Metchosin Biodiversity

Welcome to the web site of the Metchosin BioBlitz and MycoBlitz. The team at the Metchosin Biodiversity Project sponsors the blitzes and publishes the results on these pages in order to:

  • Increase our understanding of Metchosin’s species and ecosystems.
  • Share natural history information with interested people in Metchosin and adjacent jurisdictions.
  • Use this information and awareness to protect and restore Metchosin’s species and ecosystems.

We started our work in 2011 with BioBlitzes and (a bit later) MycoBlitzes. Our most up-to-date inventories of Metchosin species are available in the Metchosin Biodiversity project of iNaturalist. By the end of 2022 we had catalogued over 3412 species, from almost 20,000 observations made 480 people. See the posts below for the latest totals. We encourage everyone interested in helping us to log their photographed Metchosin observations in iNaturalist. All of these observations will be automatically logged by our 2023 collection project. Curators will review these and move most of them into our iNaturalist database (Metchosin Biodiversity Project). (The Metchosin bioblitz data includes some offshore waters and islands and the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.)

The Metchosin Talk and Walk series has started up again, post-COVID. You can read about our previous events on the Talk and Walk pages.

The Metchosin Biodiversity Project acknowledges the regular support of the Metchosin Foundation.

Contorted-pod Evening Primrose survey, Witty’s Beach, 2020

From l. to r., Kem luther, James and Kristen Miskelly, UVic student Maria Varem, Andy MacKinnon, and Jacqueline Claire and Mike Fischer..

On May 7, 2020, a small group of naturalists gathered at Witty’s Beach to do the second count of Contorted-pod Evening Primrose (Camissonia contorta), a rare and small plant that inhabits coastal sand dunes. The counts have been preparation for some restrictive fencing that will protect the dune area from human encroachment. 

The group, maintaining physical distancing, stalked, staked, and counted exactly 70 plants. After the count the group adjourned to the front yard of  Andy’s house on the bluff over Witty’s Beach. There, joined by Mairi MacKinnon, they celebrated the annual return of the plant with a bottle of Andy’s plum wine.