OUR FAVOURITE THINGS

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” – ALBERT EINSTEIN

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Best Places to Bird in BC written by biologist Richard Cannings and his son Russell, is a collection of personal anecdotes, useful notes for birdwatchers, and beautiful photographs that explores exactly what the title suggests. The Canningses cover the many ecological regions of BC from the Rocky Mountains and Haida Gwaii, to the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, including Parksville’s Englishman River estuary. books.google. ca/books/about/ Best_Places_to_Bird_ in_British_Columbia

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Not so much a book, as it is someone interesting to follow on Facebook! The Marine Detective, Jackie Hildering, is a biology teacher, cold-water diver, underwater photographer, and humpback whale researcher living in Port McNeill. “It’s my handle under which I work to raise awareness about life in the cold, dark NE Pacific Ocean and illuminate the fragility, beauty, and mystery there. I hope the name suggests the correct humility. I want to share what I learn so that it may lead to greater knowledge, appreciation, and positive action for the Ocean to which we are all connected and upon which our health depends.” Jackie has also published an eye-spy style book for children called Find the Fish. the-marine-detective. myshopify.com/products/book-find-the-fish-first-edition

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Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life by Brian Brett, won the Writers Trust Non-Fiction Prize in 2009. It’s a memoir about life on his organic farm on Salt Spring Island, where he raises chickens and other animals, tends extensive orchards and vegetable gardens, creates fabulous meals, and has many misadventures. This funny and thought-provoking memoir traces one day on Trauma Farm. “A witty and passionate book, this is an unforgettable portrait of the issues all farms face in this age of industrialization and homogenization.”

The Sea Among Us: The Amazing Strait of Georgia edited by Richard Beamish and Gordon McFarlane (Harbour Publishing). Winner of the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize (2015), it is the first book to present a comprehensive study of the Strait of Georgia in all its facets with chapters on geology, First Nations, history, oceanography, fish, birds, mammals, invertebrates and plants. Covering everything from tsunami modelling and First Nations history, to where to find whales, barnacle reproduction, and climate change, the book is a sweeping overview of one of the world’s great waterways, now called the Salish Sea.

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The BC Coast Explorer by Wildcoast Publishing (Vol 1 & 2) is the quintessential resource for kayakers looking for a guide to exploring the Island’s spectacular coastline. thewildcoast.ca/collections/bc-coast-explorer-guidebooks/products/bc-coast-explorer-volume-1

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The Arrowsmith Naturalists Not a book, but a club you can join… the mission of the Arrowsmith Naturalists, founded in 1970, is to know, enjoy, and preserve nature. They have meetings with featured speakers and offer field trips several times a month. The group also organizes an annual Mushroom Festival (October) that features mushroom displays, lectures, food trucks, and an entire team of mycologists to answer your questions. Their online newsletters provide interesting reading. On Facebook and at: arrowsmithnats.org.

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Return of the Wolf: Conflict & Coexistence by Paula Wild (Douglas & McIntyre 2018) Based in Courtenay, Paula Wild is an awardwinning author known for her conversational and engaging style. In a skillful blend of natural history, Indigenous stories and interviews with scientists and conservationists, Wild examines our evolving relationship with wolves and how society’s attitudes affect the populations, behaviour and conservation of wolves today. paulawild.ca

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Becoming Wild: Living Primitive on a West Coast Island by Nikki van Schyndel (Caitlin Press 2014) Not your typical grizzled survivalist, you may recognize Van Schyndel from the unscripted reality adventure show Alone (2019), where she competed with nine other contestants to survive on her own in the Great Slave Lake area of the Northwest Territories. Nikki is a modern woman who threw off modern comforts to spend nineteen months in a remote rainforest of the Broughton Archipelago. Becoming Wild is a story of survival, as the then twentynine-year-old fends off the harsh weather, hungry wildlife, threat of starvation and the endless perils of living alone in the wilderness. Photo: Caitlin Press.

9Measure of the Year: Reflections on Home, Family and a Life Fully Lived by Roderick L. Haig-Brown Renowned Canadian conservationist, fisherman and writer, Haig-Brown welcomes us onto his lush farm for a full year of insights and observations. In this eloquently written account, Haig-Brown, his wife Ann and their four children tour us through each season, teaching us the ways in which the earth governs the events in our lives. A snapshot of rural Island life in the 1950s, Measure of the Year is a country story, told by a man happy in his chosen way of life.

10 A Year on the Wild Side: A West Coast Naturalist’s Almanac Briony Penn’s witty commentary on the social and natural history of Vancouver Island is composed of short, readable essays arranged into 12 monthly chapters. Discover when berries are ripe and the best time to pick them. Learn why the termites swarm, where the herring spawn, and when the maple leaves fall. Get up close and personal with fascinating creatures like the snowy owl, the giant Pacific octopus, the river otter, and more.