Salish Sea Herring Spawn and Marine Mammals

On March 5 of this year, we braved the unseasonably cold weather and headed up to Comox, BC for a four-hour boat tour with Wild Waterways Adventures, in search of Biggs orcas and other marine mammals.  Our trip took us south to the Seal Islets north of Hornby Island, where we found a group of harbour seals hauled out on a small sand bar.

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina)

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina)

We then headed south through Lambert Channel between Denman and Hornby Islands, where we stopped for a few minutes to observe the seiner MV Nita Maria conducting a sample catch for the Pacific Herring Test Fishery near the south end of the channel.

MV Nita Maria

MV Nita Maria, Herring Test Fishery

MV Nita Maria, Herring Test Fishery

After watching the gulls flocking around the boat for a few minutes, we turned and headed east towards the south end of Hornby Island, where we found a large colony of California Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks at Toby Island.

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) and Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

After a brief stop at Ford's Cove on Hornby Island for hot chocolate and snacks, we headed west past the Chrome Island lighthouse and turned north up the west side of Denman Island, but by then the weather had started to deteriorate and we didn't find much in the way of wildlife aside from a number of seabirds.  We headed back to Comox, cold but smiling, without having sighted any orcas but the trip was very enjoyable and informative all the same.

If you're looking to get out and see some of the fascinating marine life of the Salish Sea, I highly recommend Jen and Reuben at Wild Waterways Adventures.

Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve

In October 2023, we stopped to visit the beautiful Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve near Duncan, BC.  The Preserve was created in 1999 when the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased land that was slated for development in order to protect one of the few remaining intact Garry oak meadow ecosystems on Vancouver Island.

Once common throughout southeastern Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, the spread of urban and agricultural development and introduction of invasive plant species has reduced the Garry oak meadow ecosystem to less than five percent of their original extent.  More than a hundred insect, reptile, bird, and plant species at risk depend on the remaining fragments of Garry oak meadow ecosystem.

Public access to the conservation area is limited, but there is an accessible boardwalk and viewing platform along Maple Bay Road a few minutes east of Duncan.

Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve

Garry Oak Meadow Walkway

Garry Oak Meadow Viewing Platform

Garry Oak Meadow

Garry Oak Meadow

Cowichan Garry Oak Meadow

For more information, please visit the Nature Conservancy of Canada web site, and consider making a donation to this very worthwhile organization:

Nature Conservancy of Canada - Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve

Top 20 Images of 2023

While reviewing the images I captured over the course of the past year, I wanted to publish my top 10 favourites, but I had a hard time picking only ten - so here are my favourite 20 images from 2023, in no particular order:

(click on the image to see a larger version)

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Panasonic Lumix GH-6, 800mm

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Olympus OM-1, 1000mm

Female Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
Olympus OM-1, 1000mm

Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) 
Sony A7R V, 600mm

Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser)
Olympus OM-1, 1000mm

Brickyard Beach, Gabriola Island
Olympus OM-1, 18mm

Dark-Eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
Nikon Z9, 840mm

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Nikon Z9, 840mm

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
Sony A9, 600mm

Driftwood Logs and Seaside Pea, Lock Bay
Sony A7R III, 24mm

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Fujifim X-H2S, 600mm

Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) Enjoying a Bath
Nikon Z8, 400mm

Sea Shell, Lock Bay
Nikon Z7 II, 14mm

Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
Nikon Z8, 400mm

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Nikon Z8, 400mm

Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
Panasonic Lumix G9, 400mm

Amethyst Deceiver (Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis)
Nikon Z7 II, 105mm

Ferry at Sunset, Salish Sea
Nikon Z9, 400mm

Pacific Slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
Nikon Z8, 840mm

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
Nikon Z9, 1200mm

Web Site Off Line

Sometime during the past week, someone at PhotoShelter, the site I use to host my Images West web site, decided to delete all of my images and accompanying information.  Since PhotoShelter also unapologetically deleted the backups of my data, it will be some time before I can find a new site host and re-do many weeks worth of work.

Entrance Island

Lock Bay Salt Marsh Birdwatching

One of the nicest spots for birdwatching this time of the year on Gabriola Island has to be the Lock Bay Salt Marsh adjacent to Sandwell Provincial Park.  This brackish tidal marsh is home to a number of bird species of waterfowl, wading birds, and songbirds, and vultures and bald eagles are often seen soaring overhead.  There are also a few resident river otters and beavers, should you be lucky enough to spot them.

I believe most of the marsh is private property, but there is a well-used public pathway that leads past the marsh just above the beach at Lock Bay.  Please use respect when visiting the park or the marsh.

Here are a few photos of birds I managed to capture on my last visit to the marsh - you can click on any of the images to see a larger version.

Lock Bay Salt Marsh, Gabriola Island

Great Blue Heron, Lock Bay Salt Marsh

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis)

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

All images were captured using a hand-held Fujifilm X-H2S digital camera and XF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR zoom lens.  All images are Copyright © Cliff LeSergent.

May Hummingbirds

Hummingbird season is in full swing now on Gabriola Island, with both the over-wintering Anna's and the migratory Rufous showing up in numbers.  These little avian wonders always make for great photography.  

Please click on the images to see a larger version. 

Male Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)

Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)

Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Female Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Male Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)

 

Male Rufous Hummingbird  (Selasphorus rufus)