Watercolor Weekend

I am still enjoying the app on my camera that transforms a photo into a watercolor painting (see last Saturday's post). Here is another example - everybody's favorite houseboat moored at Sailor's Cove off the West Bay Walkway.

Marina - Looks Like Summer

Our weather this week has been positively balmy, up to 10 or 11 degrees Celsius (about 50°F). This photo of the West Bay Marina taken earlier in the week looks positively HOT.

Winter Visitors 3

We have two types of Mergansers resident here in the winter, the Hooded Mergansers pictured a few days ago and the Common Merganser (Mergus merganser), pictured above. Occasionally we see a Red-breasted Merganser but they are not generally resident here. In common with the Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers are diving ducks that catch small fish underwater. The Common Merganser in this photo is just about to eat her most recent catch.

Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis)

During the winter a walk along the West Bay Walkway will enable you to see a half-dozen different kinds of waterfowl. Now that spring in here, however, they are all pretty much gone. There are a few Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese but the Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Mergansers (Common and Hooded), and Harlequins are all off somewhere nesting and raising the next generation. However, animals that have not been so visible in the winter are now re-appearing. I've seen more Blacktail Deer in the last couple of weeks than I did all winter. And, on the weekend, I saw the fellow above, a River Otter (Lontra canadensis), fishing with a friend in Sailor's Cove. Otters don't hibernate in winter but do apparently spend more time in their holts.

Ice

Yes, ice on the surface at Sailor's Cove. I suspect that the water near the shoreline is very near to fresh because of runoff, but ice here still indicates how cold it has been in Victoria for the last week or so. And today, when I look out the window I see we are getting some of that white stuff too. I can't complain - we are still getting off easy compared to the rest of the continent. (And the photographer in me is happy at the thought of some snow pics).

Gray Days

In winter here we usually have either bright, crisp days with the possibility of snow and freezing temperatures - like last week when we had a bit of snow one day. This week has been the other most common option - cloudy days that are warmer, often with rain. I tend to prefer the warmer weather since it means driving around is not so risky but the dark, gloomy days are a little hard to bear. All in all I guess I'm fairly happy with going back and forth between the two types of weather although I'd prefer to have summer all year round. The above photo was taken yesterday at Sailor's Cove, at the westermost end of the harbor. Sailor's Cove is where I usually finish my morning walk before turning back towards home. Even on a gray day it's a treat.

Morning Sun

High in an arbutus tree above Sailor's Cove, this little Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) perches in the morning sun while waiting for breakfast to swim into view in the waters below.

Ripples 2

The reflections on the water are so lovely they make even this fairly mundane seagull look special.

Ripples

Here's one of my favourite birds, the Hooded Merganser, but what I like most about this photo is the wonderful patterns on the water.

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)

Two weeks ago I posted a photo of some Double-crested Cormorants relaxing on an island in the Inner Harbour. That's about as close as we usually get to these birds who seem to be much shyer than many of the other local waterfowl, so I was happy to see this one swimming around relatively close to shore in Sailor's Cove. These birds are called "Double-crested" because of the two large white crests they wear above their eyes during breeding season.

Most Popular?

Great Blue Herons are year round residents here but I didn't see much of this one during the summer and was happy to see him back on his usual perch high in an evergreen tree above the Sailor's Cove end of the West Bay Walkway. He's there most mornings, alternately preening and snoozing in the sun. I'm guessing that these birds are the most photographed birds in North America because they're big, they're widespread, they often live in or near urban environments, and (photographer's delight) they often stand perfectly still for long periods of time. Over the last few years they've appeared on this blog at least a half dozen times.

Watching for Breakfast

It's been like homecoming week on the West Bay Walkway this last few days. Shoreline residents I haven't seen all summer are suddenly reappearing in their old haunts. Above is a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) perched high above Sailor's Cove in the rigging of a sailboat.

Headless Heron

Actually this Great Blue Heron is just having a nap. It must be very convenient to be able to just tuck your head under a large wing whenever you want to shut out the world. But I don't know as I'd care to try it while balancing on a branch about 30 feet up in a tree. I have several times seen this heron snoozing like this above the West Bay Walkway near Sailor's Cove.

Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)

These Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) were part of a group of about 8 diving for their breakfast yesterday morning in Sailor's Cove, Esquimalt. That's an adult male leading a pair of females or perhaps juveniles since they resemble females. There were only two adult males in the group of 8. While I always like to see these Mergansers, I must confess that what I like best about this photo is the wonderfully loopy reflections of the sailboat masts on the water around them.

Sailor's Cove Sunset

Here are two shots of the same scene, Sailor's Cove - above, just before sunset yesterday and, to the right, just after sunrise three days ago. We tend to see sunrise and sunset as similar events in that they both bring more colour to the sky. However, I am discovering that because they happen on opposite sides of the horizon, they have quite different effects on local landscapes. Though the above photo was a rather gray evening, if you compare the early morning version of this photo on the right it will provide a good example of the differences between sunrise and sunset at this location.

Sailor's Cove Sunrise

I usually refer to the western end of the West Bay Walkway as West Bay Marina. The Marina is there but the actual bay in which it is situated is called Sailor's Cove and there is also a Sailor's Cove Marina, pictured above, as well as the West Bay Marina, which is visible in the background. I took this photo about two hours ago just after the sun rose on what looks to be another glorious day. You can see part of the walkway on the left of this photo.