Author: Friends of Uplands Park

Birding News: Rare sighting of a Pine Bunting in Uplands Park. October 2018.

Uplands Park is attracting birders from all over to see a pine bunting.. never before seen in this part of the world.

CBC News article:

‘A really, really significant sighting’: Vancouver Island birdwatchers aflutter over unusual arrival

Read full article at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/a-really-really-significant-sighting-vancouver-island-birdwatchers-aflutter-over-unusual-arrival-1.4869346

The bird, which is native to temperate regions across Asia, was spotted in Uplands Park in Oak Bay in the Greater Victoria area. It’s thought to be the first sighting in B.C.

Photo Credit: The bird was first found on the grass at the south end of Uplands Park along Beach Drive (where Beach Drive bisects Uplands Park). (Maury Swoveland/BC Rare Bird Alert)

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Uplands Park: The Great Rip Off Photos from October 14, 2018.

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to The Great Rip Off in Uplands Park on October 14th, 2018. Another beautiful day in the Park and more great mounds of ivy collected. Photos by Ron Carter [first two] and Wylie Thomas [next 6].

Uplands Park: The Great Rip Off Photos from October 13, 2018. Join in the fun on Sunday, October 14th, 2018.

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to The Great Rip Off in Uplands Park on October 13th, 2018. Such a beautiful day to be in the Park and great mounds of ivy were collected. For those who missed all the fun today, it is all happening again, Sunday, Oct 14th, from 1-4pm. Meet at grassy entrance to Cattle Point on Beach Drive. Tools and gloves and snacks. Family friendly. Hoping some Oak Bay Council Candidates show up too. Photos by Kathleen Matthews.

The Great Rip Off … in Uplands Park … October 13 & 14, 2018 … 1 to 4pm [Saturday & Sunday]

All welcome/encouraged to help remove Ivy from Uplands Park. Saturday & Sunday, October 13 & 14th, 2018. from 1-4pm. Meet at the Beach Drive Entrance to Cattle Point. [The annual FOUP Broom Bash is now re-invented as the annual Great Rip Off with the focus on IVY. ]

NO IVY LEAGUE – Weekly English Ivy Removal in Uplands Park – Volunteers Needed. Sundays 1pm-3pm. Sept 9 – Nov 25, 2018

NO IVY LEAGUE

Weekly English ivy removal
Sundays 1 to 3pm

Sept 9:  Meet at Beach Drive entrance
Sept 16 – November 25: Meet at Cattle Point by the second boat ramp. 

Tools, gloves and Best Practices instruction provided.

Contact: Margaret Lidkea, Chair of FOUP
Partners with Oak Bay Parks

Willows School students, Henry and George Mepham, remove more than 10 kg of dog poop from Uplands Park [Story in Oak Bay News, Aug 22-2018]

A huge thank you to 2 Willows School students, Henry and George Mepham, for removing more than 10 kg of dog poop from Uplands Park. The article is in the Wednesday, August 22, 2018 issue of the Oak Bay News. In the print edition, see the front page and page A4. The online version, with more photos, and a short video, can be read at https://www.oakbaynews.com/…/oak-bay-brothhttps://www.oakbaynews.com/community/oak-bay-brothers-scoop-10-kg-of-poop-from-park-paths-in-30-mins/ers-scoop-10-kg-…/.Henry and George have also helped remove invasive plants in Uplands and have planted native species with their class.

Photo by Christine van Reeuwyk/Oak Bay News. Published in the Wednesday, August 22, 2018 issue of the Oak Bay News. From page photo.

Celebrate Parks Day in Uplands Park – Saturday July 21-2018 – Join FOUP at 10:00AM for a Ramble

Healthy by Nature
CELEBRATE Parks Day
Saturday July 21
10 am
Meet at the Beach Drive entrance to Uplands Park

Join Friends of Uplands Parkfor a gentle ramble through the endangered Garry Oak Ecosystem. Although many plants are now sleeping, the golden grass, camas seed pods and orchids are a wonderful place to find grasshoppers and other insects. Find out how Oak Bay Parks and the Friends are restoring the park to a healthier natural area, better for the native plants, animals and our community. Support the NATUREHOOD!

Tide Pool School on Sunday August 12, 2018 10:00 am to 11:30 am Kitty Islet, Oak Bay

A low tide of 0.3m presents an amazing view of the diversity of low intertidal marine life. Biologists of Friends of Uplands Park and the Georgia Strait Alliance will present the challenges for life here, the tides and zonation in this rocky ecosystem.  Respect for and preservation of the Kitty Islets marine life will be a focus. Specimens will be discussed. 

For part of the program, you will be able to use a small net and container to catch creatures, watch and ID them and then return them to the same place.

Using a smart phone, you can take photos and put them online at iNaturalist.ca.

Sign in at the Welcome Table.  DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

July 14-2018 Tide Pool School at Cattle Point a wonderful success. Photos attached.

Margaret Lidkea, FOUP Chair, is pleased to report on the wonderful turnout for the July 14, 2018 Tide Pool School at Cattle Point.

“Tide Pool School July 14 was a great event thanks to all the volunteers of the Georgia Strait Alliance and FOUP. 93 participants signed up, were instructed by volunteers about the challenges of rocky intertidal life, the zonations and the adaptations of living things. The need to take care of the fragile urban foreshore was emphasized and we know that participants will pass on this knowledge…respect, care and returning of all living and non-living things to the exact place where they were found. Highlights included an enormous gumboot chiton, large active red rock crabs, black pricklebacks, some 6 armed sea stars and a blood star. People were surprised to find differently coloured sponges and even the very small red sea slug that camouflages on the red velvet sponge. Donations of $160 were gratefully appreciated to purchase restoration tools, plants and pay for events.”

Photos by Rick Marshall.