My Canadian Adventure - Days 1 - Vancouver

Henry Day

Jul 20, 20242 min read

The flight to Canada was long... over nine and a half hours... and when we landed we need to go and do something to stay awake to adjust to the time zones.

We decided to visit Iona Beach Regional Reserve, which is close to the airport, and go for a long walk to keep us going.

Iona Beach Regional Reserve is managed by Metro Vancouver, and they describe it as...

Iona Beach is home to habitat that is rare in the province [British Columbia] and even rarer on the South Coast. Plants such as beach pea, large-headed sedge and dune grass - that are adapted to the harsh conditions of life in the sand - flourish at Iona Beach. They, in turn, support a community of sand dune creatures such as shorebirds, butterflies and garter snakes.

During spring and fall migration, more than 300 species of birds stop at Iona Beach to rest and feed. Some birds have flown thousands of kilometres in their journey, so eating and regaining energy here is critical.

We're so glad we visited as the wildlife was awesome!

We visited the beach and the lagoons, before walking along the 4km Jetty, part of the water treatment works that sticks out in the Salish Sea.

Map - Copyright MetroVancouver (https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/Documents/iona-beach-regional-park-trail-brochure-version-4-2022-12.pdf)

My nature highlights from my visit were;

Bald Eagle - It was amazing to spot a pair of the huge birds, who flew from the mainland forest to fish and land on one of the wooden strucures, only about 40m from where we were.

Osprey - Another pair of birds of prey spotted was the Osprey. It was incredible to watch one of them spiral up high ino the sky, calling constantly.

Western Sandpiper - We first spotted them mumurating over the sea, and then when we saw them land we could identify them. Up close you realised what beautiful birds they are.

Carolina Grasshopper - The sheer abundence of the insects made for an incredible sight ewhen they unfurled their butterfly-like wings to get off the path to the nearby rocks.

Harbour Seals - We suddenly spotted the head of a Harbour Seal bobbing up and down in the water watching us. We also saw a young seal on the rocks, and floating on the water near the Jetty.