PhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

Walking through #GarryOak #meadows & wetland marshes are to the right. Small #footpath to stroll. Still some purple #camas out.

En route home & will be uploading more photos, shortly. We had the whole park to ourselves - only wildlife sharing spaces today 😊

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

#PacificBlackberry aka #TrailingBlackberry
#Yellow #Avens
#CreepingButtercup
#RobertsGeranium

#bloomscrolling #florespondence #Saanich #VictoriaBC #QuicksBottom #YYJ #Spring #Wsanec #VancouverIsland #PacificNorthwest #PNW #botanical #SaanichParks #Nature #FlowersIdentification #PlantIdentification #botany #NatureLovers

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

First #IndianPlums spotted.
The #berries eaten in small quantities - fresh, cooked or dried. Some #BritishColumbia #FirstNations made a purgative tonic out of the bark. Their crushed leaves smell like cucumbers.

Good soil-binding qualities on moist sites. Possible #BioEngineering species (Washington State Department of Ecology, 1993).

#OemleriaCerasiformis #NativePlants #WildFoods #osoberry #chokecherry #QuicksBottom #Nature #VancouverIsland #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PNW #PlantIdentification

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

I LOVE #GarryOak #meadows so much 😍

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail #TreeLovers #Trees #TreeHugger #TreesDefender #StopDeforestation #ecosystem

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

The #horses that live right beside the park. I always love to see them, on every walk at this local park.

I love horses & was a competitive para-equestrian for several years. I competed in both para-equestrian competitions & non-disabled equestrian competitions - in dressage & in pole bending & barrel racing. I rode mostly English but had Western training too.

#Saanich #QuicksBottom #equine

Show threadPhoenixSerenity

Killed this #InvasiveSlug because it's a big #threat to our native banana slugs & to our ecosystems here. I hate killing any living creature but these #slugs breed faster & in higher numbers than our native banana slugs. They're a huge threat to our garry oak habitats here. They graze on many at risk & endangered plants too.

#BlackSlugs aka chocolate slugs are self-fertilizing. They can produce up to 150 eggs. They can quickly reproduce and become too numerous to effectively control. Kill them.

May 30, 2024 at 11:15pmWeb
Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

Some of the #footpath #NatureTrails we walked on today 😊 It was sure nice to see no other humans in the park. We enjoyed a lot of nature delights, loved all the birds calling & singing, saw a squirrel & muskrat in creek areas & had a lovely time together ❤️

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024

This park is a #BirdSanctuary with #wetlands #marshes.

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail #NaturePreserve #NatureSanctuary

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 31, 2024

#Lichen dripped, mossy tree.
#Cottonwood #arbor & dramatic skies
#SoapBush
#Purple #camas

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail

Show threadTraceyThekla 🎨 RolandelliMay 31, 2024
@msquebanh lovely!!
Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 31, 2024
@rolandelli Great nature walk outing!
Show threadMikeMay 31, 2024
@msquebanh peaceful
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 1, 2024
@msquebanh those are such precious spots - when I used to walk there from Tillicum Mall I hardly ever saw anyone
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 1, 2024
@lacouvee I rarely ever see anyone else when walking around this park. I used to like sitting up in the bird blind, waiting to spot wildlife & enjoying water/snacks break, but path to it was too overgrown for us to safely access it.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh it's too bad when they leave these semi-wild places without maintenance. After all, it is one of Saanich's parks.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee They now expect citizen stewards to do a lot of the maintenance work in Saanich Parks. Which isn't right because our tax monies are supposed to pay for parks staff to do most of that work. I am a local volunteer steward & our tasks have increased. Our taxes went up so they should do their jobs more & stop offloading on volunteer citizens.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh also the problem with relying on volunteers is that the volunteer base is getting older, and it is becoming harder and harder to entice younger people to get involved. I don't understand why.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee You brought up the ageing of longtime volunteer nature stewards issue that I was chatting about with some fellow volunteers over the weekend. One problem we've identified is lack of PR/public reach outs to recruit younger folks. I'm working with a few nature stewards to try to develop better online & offline PR recruitment drives. We need a lot more volunteers!
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh many organizations are at risk of folding and some have already due to the inability to recruit younger people to the work. I don't understand the obstacles. Most of us started doing this work when we ourselves were in our 30s and 40s, and busy with work, volunteer work/church and family. We were "busy" and had responsibilities but made time. What has changed?
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee There's a lot more hopelessness & 'we have no real future' feelings that many younger folks have expressed to me in past 5 years. I believe that has affected recruitment too.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh for sure - however, there are so many examples that are hope-filled. The Campbell River estuary is one. Twenty years ago it looked drastically different. How do we get the buy-in? Twenty years is not a long time in people's lifetimes.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee I'm not giving up on trying to recruit more younger folks. Cannot give up.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh also - our "overlords" want us hopeless. Having hope is an act of resistance. It says, I will live to fight another day. Whatever our small act is. Some acts are glorious. Some are mundane. But together these small acts create waves across the world. Activism can mean saying "hi" to a neighbour, in a world that increasingly favours discord.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee 100%! Hope is what we can hold on to & maybe influence the importance of that to younger folks(and anyone else) who feel hopeless.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh we have to have hope - Victor Frankl spoke of this. Also Dr Peter Gary, Victoria Holocaust survivor who spent his life spreading a message of love. Love and hope - it's all we have. To counteract hate and despair.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityJun 4, 2024
@lacouvee I absolutely believe & live in hope. Almost all my public & keynote speeches in past have strong elements of hope & how we can all find ways to refuel our personal hope banks when life gets dark/difficult. I believe hope is what will bind us all, for greater good.
Show threadJanis La CouvéeJun 4, 2024
@msquebanh yes, I believe this too. With every fibre of my being.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 30, 2024
My Mom laughed when I shouted - European colonizer, genocidal invader slug! You must die!
Show threadThe Great Llama May 31, 2024
@msquebanh
They descended on my grow bags like a biblical plague last year during the hot part of the summer... probably after the cool and the moisture as much as the plants. Still, I get pretty defensive of my veggies, so they had to go. No sign of banana slugs.
Show threadViolet MadderMay 31, 2024

@TheGreatLlama @msquebanh

I love banana slugs! Damn.

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 31, 2024
@violetmadder @TheGreatLlama I do too so I kill their colonial genocidal invaders.
Show threadViolet MadderMay 31, 2024

@msquebanh @TheGreatLlama

They always seemed just so huge and yellow nothing could get in their way. Damn these invasions!

Show threadViolet MadderMay 31, 2024

@msquebanh @TheGreatLlama

My mother will tell the story of opening the hotel door one night we were staying in the valley, and there I was at like 5 years old standing with a big grin and half a dozen enormous slugs crawling up and down my arms. (for those who don't know, banana slugs can reach almost 10", meaning my little kid arms were actually getting crowded)

Took a while to wash the slime off. Totally worth it.

Show threadThe Great Llama May 31, 2024
@violetmadder @msquebanh
Speaking of...
https://mstdn.social/@eugeneparnell/112534083983154455
Eugene Parnell (@[email protected])

Attached: 2 images Perry Creek plant safari cont'd. Photo 1: Big leaf maple sapling with a banana slug snoozing on a leaf. Photo 2: if there's a god of the forest, this is it. Western red cedar, Thuja plicata. This incredible specimen is probably older than the United States of America. 15/n #nativeplants #bloomScrolling #gardening #PNW #hiking

Mastodon 🐘
Show threadViolet MadderMay 31, 2024

@TheGreatLlama @msquebanh

Aww, the squishy...

Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 31, 2024
@TheGreatLlama Don't feel too bad about killing those heavy breeding invader slugs.
Show threadThe Great Llama May 31, 2024
@msquebanh
Oh, I don't.
Show threadPhoenixSerenityMay 31, 2024
@TheGreatLlama I don't know about you but I sing out - death to you, genocidal colonizer slugs - every time I kill one. In soprano opera voice.
Show threadThe Great Llama May 31, 2024
@msquebanh
I wasn't quite as demonstrative, but it was hot and there's a road nearby... I figure if they make it back across the hot pavement they earned another shot.
Show threadThe Great Llama May 31, 2024
@msquebanh
Also, I really can't do soprano!