Fuchsias

As well as some lovely ocean views and a bit of forest, Saxe Point Park also has some well-tended flower beds and I couldn't resist these luscious fuchsias.

Looks Warm...

Looks warm...but it's not! The waters off Saxe Point are usually this clear blue. Apparently one of the reasons this area is popular with scuba divers is because the water is so clear. But in this area they always wear wet suits, as do surfers further up the coast on the famed Long Beach because though it looks warm and inviting, the North Pacific is a cold ocean. If your boat should tip over while you are out on the open water the cold will kill you in about 45 minutes.

Mushrooms?

We've had a couple of good rains now and the air has got that autumn sharpness so I thought I would check out the bush in Saxe Point Park to see if I could find any mushrooms to photograph. It seems I'm a little premature. No mushrooms were in sight. I suspect we need a few more rains and cooler weather. Saxe Point Park is beautiful even without mushrooms.

Saxe Point Park

Here's a favorite view of mine that I visited this afternoon - looking westward from Saxe Point Park.

From Saxe Point

I'm still cruising the archives - it's just too cold to be creative outdoors these days. Here's a photo of a favorite subject, the Fisgard Lighthouse. What gives it its special interest for me is that it is a view of the lighthouse from an unusual angle. The photo was taken from Saxe Point Park. The lighthouse looks rather closer than it actually is because of the 300mm telephoto lens I was using. Fisgard Lighthouse is a favorite subject for me because it always looks good, from any point of view. This photo was taken in April 2012.

September AND October Choices!

As I wrote last week, "Every year I put together a calendar for friends and family, of photos I have published on this blog for the last year or so. However, it's always difficult to make decisions about which photos to use. I am hoping visitors to this blog will help out. Every day for the next few weeks I will publish three or four photos from a given month and hope that comments and choices made by visitors will help me make a final decision which photos to use in this year's calendar. As an incentive, I will offer an online downloadable/printable file of the calendar to anyone who helps me make a choice."

Thanks to everyone who has given me their opinions so far, and it really helps when you give reasons for your preference.

Below are my favorite September AND October photos, some from 2016 and some from 2015. The printing deadline is closer than I thought so I am speeding up the pace. There are four to choose from today. Two of these photos are of local wildlife. The other two are unorthodox. Which TWO of these do you prefer?

Mushrooms

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Saxe Point Park

Autumn Leaves

Saxe Point Itself

The bays on both sides of Saxe Point are favorite scenes for me - so much so that I seldom photograph the point itself. This is remedied above. Like most of the "points" that mark our local coastline it reminds us that Vancouver Island is fundamentally a very large rock.

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.

Saxe Point 3

This view looks different every time I photograph it.

Saxe Point Park in Black and White

Here's the photo I wanted to take yesterday. Or, at least it's close to the photo I wanted to take yesterday. I wanted to get away from all the rich, west coast colors for a change because sometimes, let it be known, the days here are bleak and gray and horizon disappears in the mist.

The Best Laid Plans....

I have some local views that I am particularly fond of and I had planned for today's photo to post a view of Saxe Point taken using a different technique. However, when I got to Saxe Point the rain was just a little too heavy for me to feel comfortable taking my camera out of its bag. So, above is an archival photo of Saxe Point, taken in 2009. Tomorrow, with any luck, we may see a different one.

Best of 2015 - 3

In this year-end retrospective series, we've seen some local birds (one of my main interests) and some urban scenery (yesterday's photo), but as well as being a beautiful city, Victoria is surrounded by beautiful landscapes. Here are a couple of examples. Above is a shot from August 2015 of Esquimalt Lagoon. Below is another of my favorite views - one that I have photographed many times. It is Saxe Point Park, photographed in July 2015.

West Coast Morning

Saxe Point Park on an autumn morning.

Looking West...

...towards the Metchosin Hills. Saxe Point Park sunset.

One more from Saxe Point Park

Here's another from Saxe Point Park, looking southeast towards Macaulay Point with some more of those thunderheads on the horizon.

Saxe Point Park

As well as having some spectacular ocean views Saxe Point Park in Esquimalt is a wonderfully bushy little forest park. By this time of year many of the paths are completely overgrown like green tunnels and I always think it must be very like this in a rabbit warren. The one above, photographed just after our thunderstorm on Sunday had the additional attraction of a steamy mist rising from its floor.

Thunderstorm

Victoria's distinctive weather does not generally include storms with thunder and lightning and most years we will have only one or two. This year's was welcomed yesterday afternoon. First a bit of thunder, a few deep growls, then a real downpour for a couple of hours. We've been having a bit of a drought for the last few months so this was very welcome. The skies blew clear after the storm and I went out to Saxe Point and took this photo of the tail end of the big clouds that brought the storm. I'm very fond of this view because it is for me so completely characteristic of the Pacific Northwest coast. You can see by all the brown and yellow how dry it has been.

Winter Sun on Saxe Point

Winter sunlight has a particular quality. Because the sun is so low in the sky it often seems like sunset starts in early afternoon.

Winter Flowers

Saxe Point Park is quite a small park but as well as a nice patch of forest (with an eagle's nest and some resident Bald Eagles) it has some more formal gardens. It's a popular place to get married and there is a special grove designed for this ceremony. All this is at its best during the summer months, of course, but I enjoyed seeing the Hellebore blooming even now.

Saxe Point from Fleming Breakwater

The Saxe Point panorama posted last week shows a few of the houses facing Saxe Point Park. Above are a few more such houses further around the same point pictured in the panorama. I always enjoy the contrast these houses provide to their rocky location.