Winter Light

While we haven't had any more snow, there has been some crisp mornings with the soft light hitting the lacy tendrils of frost just right. - Fern

Bottoms Up!

The title of this post would probably have been more appropriate for New Year's Eve but this is also a typical view when dabbling ducks are nearby. This is of course how they feed, tipping themselves like this and scrabbling around on the bottom for insects, small fish and crustaceans. While I almost always post an annual photo of our most common dabbling ducks, the Mallards, I often ignore the American Wigeons pictured here. They are almost as common as the Mallards and spend the winters here quite contentedly. In the photos below the male is on the left and the female is on the right.

Shorebirds

Earlier this week I was down at Clover Point and was able to photograph this nice group of shorebirds, two Black Turnstones and three Black Oystercatchers as well as the ubiquitous seagull.

Looking Westward

Yesterday's photo was taken from Macaulay Point looking east towards the city. Today's photo is also taken from Macaulay Point but looking west towards Esquimalt Lagoon and Metchosin. In the foreground you can see the Fleming Beach Breakwater. A bit beyond that the red and white Canadian flag identifies Saxe Point. Beyond that and to the left you can see the Fisgard Lighthouse, also red and white.

Skyline

We'll start off the new year with a photo from a few days ago of the Victoria skyline seen from Macaulay Point, just west of the entrance to the Inner Harbour. The rocky area in the left foreground is Work Point. The two red and white ships are Canadian Coast Guard ships moored at the Coast Guard wharf. The tallest building near the center of the photo is the Sussex Building and below it can be seen the red brick towers of St. Andrew's Church, both on Douglas Street. If you click on the photo you can see a much larger version (3,000 pixels wide).