Events
Upcoming Events
January 2025
Forage fish survey – lab processing
Join us in the lab to process forage fish samples! Forage fish are small, silvery fish that swim in schools. The 3 most common species we see in the Puget Sound are Sand lance, surf smelt and pacific herring. These small but mighty fish play a crucial role in the marine food web, serving as […]
Salmon Habitat Restoration Talk with Alicia Olivas
Join us for a talk about salmon habitat restoration efforts in Hood Canal presented by Alicia Olivias! She will discuss the complexity of salmon recovery and the importance of habitat restoration, especially the freshwater habitat that buffers the effects that we can’t control. Free and open to the public! When: Thursday, Jan 23, 2025 from […]
Lichen Walk with Hannah Morosoff
** THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL ** This family-friendly walk for those of all abilities will be about two hours and meander through forest trails, where you will be learn about lichen present that day. Please dress for the weather and bring a backpack with snacks and water and whatever supplies you may need to […]
Birds in The Gallery Art Talk with Adria Magrath
As part of our Heron Meadow partnership with Vashon Center of the Arts, we are excited to share an engaging gallery talk with Adria Magrath, Vashon Bird Alliance board member and Vashon Nature Center steward of the Heron Meadow. Adria brings her extensive knowledge of avian life to Birds Take Flight, an exhibition featuring a stunning array […]
Fin to Feather: Naturalist Training Course
A Naturalist Series exploring Vashon Island from subtidal to treetop canopy. Teachers, Islanders, and Off-Islanders welcome! Explore Vashon Island from the surrounding underwater kelp forests and nearshore ecosystems to the forest canopies, and strengthen your connection to the natural history of central Puget Sound. Throughout this seven month course, you will learn about geology, weather […]
Fin to Feather: Naturalist Training Session 1 – Intertidal Biodiversity
Sign up for our newest naturalist course, Fin to Feather, and discover Vashon Island’s diverse habitats from subtidal zones to the treetop canopy! Each session will focus on a unique ecosystem and highlight our role as responsible stewards of the natural world. The course combines in-person experiential field trips with independent readings and activities. It […]
February 2025
Winter Bird and Mammal Survey
Help us contribute data to a long term Puget Sound wide monitoring effort the Puget Sound Seabird Survey while also collecting crucial baseline data on Fern Cove wintering seabirds and marine mammals. Surveys last 30 minutes and happen on the first Saturday of every month from October-April. Learn more about the Puget Sound Seabird Survey […]
Mushroom Talk with Danny Miller
What are the biggest surprises that recent studies in DNA have shown us about the (until now) secret history of mushrooms on the planet? Danny first got interested in Mushrooms in 2007 after seeing strange colorful creatures in the forest all the time while hiking and skiing off trail, and finally decided he had to […]
Forage fish survey – sample collection
Join us on the beach to collect forage fish samples! Forage fish are small, silvery fish that swim in schools. The 3 most common species we see in the Puget Sound are Sand lance, surf smelt and pacific herring. These small but mighty fish play a crucial role in the marine food web, serving as […]
Forage fish survey – lab processing
Join us in the lab to process forage fish samples! Forage fish are small, silvery fish that swim in schools. The 3 most common species we see in the Puget Sound are Sand lance, surf smelt and pacific herring. These small but mighty fish play a crucial role in the marine food web, serving as […]
Fin to Feather: Naturalist Training Session 2 – Salish Sea Geology
Sign up for our newest naturalist course, Fin to Feather, and discover Vashon Island’s diverse habitats from subtidal zones to the treetop canopy! Each session will focus on a unique ecosystem and highlight our role as responsible stewards of the natural world. The course combines in-person experiential field trips with independent readings and activities. It […]
Fin to Feather: Naturalist Training Session 3 – Healthy Shorelines & Forage Fish
Sign up for our newest naturalist course, Fin to Feather, and discover Vashon Island’s diverse habitats from subtidal zones to the treetop canopy! Each session will focus on a unique ecosystem and highlight our role as responsible stewards of the natural world. The course combines in-person experiential field trips with independent readings and activities. It […]
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Previous Events
January 2025
Forage fish survey – sample collection
Join us on the beach to collect forage fish samples! Forage fish are small, silvery fish that swim in schools. The 3 most common species we see in the Puget Sound are Sand lance, surf smelt and pacific herring. These small but mighty fish play a crucial role in the marine food web, serving as […]
Winter Bird and Mammal Survey
Help us contribute data to a long term Puget Sound wide monitoring effort the Puget Sound Seabird Survey while also collecting crucial baseline data on Fern Cove wintering seabirds and marine mammals. Surveys last 30 minutes and happen on the first Saturday of every month from October-April. Learn more about the Puget Sound Seabird Survey […]
November 2024
Salmon Poetry Night
Attend an evening of poetry from the anthology I Sing the Salmon Home and hear from salmon advocates about how to get involved in efforts to protect these cherished and imperiled species. The event will be held at the Land Trust Building (10014 SW Bank Rd, Vashon) on November 14th from 7-9 PM. Hosted by […]
Mushroom Walk with Hannah Morosoff
Join naturalist Hannah Morosoff for an enchanting exploration of the fungi of Frog Holler Forest on November 10th, 2024 at 11 am. This family-friendly walk will be about two hours and meander through the forest trails, where you will be learn about fungi present that day. Please dress for the weather and bring a backpack […]
Day of the Dead: Heron Meadow Work Party
Join us in a fall planting work party at Heron Meadow! What: The Heron Meadow is a two-acre wetland forming part of the eastern headwaters of Judd Creek, Vashon Island’s largest salmon-bearing creek. In 2019, the Vashon Center for the Arts and Vashon Nature Center created a partnership to restore this wetland meadow to become […]
October 2024
Vashon eDNA Project
Have you heard of eDNA? It’s like nature’s invisible fingerprint! Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material collected from environmental samples—such as seawater, freshwater, soil, sediment, ice, permafrost, or air—without needing plants or animals to be physically present. They leave behind traces of DNA through things like feces, urine, sloughed skin, scales, decaying matter, gametes, mucus, […]
Meet Singer the Gray Whale
What: Meet Singer the whale at the Coop! With help from Student LINK science students we completed a preliminary articulation of the whale bones to inventory them after recovery from the beach. We are using this opportunity to allow the community to get up close and personal with the whale before we move him to […]
Talks on the Rocks: Seth Zuckerman on Forest Nation
The fate of forests and the fate of our climate are inextricably bound up together. Forests store carbon, keeping it out of the air where it makes mischief with the weather, but the global warming already underway is destabilizing forests, including those right here on Vashon Island. As our forests are degraded and put at risk, […]
September 2024
Nature Magic with Vashon Nature Center
Explore the wonders of native medicinal herbs with Vashon Nature Center as part of a weeklong celebration of Lord of the Rings at Vashon Library. As the great Gandolf once stated: The world is not in your books and maps, it’s out there! A hobbit must prepare before stepping out their front door – learn […]
Salmon Watchers
Help count salmon in our annual community science survey! Volunteers are assigned a spot alongside a creek on Vashon and they visit twice a week for 15 minutes to count salmon returning. In 2024 a mandatory zoom training is scheduled for old and new volunteers alike from 7-8 pm on September 26th. For new volunteers […]
Campout at Camp Sealth
Camp Sealth is hosting an adult only, glammed up version of the summer camp experience. There will be a wide range of outdoor and creative activities, including a birding unit led by Vashon Nature Center! Click here to learn more and register.
July 2024
Whale Ambassadors
During April, a gray whale washed up on the east side of Vashon Island and it was decided to leave the whale on the shore to decompose naturally. To study the decomposition process, we installed motion-sensing wildlife cameras to document visits from scavengers. Cameras recorded a coyote tearing off parts of blubber, a curious mouse […]
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Header Photo: Alex Koriath