Vancouver Island - Part 5

12 September, 2023

Clover Point, Victoria, BC

"The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man."

Charles Darwin

     As always, our day began with a stop at Clover Point, as essential as getting dressed in our world!

     A couple of Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) was by now a common and almost predictable event, but cherished no less for all that.

     The unique subspecies of American Crow (Corvus brachyrynchos caurinus) was formerly deemed to be a separate species, Northwestern Crow, and we mourn the loss of that exalted status! Its vocalization, apart from other morphological traits, is distinctly different from the species we are familiar with in Ontario.

    Such niceties matter not at all to the crow of course, reflecting only the mania of humans to classify and catalogue things.

     Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) manifests a wide array of plumage, with many distinct and identifiable subspecies.

     I remember when quite young learning the meanings of flotsam and jetsam, with flotsam being those items washed ashore due to the natural action of waves and tides, and flotsam being items deliberately thrown overboard, often in times of distress to lighten the shipboard load. 

     These days it is often hard to distinguish between the two, given the proclivity of humans to toss all manner of anthropogenic junk into the oceans, including the plastic straws, cups, and cutlery, that intelligent people use without a shred of conscience, knowing full well that most of it will never be recycled, no matter how much they segregate it, and will find its path to the soiling, degradation and impoverishment of natural systems throughout the planet. 

Mount Tolmie, Saanich, BC

     To gain a spectacular view of the sprawling metropolis of Greater Victoria there is no better vantage point than Mount Tolmie.

     A considerable part of it is still natural and at times the bird life is prolific. 

     Today, it was relatively quiet. Several flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata) flew over our heads, with no intention to tarry, and pictures were impossible.

     The trails were lovely, however.

     The walking was fun, the views superb.

     Most of the action we encountered was right near the parking area when we went to retrieve the car.

     At some point Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) must have been introduced onto Vancouver Island, deliberately, I assume, since I can't conceive of a means whereby it could have arrived naturally.

     A few House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) played hide and seek with us.

     A Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) was assiduously probing in the lichen for insects that were trying to avoid being on its menu.

     The star of the show here was an Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata) that stayed for quite a while and enabled us to put to good use all our binocular skills.

      Blackberries (genus Rubus) were plentiful but not quite ripe, much to the chagrin of that inveterate fruit gather, Selwynus tomkunii digesticus!

      It was a pleasure to see a male Anna's Hummingbird(Calypte anna) defending his perch.

       A couple of crows came to bid us goodbye. 

       Do you think they were thinking, "Next time bring food!"?

Witty's Lagoon Regional Park, Metchosin, BC

      Great companions make for great birding, great wandering, great conversation - great everything in fact!

     Handsome couple, huh?

     This park is a beautiful spot, a real gem.

     It was not long before we saw our first Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), and, to use a hackeyed phrase, they were everywhere!

     They are usually quite difficult to photograph, but always a pleasure encounter.

     This species' entire lifestyle is wedded to trees and they construct their nests underneath loose bark, a commodity in plentiful supply at this location, and that perhaps explains, at least in part, their ubiquity.

     The lagoon was beautiful.

     The trees ancient and magnificent.

     Initially the lagoon seemed devoid of waterfowl, but careful searching revealed that it was not quite so empty as first thought.

     Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) is an exceptionally handsome duck.

     Several Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) stalked in their usual patient way, with a lightening thrust of their bill to illustrate their hunting technique. Herons are opportunistic feeders and will take just about anything they can capture, subdue and swallow, so they tend not to go hungry.

     In my own experience I have seen them grab fishes, amphibians, snakes, ducklings and a chipmunk, but their diet is considerably more catholic than that.

     Northern Shovelers (Spatula clypeata) simply strain aquatic organisms through their spatulate bill.

     Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) coming in to land is always a stirring sight.

     A couple of Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) worked the shallows, stabbing at prey.

     I beg your indulgence for one more Great Blue Heron.

     We were nowhere close to houses, yet this tree bearing an impressive crop of apples was seen.

     It had all the hallmarks of a domestic strain (Malus domesticus) and had we been close to home we might have been tempted to gather some to make apple sauce.

     Quite how these trees become established is a bit of a mystery; perhaps a discarded apple core is all it takes - or perhaps there is a modern day Johnny Appleseed! 

     This pear tree (genus Pyrus), again laden with fruit, raises similar questions as to its origin.

     A female Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) was an agreeable sighting.

     The terminus of the trail is at Witty's Beach, from which one has glorious view of the Pacific Ocean.

     California Gulls (Larus californicus) paddled peacefully close to shore.

     The most satisfying part of our time spent here was to be serenaded and visited by a Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus), truly a splendid little bird.

     It was not at all shy about keeping company with us.

     Our native ecosystems are full of invaders that have no place here, yet are now well established. Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus bifrons) is one more competitor for indigenous plants.

     On the way back, we decided to visit Sitting Lady Falls.

     Very little water was flowing and it's a bit of a stretch to visualize a sitting lady, but when the torrent is greater the resemblance is quite clear.

     Here is an image taken from the internet.

     It was perhaps fitting that an American Crow was once again the final bird we saw. I am not in any sense metaphysical, but it is comforting to conjecture that perhaps these intelligent birds recognize friends. It's harmless for me to believe so, anyway!

     I began this post with wise words from Charles Darwin, and I am moved to end with more.

"There is a grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and wonderful have been, and are being evolved."

     If only we could learn to take a little more care of them.

Book Review - Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs - Princeton University Press

 

      It would appear to me that there has been a great resurgence of interest in prehistoric life of late, and not just among paleontologists and other scientists involved with studying it. It is perhaps the spectre of exponentially increasing extinctions looming on the near horizon that fuels a desire to understand more fully the events of the distant past. Mass extinction has occurred several times before, but always as a result of natural forces; here in the Anthropocene it is being driven by human excess and the lack of willingness to tackle the issue in any serious way.

     This book is a very welcome addition to the current literature, focussing as it does on oceanic life. Our seas are warming, ocean levels are rising, currents that control life as we know it are changing course; the book is timely indeed.

     A collaboration between four distinguished French scientists has resulted in a superlative volume, enhanced greatly by the evocative and factually accurate illustrations of Alain Bénéteau. I would be willing to wager that I am not unique when I say that these representations fill me with wonder, almost childlike in its dimensions. To muse about life in outer space is one thing, to contemplate the lives that preceded us here on Earth is quite another. There is wonderment in what has gone before.

     Not only are we treated to gripping coverage of the fantastic sea reptiles of the Mezozoic era, we meet some of the personalities in the evolution of knowledge; especially as it relates to fossil collecting. Most significant is the coverage of Mary Anning, the first paleontologist (although she would never have been accorded that title in the nineteenth century when women were little more than chattels) and her remarkable discoveries. 

     We make the acquaintance of icthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mososaurs, we come to know thalattosaurs and archosauromorphs - and many others. Details of their anatomy are revealed, adaptations to their environment, breeding methods, feeding, their role as predator and prey, and we come to understand why and how many ancient creatures reverted back to a life in the sea and how this was accomplished. What of their descendants today, sea turtles and sea snakes?  All is revealed! 

     Fossil hunting has become greatly sophisticated in recent years and technological advancement facilitates analysis and understanding in ways barely dreamed of just short years ago.

     The book contains a fine glossary and a very helpful bibliography for those seeking to know more.

     It's a marvelous read providing great knowledge, yet all the while stimulating one's interest and fuelling an ever greater level of curiosity about the past. To say that it is timely and topical, relevant in so many ways to the current human condition is an understatement. 

     Carbon dioxide levels are nudging upwards, ocean acidification is on the rise - conditions that led to extinctions in the past.  Winston Churchill famously said, "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The statement was made in the context of human experience but it is no less valid if we choose to ignore the history of life on Earth.

     This is the book to help you understand at least some of it - and yes, we do need to heed the warnings.

Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs - Princeton University Press

Nathalie Bardet, Alexandra Houssaye, Stéphane Jouve and Peggy Vincent

Illustrated by Alain Bénéteau

Hardcover - US$29.95 - ISBN: 9780691243948

208 pages - 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm)

212 colour and black-and-white illustrations - 48 maps

Publication date: 21 November, 2023