Little Qualicum

A miserable wet day today, so a good time to get caught up on last years island trip. This morning we'll visit Little Qualicum Falls Park and then this afternoon, head back to the beach.

Besides Rathtrevor, there are two other provincial park campsites in the immediate area of Parksville on Vancouver Island. One of them is Englishman River and would have been our preference for staying at - had it been open for camping - as my daughters place is within walking distance. Unfortunately, since the operation of these campgrounds was privatized a few years ago, they are now no longer accessible year round like they used to be. The other campground, Little Qualicum Falls, is further west and not far from where we used to live, we would often load a few of the dogs up and head there for an after supper walk.

So on March 21st of last year, we headed there for old times sake. There is a lovely network of trails, some of which are pretty steep as they follow the river which drops dramatically through the confines of the park. The above view is a part of the lower falls. A bridge crosses the river and this view is looking up from the bridge area. There are more falls on the other side of the bridge.

This view is part of the upper falls. Again a bridge crosses over the river just upstream from here. I remember one winter when this entire area was frozen solid. Somewhere I have some pretty dramatic pictures that we took - in the days of pre-digital.

As the trail goes past the upper falls, you reach a flatter area. This photo gives a pretty good idea of what a west coast rainforest looks like!

An opening with a marshy area at the edge of the forest.

With one of my favorite signs of spring - Skunk Cabbages. I have always loved Skunk Cabbages, perhaps because they are just so cheerful looking and a definite sign that spring is on it's way.

Drive to Manning and beyond.......

First I guess I had better apologize to all of you have let me know how much you enjoy checking this site each day to see what has been posted. As you will all have noticed, nothing has been posted for a couple of days. Weekends tend to busy for us, either catching up on chores, or going somewhere to get more pictures......

As we live so close to Manning Park, and as it has so much to offer, we often pack a lunch and head there for the day. We try to make at least one trip up there during the winter, but this past winter there just hasn't been a suitable time, so it wasn't until yesterday, that we made the attempt.

As a birding trip, I'm afraid it was a bit of a bust!

We stopped in Hope for gas and coffee and then headed to the Hope Princeton highway (#3). Travelling through Sunshine Valley we noticed lots of Robins - a definite sign that spring was on it's way. This photo shows the Skagit river as it runs along beside the highway. As you can see the river was open and flowing with very little snow in the bushes. Pussywillows were in bloom. We kept our eyes open for any sort of bird life along the highway and with the exception of something very large and white that we spotted right at the works yard at Alison Pass and lost sight of in the trees, we didn't see a single solitary bird.

We headed to the day use area at Lightning Lakes. As mentioned earlier, we normally make this winter trip in winter - usually in February, and we are used to finding a full parking lot with people travelling about on cross country skis or snowshoes and the trees full of Gray Jays, Clark's Nutcrackers and Crows, all begging for hand outs. This year we got to the parking lot and there was nothing but this bus which was stuck and one other car besides ours and not a bird to be found!

The bus was still stuck when we left. Staff from the Manning Park lodge had arrived and were there assisting. We walked around the area a bit. It was cloudy and 2 degrees. From there we drove up to the ski area where there were quite a few people but again, no birds. Stopped at Strawberry Flats and we did finally spot one Gray Jay. A cross country skier was admiring our car and we started talking and he said the birds were all out along the trails where the people were. We could hear a Pileated Woodpecker drumming off in the forest but that was it.

At this point it isn't quite lunch time yet and the trip was a bit of a downer, so we decided to continue on in an eastward direction. Got to Princeton and continued heading east to the rest area at Bromley Rock.

This is the picnic area at Bromley Rock rest area. As you can see, it was snow free and the river was virtually ice free. Although cloudy, it was a mild 7 c degrees. There is a small campground in this location as well, situated along the river and according to the website, it is set to open April 1st, so there will definitely be no problem with that.

A closer view of the 'rock' that gives this location it's name. We ate our lunch here and then turned back towards Princeton. Anyone who knows us would know that simply going back the same way we came isn't our way, so when we got to Princeton we turned north and headed up the old highway towards Merritt. The weather improved as we headed northwards, with less cloud and more blue sky appearing.

Areas of water alongside the highway that had any movement at all were open and flowing, only some of the lakes were still frozen. This area had Canada Geese, these Hooded Mergansers, and a pair of Barrow's Goldeneye.

Another open area of water and very little snow along the highway. We proceeded northwards to one of our favorite campgrounds, at least in the 'off' season - Kentucky Allyene.

This is a portion of the campground on Allyene Lake. Unfortunately I didn't get over to Kentucky Lake this trip. Our car was parked at the side of the road that runs through the campground and since I had all my camera equipment in the car, I didn't want to chance letting the vehicle out of our sight. As you can see, another few days of mild temperatures and the campground would be snow free. The lake, although still frozen look's 'rotten' so it doesn't look like it will be too long before the ice is off the lake. We spent a very enjoyable Easter here a few years ago, parked on the shores of Kentucky Lake, which was frozen when we first arrived, but ice free when we left. I had never witnessed the ice coming off a lake before and didn't realize how quickly it happens. One day it is frozen, the next it isn't.

While my husband was off exploring with the dog, I heard a woodpecker working on a tree and finally located this 3 Toed Woodpecker working over a huge big pine tree. Of course the bird had to stay on the shady side of the tree, way up over my head, so I was standing on a slope of slippery pine needles, looking straight up which is why this is the best of the dozen or so pictures I attempted.

By this time it is getting on, so we hit the road once again and were quickly on the Connector and heading towards Merritt.

I took this photo just because I thought the way the snow was laying on the hills looked neat. Stopped in Merritt for top up of gas and coffee and then headed for the Coquilla and home. It was a sunny 10 c degrees in Merritt.

Finding Brant

Think I am having a bit of a brain freeze today, or maybe it is just water logged from all the rain we've had the last couple of days. Today is supposed to be the first day of Spring - couldn't prove it by me! Anyway, I seem to have managed to upload all these pictures in the reverse order of how I wanted them, so you will just have to bear with me.

We went looking for Brant this day last year, and obviously, we found them. At Qualicum Beach there is a viewing platform that has a sign on that says it is a Brant viewing site - we never actually saw any Brant from that spot. We found that to find the Brant, we had to find the beach, easier said than done as most of the beaches are lined with houses, but if you just sort of point your vehicle towards the water and start driving along streets, you find that there are areas that have beach access and spots for a car or two to park, so this is what we did. It isn't very comfortable walking on beaches that are in essense someones front yard, but beaches do belong to everyone.

The above picture shows a flock of Brant in flight.

The above photo shows the amount of activity in the water with Brant and Gulls.

We were surprised to see these Bonaparte Gulls. I've seen Bonapartes up north and in Alberta, during breeding season and hadn't associated them with Vancouver Island.

The above shot shows Bonaparte and Mew Gulls - I think the Herring roe is the great attraction.

Brant riding the waves.

Riding the waves some more.

An overview of the amount of activity at the beach - look at all the birds in the background. There were Bald Eagles among them, although I don't think they show up in this photo.

Another general view of the busy beach.

March 19th then and now.......

Before I start I want to mention that if you click on any of the pictures in this blog - that will bring them up to full screen size. Since this site allows you to upload pictures at full resolution - most of the pictures look much better as a full screen. The exceptions being those that were taken in really poor light, or that I have cropped down considerably. Of course full screen shows up the flaws in the photos that I missed while editing - my camera had a dust problem and was taken in for a good cleaning following this trip. To get back to the blog itself - use your 'Back' button.
So March 19th today is a miserable wet day. About the only good thing you can say about it is it is rain and not snow! As you can see from the picture below, it was a lovely day last year, at least in the morning. This is another scene of Miracle Beach - not as stormy as the last ones. Once more we are at the 'dog' area. We went for a long walk in the morning, before packing up and heading back down island. We had an appointment for Easter Dinner at my 'Parksville' daughter's - Easter was on March 23rd last year - and since one of the reasons we had come over to the island at this time of the year was to see the Brant and as so far we had only seen them that one evening, we figured we should move back, at least temporarily, to where the Brant were located.

As we drove through Qualicum and Parksville we noticed a large congregation of boats, all clustered together. Turns out there was a Herring opening and all the boats were sort of jockeying for position and waiting for the exact hour to approach.

When we got back to Rathtrevor, this was when we found that the almost empty campground was now almost full, thanks to Easter and Spring Break coinciding. We found a spot up in the back, close to one of the walking trails and set up camp again for the next few days.

After supper we walked down to the water. The above shot shows part of the trail system that runs along the shoreline. This section was very new. Other sections are nicely outlined with attractive split rail fences as the park tries to funnel people from the trail, to the beach area, using only certain paths, rather than just cutting through where ever and destroying the vegetation in the process.

As we neared the beach we could hear a great ruckus, gulls crying and a lot of 'barking'.

Some of the Herring fishing fleet were right off shore.

and what a commotion! Too bad we couldn't capture the sound! (I have a video recorder now and if I can figure out how to use it, that won't be a problem next time - of course I always forget that 2 of our 3 digital cameras - excluding the camcorder - can also record videos). Turns out the 'barking' was coming from seals and or sea lions, they were everywhere, but impossible to get pictures of.

The weather had deteriorated to a drizzle, the tide was high and it was getting dark, but we enjoyed all the frenzied activity.

A drive up island

March 18th of last year we decided to take a drive 'up island'. Initially, when we had planned this trip, I had wanted to go as far north as Port Hardy and had checked to see if there was an RV park open there, in mid-March and had found that there was - however, my elder daughter told us in no uncertain terms that we had to be out of our minds to think of travelling the north island at that time of the year, so we decided to 'take a drive' and see if our daughter was right.

I've never been much further north than Campbell River. We lived on the island during the 1980's which, of course, was a time of economic recession. Although I never had a problem finding a job, in fact worked at two and even three different jobs at times - my husband, who is a steel fabricator by trade, wasn't so lucky. In those days, you took any job you could find, which is how he found himself working as a 'tree spacer' and is how he became quite familiar with most of the north island.

So this day we packed a lunch and pointed the truck north. As you can see, it was a nice sunny day as we started out. This is Union Bay, just south of Campbell River on the 'old' highway. Incidentally, if you are travelling on the island and you want to 'see' and experience the island, from at least Parksville northwards, you travel the 'old highway'. The 'new' Island Highway is designed strictly to get from A go B and takes an inland route away from the water. There is a nice rest area at Union Bay where you can go for a bit of a walk, or just sit and enjoy the area.

Union Bay is known to birders because of it's well established Purple Martin colony. Of course it was too early for Purple Martins. The tide was out and all that was visible was this flock of Dunlin.

This Double Crested Cormorant was enjoying the morning sunshine, just off shore. We travelled northward, through Campbell River where the old and the new highway merge to become one, and continued on. As we reached territory that my husband had worked in, he wanted to show me a spot he had fond memories of - sitting eating lunch while watching whales playing. This required turning off the highway onto a forest service type road. Something I am always leery of when we are driving our present 2 wheel drive pick up truck, but it was a beautiful sunny day, so figured it couldn't be too risky.

I can't remember the name of where we were headed, but on the way we passed this large, scenic lake named McCreight Lake. There were a number of forestry sites on the lake and we stopped at one of them in order to use the facilities and take some pictures. The road would travel along the side of this lake, through that little 'notch' just to the right of the middle of the photo. The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful and we arrived at the destination with no problem only to find it was not as it had been in the 80's - in fact felt like a bit of a 'deliverance' moment - to the point we couldn't get turned around and out of there fast enough.

Back to the main highway and on we went. The area along the highway was actually quite nice. Lots on neat and tidy farms. I think it was an area where mainly Mennonites lived. By lunchtime we had reached Sayward so we turned off the highway into what we thought would be a small town. My husband pointed out a pub that apparently was renowned in the area - can't remember what for.....

And so we reached a pier which was the end of the road. Sayward is where the B.C. Ferry to Prince Rupert used to leave from when it was first brought into being. Now, of course, the ferry leaves from Port Hardy. The ferry would have pulled out and rounded that little peninsula and then headed northwards.

As you can see, the weather had deteriorated somewhat by this time but there was a rest area with informational signs, so we sat here and ate our lunch - in the rain. We had passed a large estuary area as we came in that looked like it could be an interesting place to walk around in better weather.

There was an area where you could drive out, so we did. This shot is looking southwards while the one above would be looking eastwards. There was an abandoned building at the entrance to this area with the spray painted sign that read ' we live here, you don't, now go away' - not the sort of welcome that makes you want to stay or return to an area, so Sayward has now be relegated to the 'been there, done that' list.

Back to the highway and northwards once more. This is where the country really started to change, become much more rugged and mountainous.

and as these pictures show, it was still very much winter in these parts. My daughter had been right. We stopped at one filthy and disgusting rest area at the side of a lake that was still completely frozen and still had snow banks all around the edge.

Continued on a bit further until we came to another rest area, this one in a bit better shape, but by then we had decided that was it, time was passing, so we turned south and headed back to the trailer, with a stop in Campbell River for some fast food Chicken for supper.

St. Patricks Day - then and now

Well it may be St. Patrick's Day but the luck of the Irish doesn't seem to be extending to the weather department as the warmest we've reached so far today is 2.5 c degrees and it has been another mixed up day of almost sunshine, snow, and rain.

Last year on St. Patrick's Day, we were still at Miracle Beach on Vancouver Island. A morning walk revealed a bit more in the shorebird department. The American Golden Plovers were joined by some Black Turnstones and Dunlin.

along with a few Glaucous Wing Gulls. In the afternoon the beach was occupied by a different sort of life as our three grandchildren came for a visit.

I'm sure our grandchildren are convinced we live in our 18 1/2 foot trailer as the youngest has never been to where we do live (which isn't all that much bigger - being a park model trailer) and the older two were probably too young to remember the house we used to own and that they both visited at.

Last year it was a nice enough day for playing with bubbles outside. This shot also gives a glimpse of the size and the general type of vegetation that the Miracle Beach campground is located in.

March 16th, last year

Today is our grandson's 6th birthday ~ so that means that last year, we were there to help celebrate his 5th, and to do that, we moved further up the island. Our favorite camping spot up island is Kitty Coleman Provincial Park just north of Courtney, but Kitty Coleman wasn't open that early in the season, so we proceeded to Miracle Beach Provincial Park which is about half way between Courtney and Campbell River. Miracle Beach is another beautiful area with a vast sandy beach (where dogs aren't allowed) for swimming and playing in the sand, and a more northerly section of rockier beach where dogs are allowed. There is also a fairly extensive trail system. We pulled into campground to be greeted by a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers and the sound of a Red Breasted Sapsucker busy drumming on top of a light standard. Robins were everywhere and we even spotted a Yellow Rump Warbler almost as soon as we pulled into the campsite.
As soon as we were set up (which doesn't take long - we've had lots of practise!) we headed to the 'dog' section to see what we could see. On the way, this little Winter Wren was in a ditch like area right beside the roadway. Winter Wren had been at every campsite we had been at so far, but they aren't the easiest of birds to photograph, partly due to their love of dark damp places, but this little guy posed nicely. These dark and stormy pictures aren't likely to make you rush to Miracle Beach - but it was March afterall. I do have nice sunny pictures of the area, but they weren't taken on this trip so it would be cheating to post them.

The rockier areas of the beach are always more interesting for birdlife. We had hoped to see more in the way of shorebirds but it was a little too early for that. This American Golden Plover was one of several seen that first day.

Mid afternoon we headed northward to Campbell River taking the scenic route, better known as the 'old highway' which runs right along the water front. Between the highway and the beach itself there is a linear park with a paved walking/cycling path that runs the whole length. As our dogs were to be relegated to the truck while we partook of the birthday dinner, we got them out for another bit of a walk before heading up the hill to my daughters house which overlooks this beach area.

These Cormorants (all Double Crested except for one Pelagic on the extreme right) were just off shore.

a little further along, another rock with more Double Crested Cormorant and one Great Blue Heron.

The Heron flew off, only to land a little further up the beach and by that time it was time for us to fly off to a birthday celebration.