Tunkwa Lake PP July 1, 2010

The July 1st, or Canada Day long weekend we headed to our favorite ‘home away from home’ – Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park.

as you can see, even though it was a long weekend it wasn’t terribly busy and we actually managed to grab the same campsite we’d had back at Easter…

Looking the other direction from our campsite and it was even quieter!  The only long weekend we won’t consider going to Tunkwa for is the May long weekend….I’m afraid that weekend has turned into a zoo!

The spot we were in was very ‘birdy’…primarily lots of these Savannah Sparrows…

Down in the little bay between the bluff and the spit, there were duck families….these ones being Barrow’s Goldeneye…

and here a Mallard family.

Wild Roses were just coming into full flower.

We set out on a walk, headed over to the north end of the lake….there was a Killdeer family in the area, with young ones and boy did the parents set up a ruckus every time anyone walked past!

a lot of American Coot with young in this area as well…

Pairs of Lesser Scaup…the males already loosing their brilliant breeding plumage, even though they haven’t yet had their families.  These ducks are late nesters…..as you’ll see when we are back here in a month or so.

Wildflowers were everywhere!  Here, these Alumroot growing on the cliff above Leighton Lake.

Looking towards Leighton, the blue are Small flowered Penstemon..

Here is a close up of that particular wildflower.

Goats beard, Alum Root and Grasses….

Everything was very green! 

As we walked along the trail on the north side of the lake we spotted this Common Loon with a youngster…always a good sign!

Another shot that shows just how ‘green’ the whole place was.

Death Camas were one of he prominent wildflowers in this area.

and Savannah Sparrows the prominent species of bird.

As usual, it was a good year for young Canada Geese….

These youngsters long past the ‘cute’ stage and into the gangly ‘adolescent’ stage…

As we walked back the sky was full of Common Nighthawks….

Back at the campsite I managed to get some pictures of the Least Flycatchers that must have been nesting in the bushy area beside us.

The weather was improving as we went for an evening walk…

Canada Geese in the evening sunshine…

Manning Park, June 27, 2010 – Part two

Time to get back to posting the rest of our day trip to Manning Park on June 27th….I’ve adjusted the live writer saving to automatically save postings so that won’t happen again!  Loosing the whole posting because the computer froze up! that is.

So after leaving Rhododendron Flats we decided to head up to the alpine meadows….

The road to the meadows is paved until the look out, then continues on as gravel, very wash boardy I might add, to the meadows.   On this day the gate was still across, blocking access as the road is only opened when completely thawed out and dry.  We parked at the gate and walked up the road.  This being a view off towards the west.

This Chipmunk was out and about and watched us go by…

The road itself, in this case we’re looking back the way we’d come…

Here is a close up of some of that Moss Phlox growing on the bank….remember when we had been here in early June on the way back from our big trip, this same plant was in full flower in the lower level campground.

Beside’s the Phlox there were lots of wildflowers in bloom, this one is called ‘Ball head Water leaf’…

The shrill call alerted us to this obviously nursing mother Yellow Bellied Marmot….she was down in the rocks on the lower side of the road.

Avalanche lilies carpeted the area in spots.  If all conditions fall just right and the road opens right to the meadows at exactly the right time when the Avalanche Lilies are in full bloom, it is a sight to behold….unfortunately, usually by the time the road opens the lilies are over.  We’ve only managed to see them in all  their glory once.

Here is a close up…Avalanche Lilies, by the way, are a favorite food of Black Bears, so always be ‘bear aware’ when you are in areas where they are in flower.

One thinks of Violets as being delicate little flowers but look at these guys growing in a crack in rock and obviously thriving!

From the meadows road we headed back down and over to the Beaver Pond…

Like Rhododendron Flats, this is another road side attraction with a short trail from a parking lot down to the pond itself.  We always check it out because you just never know what you’ll see here.

This Sticky Geranium Flower was growing right beside the trail…

Then we spotted these ducklings…..Goldeneyes for sure…I think Barrow’s Goldeneye…one of the ‘cutest’ of the ducklings.

Here is a closer look ~ the others were buzzing around on the water like little wind up toys!

There’s mom…

She was more concerned about keeping this male Mallard away….this guy is loosing his heads bright green breeding color and going into his ‘eclipse’ plumage.

On the way back to the car we spotted this older duckling….obviously from a different clutch.

By now the day had clouded over and rain threatened but we headed to Strawberry Flats for the last walk of the day…

Strawberry flats is located just off of the road that leads to the ski hill…in winter this trail forms part of the cross country ski trail network and in summer is the starting point for a number of more lengthy hikes.

The area has changed a lot over the years as the trees get larger there are less open areas but even so there is still an abundance of wildflowers…

These ‘Chocolate’ or ‘Checkered’ Lily were a great find this day.

Here a patch of Indian Paintbrush with an understory of Wild Strawberries that gives the are it’s name…

Lots of these Early Blue Violets mixed in with the Strawberries as well.

Here is a shot with the violets, strawberries and one of those Chocolate Lilies.

Heading back to the car, the floor in the denser part of the forest was carpeted with Yellow Violets..

And finally, as we head for home, this Mule Deer was browsing on the fresh leafs.  Thus bringing to a conclusion another day at Manning Park ~ a place that never seems to disappoint.

Manning Park – June 27, 2010

When last we met, we were here, at Manning Park, spending the last night of our 6 week trip.  On June 27th, which happens to be my husbands birthday, we drove back to Manning, just for the day.  Something we do quite often.

Our first stop was at Rhododendron Flats….

This small, road side attraction is at it’s best in late June when the native Rhododendrons are in flower.

a short, circular path, takes you through this natural garden.

here is a close up of this native plant known as Pacific Rhododendron.  This plant which is the state flower of Washington state, is only found in a few places in the Cascade Mountains and on Vancouver Island.  This spot in Manning being probably the most accessible.

another look at the area….

and now, because I had difficulty posting this the first time, I’m going to try again….and continue this trip to Manning at a later date.