The Stanehill Park is located at the intersection of Greenhill Road and Stanehill Place. The half acre park is owned by the Comox Valley Regional District. It was created in 2012 by volunteers and is primarily maintained by neighbours and the Denman Island Parks Committee of DIRA. The forest has a BC Coastal Douglass-fir habitat. The small size plot lends itself to “interactive” educational walks. To that end a free guide “The Stanehill Park Plant and Bird Guide” is offered to visitors at the North Entry to help you identify typical forest plants and birds in the forest. It shows 78 plant -, 40 bird- and a few mammal drawings. You are welcome to keep it to explore other natural areas on Denman Island. Kids might like to colour the B&W drawings and study our biodiversity at the same time. Why is it called interactive? It has hand-carved, painted birds, mammals and other nature objects dispersed throughout the park for you to find. A nature quiz in a way. The map on the back of the guide marks the location of nature objects with a small “x”, but it does not give away what it is to look for. A winning score means you have found: 1 Barred owl, 1 Anna’s Hummingbird, 1 Red Breasted Sapsucker, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 pileated Woodpecker, 1 Pacific Slope Flycatcher, 2 violet green swallows, 1 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 wrens, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2 Purple Finches, 1 American Goldfinch and 1 Racoon, 1 Mink, a cast-off deer antler which has been gnawed on by rodents to seek calcium and a deer foot print next to it, a squirrel midden, a big stump with springboard notches and an erratic. You have to look closely for the squirrel midden with the descaled fir cones on a slog. You will see three types of nest boxes for birds. Nestboxes for cavity nesters: Chickadee, Nuthatch, Woodpeckers, violet-green swallows and wrens etc., a half-open box for flycatchers and a shelf nest for American robins. Robin have learned to build their nest “under cover” to prevent crows and ravens see by them flying over and to rob their bright turquoise eggs. Many nests are made in half-open building or wood sheds. By putting up a shelf support helps them greatly. We have one example in the Park. While the Nature Guides are OK to take with you when you leave the carved critters and other nature object are to remain for enjoyment of visitors who come after you. Though, it must be gratefully emphasized that nobody has ever taken any objects or damaged them. It can’t be said for the winter storm which toppled some trees; one of them smashed the Nature Guide box which us now repaired. If you see something that needs attention, please contact the Parks Committee or e-mail pkarsten@telus.net. It has been said there are no scheduled events in nature but Stainhill Park guarantees you “wildlife encounters”! Enjoy your visit and the quiz!
