Another Craig Bay Interlude

The creative juices aren't flowing.  I have eagle photos and eagle stories but that spark of inspiration that enables me to pull them together has been elusive.  I'm not a disciplined writer who sits at the desk at the same time each day and pounds out words on the keyboard.  More often, I wake up with the words just flowing from me, or I'm out walking and the story swirls around in my head.  I just can't write on demand.  So, one day, you will get to read the story and see the photos of the eagles - or many stories of many eagles - but as I haven't blogged for awhile I shall just post some photos of our wander through Craig Bay Heritage Park from a couple of days ago.  

We love this park because it is quiet, level, alongside the ocean, lightly forested, grassy, with pockets of wildflowers that change weekly.  And it is never, ever busy. In fact, many times we don't see a soul.  Peaceful is the singular word that describes it.  

A light breeze blows the tall grasses as we stroll through the trees.

Maggie stops for a rest near the wild rose bushes that line the shore.

Closer picture of the roses.

And closer still.

I spy splashes of red amid the grasses.

Oriental poppies! One of my favourite flowers, so big and bright. 

Maggie posing near a mass of daisies.

Some crows were hopping around us and making a racket. 
I soon spotted why - Junior had just fledged!

Mama and Papa Crow were encouraging him to fly, but he just wanted them to feed him.
After we moved further away, they indulged him with a bug or two.

Maggie, pose for me!
Not now, Mama, I's napping!

Fooled ya!

And, as it will likely be Father's Day by the time you see this, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  My own dad passed away nearly 45 years ago, and I miss him still.  This is one of my favourite photos of him, doing one of the things we enjoyed doing together when I was just a kid:

My dad - always loved, never forgotten. 
Happy Father's Day in the Great Beyond, Dad. 

A few photos from last week

 The days seem to be getting away from me - as is my energy - and by evening I'm too tired to blog.  So here's just a few of my favourite photos from this past week, lest you think I've forgotten you. 

Bee in flower at Craig Bay Heritage Park

A crowd of what seem to be white daffodils at Parksville Community Park

A very young eagle - they were only about 15" tall and appeared to be this year's hatch, though it is still early for them to fledge.  There was a young adult supervising from a nearby rock, chatting and encouraging as the youngster looked for tidbits to eat.  The young adult was twice the height of this one but hadn't yet earned his white head.  

I haven't forgotten about all the hundreds of eagle photos of the past month.  There are stories to tell!  This is one of a series that I haven't written up yet, but will get to it soon!

And we finally had a day that was warm enough for a long walk on Eaglecrest Beach, paddling in the water and soaking up the sun. Doesn't Maggie look happy?