From a regular neighbourhood in Chilliwack, BC, walk with us through a small gate into the wildlife haven called Camp Slough.
A path through the property is lined with large old cottonwood trees. A red-listed Salish sucker swims in the slough with its many brown fins.
The path opens into a grassy field with small maple tree plantings peeking out. The endangered Western pondhawk and blue dasher dragonflies flit past you. Out of a small nesting box pokes the head of a barn swallow.
In a tree you hear a bird call, and look up to find a barred owl perched on a branch. On another branch you catch sight of a small brown-grey Douglas’s squirrel, a species native to BC. These are but a few of the many species of birds and mammals that have found refuge in Camp Slough.
Facts
- Camp Slough consists of 8.8 hectares and conserves significant wetland and upland habitat near Chilliwack. Beginning as a cultivate broccoli field, Camp Slough has received much restoration work to become the biodiverse ecosystem it is today.
- The property provides habitat for: SARA Schedule 1 species Northern goshawk and band-tailed pigeon; the Blue-listed barn swallow, great blue heron and green heron; two Blue-listed dragonflies, the Western pondhawk and blue dasher; and the Red-listed freshwater fish Salish sucker.
- Camp Slough has the potential to support the Red-listed Pacific water shrew and Western blue bird, and the Blue-listed cackling goose, trumpeter swan, Western toad, Red-legged frog, monarch butterfly and Clodius Parnassian butterfly.
