Mount Douglas Park

Another bright, sunny day today took me up to the summit of Mount Douglas where I enjoyed the above view looking in an easterly direction.

Chipping Sparrow

I don't think any of the sparrows I pictured recently are particularly rare, but today's sparrow, a Chipping Sparrow, is a bird I've only seen once. That accounts for the rather fuzzy photo - he was hopping around in the undergrowth on the summit of Mount Douglas when I first saw him and realized I had never seen one like him before. I was able to quickly snap off a few shots before he disappeared and though all of them are a little fuzzy, they are not so blurry as to hide that lovely rusty chestnut cap that is his distinctive feature.

Christmas Hill (Continued)

Fern mentioned yesterday that Christmas Hill has lots of good views over Greater Victoria. Here's one looking northeast. That hump on the left is Mount Douglas (Pkols). Despite the woodsy look, what we are looking at here is mostly residential - Victoria is a very well-treed city.

Cordova Bay

This is Cordova Bay Beach, a large bay on the eastern side of the island about 20 minutes from Victoria. On the right of the above photo can be seen one of the sandy San Juan Islands. Below, looking in the opposite direction we can see the northern side of Mount Douglas (Pkols), beyond which lies the city of Victoria.

Western Wood Pewee (Contopus sordidulus)

I watched this little predator, a Western Wood Pewee (Contopus sordidulus), at work for about an hour on the weekend. The twig he is perched on is on the very top of a snag on the summit of Mount Douglas (Pkols). He sits there and watches for flying insects and as soon as he sees one he dives and snaps it up. Then he comes back and sits on this perch and watches for the next snack.

Mount Baker

In the winter it's too cold for me but as the temperatures rise here I head for the summit of Mount Douglas, a favorite spot to sit and wait for birds. I have seen birds while sitting on my favorite rock there that I have not seen anywhere else in this area. When I was up there a few days ago there were surprisingly few birds visible but Mount Baker was looking as majestic as usual. And when I lowered the camera down a few inches I was rewarded with the Raven below who was also enjoying the view.

Landscape 4 - Garry Oak

Last week we looked at one of our most distinctive trees, the Arbutus. Here's our other most distinctive tree, the Garry Oak, pictured in a fairly typical environment on the summit of Pkols (aka Mount Douglas). As you can see, we've had a long string of hot dry days that have turned all of spring's green grass to gold.

Landscape 2 - "Views"

This is a classic landscape meme - the view. It always involves getting up on some eminence so as to be able to overlook the landscape. We instinctively like views - our eyes apparently relax when they are not required to focus on nearby objects. However, aesthetically it is hard to do much with a view. It seems the best approach is to make sure there is something in the foreground that gives the viewer a place to stand. The view above is from the summit of Pkols (aka Mount Douglas) looking northwest. That's the Saanich peninsula on the left and the San Juan Islands on the right.

Landscape 1

In my recent forays into the wilder parts of Victoria in search of birds to photograph I always find myself captivated by the scenery though I often ignore it. However, lately I've been appreciating it a bit more and trying to explore landscape photography - in particular, the landscapes we have around here which are unique to this general area. What we are looking at in the above photo, for example, is a fairly typical Garry Oak Ecosystem scene. Wherever Victoria has not been built or paved over, this kind of landscape (or remnants of it) can be found. This photo was taken on the summit of Pkols (formerly known as Mount Douglas).

Mount Douglas Carpeted with Giant White Fawn Lilies

To continue recapping my spring wildflower posts, here are a few more Giant White Fawn Lily photos, both taken recently on Mount Douglas. There are dense patches of these splendid wildflowers all over the mountain at this time of year. The photo above gives some idea of this. Below is a photo of the entire plant that shows the beautifully dappled markings that give this little lily its name because of their similarity to the markings on young deer.

Distraction!

Whenever I get out into the rural setting in the spring I tend to get focused on what's on the ground, those brilliant spring wildflowers such as I posted yesterday. I am also a little impatient of distractions so that earlier this week when I was zeroing in on the Shooting Stars a very loud sort of rusty squeaking kept breaking in on my concentration. Finally I looked up to see what could be making such a noise and there it was, in a nearby tree, a glorious Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). (Roger Tory Peterson in "A Field Guide to Western Birds" describes their call as "...a harsh, creaking cackle....") When I suddenly see something like this there is always a period of frantic activity (remove close-up lens, replace with telephoto lens, adjust ISO and aperture, lengthen tripod legs, etc.). At the same time it all has to be done calmly and quietly so as not to disturb the subject or destroy the equipment. With this eagle I barely got set up when he took off from the branch where he was sitting. But at least he left me this one clear shot to take home. There were actually three Bald Eagles cruising around above the summit of Mount Douglas that day, two of them apparently jousting for the attentions of the third.

View from the Top

Last week I posted a series of photos of one of Victoria's more famous landmarks, Craigdarroch Castle. However, I didn't post at that time any photos taken from the castle, especially the lovely little circular room that occupies the topmost tower (see photo on the right). In her later years Mrs. Dunsmuir liked to spend time in this room and the view over Victoria and Saanich is still very attractive though the close surroundings, formerly gardens, are now solidly residential. Above we are looking north towards Victoria's two little mountains, Mount Douglas (left of center) and Mount Tolmie (right of center). Below left is the view looking towards the modern city of Victoria

Fall

It seems hard to believe that from this......comes this....But this glorious carpet of maple leaves beautifully illustrates why we call this season "fall." Yesterday it seemed all the trees in Mt. Douglas Park decided at once to let go their leaves. It was like driving through a blizzard with big brown and yellow snowflakes. Leaves whirled into waves and drifts along the roadside and winter's black branches stood out against the sky.

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Awards!

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There are a couple of blog awards floating around now that people have kindly passed on to me, not realizing that I am hardly capable of getting out of the right side of the bed in the morning let alone following the rules governing the various awards...6 nominees...5 followers...list of happy things...links to...gasp...choke....

However, my thanks first to Rob at Trieste Daily Photo and to niamhphotography, who has two blogs about the Spanish cities of Sitges and Barcelona, for presenting me with the "Blogging Friends Forever Award."And thanks also to Nobu of Tokyo Snap Photo and Funabashi Daily Cell Phone Photo, and to Snapper of Gabriola Daily Photo for presenting me with the "Kreativ Blogger Award."I cordially invite you to visit the blogs named above for beautiful photos as well as intimate insights into other cities and cultures. Really! I visit all of the above blogs regularly and always find something interesting.

Now, I am supposed to pass these awards along to others but I will save that pleasure for tomorrow.

Squalls Over the Strait

Looking down on Victoria from Mt. Douglas today one can see the rain on the Olympic Peninsula across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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I've been a bit busy lately so, to all the kind people who have been giving me awards, thank you again for the honor. Tomorrow I will respond appropriately.

Elderberries

Here's another image from my afternoon in Mount Douglas Park, elderberries. I suspect this is Pacific Coast Red Elder but there are a quite a few varieties of elder and I am never sure. Taxonomists please feel free to correct me. When I lived in the interior of BC we used to gather wild black elderberries and make a fruit syrup from them. Delicious. It seems the red ones are poisonous but I find their color combination of scarlet and purple very attractive.

Mount Douglas Forest

Today I went to Mount Douglas Park, but instead of ascending to the top I checked out some of the forest trails at the base of the mountain. I discovered these large-leafed plants in boggy glade. The earth beneath them was black mud, freshly inscribed with the delicate hoofprints of deer.These are Salal flowers. Later they will develop into small edible berries. This plant is widely found all over the North Pacific coast of America.

Mount Douglas

About a quarter hour's drive from downtown Victoria is Mount Douglas Park. Although it is only 213 meters high it provides spectacular views of Victoria and the surrounding seascape.

Mount Douglas is named after Sir James Douglas, the factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who founded Victoria when he built the first fort and trading post. He later became the governor of British Columbia. Victoria's main street, Douglas Street, also bears his name.