Kitty arrives for our first day back, after the snow.
The Goward Road parking lot seasonal stream.Water gauge.Today’s crew: Audrey, Mary and Kitty [Lori photographing].From WHP east-side, looking back toward the children’s playground.Surrounding one wing of a maple seed are thousands of Alder seeds spread about.We’re thinking a raccoon print.Hardhack remnants. Hardhack seed dispersal.Two tree bases have had visitors. No surrounding tracks, so we think there’s an under-snow trail. “The Subnivean Zone: Shelter in the Snow The subnivean zone is the area between the surface of the ground and the bottom of the snowpack.Mice, voles, and shrews retreat here for protection from cold temperatures, bitter winds, and hungry predators. Food is right at hand: grass, leaves, bark, seeds, and insects are free and unfrozen. Under the snow, these tiny mammals create long tunnel systems complete with air shafts to the surface above.” https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/subnivean-shelter-snowSamara: the winged seed produced by maple trees.
Jan 17th
Whitehead Park west-side.Looking at the previous photo, this tree is just beyond the park bench.This photo shows the lengths of wood the beaver cuts, to drag to lodge or dam.Can’t see it in this photo, but there are half a dozen trees that have been beaver ‘pruned’ along the creek edge. This photo is for future reference.Lori, Kitty and Audrey.Water gauge.Still a bit of debris, even though we tried to pull the grass off the waterline.Beaver protection.Plant ID app states: Club fungi [Basidiomycete fungi of the Gilled fungi/ Gilled mushroom Order]. Pacific ninebark [Physocarpus capitatus] dried cluster of red seed capsules. This photo and below: fungus? On one of the creekside plum trees, quite a few branches are effected, which we pruned and removed. Plant ID app states: Sac fungi [Ascomycete fungi of the Family: Venturiaceae] are plant pathogens which parasitize plants causing damage & disease.Today’s crew: Kitty, Lori and Audrey, with Esther taking this photo.
Jan 24th
As always, our beautiful Prospect Lake.Mary came by to meet up with Saanich workers and talk about our new potential garden site. Matti and Reid from Saanich.The area were are interested in developing is to the left. Water gauge reading.Audrey beside one of the spots we have chosen for new plantings.Matti putting the finishing touches on one of the new trees: HawthorneKitty and Audrey getting a good start on the rose thicket, as it needs a pruning.Visitors: Liam and Andy.Today’s crew: Kitty, Audrey, Lori and Esther taking this photo.
Jan 31st
Water gauge shows levels are dropping.Perhaps a mating couple of geese.Double-headed Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis).Unidentified by Plant ID app. Perhaps a Sparassis [also known as cauliflower mushroom].Today’s crew: Mary, Audrey, Lori and Esther taking this photo.
Feb 7th
Much warmer today.Still hanging around.We have found quite a bit of Italian arum: “The weed is considered both invasive and toxic. It’s capable of spreading through both its seeds and tubers. Once it’s arrived in a place, it quickly forms a dense ground cover, blocking out sunlight for any other lower-lying plants. For humans and wildlife, ingestion of Italian arum can cause sickness, while contact can cause serious skin irritation.”
https://www.saanichnews.com/news/toxic-plant-spreading-from-us-to-greater-victoria-horticulture-non-profit-warns/Italian arum.Turkey-tail [Trametes versicolor: a common polypore mushroom.Double-headed SnowdropsKitty placing one of a dozen posts that Esther & Ken Miller kindly cut for us.Today’s crew: Kitty, Lori, Audrey and Esther taking this photo.
Feb 14th
Mary, Winona and Audrey on the dock.Looking from the dock, toward Tod Creek as it leaves Prospect Lake.Water gauge shows levels dropping a bit.Katie Turner, Pulling Together Coordinator, arrives with Saanich crew Matti and Kyla.Hoping to create a small garden site here.Matti will determine if the site can be dug into.Water vole.Townsend Vole, Microtus townsedii “The Townsend’s Vole is a short-tailed rodent more than twice the size of a mouse. It thrives around wetlands and in grassland meadows. Voles feed on the roots of grasses, sedges, and other soft-stemmed plants, fallen seeds, and leaves. A tell-tale sign of vole presence is runways through vegetation along the ground; these runways are often used throughout many generations of voles and can extend down to five centimeters deep.”Information from:
https://saltspringconservancy.ca/townsend-vole/After a few minutes of observation, not appearing frightened nor apprehensive, the vole swam to the west side of the park. This observation is recorded on iNaturalist Site for confirmation.
Feb 21st
Kitty was the lone worker today in the snow. Cleaning up bits that she could see and straightening up other bits.
Feb 28th
Raining too hard today, so Audrey & Lori had an indoor tea to discuss the park and FTCW year to come.
March 7th
Kitty on the east-side, note the Snowdrops to her left. More photos of these beauties below.West-side ‘creek’ forming from the Goward parking lot to Tod Creek. With Sannich’s help, we hope to turn this into a small ephemeral rock bed rivulet.Overcast day.Water gauge doing full-time work for us.It looks like the beaver is eating our small cedar tree plantings, so we’re protecting them as best as we can.One of our tools broke off, so we’ve used both the handle and the fork tines as plant supports.We count seven shoots of Skunk cabbage here.And unfortunately, on the Far East-side, we have found Italian arum [very invasive]. Saanich is aware and will help to eradicate it as possible.Today’s crew: Lori, Kitty and Audrey; Esther as photographer for this photo.Our lovely Snowdrops [Galanthus nivalis].Double snowdrop [Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’].
March 14th
Esther was our lone worker today, cleaning bits as she assessed the park, west and east-sides.
March 21st
The large Alder tree, east-side, that died quite a while ago, finally came down. Saanich was right on it, cutting up the larger trunk and moving it around the park for us.From Parks Canada: “In the study of food chains, trees are known as “producers”. This means they create their own food from sunlight through a process called photosynthesis. A healthy forest has producers, but also “consumers” (that hunt or forage for nutrients to survive) and “decomposers” (that obtain nutrients by breaking down parts of organisms into simple forms). The relationship between producers, consumers and decomposers is often depicted as a “food web”. A healthy forest has many food webs, including important webs created by dead trees.”“… to be truly healthy and support all the wildlife that depends on it, there must be a variety of young, old and dead trees in a forest ecosystem… Decomposing wood returns nutrients to the system while providing shelter and food for many plants and animals. Standing dead trees host a diversity of organisms that would not be present without them.”
Winona at the park, delivering plants gifted to us.
April 4th
Ducks look like they’re nesting close by. A bit of flotsam and debris in the creek, just before the bridge at Goward. The water gauge.Fawn lily foliage poking through.And not far away, a couple of blooms.Skunk cabbage is happy with the wet, no blooms yet.Long standing in wet soil is costing us some trees. As we walked to the west-side, this Red-breasted sapsucker arrived. The beaver continues to work at the park also.Unfortunately, the west-side also has a lot of ivy.
April 11th
Always a welcome sight.Ducks, lake-sideSwallows eating bugs.Tree is laying down and I’ve photo’d it downward, showing the beaver’s work and debris.Another beaver tree…and from another angle.Water gauge.Some trees are not happy with wet feet and ankles…But the sedge and Skunk cabbage are.Red flowering currant [Ribes sanguineum]. Bernie Bowker and Mary dropped by for an inspection.Bigleaf maple [Acer macrophyllum].Today’s crew: Audrey and Lori, Esther as our photographer for this photo.
April 18th
April 25th
Still chilly, but a good sunny day for working.Water gaugeTwo Trillium are blooming and we have a few more foliage only.Audrey has brought Lonicera from her garden, for the east-side. Lonicera wrapped in it’s home soil and moss. Horsetails are coming up. Fun note from Polar & MacKinnon: Horsetail was the first vascular plant to send green shoots up through the debris of the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens. Salmonberry is making a great comeback. Here the Oregan grape is blooming. And another fun fact from Polar & MacKinnon: oregan grape is not actually a type of grape. However the edible fruit was part of the First Nation’s diet, including in Oregon, where it is the state flower. After a couple of tries, Audrey finds the right place for the lonicera. Today’s crew: Audrey, Mary, Kitty, Lori and this photo is by Esther.
May 2nd
Beaver damage.Skunk cabbage is blooming.Water gauge. Keeping an eye on our Trillium.Slough sedge [Carex obnupta] in the wetlands of the ephemeral stream, feet away from the Skunk cabbage.Two large Black Hawthorne trees from Saanich for us to plant.Audrey at work, digging to plant one of the Hawthorne.
May 9th
I believe this is a Song Sparrow [Melospiza melodia] singing from the Alder snag. The Alder had rotted in place, and when finally had to be cut, Saanich left it tall enough for habitat, food source, look-out, hiding place and soil refresher. [nwf.org]Saanich worker Maddie, the Natural Areas Practitioner. Maddie gave us an in-site tutorial re planting trees at the right depth.
“… Planting too deep isn’t always readily apparent… but long term effects are substantial… usually the problem emerges after a few years. Ideally, plant trees so their root flare [where the trunk starts to bulge out at the bottom] is slightly above the soil surface… Signs… include girdling roots…” Notes from Davey Blog [blog.davey.com]
From Maddie: girdling roots can strangle the tree.Lots of planting happening today.Slough sedge.Kitty in the midst of new plantings.
Also learned from Maddie today: “Mulch in a donut, not a volcano.” As follow-up to planting trees at the right depth, don’t surround the trunk with mulch piled up [volcano shape] but mulch around with space at the trunk. Water can be held here, plus the lot flare stays clear and breathable.”Today’s crew: Maddie, Kitty, Audrey, Mary, Lori, and Esther is our photographer for this photo. Audrey checking the water gauge. Final assessment of the Creek.
May 16th
Sunny but windy day on the lake. Water gauge.The water is so clear, it looked lower that last week, but checking last week’s photos we see it’s exactly the same level.Fringecup [Tellima grandiflora]with tall white flowers with 3 – 7 lobed petals and 5 stamens [Pojar & MacKinnon]. Black Hawthorn trees are blooming.Their wood is known for its great strength and fine grain [Pojar & MacKinnon].Questioning weeds.Honeysuckle from Audrey. We tried to give them a good start, with some twigs for twining starts. Hard to see here but this snake was big, with a raised head and red tongue giving me fair warning.
I’m thinking this is a common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). “Garter snakes are ovoviviparous, which means that the embryos develop in eggs inside of the female. However, instead of the female laying the eggs to hatch, they hatch inside of her and she gives birth to live young. After mating, the snakes migrate to their summer hunting grounds to start finding food; females also start to look for a good location to birth their young. Gestation is 12-16 weeks, and offspring are born between July and September. While pregnant, the females are less active than usual and focus on keeping their bodies at the optimum temperature for their eggs. The average brood size is between 10 and 40 young, but some as large as 80 have been recorded!” From: https://www.northwestwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Common-Garter-Snake.pdfThis tree is determined to outlive the beaver damage, one way or another. These Maple leaf helicopter seeds consist of two conjoined wings, each surrounding a seed. Each winged section is technically known as a samara, which blow away from their trees as they attempt to find, purchase and grow into a maple tree one day themselves. Text from: https://www.we-chop.com/maple-tree-seeds/
May 23rd Victoria Day, no park work today
May 30th
Someone left a barbed hook on the wharf.Water gauge readingSaanich staff, Maddy and Naomi, are here to assess the invasive plants. Looks like this tree is struggling.A little dumping of someone’s yard waste. We planted quite a few ferns, surrounded by fresh leaf mulch donuts. Hawthorne tree is doing well. Catapiller nest we will bring down next week.Today’s crew: Mary, Kitty, Lori and Esther taking this photo.
June 6th: The Crew of Audrey, Esther, Kitty and Mary worked today; Lori home on precautionary isolation.
June 13th: Too windy to safely work, so we held an impromptu meeting at Mary’s to discuss the park work and future we see working toward.
June 20th:
Water gaugeThere is a tool in the lake, I tried to reach it with garbage bag waders, but to no avail. We trimmed the trials in anticipation of next week’s presentation in our Outdoor Classroom.Pacific Ninebark and wild roses for summer colour. Wondering if this cedar tree is in distress, will keep an eye on it.
June 20th
Today we hosted Linda Geggie for our first “Trail Talk” and have photos of that event on the Trail Talk Page. Our work was focused on cleaning the trails and outdoor classroom for visitors [ie trimming bushes that overlapped the trail; raking the trails]
As always, our water gauge.Setting up the area.
July 4th
Dismal July 4th but good for working in.Water gauge.We found more evidence of someone dumping yard waste in the park. Here Audrey stands at a trail we didn’t make; the dumper/s created this trail.So we have hopefully blocked the dumper/s trail with branches. It might be a deterrent to know we are aware of the behaviour. Audrey with a small portion of our Cleavers: “… a weedy but apparently native species.” [Pojar & MacKinnon]Today’s crew: Audrey, Kitty and Lori [taking this photo].
July 11th
Audrey and Kitty worked today, maintenance mostly. Until a speeding commercial truck ran a van off the road. No one was hurt but the van occupants had to climb out the driver’s door as the right side of the vehicle was wedged into the ditch up against the rock face; the commercial truck didn’t stop. The police were notified, there is a file; and Audrey & Kitty stayed until a replacement vehicle came to pick up the students.
July 18th
Today the work crew went to Maltby Lake to do some invasive species removal.
Today’s crew: Carmel, Anne, Lori, Winona, Audrey and Mary; with Esther taking the photo. Beau, our supervisor, keeping an eye on things.
July 25th
Beautiful day.A lot of weeds closing in. Plant ID phone app: “Eurasian water milfoil [Myriophyllum spicatum]” No Dumping since the sign went up.The Hardhack is high. Today’s crew: Kitty, Mary and Lori; Esther took this photo.
Aug 1st: no work today as holiday
Aug 8th: Kitty worked alone, doing general clean-up. We have such lush overgrowth, some of the roses and Hardhack need trimming to keep the paths clear for walks.
Aug 15th:
“Vast tracts of big leaf maple trees across the Island are turning a white-silver colour this summer. But while alarming, it’s not a cause for concern in the long term, according to registered professional botanist Andy MacKinnon.
The leaves and stems of maples are being hit with a powdery mildew — a fungal parasite — that is thriving amid humid and warm conditions, and the spores are being spread by consistent breezes, MacKinnon said.
The superficial, fine-powder-like mildew is caused by Erysiphales fungi, especially Podosphaera xanthii.”
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/maples-around-vancouver-island-have-a-silvery-tinge-this-summer-heres-why-5674544As always, arriving for a morning view of beautiful Prospect Lake before we start work. The lakeside weeds along Prospect Lake Road are now choking into Tod Creek.Maple tree about to set seeds to flight. Murky water at the water gauge.Oregon grape [Mahonia aquifolium] fruiting.The trail is almost grown over in places, especially in the Hardhack areas. Here we put more trail chips down and trimmed the overhanging branches. Parched soil. We water a bit by hand but it’s just a drop in the bucket, so to speak. Fortunately, Saanich comes in to water.Audrey and Lori, Kitty left a few minutes early; and Esther kindly took this photo.
Aug 22, 2022
Audrey, Esther & Mary worked in the park this morning, always maintenance to be done.
Aug 29th, 2022
Audrey, Esther & Mary worked for 6 hours total on maintenance of the park.
Sept 5th, 2022
Audrey, Esther & Mary worked today.Our asparagus plant, on the east-side.
Sept 12th, 2022
Audrey, Kitty & Mary worked today.
Sept 19th, 2022: No photos today, but the gang worked. Audrey, Esther, Kitty & Mary for 8 hrs total vol time.
Sept 26th, 2022
Audrey, Esther, Kitty & Lori worked today. Audrey found these great mushrooms.
Sept 26th, 2022
Meeting up with our new mascot: Tori.
We can’t figure these holes out: one long ditch [? 10 feet] and another two holes a little bit away. Photos sent to Pulling Together Coordinator.
ToriAudrey, Kitty, Lori and Esther taking this photo.
Oct 3rd, 2022
Mary and Alex from Saanich.
Happy Thanksgiving for all we have at Prospect Lake, Oct 10th.
Oct 17th
Smokey haze from fires on the mainland.Water gaugeWater levels low, as BC experiences an extra long period of no rains.Red flowering Maple tree on the park west-side.Katie Turner [our Pulling Together Coordinator] visited with Esther, Mary and Lori today for park assessment.Our trails freshly mulched today.
Oct 24th
Took a photo of this beauty last week, most of her leaves have dropped in that short time.Getting colder, but still no rain.The mouth of Tod Creek is choked with the invasive waterlilies. Our [dirty] water gauge. Today we were fortunate enough to tour our park with UVic Prof and Soil Expert Carol Jones [3rd from the right]. Carol assessed our choices of where to plant, what has succeeded and not, and how to proceed with these plants. On the west-side of the park [to the left of the Goward Road parking lot], Saanich will be helping us to turn the grassy area into a natural ephemeral stream with the best companion plants; Carol will assess the soil there and give her advice on which plants will do best there. One thing we learned from Carol today: Cedar trees often die from the top down. Therefore, a cedar tree with poor-looking brown needles but with a green leader might be ok; a cedar tree with good-looking green needles but a brown leader might not survive. Call an arborist if unsure.Today’s group: Lori, Mary, Kitty, Audrey, Carol, Winona, Pat and Esther taking this photo.
Oct 31st / 2022
Our Monday morning welcome. Water gaugeWater gauge reading. Ron and Zoe.
Nov 14th/ 2022
After a dry summer, now the rains; here we have a tree down across Tod Creek.Water gaugeWater gauge reading.Woodland floor mushrooms.Today’s work crew: Mary, Audrey and Lori; Esther has taken this photo.
Nov 21st/ 2022
No photos today: Audrey, Mary, and Esther worked at the park; Kitty and Lori lounged in Hawaii.
Nov 28th/ 2022
Bitterly cold day. Water gaugeWater gauge reading.Beaver visit. Today’s crew: Mary, Audrey, Kitty and Lori.Dec 5th. 2022
Dec 12th/ 2022
A lovely get together at Audrey’s to celebrate our year’s work and each other.
Sassy, Audrey’s bearded collie [very pregnant] greeted us at the front door.
