Tag: old man’s beard
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Canada’s Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is actually a subspecies of Eurasia’s Sea Eagle, and prefers to home around water; rivers, lakes, and ocean environments with an ample supply of their main food…. fish. Bald Eagles will also prey on small animals and indeed scavenge on fish carcasses and other carrion. They are at the top of…
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September in the Tlakwa
September is mating season when massive heavy antlered male elk (bulls) are on the move, seeking slender females (cows) to start a new generation. Like clockwork as soon as leaves start to turn yellow and shades of brown, elk begin their annual hormone driven mating (rutting) season. Male animals become solitary and roam & bugle…
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A Vancouver Island Morning
Went beach combing this clear brisk January morning with Rosie my Australian Shepherd and thought: “what a magical place Vancouver Island is!” A veritable treasure chest of breathtaking beauty tucked away on an Island 460 km long and 100 km wide… Lush green rainforests, spectacular wildlife, white snowcapped mountains, glaciers, rivers and estuaries all enveloped…
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Lake Surprises
A stillness laid upon the lake, creating magical reflections of snow capped Insular Mountain prominences, exacting in every detail right down to fluffy white clouds. Perfect conditions for the kayaking & wildlife viewing we hoped to do. (Who could have imagined the wonderful fortune nature would bestow upon us today?) Magnificent Roosevelt Elk.
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Douglas-Fir Flowers
Spring is a renewal time for Mother Nature, especially visible in the Pacific Northwest outdoors, we knew this and why we were out and about. Still, can you imagine our amazement happening upon a fabulous and unexpected curiosity: a “flowering evergreen tree”! We had no idea such flowers existed, yet here before us was a…
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Turkey Vultures – Flying Environmentalists
We could see glimpses of the lake through a screen of Hemlock firs before we broke silently into the headwaters of our destination…. To our surprise a “committee” of a six medium sized brown birds greeted us, roosting along the edge of this remote lakeside bushed area. From a distance they looked like immature eagles,…
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A Short Day on the Trail
Leave pavement behind and Nature miraculously appears… everywhere to the fortunate, affording many reasons to put on wool socks & hiking boots. Perhaps a Pine Marten, a Black Tailed Deer, a Barred Owl… So many possibilities fill our imaginations as Rosie, Chris, and I ready a daypack for a days adventure. So it has been…
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Wool Pants & Suspenders
Yes I replied… wilderness camping allows me to throw away professional complexity and scars of emergency care by connecting with nature in wonderful natural environments… When a need to sooth a restless mind arises I simply put on “wool pants and suspenders and get out there” into comforting serenity.
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The Quatse River
Nestled in the Pacific’s coastal paradise of beautiful North Vancouver Island, Kwakiutl traditional territory, is a small but mighty Quatse River system. It is made huge by an amazing diversity of plant, trees, fish, animal, and bird life found in the river and along its shores. This magnificent river is a glistening jewel in British…
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Visitors to Hardy Bay
On this day winds were calm, sunshine high, a misty blue haze, and an outgoing tide offering a clear view of a multitude of fascinating shorebirds, foraging in Hardy Bay’s nutrient rich tidal pools. One’s imaginations is easily captured by a chorus of seabird sounds:
