Burnaby Lake Regional Park

Burnaby Lake is home to a numerous varieties of plants, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Great blue heron, bald eagles and osprey frequent the lake.
Cattails, bladderworts, cattails, bulrushes and sedge are common around the marshes.

Birdwatching and hiking are popular activities in the park. There are 19 kms of walking and hiking trails that circle the entire lake. The Burnaby Equestrian Centre has 6 kms of horseback riding trails along the southern and eastern sides of the lake. Canoeing, rowing and kayaking are popular water activities.

Other attractions in the park are the Nature House, a butterfly garden, the Piper Spit pier and the Wildlife Rescue Association.

The park is open from 8:00 a.m.to 9:00 p.m. from the start of Daylight Saving to Labour Day. And 8:00 a.m. to dusk the rest of the year.

an update: my kitchen window corn is sprouting!

Sapperton Landing

Literally just down the hill from us is Sapperton Landing that runs along a section of the Fraser River. There are plans to have that strip eventually meet up with the front street stretch of the waterfront walkway. They're sprucing up the neighbourhood one section at a time and it ain't too shabby!

corn in my kitchen window

New West's Rose Garden and Petting Zoo

Every summer, from May to September the city of New Westminster trucks in an assortment of cute, little baby farm critters for the cute, little baby humans to meet. Baby humans who get really excited and vocal about the whole thing. Their squeals of delight can drown out the resident peacock and hen.
The variety seems a little thin this year but the teetering toddlers and their hovering parents didn't seem to mind or even notice.

Across a heaving and cracked parking lot, just around the corner from the Petting Farm/Zoo is the city's Rose Garden. Beautifully maintained and popular with the wedding crowd as a beautiful backdrop for their special day.

The morning I decided to pop in after work was just after a massive downpour the night before. I didn't know if any of the plants had survived. Most of the blooms did and beautifully. Standing proudly over blankets of dropped petals under every bush.