Category Archives: Wildlife

Join the BLPA in the City Nature Challenge!

The Burnaby Lake Park Association is attending this year’s Burnaby Blooms and offering you an opportunity to learn how to use iNaturalist during this year’s City Nature Challenge (CNC), April 29-May 8, 2022.

What is the CNC? It’s an annual citizen science event that gets people outside to enjoy nature in their city as well as create a living record of urban wildlife. Participants are asked to get outside and take photos of wildlife (this includes both plants and animals!) using the free iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.ca. More than 400 cities took part in 2021 from around the world, 25 of which were right here in Canada.

While the City of Burnaby is not officially participating in the CNC this year, the BLPA wants to introduce the community to how fun an easy it is to use the iNaturalist app and website – simply snap a photo, share what you have seen and learn about the nature around you!

Join the BLPA at Burnaby Blooms for a workshop a guided walk to use the app:

  • DATE: Saturday, May 7
  • TIME: 2:30 – 3:30 pm. (2:30-3:00 – workshop, 3:00-3:30 walk to use the app
  • LOCATION: Deer Lake Park – see map below for meeting location
  • REGISTRATION: City of Burnaby registration link
  • COST: $5 – The City of Burnaby will accept Drop in fee on-site!

To get the most out of the workshop, please download the iNaturalist app ahead of time and set up your account.

You can put your iNaturalist app to use year-round, tracking biodiversity wherever and whenever you’re in the mood to observe nature. Many nature groups host projects like the CNC through the year. The BLPA will have a project this fall that you can join.

Go to iNaturalist.ca or download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone and set up an account.

If you’re new to iNaturalist, check out these tutorials on how iNaturalist works:

From the iNaturalist phone app: How to make an observation on iNaturalist

From the iNaturalist website: How to use iNaturalist’s Photo and Sound uploader

BLPA featured on CBC Our Vancouver

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to speak with host Gloria Macarenko of CBC Our Vancouver. A recent episode featured parks and the importance of nature in our lives. It was great to be able to tell her about the birds, wildlife and the community of volunteers who help protect Burnaby Lake Regional Park.

This segment was filmed in February when show was on hiatus during the Olympics. It was a grey day, but always lots to see and hear, whatever the weather.

Longtime part goers may recall some of the arhcival photos they shared and can see how the park has changed from the original footage.

Winter Birding in Burnaby

Thanks to our friends at What’s On Burnaby for the opportunity to introduce beginners to birding. You will find basic tips to help identify birds and some photos of the birds you may see in Burnaby. This is just a start – there have been up to 200 species of birds recorded at Burnaby Lake throughout the year!

Click image below to read or read from the online issue here.

What’s On Burnaby is a free community event listing magazine that is published every two months and available in more than 300 locations ​all over Burnaby! They are a great supporter of non-profit groups like us as well as local businesses.