January 1, 2015: New Year's Eve Hangover Solution...start 2015 with a paddle in the sunshine!

The best way to recover from a late night New Year's Eve bonfire party? A refreshing winter afternoon paddle, of course! 

I feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place and this year I feel like my fortune has doubled because I purchased my first home, a condominium, in the harbour in Victoria with good friends as neighbours. One of the perks of the building I am now living in? Kayak storage and access to a dock to launch from in front of the building. Of course, I knew this meant I would have to get my own kayak soon so bought one in December...and have only paddled in it a few times to date :) 

To celebrate the start of the new year I decided it would be fun to organise a New Year's day paddle inviting the rest of the residents in the building to get outside and recover from their New Year's Eve party hangovers in the sun and fresh air. We met early in the afternoon, set up and launched our boats and then went for a lovely paddle around the Victoria Harbour heading first under the Johnson Street Bridge, paddled along the west side of the harbour towards the mouth of the harbour (where seals are known to haul out on the small islands and killer whales occasionally hunt!), crossed over to the Ogden Point breakwater where many other Victoria residents were enjoying a beautiful, sunny New Year's day. 

The day was so sunny and the water so calm it was tempting to turn out of the harbour and continue paddling out onto the Victoria waterfront and the Strait of Juan De Fuca but, as much as today felt like it could be a summer day, we remembered the sun would begin it's descent by late afternoon so turned back toward the inner harbour. We paddled home traveling along the east side of the harbour passing the Canadian Navy Reserve at HMCS Malahat and Victoria's Fisherman's Wharf,with it's eclectic mix  of fishing vessels, float homes and floating fish and chips and ice cream shops. 

After the paddle We hoped to grab a New Year's Day sundowner beer at the neighborhood pub next door but, of course, the pub was closed for the holiday...and likely to recover from the New Year's Eve celebrating the night before! We were not entirely disappointed though as most of us were still tired and recovering from last night despite the afternoon of fresh air and sunshine!  What a wonderful way to start 2015!

Paddling towards the mouth of Victoria Harbour

April 18, 2014: The Chase Is On

365 Project, Day 172

Here is my day 172 submission to my 365Project:

The eagle and bird drama continues daily here in the Victoria Harbour! Today I snapped this photo of this adult bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) being chased by a crow (Corvus caurinus). This brave little guy was in pursuit of this eagle as many other birds will do with birds of prey. 

Bald Eagles come and steal chicks from other bird's nests and will even attack adult crows and gulls and eat them (check out photos of a gull taken by an eagle in my earlier post from April 11). It's not unheard of an eagle flipping over in the air mid-flight to turn on these birds and grab them out of the air so the crows and gull are really taking on a great risk chasing these eagles!  

April 11, 2014: Eagle Gets Its Gull!

365 Project, Day 167

Here is my day 167 submission to my 365Project:



Since I've moved into my new condo I've been ecstatic at the concept of having a full kitchen with a full sized fridge and an actual proper stove with an oven; I only had a hotplate and a bar sized fridge in my last place. I love baking so one of the first things I wanted to do once I was settled in was to bake some cookies... and today was the day!

After getting all my chocolate chip cookie ingredients together I had just started mixing the dough when suddenly, outside my window, I heard a great cacophony of gulls and crows. Having lived in Victoria almost all my life while I knew this meant the bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were coming in to harass the gulls and either steal their chicks and eggs, or as the case was today, get one of the adults for a meal!

I didn't even look out the window to confirm what I knew was going on outside but ran straight to get my camera, whipped off the lens cap and got back to the window just in time to snap some shots of a bald eagle swooping past my window with one unfortunate gull in it's talons and a whole flock of gulls in pursuit from behind! If anybody thinks gulls have it easy here in Victoria...think again!

I was so happy I got that shot that I immediately put my cookie baking on hold, downloaded the photos and cropped them in to zoom in on the nice close shots of the drama that unfolded. I posted them on Facebook (and to my surprise a lot of people didn't even know the eagles ate the gulls here!) and then emailed them to the CBC's Listener's Lens radio program with the hopes a photo would be posted on the Listener's Lens webpage. Luckily for me, Mark Forsyth, the radio show host, emailed me back and informed me that he had posted them to the website.

But that wasn't the last I heard regarding my lucky shot...the following Monday I was on Saturna Island dogsitting for my friends', who were running a large kayak trip for some Alberta schoolkids with their company Kelp Reef Adventures, when my friend in Cranbrook texted me and told me my photo was mentioned on CBC. As I had little to no phone reception I only found out later in the day that I had won the CBC Listener's Lens photo of the week! Soon enough a CBC mug and calender arrived in the mail for me :) 

Oh and the cookies did eventually get baked...and were delicous!  

Here is the full series of photos from this interesting observation: 

October 17, 2013: Brewhouse Lights

365 Project, Day 107

Here is my day 107 submission to my 365Project:

This afternoon my friend and I went for another lovely bike ride along the Galloping Goose Trail (this time now owls...but we were looking!) to Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary, where we stopped to enjoy the afternoon sun and watch birds and river otters (Lontra canadensis). When we returned from the lake we were thirsty and hungry so stopped for a drink and snack at Canoe Brewpub on Victoria's beautiful inner harbour. 

It was a lovely evening and, despite being a cool fall day in October, it was still warm enough to sit outside on the patio (be it with a heat lamp once the sun set!). I realized shortly after the sun set that the building was being lit by colourful lights that would alternate at times; I liked the lights on the brick so snapped a few photos. 

Canoe Brewpub with red lights on the brick - I liked how the red on red seemed to really stand out and contrast with the blue sky and reflection of the sky in the windows

Fun fact of the day:

The building which houses the Canoe Brewpub is a heritage buildling and was originally called the 'City of Light' building. It was erected in 1894 to house the coal-powered electric generators which powered Victoria's streetlights. 

Canoe Brewpub with blue lights on brick

Canoe Brewpub with green lights on brick

Views around Swan Lake...we saw at least half a dozen sea otters swimming in the lake but, unfortunately, they were too far to photograph

September 3, 2013: Transient Killer Whale Mom And Calf

365 Project, Day 70

Here is my day seventy submission to my 365Project:

Although I'm now home from Angola (after almost 2 days of travel!) I just had to get back on the water to see more whales. Luckily for me my former employer, Five Star Charters, had space on their afternoon trip for me to join them. 

There were multiple groups of Transient/Biggs (mammal eating) killer whales (Orcinus orca) around this afternoon including one group, the T60s, who had actually swam into the entrance of the Victoria Harbour and then continued on along the breakwater!

The groups we spent most of our time observing were a few kilometers south of Victoria and it was, as always, so interesting to watch as they were foraging and eating. Based on some of the scraps we observed they fed on at least one Steller sea lion (Eumatopias jubatus, see photo below)! The animals were members of the T20 and T90 transient groups (you can see these groups in the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Transient catalogue here). 

It was a gorgeous afternoon on the water as we sat quietly with our engines off observing them hunting and feeding. It was also incredibly entertaining watching the many gulls hovering and above the whales waiting for scraps!

    Note: this photo (and subsequent photos), was taken following recommended whale watch guidelines,
using a telephoto zoom lens and then cropped in!

Fun fact of the day:
In the thirty plus years since Mike Bigg started killer whale research in the Pacific Northwest Resident (fish eating) and Transient/Bigg's (mammal eating) killer whales have never been known to migrate into a group of one or the other. The two 'eco-types' differ in diet, vocalization, habitat range, morphology (shape of dorsal fin, etc.), pigmentation (such as saddle and eye patch) and genetics.

Here are some more photos from a lovely afternoon on the water with Five Star Charters:

This fisherman just had a very close pass with the T60s! Fortunately for him they aren't looking for the same prey because they hunt seals (his competition!) over salmon :)

  T60s cruising just off Dallas Road, Victoria

    T60C snooping around the rocks off Dallas Road, Victoria (and the person onshore got a great view!)

   T21 and T20 with a container ship in the background

Members of the T90s with feeding (and gulls looking for scraps)

T20's curled tail fluke - mature male killer whale's flukes have this curl to them

    T20s and T90s feeding (and gulls looking for scraps)

    Tail diving Transient (and gulls looking for scraps)

    Members of the T90s

    T20 (a male estimated to be born at least in 1963)

    T20

    Member of the T90s

    Members of the T90s (T90 and T90B)

 Surfacing with a scrap of Steller Sea Lion (Eumatopias jubatus) - you can see it on the right side of the whale's head

    T20

    Tail dive

    T90C and mom T90

    T20

    T90C doing a little leap of joy while feeding with gulls looking for scraps from overhead

Luckily for the Steller sea lion (Eumatopias jubatus), in the above two photos, he didn't get in the path of the T20 and T90 Transient/Bigg's killer whales!

    Rainbow over Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

    Steller sea lions at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve 

    Juvenile gull in flight

Boys will be boys...male California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve ;)

Gull wing stretch!

  The beautiful afternoon light and fog at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve - not a common sight here but we've been seeing them more and more in recent years

 Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the Olympic Mountains in the background

Red-necked phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) cruising over the   gorgeous, glassy water