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Blog Post 1: Observations
Michelle Harrison
22-09-2017
The area that I have selected to observe is Macaulay Park. This is a treasured place, & one I visit on a daily basis. Macaulay Park is a 7.6 hectare (18.78 acre) municipal park located in Esquimalt, BC (Coordinates- Latitude: 48.418815 Longitude: -123.410113).
The park began as a part of the Hudson Bay Farm & then became a part of Fort Macaulay in 1878. The old military site still remains, & the land is dotted with old concrete war barracks & ammunition buildings, under/above ground concrete tunnels & lookout points to take in the beautiful ocean front vista. The topography is made up of rolling hills, rocky waterfront outcrops, glacial till & the vegetation that surrounds it is made up of native& non-native plants, a forested area, a wetland / marsh with long grasses. Macaulay has been a municipal park since 1985 & is owned by the DND (Department of National Defense) & maintained by the Municipality of Esquimalt.
It is a popular place for dog walkers, bird watchers & families. It is a common occurrence to see life here in many forms, including deer, otters, seals, sea birds, eagles, plus a variety of insects & pollinators. This park contains some rare & endangered species which are protected federally under SARA-Canada’s Species at Risk Act. Due to this, park visitors & their pets are required to stay out of designated risk areas, in order to protect the remaining species at risk.
The park contains many beautiful native, non-native & invasive plants including Wild rose (Rosa acicularis), Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), Dense Flowered Lupins (Lupinus densiflorus), Gumweed (Grindelia), Wild onions (Allium), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Biscuit roots (Lomatium) & Himalayan Blackberries (Rubus armeniacus), & a lovely cluster of trembling Aspen trees (Populus tremuloides). When I visited the park today at 0800am, the weather was cloudy with light wind, 11 degrees, and it is the first day of fall.
Based on my daily observations & time spent at Macaulay Park, I have come up with three questions that will form the subject of my research project:
- The land at Macaulay Park contains species at risk. I witness on a daily basis, people walking their dogs in areas that are labeled as conservation / no entry zones. We do not seem to have any type of monitoring / park services to control humans & their pets. What affect does this have on the conservation areas & species at risk? Is this space being monitored & are the observations of the impact being reported to a higher authority on a regular basis?
- McLaughlin point (which is connected to the tail end of Macaulay Point) will soon be the home of the new sewage tertiary treatment plant for all of the waste from the core of Victoria. An incredible amount of waste will be shipped to this site & filtered, before being pumped to a local landfill for disposal, all via pumps & pipes which will be installed in land & ocean to travel the waste great distances. How will the construction of this waterfront treatment plant affect the very active local wildlife & ecosystems on the land, in the air, & in the ocean, for years to come?
- Macaulay point is home to a few invasive non-native species (such as Scotch broom & Himalayan blackberry). How does this affect the native plants & more specifically, the species at risk, such as Dense Flowered Lupin and the Purple Sanicle?
