QUINSAM RIVER in the PINK

 This morning we decided to go down to the Quinsam River and see the thousands upon thousands of pink salmon that had returned. It is being said that there are over 160,000 salmon and more to come over the next three weeks. They were not exaggerating.

 It was amazing. Pink  upon Pink  sloshed together, flopping, writhing, scrunching together in the river. So many, that you could just "walk across their backs", as the saying goes. It was hard to resist the urge to just reach in just to touch them. And no, you couldn't just get a net and scoop them up.....

 30 years ago the salmon run all but disappeared. And now it's back. Anglers  flocking to fish in the stream, swarming with fins.

  When we were there today, people were leaning over the water to see the salmon, some to fish, others to just sit on the banks and watch the Pinks smack against the water.

  The smell of fish and the smell of animal.....large animal....was incredibly strong. Bears have been here , stuffing themselves silly.Carcasses of salmon were strewn all over. Bear scat on the river banks.

                  Trails lead from one river point to the next, and  all swarming with salmon.

 Quinsam River is a tributary leading to the actual Campbell River. Standing on the edge of the gate, is probably one of the best viewing areas to see the Pinks. The Hatchery gates are open at 7:30 every day and locked at 4:30pm. Lots of parking. Lots of trails. Lots of Pinks.

 Some of the species that are managed here are the Pink,Coho,Chinook, Steelhead and Trout.

      The Hatchery is 5 km west of downtown Campbell River, a really easy drive if you live in the area. Today was a very noisy day on the trails.....birds , a jungle of them, making a cacophony of sound. Probably all talking about the Pinks. The eagles were positively shrieking.

                                       

 Pinks have been known to travel thousands of kilometres.And there were thousands of them today. They looked a little frantic to me, but I would be frantic too, if I was stuck in a stream with a thousand others.Knowing that this was probably the end....eventually.

                And at the same time,I noticed  the first signs of fall were showing.....the maples starting to turn golden. Six more weeks of summer.......give or take. But meanwhile, there a Pinks to watch.

SWEET PEA COLLAGE

  (Hummingbird in black and white)

"The course of nature is the art of God" ( E. Young)

                       "Deep in their roots...........

                                          All flowers keep the light." (Theodore Roethke)

                               "I love to think of nature as an unlimited....................

                 ....broadcasting station, through which God speaks..................
\                
                     ....to us every hour, if we only will tune in." (G. Washington Carver)

 

       "The year's at the spring and day's at the morn; Morning's at seven, the hillside's dew-pearled;

                             
                     .....The lark's on the wing; the snail's on the thorn;
                                   God's in his heaven  all's right with the world. " (Robert Browning)
 
                                              

Deer With Velvet Horns

 Once upon a time there was  Gold Cat.  Once upon a time there was Deer with velvet horns.
                     Horns as fuzzy as bottle brushes. Deer came almost every day.

                              

                 Gold Cat was a most enterprising ally. Gold Cat  would lead Deer to the choice places .
 Deer would stand and marvel at the  yummy things  in the garden. Gold Cat always knew where to find the best eats.               
      A smorgasbord  in the wild.  "Yum," thought Deer. "Yawn," thought Gold Cat.

 Over time, it became apparent   Gold Cat acted as look out. Deer snuffled leftover sunflower seeds on the ground. An unspoken  language between them. Gold Cat wondering why  Deer would eat seeds. Nasty things. Gold Cat much preferred kitty treats.

 When apples ripened on the trees, Gold Cat would stand guard, while Deer slurped  juicy fruit. Gold Cat wondered again what Deer saw in apples.  All he could hear was the crunch-crunch-slobbering of Deer.  Messy eater, Gold Cat thought, as he daintily licked his fuzzy paws.
                            
 Deer stuffed himself silly with yellow apples. It was a good summer for apples. And plums. And blueberries. And flowers. Oh, the flowers, thought Deer. Yum, yum.
                                                        So nice of Gold Cat to keep him company.

                    Deer ate petunias till he burst.  Gold Cat purred. Dinner music.
                                                                                A sound  Deer seemed to enjoy.
        
                    Deer made sure to sniff  thank you. Gold Cat purred a reply.
      And then Deer with the velvet horns was gone. 
                          There were still so many apples  left. But that would be for another time, thought Gold Cat. His paws needed washing again. And  his nap was long overdue.
                                             Deer with the velvet horns would return.

                         

FROM PIER to BAY

 Sundown at the Pier. Sundown at Oyster Bay, Campbell River.  Quick. Grab a camera. Grab your friends, and family, and toddle down to the ocean. But hurry, the sun sets a little  faster every day. 

                                    Beautiful down at the Pier. In perfect light .............

 This week we got to go from the Pier to Oyster Bay with visiting friends, Ruth and Ian.We were so loaded down with camera gear, it was hard to  walk. So Ruth offered to  pack it along for us.

 
       Way to go, Ruth!                                       

         Ian and Ruth had earlier been sharing with us  their inspiring travel photography, from the Phillipines, Quangxi, Quinghai Province, China, Bali, Vijayanagan, Cambodia, to name a few. ( I'm sure I missed a few places, or have mispelled them).I learned  so much  from Ian's photography lessons, that we visited a local camera shop so I could pick up  a couple of  circular polarizing filters for my camera lenses. What a difference. Glare on water is  cut down, sky is vibrantly transformed......

The polarizing filter looks a lot like a lens from a sunglass, and when you rotate it, you can see changes in light. As a result the polarizing filter cuts out certain light to the camera, so you have to use longer shutter speeds, and try to keep the sun to your side and not at your back or shoot into the sun. But even if you do, the effects are surprising. And the night we went to the Pier, and Oyster Bay, the sunset did not disappoint.
  

At Salmon Point we were treated to something unique. The fishing boats were out in droves. And so were the leaping salmon. Hard to catch , and really odd to see:  hordes of sockeye on their run, throwing themselves out of the water.The only pic I could get was this one, with the leaping salmon in the centre ,  water ruffled beneath, as it flew intothe air.

      That old saying that the "fishing was so good they were  leaping into the boat", is  true. You could hear the slap on the water as the salmon smacked back into the ocean.

 We finally made it to Oyster Bay. Beautiful shoreline park between Courteany and Campbell River. A small area, about 4 and half acres, that takes about 15 minutes to toodle around.

About 158 species of birds have been found in the park. Winter birding at its best. It is along what is called the Pacific Flyway, a route for millions of birds that migrate. Mallard, American Wigeon, Ducks, Teals, and Northern Pintail,Glaucous-winged Gull, Mew Gull and Thayer's Gull. Ducks include Surf Scoter, Harlequin , Bufflehead, Goldeneye, plus Cormorants. I have also seen Swallows roosting in the pylons along the shore.And eagles, of course, sitting high up . Watching.

 
The mud flats give way to rocky beach, to sand bars and huge sky. This area was a relief camp at one time for out of work iron workers, and was built up with houses, back in the 30's. The camp was closed in the 1950's, and in the 1980's the area escaped several developers.  By 1989 Oyster Bay Park Association decided to set it up as a wildlife refuge.

                                   

And to think this bay was once considered for a coal port..................

     Kayaks drift up and down the passage, against a backdrop of mountains from the coast.

  

And the area is quiet , pristine, beautiful, and clean. With nothing but big sky and a few happy humans exploring its shores.

                                    

(Get more information about Winter Birding from http://islandnature.ca/)