I was able to practise my piano early....whilts I was practising I couldn't help but notice the quail, stellar jays, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatch and of course the robin all on grass pecking at the ground. It was gorgeous...but as luck would have it...just as I had finished taking a picture of the sun coming through the trees my batteries died......so into the charge they went and no battery to take any pictures at the moment.
It was a cool morning....the frost was heavy on the ground...and the sun started to warm the trees and they began to steam....it was wonderful...the dew drops dripping off of the branches...yes nature in it's glory.I had been visiting one of my blog friends Janet at Life in Westcliffethis morning,she is an avid photographer and birder....she has a glorious picture of a bird I had never seen before but is indigenious to my area, but at highter elevations...this got the bird bug into me....today was an absolutely gorgeous day...the sun was shining....the temperature actually got into the double digits 11 celcius...warmer in other areas....it was a perfect day to go outdoors and find some new birds.
Our destination northwest, towards the Comox Valley along the old Island highway. It is a wonderful drive which follows the shoreline....so most of the birds we saw were shoreline birds.
We made our first stop just a few moments from our home....it was the mouth of the Big Qualicum River.....during spawning season eagles are abundant....that wasn't the case today...it was actually fairly quite....
Ducks are plentiful here....we saw two Kingfishers diving for food....difficult to capture on film...we needed our telephoto lens....we then got back into my truck and continued north to one of our favourite spots...Nile Creek.....there was not much wildlife ...but the view of Mount Arrowsmith was spectacular....
Nile Creek with Mount Arrowsmith in the background.....
Mount Arrowsmith
After a brief stay..we got back into the vehicle and continue north....next stop....Fanny Bay....
This is a Bufflehead.....if you click on the picture I think you can get a close up....
Another Bufflehead....again if you click on the picture I think you can get a close up......
We made our way up the Comox Valley, and on our way home just ahead is the Comox Glacier....you can take airplane rides up there to get airial view...it truly is spectacular...and today it was just in your face.....amazing....
The next photos were taken at a place called Royston Wreck....it's old ships that were sunk and is a favourite site for divers....the wildlife here is amazing and so is the view......
Cormarants perched on a pilon
Although it had been a wonderfully bright and warm day...being by the waters edge you got a bit of a chill....it was time to start heading home. On our way up the valley we had seen two graceful Blue Herons...but with there not being anywhere to stop we weren't able to catch a photo....hubby really wanted to get a photo for me to post....so we went back the way we came....but this time....there were no herons to be seen.....maybe next time.
Well I hope you enjoyed the trip with us.....hope you all had a fantastic day.....
20 comments:
I did enjoy the trip, thank you.
I really love the sand colored photo - for the life of me I can't think of the name of the lighting! But hey, not knowing never stops me from commenting ;)
Nice pictures. I was surrounded by seagulls the other day, some were even on my truck and flying up to my open window for me to toss scraps at them.
I have a keyboard but don't suppose I'll ever learn how to play it.
What a wonderful word picture with real photos added. Thanks for sharing your day , it sounds great.
Also, thanks for stopping by and adding your insight. It was most interesting.
Hi! I found your blog through Charli and Me. The pictures are so beautiful - all of them! I have a question. How/where do you get the blogger awards? I have someone I would love to send an award to, but don't know where to look to find the awards. Also love the picture of your dog.
What a beautiful way to spend the day. The world is such a beautiful place and I haven't seen enough of it...ciao
I so enjoyed the trip, the photographs are wonderful!
What a nice surprise for me to stop by and fins so many yummy birds. TomCats love birding!
Speaking of surprises, RN, stop by PP. There is a surprise for yoy un the second article today.
Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, another beautiful photo blog. They are lovely.
Yeah, I deleted my first comment, because I'm having a 'slow' day mentally. I really do know who you are ;-) My brain gets about 25 things going on in there at once and goes into shut down mode.
I wanted to tell you that I think your pics are gorgeous and the area you live in is absolutely stunning and beautiful! Wish I could have been on that trip with you, because those places look breathtaking!
I love the pictures, especiall the one of Comox Glacier!
Thanks so much for the guided tour of your area! I loved it.........the only thing missing was the real live conversation I know we would have had.....NON-STOP, I'm sure!!
Hugs........
OH! Mary Anne! What beautiful pictures! You really outdid yourself with those -just so gorgeous. Now I'm going to end up being torn once I finally get my winning lottery ticket for the super lottery its millions/kazillions of dollars for me to spend on traveling. My issue then will be trying to select if I would want to travel to Sweden and Scotland (homelands of my ancestors) first or if I should just skip that and head north by northwest to British Columbia.
Mary Anne, you are SO lucky to be living on Vancouver Island. I used to be able to see Mt. Arrowsmith from my bedroom window. I didn't appreciate then what a gorgeous mountain it is.
I have Steller's Jay that come to visit me in my tree house. They bang on the window, their little blue heads bobbing, begging for food.
Leslie and I plan to visit you on Vancouver Island. I can hardly wait. :-)
These are gorgeous photos Mary Anne but then I'm a bit partial since I live here! That is an excellent shot of the glacier too.
Glad you had a good time up this way.
What beautiful pictures and what a great way to spend the day! Your little bert is a cutie! Thank you for your nice comments on my blog.
That is just amazing!!!
Beautiful shots!
Mary Anne, you're slipping. It's been almost a week since you posted a bird for my lunch. ;-)
In case you missed my reply to your comment at my place, I just wanted to let you know that the smears you had heard about Obama are untrue. I'm not one of his followers, but believe that he ought to be criticized, when justified on something real. The GOP loves email smear campaigns loaded with false information with that, and i suspect you may have received a few of those.
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