Looking West

On Saturday we had a look at the view from Walbran Park looking east. Here, from practically the same viewpoint, is the view looking up the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Saxe Point - The Western Side

Last week we looked at a few views of Saxe Point's eastern side. Here is a view of the western side of the point, another of my favorite views. The hills in the distance are the Metchosin Hills.

From the Top

A few days ago I posted a photo of a couple enjoying the view from the summmit of Mount Douglas. Looking southwest, the above photo is the view they were seeing.

Stormy Skies

Victoria's weather has changed and the rain has been falling off and on for a week or so. This is Weirs Beach located in Metchosin, about 15 minutes drive past Esquimalt Lagoon. We went hoping the sun would come out but it was beautiful none-the-less. - Fern

Country Roads

Growing up a city kid I am always enamored with idyllic scenes like this one in Metchosin. - Fern

August

In August the light changes and takes on a different quality altogether. This stretch of country road becomes a sheet of silver winding though the forest. The part of the scene not shown here is the black bear that had just ambled across the road in front of us. Too quick for a photo but amazing all the same! - Fern

Coralroots

While out at Matheson Lake Park on Saturday I was pleased to see some of our small local orchids blooming. I didn't realize until I got home and examined the photos more closely that I had been looking at two species of Coralroot, the one pictured above with a plain white lower lip and the one pictured to the left with a spotted lover lip.

Matheson Lake

Victoria's ocean beaches are popular in the summer but many are rocky rather than sandy and even in summer's heat the Pacific is cold. Many local residents prefer to swim in one of the many small lakes that can be found in the greater Victoria area. Here's one I've been visiting lately in the Westshore community of Metchosin. It's called Matheson Lake and lies in the Matheson Lake Regional Park.

Vancouver Ground-Cone

Here's an oddity Fern and I came across during our walk around Matheson Lake. When I first saw it I thought it was a pine cone standing on its end. There were two of them and I assumed some kid was playing with them and left them standing upright like that. But when I touched one I realized it was firmly rooted in the ground and looked a little closer. It's not a pine cone but a parasitic plant called Vancouver Ground-Cone (Boschniakia hookeri). In our area it is parasitic on salal and huckleberry plants. It just goes to show that no matter how many times you go for a walk in the woods you might always see something new.

Water Lilies

As Benjamin and I strolled around Matheson Lake last Sunday we both agreed that water lilies are challenging to photograph as they are often kind of 'messy' looking. This is one a took of them which I quite like in the end. - Fern

Pacific Starflower

When Fern and I walked around Matheson Lake earlier in the week the forest floor was thickly dotted with these bright little Pacific Starflowers.

Matheson Lake

While out in Metchosin on Sunday Fern and I also visited Matheson Lake where I always take a picture of this small island in the lake because it reminds me so much of the paintings of the Canadian artist group known as The Group of Seven. The sign at the left was posted at the entrance to a pathway leading to the lake. Being a daily photo blogger is not without its risks!

Pedder Bay

Fern and I were out in Metchosin on Sunday and visited this small marina at Pedder Bay. It seems to be particularly popular with fishermen. Not too surprising if the 72 lb. salmon on the wall of the Marina Coffee Shop (left) is a possible catch.

Surfaces

We think we know what things look like but do we? Here are four pictures taken on a stretch of beach yesterday all of driftwood and the variety is fantastic I think. - Fern

Witty's Lagoon Regional Park

Here is a view of part of the beach at Witty's Lagoon Regional Park. There is a series of lagoons on the coast of Vancouver Island west of Victoria. Closest to the city is Esquimalt Lagoon, next to it is Albert Head Lagoon and a little further along the coast is Witty's Lagoon. Each of these lagoons has a good beach on the seaward side and though they are popular, they are long beaches so there is always plenty of room. Visible offshore at Witty's is Haystack Island, pictured above.

Blacktail Doe (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)

While on my way out to Witty's Lagoon the other day I couldn't resist stopping to photograph this lovely Blacktail Doe browsing in the bushes at the edge of the road. She's still a little thin, probably from feeding one or two fawns but is now concentrating on fattening herself up for winter.

Bilston Creek

Every time I go to Witty's Lagoon in Metchosin I take a photo or two of Bilston Creek because it is always such a luscious, ferny dell. The creek runs through the park and feeds into the lagoon after tumbling down the dramatic Sitting Lady waterfall.

Fuzzy Birds

Continuing my exploration of Metchosin I went last week to Albert Head Lagoon and was alternately excited and depressed by the bird in the above photo. He was one of a group of 4 or 5 similar small birds running around in the muck at the edge of the lagoon. He looked unusual to me and I was happy to add a new species to my list. At the same time I was depressed because I couldn't seem to get a clear photo of this bird. Even when they were standing still they seemed fuzzy. It wasn't until I got home and was able to look at the photos at higher resolution that I realized what I had seen. These birds are fuzzy because they are still wearing their chick fluff. These fuzzy little birds were young Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). Standing guard a little back from the edge of the lagoon was a larger, trimmer Killdeer, most likely the mother, still watching over her chicks (below).

World's First Boy Scout

While browsing among the daisies in the graveyard of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Metchosin I came across the plaque to the left. In 1907 when Lord Robert Baden-Powell inaugurated the first Boy Scout Camp to test some of his ideas, one of the boys in that first set of campers was the scion of an old British family, George Bridges Harley Guest Rodney, who later became the 8th Baron Rodney. One of the ideas that Baden-Powell wanted to test with this first camp was to mix boys from all levels of society to see if his ideas for the development of young men could have universal application. Clearly, young George Rodney must have been one of his choices from the nobility. Rodney would have been 16 at the time. How he came to finish his life in Metchosin sixty-six years later is another story - one that I wish I knew.

Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

One of the Western Communities that lie along the coast westward from Victoria is the district of Metchosin.While riding through it yesterday I chanced to notice this lovely old church and stopped to enjoy the peace and beauty of its grounds and the adjacent graveyard. This is the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. It is the third oldest Anglican church in the province and is no longer in use as a church but is now preserved as a Metchosin Historical Site. It looks rather overgrown but this is part of a strategy to allow the native wildflowers to propagate. I think it's easily as beautiful as the well kept lawns that cover most graveyards.