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. 

This is not an eagle

 

This was my 'thin slice of joy' today - a perky, inquisitive quail in our strata's garden, waiting to greet me when I opened my front door this morning.  Last year, I saw  many families of quail on my walks around the block - after seldom seeing them on the island.  There was another adult quail on the ground near this one, but due to the shrubbery I couldn't tell if they had any chicks with them. Soon, I expect, I will see quail once again scurrying across the roads, across the driveways and lawns, diving under shrubs with their many, many babes in tow.  I love their jaunty little feather caps on their heads, bobbing along. So much fun! 

Happy Mother's Day, by Maggie

 Hi everyone! It's me, Maggie.  I have a pretty nice Mama, so today I told her she could take the day off from editing about a zillion eagle photos, and I'd take her to the park instead.  

I would have made breakfast for her, since it is Mama's Day, but I'm not allowed to use the stove.  Or open the fridge. Or order delivery on the phone.  Okay, I'm not only 'not allowed' but as I don't have opposable thumbs those things are pretty tricky for a sheltie.  I'm smart, but not THAT smart!

So, I suggested we have a nice walk in the park.  Craig Bay Heritage Park, to be exact.  It's always quiet, and there's grassy paths, and a bit of beach, and lovely views, and now that it is spring there are also flowers and lotsa birds.  So I even suggested she bring her camera along.  And I promised I wouldn't hog the lens. 

I think she had a nice time.  These are some of the photos she took.  I dunno the names of all the flowers but I know a couple of them.  Mama probably knows the others but she's asleep already 'cause I wore her right out!  

This is camas lily I thinks.

And these are some type of blue bell.

These are rhodos.  Mama said they might be wild ones, but most 
likely they were planted many years ago when the property used to
be a homestead or later a campground. 

We saw birds too - some heron and something flying in the sky:

And guess what else we saw?  A bunny!  But he runned away when I shouted hi to him.  Mama said I should use my indoor voice when we see other critters. I forgots.

We saw a little humming bird on the end of a bare branch.  He is always there, every time we go. But he is real because he moves his head to look at us sometimes.  I think he just likes to watch the ocean and listen to the waves - just like my Mama does.

I kinda forgot I said I wouldn't hog the lens,  and when Mama was trying to photograph a flower I kinda got in the way - hehehehehe!

This was the flower she was trying to get before my snout got in the way:

So I think Mama had a pretty nice day.  Maybe tomorrow she'll get back to editing the kazillion eagle photos she took on Friday.  Don't tell her, but I'll give you a sneak peak at one of them:

I hope you gave your Mama a nice Mother's Day too, or if she's gone to the Rainbow Bridge, I hope you thought of her today.  

I love my Mama.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there! 

Love, Maggie.

I'll leave this here

I'm dealing with a Very Big Crisis here to do with a broken pipe, a bunch of damage, a second water-related crisis in another area of the house, tons of frustration dealing with insurance companies etc etc etc.  And total chaos and upheaval for Maggie and Me.  Plus snow last Sunday (SNOW! On the Island! In April!), and a six hours power failure. Life is not going smoothly.

Let's just say I could use some good vibes, a few prayers if you're so inclined, a pot full of money, a barrel full of patience, and maybe a few good jokes. 

Meanwhile, since I know you come here for the photos, even if I don't have time for a story or two, here's a few more photos from the other day at the North Island Wildlife place. 

Some days I'm dealing with turkeys.....but not cute smart ones like these.

I need the wisdom of an owl and his quiet zen nature as well.

Things are moving on at about the speed of a turtle. 

I'll get back to blogging when I can, if only for a photo or two.  I will probably have to move out for a bit so not sure how much time or access to computer/internet I'll have.  

A Day Late and A Dollar Short

My first spring on the central east coast of Vancouver Island, I heard about the herring spawn only after the event was almost over.  It lasts but a few days, turning the coastal waters from the Oceanside area where I live up to Campbell River a beautiful, tropical milky teal colour as tens of thousands of herring deposit their roe on the seaweed and rock covered shallows along the beaches.  With the herring, come dozens of seals and sea lions and gulls and eagles - and herring boats. 

Sky full of gulls during herring spawn 2019

Breakwater loaded with sea lions 2019

The second and third year, I was ready for it - and what an amazing spectacle it was.  I spent hours at the beaches photographing the sea life, listening to the chorus of birds and the barking of sea lions, gazing as the incredible teal waters - first brilliant, then milky - washed the coastline.  I photographed sea lions on rocks, rafts of them holding flippers in the water, sitting tall and lying down, sunning themselves and frolicking - it was so much fun! 

This year, I was always a day early or a day late, arriving at beach after beach to just the slightest tint of teal, hearing that the eagles were there yesterday, reading the next day that I'd missed orca whales by just an hour at one beach I'd visited, finding out that the herring were spawning further north than I'd driven.  And with the price of gas skyrocketing to $2.00 a litre just as the spawn began, "a dollar short" is a bit of an understatement when it came to filling the tank to drive further afield.  Was the possibility of being in the right place at the right time worth the price of the gas?

But the meandering wasn't all wasted.  The first day was the best of all - I was no sooner out of my car at a little beach access area just north of home when two otter toddled out of the brush just to the right of me and down to the water for a morning dip. 

To my left, I noticed some Northern Pintails - ducks I'd never seen before.  They were migrating through, and their  long tails made for easy identification.

Moments later, an eagle flew overhead, circled around and came back towards me, giving me the opportunity for multiple shots of this beautiful bird in flight.

Then I walked across the road to a protected bird area, where I saw three very tall Great Blue Herons as well as some smaller herons and a few ducks.  Another photographer, with some very fancy gear, struck up a conversation with me and after a few minutes of chatting I realized I was speaking to a local expert photographer whose work I had long admired.  We talked for about twenty minutes, discussing the pros and cons of mirrorless cameras and various lenses and appreciating the beauty of the area in which we live. While we chatted, a flock of snow geese flew overhead, white with black tips on their wings, migrating north for the summer. 

That all happened within the first 45 minutes of my pursuit of the herring spawn.  And that was the best 45 minutes of the next four days of pursuit.  On the way home, I did stop to watch an eagle on a post in the water, eating what looked like a bone.  It sure didn't look like a fish.

After that, I came up empty on each trip over the next three days, until I finally decided to call it quits.  Instead, I took Maggie to Moorecroft Park just south of us.  The very next day, I saw reports of several orcas playing in the waters there!  Murphy's Law. Maggie says she's prettier than any orcas and much easier to photograph.  Silly dog!

Yesterday, I had a medical appointment in Nanaimo.  Before leaving, I decided to take Maggie for some exercise at our local community park along the waterfront.  As soon as I pulled into the park I saw it - teal water! and gulls! and dozens of herring boats! And as soon as I got out of the car, I heard the bark of sea lions.  And there were even snow geese resting on the grass amid the resident Canada geese.  And, as the goal was to get Maggie tired out before I left for my appointment, I hadn't even brought my good camera. Thankfully, I had the small camera with me, though the photos don't do it justice. 

By the time I returned from my appointment, the teal had washed to just a tint, the boats were down in Nanaimo and about to head home, and all I found at French Creek Marina were two sleepy sea lions and a cormorant. 

A day late and a dollar short.  Story of my life. If the Great Spirit is willing, I'll have better luck next year. 

Snow Geese!

 The herring are spawning here, which means lots of wildlife activity and beautiful milky teal seas.  It also means that I'm out there with my camera as it only lasts a very few days.  No time to process the photos or write the words, but here's a shot of some snow geese that flew overhead today on their way back up north. More to come. 

Flowers , Flying Flowers and a Cheeky Sheltie

 Maggie hasn't been feeling too well the past couple of days, but prior to that she had several outings with me to local parks and beaches.  She is on the mend now, I think, though her arthritis is giving her more trouble than usual and her tummy is still a bit out of sorts.  As I'm resting her at the moment, I'll post some of the photos I took last Wednesday at Craig Bay Heritage Lands here in Parksville.  We often go there as it is always peaceful and is a short, easy walk along the ocean's edge.  

We usually start from the main parking lot, down a short trail through the trees.  Along the sides of the trail are clusters of snowdrops, and now masses of crocuses are also in bloom.  Maggie was quick to show me the photo opportunities.

Hey Mama - there's some snowdrops and crocuses in here!

Here, I'll pose with a crocus at my butt and snowdrops behind me. 
I won't crush any flowers, Mama, I sits carefully. 

Mmmmmmm - the dirt smell goooood in the spring!

Once down in the flat ocean-side heritage lands, we were quickly inundated with bird calls from the clusters of brush - sparrows and juncos, towhees and robins, and an eagle high in a tree.

My favourite birds on that visit, though, were the Anna's hummingbirds who were flitting and zooming around everywhere.  They perched on a bough or a shrub just long enough for me to raise the camera to my eye before flitting and zooming off to the next shrub or bough before I could focus the lens.  Anna's hummers stay on the island year round, but their activity now is partially fueled by mating instincts as the males flash their iridescent scarlet and green feathers at nearby female hummers. It is no wonder Anna's hummingbirds have sometimes been nicknamed "flying flowers". 

Maggie and I spent a while resting on the many benches, watching for geese and ducks on the waters, and just enjoying the fresh air.  Maggie, of course, posed any time she saw a location likely to net her a treat from the pouch on my hip.  

She's such a cheeky girl - she's even learned to smile on command!

I swear there's a glint in her eye, cheeky little girl!

As we headed back up the hill, we spied more crocuses in the woods, and a large patch of snowdrops at their peak.  A few more photos, a few more treats, and it was time to go home.