Volunteer Spotlight: Lee Colwill

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Created: Monday, 23 March 2020 11:08

HAT during COVID-19

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Created: Monday, 16 March 2020 12:45

COVID-19 UPDATE

Till further notice and subject to changes the HAT office will be closed to the public.

HAT wishes to do our part in reducing the viruses ability to spread through our community and are therefore temporarily closing the office for face to face visits.

All of the HAT staff will still be available by phone or by email so please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Stay happy and please stay healthy.

Volunteer Spotlight: Meg Lovett

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Created: Wednesday, 11 March 2020 12:27

HAT is so lucky to be surrounded by people that are willing to give so much of their time to our cause and the environment. Each month the myriad choices of wonderful people to shine the spotlight on overwhelms us, each as dedicated and worth the praise as the next. This month however we are going to present Meg Lovett to you all, as an incredible volunteer who is making the day to day running of the office possible as well as being out in the field rain or shine cleaning out Screech Owl Boxes. (SEE BELOW)

Meg has her BSc. from the University of British Columbia in Environmental Science and is passionate about creating a sustainable environment, public outreach and working to promote habitat enhancement and protection. Meg has been an absolute pleasure to have in the office and her skills, unique perspectives and education are valuable tools that have benefited us all. Here are a few words from Meg herself: 

"Throughout my university experience I worked as a research assistant on a number of projects surrounding the topic of sustainable land use. After I graduated, being from Vancouver Island, I was looking for an organization which had the same focus in my local community and that’s when I found HAT. 

Having only been with HAT since January, I feel as though I’m still only scratching the surface when it comes to knowing just how much HAT does. In just two months I have learned so much from the team and have felt comfortable trying new things, such as learning how to write a press release or navigating to owl boxes with a GPS, because of their support. I feel very lucky to have found such a smart and passionate group to work for —  not to mention that I definitely fulfill my weekly quota of laughing when i’m at the office! I’m so excited to be a part of the upcoming events in the next few months knowing what HAT has in store! 

A big thank you to the HAT team!"

-Meg Lovett, Stewardship and Outreach Volunteer

Update on Screech Owl Stewardship

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Created: Wednesday, 11 March 2020 12:25

by HAT Volunteer Meg Lovett

The first phase of HAT’s Western Screech Owl Stewardship Project is complete! 

HAT’s Western Owl Screech Project is focused on monitoring and providing habitats for the native species. Unfortunately, this owl is under threat due to severe habitat loss and increased populations of their main predators, i.e. the Barred Owl.  

As a new addition to the HAT team, I tagged along with a seasoned expert in wildlife biology and long-time HAT volunteer, Ben, to visit 11 properties around the Greater Victoria Region to clean up the 80 or so installed nest boxes for the upcoming breeding season. Together we trekked – and at times stumbled –  through the second growth forest, ladder and GPS in hand, to locate the boxes. Most of the boxes we found had been providing occupancy to our other local residents such as squirrels or northern flickers, who had left them full of all sorts of debris. Unfortunately for them, we cleaned out their nests and put down new, dry shavings in hopes of attracting the Western Screech Owls with a comfortable and safe place to nest. Furthermore, for each box, we recorded observations such as the condition of the box, the signs of use and the level of noise surrounding the box. Now that the boxes are ready for nesting, we will check back in about a month’s time to see if the owls have taken to the boxes for their breeding season of mid-March to mid-May. 

Having previously known little to nothing about owls in general, let alone the Western Screech Owl, I have now found myself becoming very passionate about the conservation of these little owls and have been able to learn so much over the past few weeks.  At HAT, we will all be keeping our fingers crossed to hopefully share the same good news as last year in finding chicks in some of the nest boxes! 

HAT would like to thank the property owners for their involvement with the Western Screech Owl Project. 

Additionally, if you think you have may have heard the distinctive “bouncing ball, whistling hoot” of a Western Screech Owl, please contact HAT at 250-995-2428 as it would greatly help in our efforts!

Screech Owl monitoring season is almost here! If you're interested in taking part in monitoring some of our winged neighbours, stay tuned here, or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..