Our activities include Hiking, Nature Walks, Birding, Bat Monitoring, Botanizing, Education and Outreach, Conservation and Monthly Meetings featuring informative guest speakers.
Non-members are welcome to participate in these activities as a way to preview our club and meet our friendly members prior to joining our group.
Burke Mountain Naturalists (BMN) was formed in 1989 by local residents interested in enjoying nature, encouraging nature awareness, and conserving local green spaces.
We are a club based in Coquitlam, BC, with a focus on the enjoyment and awareness of nature through activities and education.
Whether you are starting your exploration of nature in the Tri-Cities area (Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam) or are an experienced naturalist, we invite you to join us. Meet people who share your interests such as hiking, walking, birding, nature appreciation, and conservation.
Come as a guest and drop in to one of our monthly meetings, or participate in an scheduled activity,to learn more about us.
Tri-City Greendrinks, sponsored by Tri-City Green Council, is hosting its first online event March 11th @ 7PM. Do you love trees, notice or worry about their loss in the Tri-Cities? Join a presentation and discussion featuring guest speaker Richard Boase.
Richard Boase is the Environmental Manager in the District of North Vancouver. He will share his expertise about how effective tree protection is more than just bylaws. The best outcomes are achieved when the right trees are protected in the right places. This takes a collaborative effort involving the community, developers, and the more. Learn what you can do. Share what you have done!
Free, but registration is required. This event will be recorded for later viewing.
Most people above a certain age recall how barn swallows once filled the air around barns and rural outbuildings. In the TriCities area, “old-timers” report that these birds used to nest in suburban carports too.
Sadly, barn swallow populations in Canada have fallen by 75-80% in the last 40 years, and they are now listed federally as a threatened species.
Dr. Michelle Jackson researches why this once-common species has experienced such a rapid decline. Her studies include monitoring barn swallow nesting success and their foraging habits within in the Little Campbell Watershed in Surrey and Langley. This work involves local landowners who contribute to nest monitoring using a citizen science approach. She and her colleagues are also studying insect diversity in swallow foraging fields in order to better understand how insect prey abundance may contribute to swallow declines.
Dr. Jackson is a conservation biologist with A Rocha Canada, a Christian conservation organization, and she is based at their Brookdale Environmental Centre in Surrey BC.
All BMN members who have provided their email address will receive their Zoom invitation a few days prior to the presentation. If you do not receive it, or if you have questions or need help with Zoom, please send an email to BurkeMtnNats@gmail.com.
SFU professor emeritus and Order of Canada recipient John Clague will describe new research about the formation of the Fraser River delta.
Br
iefly, as the Cordilleran ice sheet melted, huge glacial lakes were formed that were dammed, but not well-dammed. John and other geologists on the research team have recently published a paper that presents evidence for a sudden and catastrophic mega-flood when a dam gave way 11.5K years ago, sending a massive volume of water down the Fraser canyon from around present-day Prince George. John’s presentation takes the form of a detective story, as he outlines the weight of evidence in favour of this event based on present-day landforms.
