Highrock Park Pink Carpet

I didn't go out this morning to photograph these lovely little flowers but who could resist such a glorious pink carpet scattered over the sides of Highrock Park. I don't know what they are called but I'll see if I can find out.

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As usual, Lewis J. Clark's Wild Flowers of British Columbia provides an identification of these flowers. They are a member of the Valerian family called Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta). Clark quotes Archibald Menzies, a naturalist who traveled in this area with Captain George Vancouver in 1792:

"...the rural appearance"...[of Protection Island, in "Juan de Fuca's Streights"] strongly invited us to stretch our limbs after our long confined situation on board & the dreary sameness of a tedious voyage.... We found on landing...the shore was skirted with long grass & a variety of wild flowers in full bloom, but what chiefly dazzled our eyes...was a small species of wild Valerian [now known as Plectritis or Valerianella congesta] with reddish colourd flowers growing behind the beach in large thick patches."

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides)

A rainy day kept me inside today so I spent some time playing with a bellows attachment to my camera, a gift from Causeway Artist, Dean Lewis. This bellows attachment enables me to turn some of my old legacy lenses into super macro-lenses capable of the kind of resolution you can see in the above photo. Blogger shrinks everything to 1600 pixels wide but this image is just as sharp at twice the resolution. The flower is a Bluebell, one of three very similar species in this genus (Hyacinthoides). Although they are all over the place in the parks I visit and along the roadsides, they appear to be an introduced or invasive species since they are not listed in my field guides of indigenous flowering plants. However, for me they are another sign that spring is here despite the dark, wet days we're having. To the right is the setup I used to capture the above closeup. The bellows allows very precise focusing since it can be moved along a track using the screw adjustment at the bottom. Also, since the lens is further from the sensor the magnification is increased. I don't really understand optics or lenses but I am very pleased with how this setup works. Many thanks, Dean. (Now all I need are some cooperative insects so we can begin to explore the world of six legged Victorians.)

Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)

Here's another of those little brown birds that we are all familiar with though they are so small and modest that we may not see much of them. This is a Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii). Once again, I am a little uncertain when it comes to identifying these small brown birds so any real birders out there who may recognize this bird as something else, please let me know in a comment. These little birds hop and flutter around so much in thickets and bushes that it is very difficult to photograph them so I was pleased to capture this shot recently in Highrock Park in Vic West.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

While I was out at Esquimalt Lagoon the other day I was happy to see a very old friend, the Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). I say old friend because I remember someone explaining to me when I was very small that the limping, wing-dragging bird I was following was perpetrating a ruse, that it was not wounded at all but was pretending to be in order to lure me away from its eggs or young ones. I think that was the first time I realized that animals too had intelligence and feelings. Of course this behaviour might be genetically programmed but even then it's a tribute to the complexity and functionality of evolution.

Laurel Point Panorama

The day before yesterday I posted a few photos taken from Laurel Point. Here is a panoramic view of the Inner Harbour from this location. Click the photo to see a larger version. You may also need to click the larger version to see it full size.