This post has been contributed by Don Enright, Volunteer and Past President with the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”). I have been following SPES since I moved into the West End almost a decade ago and I have been a member for two years. I wanted to offer the team an opportunity to share their news, events, and work so I have created “SPES Saturday” where they contribute and share stories with my audience once a month.

Meet The Spotted Towhee

Next time you’re needing a flash of colour and a spark of charisma to brighten your winter day, take a walk in Stanley Park and keep your eyes peeled for the spotted towhee, one of the prettiest birds to call Vancouver home.

A towhee scratches for tasty seeds and grubs. (Photo: Michael Schmidt)

Their long, trilling song can be heard from quite a ways away. Towhees are famous for singing “Drink! Your! Teeeeeeee!” but our birds seem to want to shorten it to simply, “Teeeeee!” Once you learn that call, you’ll have no trouble finding towhees wherever you wander in Stanley Park. They’re wonderfully common, which is not to say that they’re vulgar; far from it. Spotted towhees are elegant little birds, perhaps the most beautiful member of the sparrow family. With their rufous-red sides, deep red eyes and chic black and white spotting, they look a bit like some tropical caged bird that has made its escape. But just watch them foraging for a few minutes, and their behaviour is pure sparrow: they jump forward, scratch into the forest floor with both feet at once, and then jump backwards, raking the duff with their little claws to expose seeds and grubs.

Towhees are among the few songbirds that remain faithful to each other, not only throughout the breeding season but from year to year, too. Our tree swallows appear monogamous, but research shows that they are secretly stepping out behind each other’s back with surprising regularity. And chickadees have a divorce rate that rivals our own, believe it or not. But towhees are in it for the long term, and it seems to be working for them; they’re one of the more successful songbirds in the region, adapting to city, semi-rural and forest life equally well.

A towhee rests on a Stanley Park bench. (Photo: Michael Schmidt) (Photo: Michael Schmidt)

Take a walk along Lost Lagoon, and stop at the concrete bridge—that’s where many of the local winter songbirds hang out. Wait just a moment, watch for that flash of rufous, and listen for that trademark call. The spotted towhees will be waiting for you.

The 49th annual broadcast of Variety’s Show of Hearts Telethon is happening this weekend and we invite you to tune in to Global, join in the fun online, and donate to help children in BC who have special needs.

New This Year

Social Lounge: For the very first time, I’m sponsoring the “Show of Hearts Social Lounge” in the VIP room, bringing in some of my social media friends to share the stories of Telethon with our followers.　Video and Selfie booths will capture the excitement of the event and you can join the conversation by using #SOH2015, @VarietyBC and @Miss604.

Other new additions to the telethon this year include the Champions Pledge. By signing up for a Champions Pledge of $2,500 or more, you can help Variety help more families in BC make their vans wheelchair accessible. Families can go together in safety and comfort to doctors’ appointments and engage with events in their communities. In thanks for your support you will receive a framed, special edition poster by renowned Canadian artist Robert Bateman – watch the Telethon to see this year’s beautiful creation entitled “Siberian Clearing”.

Little Victories Circle: Whether it’s a first step or a first word, every achievement by Variety’s kids is epic, and you can help them be the champions we believe they are. For a donation of minimum $25 a month, we invite you to join the Little Victories Circle (formerly known as Monthly Giving) and make a difference all year long. In thanks for your continued support, you will receive a Variety Bear, and a child who has special needs will also receive one.

Siberian Clearing by Robert Bateman: This is the 11th year that world-renowned naturalist and artist Robert Bateman has created a painting for Variety’s Show of Hearts Telethon. For a pledge of $189 or more, donors will receive a poster of “Siberian Clearing” which depicts a mother tiger and her cub in a snowy landscape.

BC Place Glows Red for Variety BC this Saturday and Sunday night, and Global BC is curating a live blog of #SOH2015 conversations online.

Chances to Win

Find out how you can enter the Show of Hearts Car Giveaway, and the St. Lucia Dream Vacation Lottery when you tune in to the 49th annual Variety Show of Hearts Telethon on Global BC February 14th and 15th.

Charlie’s Chocolate Factory in Burnaby has also donated a chocolate gift basket valued at $200! I have the pleasure of giving this away over Twitter this weekend. Simply post an update to Twitter that includes #SOH2015, @VarietyBC and @Miss604 and you’ll be entered to win. You can also paste the following on Twitter:

I will draw one winner of the gift basket from all entries at 4:00pm on Sunday, February 15, 2015. Enjoy the show and make a donation to help more children in BC achieve their own little victories!

Vexillologists rejoice! Long before Dr. Sheldon Cooper had Fun with Flags on the hit series, The Big Bang Theory, Susan Braverman’s mother, Doreen Braverman, founded The Flag Shop in Vancouver back in 1975. Susan, now the President of Textile Image and The Flag Shop, recently invited media to the leading manufacturer in Canada for flags leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag.

“We have all experienced the emotion and overwhelming sense of pride that occurs when the Canada flag is displayed for all to see. It is the symbol of Canada that brings us together as a country!” ~ Susan Braverman

The Flag Shop was the first retail flag shop in the world and all of their locations across Canada make their flags in-house.

I popped into the shop at 1615 Powell Street to browse the flag selection and chat with Hanna, who has been making flags since 1978. With the sounds of a sewing machine rumbling away in the background, she walked me through the process of making durable and strong Canadian flags, starting with the maple leaf appliqué which gets sewn onto a centre panel.

Unravelling folds of a newly finished flag, I was introduced to details such as ropes and toggles, velcro, grommets, sleeves, and extra stitching on the fly end.

The process has changed a lot in the last forty years, Hanna told me as she pointed to a giant frame for screen printing the Canadian flag that hung from the workshop’s rafters. These days someone can simply email you a file, with a high enough dpi, and they can turn it into a high-quality flag or banner. Even still, there is a lot of skill involved, especially when it comes to making a product that’s durable, and rendered correctly really large scales.

You can shop online and in-store for flags and banners of all shapes and sizes, for provinces and states, countries of the world, Vancouver 2010 Olympic flags, sports team flags (like these awesome new Whitecaps FC flags), pride flags, and more. It’s also the only place in Canada that you’ll find the transgender flag.

Today only, you can pick up a 3′ X 6′ appliqué sewn Canada flag for just $50 ahead of the 50th anniversary of the maple leaf flag we know and love, happening on February 15th.

100% Canadian owned with headquarters on Powell Street in Vancouver, The Flag Shop currently has 13 locations from coast to coast across Canada. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook for more information, and all of your flag needs!

Free skating, a wellness show, an adventurous film festival, a golf show, a comedy festival, romantic dinners, dancing, and movies are all happening around Metro Vancouver this weekend.

John and I will be spending Valentine’s Day with Variety BC as I sponsor the Social Lounge at the Show of Hearts Telethon, broadcast on Global this Saturday night and all day Sunday. You’ll also find me on the phone lines on Sunday around 11:00am and please tune in the rest of the weekend to support kids with special needs in BC.

Photo credit: lens gazer on Flickr

Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend

Events that run for longer than three days in a row are highlighted in green below.

Friday, February 13, 2015
Sponsored by Miss604: Late Night Movie at the Rio Theatre
Say Hi to a Stranger Weekend
A Night of Bowie: The Definitive Bowie Experience, Surrey
Transforming Society: 5 Wild Ideas for a Better Future
Transforming Society: 5 Wild Ideas For A Better Future #wildideas
Movies at Market: Chocolat
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival – VIMFF
Vancouver Wellness Show
Staircase Theatre: Love Letters by AR Gurney
Small Stage Point 5 – The Valentine’s Edition
Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival: Various Locations
Free Skating at Robson Square Ice Rink
Northwest Comedy Fest

Saturday, February 14, 2015
Sponsored by Miss604: Social Lounge at the Variety Show of Hearts Telethon on Global
VanDusen Garden Valentine’s Picnic
Valentine’s Dinner & Wine Pairing at The Belmont
Vancouver Shogi Club (Japanese Chess)
#HeartsUnlocked Speed Dating + Social Cocktails
Vegetarian Supper Club Series
Valentine’s Dinner at Café Medina
Cheesecake Burlesque Revue, Surrey
Vancouver Golf Show
Early Music Vancouver: G.F. Handel’S Theodora
Movies at Market: Chocolat
Hockey Day in South Delta
Winter Farmers Market
Staircase Theatre: Love Letters by AR Gurney
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival – VIMFF
Vancouver Wellness Show
Say Hi to a Stranger Weekend
Small Stage Point 5 – The Valentine’s Edition
Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival: Various Locations
Free Skating at Robson Square Ice Rink
Northwest Comedy Fest

Sunday, February 15, 2015
Sponsored by Miss604: Social Lounge at the Variety Show of Hearts Telethon on Global
Winter Games Legacy Celebration
Vancouver Golf Show
Belly Dance Show, Langley
Koerner Quartet
Sailboats painting pARTy
ZHOOSH Sunday Series – Health & Fitness Seminars
Weaving with Invasive Plants and Garden Waste Workshop
Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project and Cécile McLorin Salvant
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival – VIMFF
Vancouver Wellness Show
Say Hi to a Stranger Weekend
Small Stage Point 5 – The Valentine’s Edition
Free Skating at Robson Square Ice Rink
Northwest Comedy Fest

View the full monthly event list to plan ahead at any time. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for frequent updates about local events and community happenings.

Known as the Best Place to be on a Rainy Saturday, the Vancouver Farmers Market winter edition at Nat Bailey Stadium is hosting Food Truck February, bringing in the city’s best food trucks to compliment the seasonal offerings at the market.

Photo credit: Ruth Hartnup on Flickr

Food Truck February at Vancouver Farmers Market

Every truck will be challenged to create a delicious new Market Menu item using market products. Shoppers will decide who does it best. The trucks will submit sources for their Market Menu item ingredients and the winner is the one who uses the most ingredients from the farmers market.

Snap a shot of you at the market digging into your favourite Market Menu item and tag @vanmarkets and #foodtruckfeb. Every week they’ll pick a lucky winner of a Winter Market Survival Kit that includes a colourful Vancouver Farmers Market toque, umbrella and cozy coffee mug.

The winter market runs through April 25th, every Saturday from 10:00am to 2:00pm at Nat Bailey Stadium (4601 Ontario St). On February 14th and 28th the market will be across the street from Nat Bailey at Riley Park. For more information follow Vancouver Farmers Markets on Facebook and Twitter.