While having my second cup of coffee, around 7 am, this was the scene outside my window: young bucks practicing their fighting skills, and a curious doe.
When I touched my camera lens to the window, the resulting sound got their attention. The males broke off their mini-duel briefly, and the doe showed more concern, but the bucks quickly returned to their contest. While the rutting season not yet fully on, because the does are not quite in estrus, it's almost here. Male female behaviour is quite interesting to watch...
Below: a close-up of the combattants. Didn't their mommy tell them about pointy things and the dangers to their eyes? Haven't seen too many blind deer... I guess the blind deer are the ones with depth perception issues and difficulty seeing incoming cars. They get picked off earlier.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Signs of Fall: Deer at Play
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Escape Up the Ridge
When you live in a small place, you sometimes feel the need to make yourself scarce. I have been feeling cooped-up lately, and I really didn't need a serious excuse to go exploring, so I jumped at the chance to spend one more summer weekend off-island... this time on Vancouver Island, somewhere above Jordan River... on the San Juan Ridge.
To get there, a rough ride on a logging road is required. This is truck and 4 x 4 country! The picture above does not do justice to the feeling of "driving on the edge" you get on logging roads... Steep and narrow, with no guardrail or anything. Can you spot the pickup truck up ahead? I took this picture through the windshield, while trying to avoid swerving...
This is an active logging area and fully-loaded logging trucks use the road during the week. I prefer to go there on weekends. Would not want to negotiate my way around a logging truck in that spot! To give you a better idea, here is an intelligent description:
Logging Road Language
Driving on active logging roads can be hazardous.
They're narrow, unpaved, and usually have no shoulder or guardrails. Bridges are invariably only wide enough for one vehicle. They are frequented by logging trucks, which are large and when loaded, heavy vehicles. A loaded logging truck carries anywhere from 45 to 100 cubic metres of wood. One cubic metre of spruce weighs about 450 kilograms. People familiar with logging roads know that the first rule of the road is:
A loaded logging truck has the right of way.This is independent of what the Motor Vehicle Code may say. You see, in the real world, the laws of physics trump social constructs. Now and then a few people, witting or unwitting postmodernists, who think that social constructs trump the laws of physics, are mowed down by logging trucks. Natural selection can be brutal.
(For more witticisms on this, click on this link...)
Once you get yourself safely to the end of the logging road, you still have to hike up to the top of the ridge. It probably takes no more than 30 minutes, I can't remember exactly. What I do remember is that it's uphill... Once you get to the top, and you regain your breathing, you can admire the view at your leisure. A clearing near a cellular tower reveals a spectacular view to the North, over an ecological reserve and some clearcuts...
Cool nights on the ridge signal the end of summer. The colours are starting to change, as evidenced by this blueberry bush, which has decided to blush...
And an hour's walk to the East - about 200 meters down the ridge - brings you to a magical lake. On Sunday, the water was a mirror, reflecting the cloud cover. The picture above only reveals a portion of the lake, which has many little inlets and secret corners. A truly beautiful spot.
Local enthusiasts have left canoes on shore, and we decided to go for a paddle. This was Jack the pitbull's first canoe ride. After an initial moment of trembling, he decided to go zen and enjoy the peaceful experience.
In the back of the canoe: ze woman who escaped. It will happen again, I promise!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Orcas Visit
On Thursday afternoon, I took some visitors on a little trip to the other side of the island, to Thompson Park, near the Saturna Island Vineyard. We played on the beach with the dog, walked around the park and tasted some plums from an old tree. Then we went home to fix dinner.
On the answering machine: a message from people who wanted to come watch orcas (killer whales) at our house, because they had been spotted coming our way. Forget dinner! We looked out and... sure enough... there was a flotilla of boats to the West! Boats (power boats) that are stopped in the middle of nowhere are a sure indicator of killer whales. That's how they stalk them, sad truth.
In Canadian waters, the required distance that boats must maintain is 100 metres (300 feet). You can judge by these pictures that they are much closer than that, and are actually herding the whales.
As usual, the admirers are way too close to the whales. The "pros" (commercial boats with paying passengers) are a little more reserved than the private boats... according to what I've seen over the few years that I've lived here...
Putting this picture in context: on July 31, the CBC was reporting that the US recently announced new whale watching regulations that would double the required space between the whale watching boats and the orcas (check out this report on the CBC website)
The U.S. is considering adopting new regulations that would double the distance boats must keep from killer whales in the Puget Sound – and those in B.C.'s whale-watching industry worry it could hurt business.
The proposed mandatory rules would prohibit all vessels from coming within 183 metres of killer whales, double the distance of the voluntary buffer zone many tour operators already follow.... (read the rest on the above CBC link)
The amazing thing is that even from where we stood, much further away than the people in these boats, we could hear the whales breathe. It's very impressive!
Click on the above picture to enlarge it and see how close the boats are to the whales, so close to shore. To check out the Canadian regulations and discussion on the possible tightening of the rules, click here for a Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) page.
Close up of the same shot: private boat way too close (like, right on top, asshole!) My secret wish was that they would get flipped... A nice dunking in really cold water, among some very large creatures... Keep in mind that there are more whales to the left of the yellow boat, and that he is intersecting the group.
In the long run, the whale-lovers will kill the golden goose with too much love and not enough space and respect.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
August Regatta
Last week was regatta week on Plumper Sound. Pender Race Week (if you are interested in the race results, check out the RIPS website here) held by the Sydney North Saanich Race Club, was on. From August 14 to 19, we watched a colourful flotilla battle it out every day.
After going round the marker, they put up their spinnakers and really moved back across the sound at a good clip.
I could see that these sailing competitors take their racing very seriously, and bluff each other around the buoys that mark the course (may I be forgiven for my lack of sailing vocabulary!). There was quite a bit of shouting, whistling and so on when boats came very close to colliding.
Pender Island was the base for this race, which lasted five days (from what I could see).
Monday, August 24, 2009
Summer Fruit: Ode to the blackberries (the fruit!)
On the West Coast, summer time is fruit time. This week - and the next few weeks - roadsides are ripe with black gorgeous and juicy fruit (Rubus armeniacus), commonly known as Himalayan blackberry. On Saturna, blackberries are literally dripping from tall and vigorous vines.
The picking is easy, if you choose areas where the vine is lower to the ground, and fairly open. It gets tricky in large patches where the vines interlace and use other vegetation to climb, putting all those luscious berries 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Oh, and did I mention it has nasty thorns? The scratches on my legs and arms are the price I pay for all that goodness!!!
I have already picked several containers of the berries, and plan to get much more, which I'll flash freeze, then keep in baggies in the deep freeze... for deepest winter.
And what does one do with all that juicy, tasty, black richness? Fruit pies and cakes, of course! Also, I have to check out my supply of jam jars... because there will be jam and jelly in my cupboards.
At least, this invasive species has a good side. But just in case, I am linking to the GOERT website, which has a worksheet on Blackberry control, and the Canadian Environmental Network, which also discusses the plant. After tangling with blackberries, just picking or trimming them, I can vouch that trimming or containing this plant can seem like a hopeless task. And a bloody one, too...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Garden Treasures
July is turning out hot and hotter on the Gulf Islands. The dog is panting and I'm studying his sprawling style, usually near a fan.
The garden is suffering from the heat: the more delicate plants have yellowed from lack of water (or an excess of heat). But others are thriving in the merciless sunshine: the dill is producing a really nice seedhead...
The tomatos love this heat. I have the beginnings of a crop. 
And the crocosmia is thriving. Love that red hot bloom! Like fire.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Weekend Escape
This time, we used a series of logging roads to get to the backcountry. It was an experiment in finding our way in a real maze...
If you have never been near a clearcut area of forest harvesting, you are in for a shock. It's like zooming in in a hay field after the mowing. Lots of things are knocked down in order to get to the valuable stuff.
We took a look at areas that were re-planted, probably only a few years ago. It still looks desolate.
This is an area of fresh logging, with older cuts in the background.
After a brief forest section, we ended up in bog area. Lovely place.
Above: White bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata)
Above: Sundews (drosera), a carnivorous plant in the bog, glowing like jewelry. Dangerous beauty!
Job done! This puppy knows how to knot up his people!!!
