Discovering the Sanctuary

with iNaturalist

 

Written and narrated by Marvin Eng; retired Professional Biologist and current iNaturalist enthusiast.

 

I spent my career as a professional biologist, mostly sitting in a government office, in front of a computer; making maps, doing arithmetic, reading other peoples reports and writing my own reports. I rarely went outside for work. When I retired in March 2020 I started spending a lot more time outside; observing and enjoying the natural world. However, I did not leave the computer behind. I have become an avid user of iNaturalist, a website and app that lets you record the plants and animals you see and helps you identify the ones you don’t know. 

 

Because I use iNaturalist I can tell you that, between March 2020 and the time of this recording, I had been to the Sanctuary 51 times. I post every time I go and I can get the information easily because it automatically gets added to an iNaturalist project about the Sanctuary. It's like having a nature diary that others can see and enjoy with me. I have posted 330 observations at the Sanctuary; but 430 other people have posted nearly 7000 observations of over 850 species.

 

I love using iNaturalist. Because of it I am always learning things about the world around me:

 

• At Christmas Hill, I had no idea the butterfly I had taken a picture of was a Propertius Duskywing until iNaturalist identified it for me. This species is fairly common in Garry Oak ecosystems, like those on Christmas Hill, but it is imperilled in British Columbia because only 5% of the Garry Oak ecosystems in BC remain intact. Most of the rest has fallen victim to housing development.  

 

• I have 3 slug observations on the trail around Swan Lake. The iNaturalist computer vision model led me to believe that one was a Black Slug and the other 2 were Chocolate Arions. Later on, a ‘slug expert’ commented on one observation, telling me that you can’t tell the ‘Arion Ater group’ slugs apart without dissecting their genitals. The colour of Arion slugs varies a lot depending on what they eat, from bright orange to jet black with lots of brown colours in between. There are even white ones. The Arion slugs are introduced in North America from Europe, mostly as stowaways in horticultural products. They are an invasive species that alter ecosystems through seed predation and outcompeting native slugs.

iNaturalist - if you don’t know it, Google it; if you do know it, join the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary project with me.