Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Sunday, March 20, 2005
Charles Thirkill
Wildflowers and Wildlife

Charles Thirkill of Nanaimo will give a slide show and talk on the wildflowers and wildlife of eastern Vancouver Island. The areas covered include the Comox Valley, Nanoose Hill, the Cameron River valley and some of the wild flower walking trails within the City of Nanaimo. Mr. Thirkill, who is an excellent photographer, will be showing some stunning digital photos of wild flowers and wildlife from these areas on a large-format monitor.

This will not be strictly a botanical talk, but will include some of the folklore and historical uses of our native plants. Some of these connections go as far a field as ancient China, Korea, Greece, northern Europe and, of course, the indigenous people of North America. It will connect two of the first biologists, Carolus Linnaeus, the Father of Taxonomy, and his friend, Peter Artedi, who is sometimes called the Father of Ichthyology. Also connected are such unlikely characters as Brad Pitt, the Amerindian Shaman and the I Ching master.

Charles Thirkill originally trained as an analytical chemist and is a graduate of the Malaspina University-College Fisheries and Aquaculture Program. He has worked on streams on Vancouver Island and in the Skeena River watershed. As a self-trained botanist and nature photographer he developed an interest in the wild flowers of Vancouver Island about seven years ago. His first book, “Nanaimo-City of Living Streams” was published in 2002 and summarizes the fish-bearing streams in his home town. In 2003, his second book “The Nature of Nanaimo” was published which includes colour photos of 150 species of wild flowers as well as some local wildlife.

Meetings of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society are held in the Rotary Hall of the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay on the third Sunday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m. The business part of the meeting is held first followed by the guest speaker. The public, including children, are welcome to attend and new memberships are encouraged. A suggested donation from non-members is $2.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.