Bird Identification Certificate Program (Online)

The Vancouver Avian Research Centre (VARC) and the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) present this five-session Bird Identification Certificate Program online for the second consecutive year.

In this course, you will go in-depth into Bird ID, learning essential foundations such as bird features, behaviours, topography, moulting, and field marks. The instructors’ team from VARC will introduce bird songs and the categories of vocalization and bird habitats. You will graduate from this program with a list of equipment, resources, and actions you can take to protect and identify our beloved feathered friends and bring your birding skills to the next level.

Naturalist's Journal: Botanical Drawing (Online)

Improve your drawing skills for journaling, teaching, or pure enjoyment. Observational drawing is about accurately representing what you see directly from nature in pencil on paper. In the process, identify plants by recording their character and shape, spaces between forms, contour edges, and illustrate the scale of plants. Learn how to capture the illusion of depth by making a series of drawings that look at plants from different perspectives. Katharine will teach you how to record nature through illustration.

Online education techniques include presentations, live front view, and overhead demonstrations.

Chigiri-e Paper Art: Flowers (In Person)

Chigiri-e is a Japanese art form using pieces of hand-dyed washi paper to create beautiful and detailed images. The result resembles a watercolour painting with a delicate texture. In this hands-on, creative art workshop, you will practice handcrafting skills, learn step-by-step Chigiri-e paper techniques and create two art pieces. Supplies included.

Instructor Leanne Lai is an artist and pianist from Taiwan with a passion for using handmade paper to make beautiful things.

Intro to Bird Watching (In Person)

Long-time VanDusen birding guide Jeremy Gordon is back on-site with this seasonal favourite! During this introduction, he will discuss the best birding resources such as binoculars and field guides, share tips on identifying birds, and highlight hot birding spots in Vancouver. Following a one-hour classroom presentation, Jeremy will take you for a walk to look for some of the 103 species of birds in the Garden.

The class is designed for aspiring and beginner bird watchers to help build a foundation of knowledge and gain confidence to get out and go birding this spring.

Spring Inspiration: Watercolour Meetups! (In Person)

Everyone is welcome to this 6-week program! All levels of painting abilities. Artist and illustrator Susan will bring you to the Garden to create watercolour sketches, and in the classroom, you can complete a finished painting.

What you find in the Garden, new spring buds, flowering bulb plants, blossoming trees and foliage, will help inspire you to create patterns, textures and details on your watercolour paper. From a fine pencil line sketch of your composition, you will add layers of colour washes, wet into wet, wet on dry and bring colours to clear.

Susan’s group and individual instructions ensure that each participant can progress at their own pace while she shares her skills, a few new techniques, and a close-up of images and landscapes.

Birdwatching Hotspots Guided Walk (4pm-5pm) AND Hummingbird & Songbird Banding Session (5pm - 7pm) (In Person)

Register for this option to attend both the Birdwatching Basics Guided Walk AND the VARC Hummingbird & Songbird Banding session.

You will start on a family-friendly 1 hour guided walk to some of our favorite birdwatching hotspots in VanDusen Botanical Garden!  Your small group walk will be guided by avid birder and long-time Bird Walk instructor, Jeremy Gordon, who will share tips and tricks for spotting birds on your Garden visits. Knowing where you’re most likely to spot some of our resident bird species is a surefire way to up your birdwatching game!

After the guided walk, we will go to the Bird Garden for an informative and fascinating evening observing conservation research in action in support of wild birds in and around our city.

Hummingbird & Songbird Banding Session ONLY (In Person)

Join us in VanDusen’s Bird Garden for an informative and fascinating evening observing conservation research in action in support of wild birds in and around our city.

Vancouver Avian Research Centre (VARC) team members will be conducting hummingbird & songbird banding in the Bird Garden with the goal of learning more about the bird species using the urban oasis of the Garden as habitat, contributing to research monitoring their population levels and health. This is a great way to learn about conservation science field work, the many issues facing our wild bird populations, and ways you can get involved and take action to support local birds in your own backyard.

Invasive Plants: How to Spot Alien Invaders (Online)

Ever wondered what plants live in your neighbourhood and local parks? How do you know which ones are invasive? After learning some basic plant identification skills, discover some of the priority invasive species in the region. Access resources and learn what can be done about even the most harmful alien invaders.

Instructor Tasha Murray is the Executive Director of the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver.

Bird Feathers and Nests at Bloedel Conservatory

Meet VBGA Education Staff out front of Bloedel Conservatory at 10.00am on May 21st, to learn about tropical feathers up close and take a look at some local bird species’ nests. Then head inside to see the Conservatory’s exotic birds up close. The discovery table is free to visit, admission (or VBGA Membership) is required to enter Bloedel Conservatory.

Registration not required! For more information contact learn@vandusen.org.

2022 Speaker Series: The 2021 Flood Disaster in Southern BC

This presentation is a retrospective of the November 2021 flooding in southern BC – Canada’s most costly natural disaster.

Professor John Clague will discuss the event in the context of historic flooding and changing land use in BC. ‘Atmospheric rivers’, which were responsible for this disaster, are likely to become more frequent, larger, and perhaps longer in duration in the future, as the atmosphere warms. It is therefore important to reassess critical infrastructure to ensure that it is safer from extreme weather events.

Design Your Indoor Micro-Farm (In Person)

Transform your home or small garden into an urban micro-farm in this in-person workshop presented by Sustainable Design Professional Dr. Yael Stav. In this holistic class, explore living walls, vermicomposting, window farms, and other indoor planting systems to add edible greenery to your home without taking up much space.

Learn principles of planning your garden, managing water and light requirements, and which plants are most suitable.