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Visit Us
VARC stations
operate with a wide open door policy regarding public visitation but
all public visits must be scheduled in advance. This is to address
potential liability issues in the areas in which we are banding.
When visiting the
stations visitors are not permitted to walk the net lanes,
unless invited and attended by the station Bander-in-charge.
Visitors often are invited to walk the net lanes during net checks,
but only on a case by case basis, depending on the volume of birds,
people, and weather conditions. At the banding table, all visitors
are invited to observe the banding procedures, view the birds close
at hand, take photographs, and ask questions. Large group visits are
typically scheduled well in advance.
Please keep in mind
that the stations are only operational at weekends but banding is
conducted year round - from mid-April to early-June during spring
migration, and from late-August to mid-October during fall migration
– from June to August for breeding bird banding and during the
winter months when a feeder is operated adjacent to the rowing
pavilion car park at our Burnaby Lake station.
For more
information or to schedule a visit, please call Derek Matthews –
Master Bander at: (604) 218-1191.
Burnaby Lake
Burnaby Lake
is situated in Burnaby, British Columbia, which lies in the
Coastal Douglas Fir (CDF) Biogeoclimatic Zone of British
Columbia.
It is a 750 acre wildlife conservation area owned by the
Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and is managed by
the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) in
cooperation with the City of Burnaby.
Colony Farm
Colony Farm
Regional Park was established in 1996 following the Land Use
Plan which identifies areas to be set aside for agriculture,
wildlife and recreation. Greater Vancouver Regional District
Parks (GVRD) is committed to implementing the plan and has
initiated many projects that support it including extensive
wildlife habitat enhancement projects including tree and
hedgerow planting and wetland creation.
A field management program is also underway that includes
mowing, ditch cleaning and controlling of invasive species
such as blackberry and thistle promoting the diversity of
grasses and the health of small mammal population and
providing habitat for a wide diversity of breeding and
migratory birds.
North Shore
Vancouver’s
North Shore Mountains are a small subrange of the Pacific
Ranges, the southernmost grouping of the Coast Mountains.
They are bounded on the south by the Burrard Inlet, on the
west and north-west by Howe Sound, and on the north and
north-east by the Garibaldi Ranges.
Banding is conducted on the slopes of Mount Fromme (1185m)
at 300m elevation where the residential neighbourhood of the
Braemar subdivision ends and the rugged forested slopes
begin with a view to determining the extent to how future
development may impact the habitat of breeding and migratory
birds in the area.
Grouse Mountain
Grouse
Mountain is one of Vancouver's north shore mountains and
best known as a year-round mountaintop playground. It is
also home to The Refuge for Endangered Wildlife, a research,
education, and conservation centre dedicated to becoming a
world leader in preserving both flora and fauna at risk.
Hummingbird banding has been conducted on Grouse Mountain
for the last 3 years as part of the Hummingbird Monitoring
Network
www.hummonnet.org
a science-based, project-driven, nonprofit organization
dedicated to the conservation of hummingbird diversity and
abundance throughout the Americas.
Passerine banding commenced in the fall of 2008 to test the
viability of establishing a permanent field station and bird
observatory on the mountain.
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