips. 
A few longer views of the finished Classroom. 
July 26th
Robyn, Saanich staff, delivering our trail chips. 
In the middle: Taylor, Saanich staff, delivering our trail chips. 
Setting up: The First Outdoor Classroom Tea. 
Audrey brought the table, linens, and more. Winona brought treats. 
Sherron brought all china tea settings. 
Audrey won First Prize with her Fascinator!
Aug 2nd
Audrey came alone today, and photographed the mess in the park r/t no toilets during Covid. She then wrote an excellent letter, which she sent to Saanich with the photos, stating the obvious need for the park guests and volunteers to see the toilet returned.
Aug 9th
Aug 16th:
No work today at Whitehead Park
Aug 19th:
Tod Flats, looking to find Triantha occidentalis, a bog-dwelling western false asphodel, recently discovered to be carnivorous. First described in the scientific literature in 1879, this is a new discovery. See our “Information Page” for a full report of Triantha occidentals, with photo, here https://www.todcreekwatershed.ca/information-resources; and to see our tour of the flats on our “Projects Page”, under ‘Tod Flats 2021’ here https://www.todcreekwatershed.ca/tod-flats-2021 .
Aug 23rd
Low water levels at Prospect Lake
Neighbours trying to keep guests helpful. 
Shoreline showing how far the water has receded in this summer’s heat. 
Standing on Goward Road, looking over the bridge to the water levels in Tod Creek. The middle post is where the water gauge was until vandals removed it. 
Fortunately, the hydrologist can still measure water levels. 
Mary, Audrey, Kitty and Lori spent the morning doing light clean-up. 
During the winter, this stream-side pathway is under water. 
We encased more plantings in protective wire mesh, hoping to keep out deer and beaver from our cedar tree seedlings. 
Garbage dumped at Lohr Road 
Aug 30th
Some park guests need more than a pointed sign apparently. 
A cast-off cast-iron pot throw into Tod Creek. 
Showing how low the water is under the Goward Road bridge over Tod Creek. 
Esther, Mary, Kitty and Lori pulled Horsetails off the smaller plantings, as in winter the Horsetail become waterlogged and lay heavily over the small plants, blocking sunlight. 
Another perspective of the low water levels in Tod Creek. This time taken from the east-side of Whitehead Park. 
Water mint [Mentha aquatica]. 
Sept 6th
Showing again how low the water is in Tod Creek. 
Volunteer plum tree in the park. 
Esther, Mary and Lori weeded horsetail from the smaller plantings, as they become heavy and water laden as they die, which weighs the plantings down. 
The Horsetails break easily and don’t need to be pulled, just broken up.
Sept 13th
Another beautiful Monday. Today Audrey, Esther, Kitty, Mary and Lori continued to weed the Horsetail from the plantings. 
The waterlilies are dying down. 
Kitty on the west-side trail. 
Kitty cutting some of the growth on the invasive willow tree. 
Kitty, Mary and Audrey, wheelbarrow and pails full. 
Saanich has been alerted re these loose hanging branches, but I flagged them in case anyone wanders off trail here.
Sept 20th
Mary walked to the dock before we started working. 
Maple tree setting the golden-brown, paired, winged seeds called ‘samaras’ [Pojar & MacKinnon]. Samara fruit [aka helicopter seeds] are winged seeds that are a type of dry fruit. The papery wing carries the seeds farther away than most other fruit seeds https://www.thespruce.com/trees-with-helicopter-seeds-samara-fruit-5186309 
Our low water creakbed, still without a water gauge. 
The team planting wild flower seeds that Pat Carfra gifted us. 
This beauty came to supervise our work today. 
Barred owl [Strix varia]. 
Audrey and Mary cleaning up the creekbed. 
This wheelbarrow might be useful for watering or dropping seeds. 
The Hardhack bed is being cleared and protected: we set cardboard or jute bags down to suppress the Reed canary grass.
Oct 4th
Another beautiful day on Prospect Lake. 
We have our water gauge back. 
Although the hydrologist has been able to read the water levels in the watershed regardless of the vandalism of the previous gauge. 
We moved to Lohr Road to pick up Yellow-flag Iris that was removed from the ‘island’ in the creek under Lohr Rd. 
Bachelor’s button [Centaurea cyanus]. 
Water gauge, cleaned up and readable. 
The ‘island’ wasn’t completely removed as it offers a place for fish to rest and hide. 
Longer view of the Yellow flag Iris island.
Nov 1st
Cleaning up fireworks someone kindly left behind… 
Damage to the wharf, Saanich notified. 
Wood looks rotten. 
Hopefully keeps children and dogs out. 
Water Gauge. 
Raking the trails today. 
Today’s crew: Audrey, Lori, Kitty and Mary. Esther as photographer.
Nov 8th
Looking at the water level increasing. 
Today’s crew: Kitty, Lori, Audrey & Mary; and Esther, taking the photo. 
Unusual looking ? fungus on these leaves.
Nov 15th BC in catastrophic flooding crisis. Here’s our corner:
Driving to Whitehead Park, this is Prospect Lake Road, where Killarney Creek Fan reaches the lake. 
Whitehead Park parking lot on Goward Road. 
Later this same day, Audrey took this photo of the wharf:
Nov 17th: water levels at Lohr Road.
water gauge is submerged. 
Looking south toward Prospect Lake. 
Looking north.
Nov 22nd
The leaf-line here shows how high the water washed up debris. 
Water gauge, slightly obscured by leaves. 
Cleaned off for reading. 
Today’s crew: Mary, Lori, Audrey and Esther has taken this photo.
Nov 29th
Kitty and Mary worked alone on a very cold day, assessing a new planting site.
Dec 6th: Called for cold + snow
Dec 13th:
An epheremal stream running from the Goward Road parking lot. 
Beaver at work, west-side by the wharf. 
The bridge on Goward Road. 
Beaver damage on the east-side of the park. 
Unfortunately, we found quite a start of shiny geranium on the east-side. 
The crew: Kitty, Audrey, Mary, Lori and Esther took this photo. 
Dec 20th
These last few photos are poor resolution. 
Dec 22, 2021
Trees delivered by Saanich for planting in the new year.
We wrapped them in cardboard and mulch to keep from freezing until we can plant them.
The team: Winona, Audrey, Bernie, Mary and Lori [photo taker].
