Nature Field Trips

The Nature Field Trips are returning in Summer 2022. These field trips are great fun for the whole family and an excellent opportunity to discover shoreline and forest ecosystems as well as Hornby’s unique geology.

Pre-registration is essential as space is limited. Admission is $10.00 per person. Youth 18 and under attend for free. For inquiries or to register, email hornby.naturalhistory@gmail.com

Walks 

Hear, See, and Enjoy our Local Birds
July 5 and 12 from 8 – 9:30am
Site will follow via email with your registration confirmation.
Children 8 years and older are welcome with and adult.

Art will lead a slow walk through the forest where participants can find birds, identify them by sight and song, and learn about their habits.

Please note the walk may be cancelled, or rescheduled, if the weather is too poor for birding (e.g., rain, high winds).

Dr. Art Martell is retired in the Comox Valley and is the Volunteer Caretaker for the K’omoks Important Bird Area. Before retirement, Art worked as a wildlife research scientist and manager with Canadian Wildlife Service and Environment Canada.  He has had a cabin on Hornby for over 30 years.

Cost: Sliding scale $5 – $10 for adults. Children free.
Maximum: 10 people per walk

Plants in the Forest
July 19 from 11am – 12:30pm or 1:30 – 3pm.
Children 7 and older are welcome with an adult.
Site will follow via email with your registration confirmation.

During this forest walk participants will learn about plant families through pattern recognition. Jenna will also introduce a variety of edible and medicinal plants. Time together will be a mix of walking, talking and nature games for all ages.

Jenna Rudolph is the founder of Soaring Eagle Nature School. She is a certified wildlife tracker, an herbalist, botanist, birder and maker of hand-crafted tools and fibre.

Location will come with your registration confirmation.
Cost: $10 for adults. Children free.
Maximum participants: 12 adults and children.  

Sandpiper Geology Walk and Scavenger Hunt
Aug. 9 at Sandpiper Beach from 10 – 11:30am
Children over 10 years are welcome with an adult.

Join John for a fun and informative walk across the Sandpiper rocks ending with a geology scavenger hunt designed for all ages.

If the day is hot and sunny, please consider bringing a sunhat and drinking water and also a pen or pencil for the scavenger hunt.

Dr. John Cox is an ‘almost retired’ geology professor from Mount Royal University in Calgary. He has spent as much time as possible on Hornby over the last ten years and loves wandering over the different rocks found at Sandpiper Beach, most of which formed around 70 million years ago!

Cost: Sliding scale $5- $10 for adults. Children are free.
Maximum: 25

Below are some images from past field trips.