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: 

April 10, 2014: This Otter Be Good!

365 Project, Day 166
Here is my day 166 submission to my 365Project:

As I've been hanging around Victoria waiting for my next offshore Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) and/or Passive Acoustic Monitor (PAM) contract, and I haven't worked for a while, I made myself available to work as a naturalist for the whale watching companies here and today was the first time I'd worked for a whale watching company different from Five Star Charters. 

This afternoon I worked a trip aboard the Ocean Magic at Prince Of Whales. It's still early in the season now so we don't usually expect to see a lot of whales even though it's always possible. The killer whales should only just be starting to come back into the waters of the Salish Sea to feed on the salmon moving through to their natal spawning streams. Instead, we typically do what we call 'wildlife' tours at this time of the year. 

Although killer whales (Orcinus orca) and other whale species are the main attraction to whale watchers here, we have a lot more wildlife to see including harbour seals (Phoca vitulina), Steller (Eumatopias jubatus) and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and other sea birds and much more!


Today we got to see some of the 'much more'! Through the 1900's sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were hunted extensively throughout the BC coast including the waters of Vancouver Island. As a result this species was 'extirpated' from these waters. To try to recover the population around Vancouver island 89 sea otters from Alaska were introduced off the west coast of Vancouver Island in 1969 and since that time the population has grown to an estimated 3000 individuals! 

With an increasing population size the range of these guys has also increased with more sightings further south and north around Vancouver Island now. In recent years sea otters have increasingly been seen in the waters around southern Vancouver Island with one individual observed fairly regularly around Secretary Island near the community of Sooke just west of Victoria. 

Although we thought there might be a chance this otter was around today we weren't too sure we'd actually find it. Lucky for us, as we were circumnavigating Secretary Island there it was bobbing around just off the rocks. This is not something we normally see on our whale watching trips out of Victoria but looks like we'll be seeing more and more of these guys in the future!

April 9, 2014: Bombs Away!

365 Project, Day 165

Here is my day 165 submission to my 365Project:

Okay, this isn't an amazing photo but I found it amusing as it captures a moment 'in nature'. I mean how many people can say they photographed a bald eagle pooping? I suppose to those living in Alaska where these guys are everywhere it's not so much a novelty. I still found it amusing when I managed to get this photo of this juvenile bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), being pursued by a gull who's nest it was likely looking to steal from, doing it's thing in flight. This shot was taken from the balcony of my new condo in the Victoria harbour...I'm loving harbour living that's for sure! 

April 7, 2014: Spring Leaf Beauty

365 Project, Day 164

Here is my day 164 submission to my 365Project:

I had to get out in the spring sun today so I went for a bike ride around Victoria. My intent was to ride around the harbour and then along the waterfront but I got distracted when I stopped by Fishermen's Wharf and ended up catching up with friends working at Jackson's Ice Cream, Eagle Wing Whale Watching and Kelp Reef Adventures kayaking. Despite the distraction from my ride I still managed to squeeze in a ride and a  short photo session at Beacon Hill Park.

Today's photo is a maple leaf starting to open up with some lovely Bokeh in the background. 

"Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf"

Albert Schweitzer

Maple leaves opening in the spring sunshine   

Bella at work...at Kelp Reef Adventures kayaking which my friends own

Bella and the other kayak dog, Luka. Two perfectly sized kayak dogs :)

Luka keeping an eye on the kayaks

View out to Victoria Harbour from Kelp Reef Adventures at FIsherman's Wharf

Big Leaf maple with daffodils at Beacon Hill Park

More views around Beacon Hill Park