Tag Archives: FOCI Event

Animals

Provincial Biologist visits Cortes Island; Second Western Screech Owl discovered

A provincial biologist visited Cortes Island over the weekend. Emily Upham-Mills is an ecosystems biologist with the Ministry of Water, Lands and Natural Resource Stewardship and an important member of the team working with the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) on the Western Screech Owl Project. 

Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI, explained, “Emily very kindly came up on the weekend to talk to the community. This project is really important for FOCI. We’re doing really interesting scientific work and that data is going back both provincially and federally. It puts us in the spotlight with this particular species. It’s a project that’s running for three years. We’re in the second year of trying to discover whether there are Western Screech Owls on Cortes Island.” 

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Environment

2023 Broom Bash at Mansons Spit

Close to a dozen volunteers and two Park Rangers participated in the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) annual Broom Bash on Saturday, March 18.

They swept the spit at Mansons Lagoon in about 3 hours. 

“We really appreciate all of the help from the volunteers here on Cortes. It’s really amazing that the local community comes out and takes ownership of this place. We couldn’t do it without the volunteers,” said Eli Simcoe Metcalfe, of BC Parks.

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Rivers & Oceans

Perceived Biodiversity loss in Mansons Lagoon

Around 30 people trekked around the Spit into Mansons Lagoon, during the July 12 ‘Gumbooting the Lagoon.’ While Jane Newman, from the Cortes Island Museum, explained the site’s human history, marine biologist Deb Cowper and FOCI’s Autumn Barrett-Morgan introduced everyone to intertidal life forms. One of the many topics that arose was the loss of marine life.  

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Environment

Monitoring fish and insects in the Dillon Creek Wetlands

Seven adults and two children came to monitor wildlife in the Dillon Creek Wetlands, on April 1st. 

Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) streamkeepers Cec and Christine Robinson and FOCI’s Autumn Barrett-Morgan led the educational event. They began by listening to the birds, whose calls came from every side, and the gurgling flow of Dillon Creek. The aroma of damp earth rose to everyone’s nostrils. 

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Environment

Cortes Island environmental non-profit hosts annual general meeting

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

The charitable environmental protection organization Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) held their annual general meeting (AGM) on Jan. 20, which included presentations of project progress in 2021 and a significant change to the board of directors.

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