Originally published on April 27, 2017
Michael Manson’s grandfather came from the Shetland Islands and founded Sunny Brae Farm in the late 1880s. Mike told me the Cortes Island Story, as experienced by one of the first settler families.
Continue reading The Manson Family: One of Cortes Island’s First Settler Families
It was Earth Day at Wild Cortes, Cortes Island’s centre for natural history, community science and collaborative conservation.
“It is a very exciting place to be, with new displays coming in every year, always on Earth Day. That’s probably the most important thing to say. It’s Earth Day, so let’s celebrate,” explained Sabina leader Mense, a professional advisor to Wild Cortes.
The centrepiece of this year’s displays is the ‘Humpback Comeback’ section highlighting the stunning recovery of Humpback Whales in our local waters.
Continue reading Earthday & the New Exhibits at Wild Cortes
The Cortes Island Museum had their AGM on March 30th.
“We had 52 people come out despite a really nice gardening day. You could see people having conversations and lots of hugs. Nice to see everybody out after the winter. Coffee and treats were available, a nice wide selection of home baked goods. So it’s like the social atmosphere was really positive,” explained Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum.
“The museum AGM business meeting takes maybe half an hour and then Iris Steigemann gave a really wonderful visual presentation of her travels in Greenland. Donations are up and membership is up, so we’re very pleased about those facts.”
Continue reading Cortes Island Museum 2025 AGM
The Audobin Society has been holding Christmas Bird Counts across North America for the past 125 years.
On Cortes Island it is co-sponsored by the Cortes Island Museum and Birds Canada. Thirty-nine walkers, cyclists, boaters, and people in cars participated in the Cortes Island 2024 Christmas Bird Count. This was the third time that more than 4,000 birds have been counted since the islands first Christmas Bird Count in 2001. A new record was set: 4,545 Birds were listed.
Donna Collins explained, “We had more birders out, more areas covered and lots of birds counted.”
Continue reading Cortes Island’s Biggest Christmas Bird Count Ever
A special Taxidermy Showcase is coming to Wild Cortes on Saturday, September 14.
Cortes Currents interviewed Laurel Bohart and Donna Collins, the co-curators of Wild Cortes, in the exhibition area. The bird songs in the audio of this story are from a recording of local birds, which provides atmosphere for the displays but is unrelated to this story. Collins gave an overview of the plan for the evening, starting from the opening at 6 PM.
“Laurel is going to have a brief talk, and then we’ll have lots of time to wander through all of the bird displays and see what’s there. We’re going to showcase Laurel’s taxidermy from Africa and also some local animals not necessarily from Cortes Island that maybe nobody has ever seen before. There’s also going to be some Nigerian artwork and interesting things like a Bird of Paradise under glass.”
Continue reading Taxidermy Showcase at Wild Cortes
