CORMORANT CONGREGATION

Today was a much better day for getting out! No fog bank chasing me away!
I went down into Tranquil to see what was shaking? Found some Trumpeters & just a beautiful silence! I went into the cove down there & shut the motor off. I stood up in the boat looking at the northern wall of rock in the cove. I use to be a Geologist & am always fascinated with how a glacier can carve rocks like butter so uniformly! One can clearly see the striations the glacier left! A glacier will pick up large hard rocks under it’s nose. These rocks act as cutting bits as the glacier advances.If you’ve ever seen a large drilling bit,you’ll know what I mean.
I just stood there wondering? I am always amazed at how Nature works her magic!
This cove is where I would love to put a floathouse! I even know the exact spot!
I had my sweet treat for the day & decided I had better start on my way back. I stopped off at Rankin Rocks to take some shots of the Dunlin’s.
I had heard of some Orca’s being around & was mindful of that. I was watching for “blows”,but never saw any unfortunately.
I stopped at Tsapee Narrows to visit with the Daredevil.Both he & Delilah were active today. I did see Logan as well. He was on his normal perching tree just east of the Daredevil’s territory. I found some Dunlin’s on the point there as well.
Continued on my way. I went over to Morpheus island to see if Maggie was around today? She wasn’t yesterday. Sure enough she was & she flew out to greet me. Because the sun is still low in the sky,I have to go further north of Morpheus island than normal. At this time of day there is some shadow creeping too close for comfort. I’m always mindful of where the best light is.
Maggie circles me many times & is easy pickens for close up shots! She loves to pose for me & why I call her my girlfriend!
She went back to Morpheus & I started to take off. She saw me leaving & flew out quickly to chase me! She does this all the time! She’s such a pretty girl!
Had to say goodnight & continued on to visit with Romeo & Juliette. The light was PERFECT! I was surprised that Romeo didn’t pay me any attention? It was very foggy yesterday,so I didn’t & couldn’t stop to take any shots of him. He did fly out of the fog to greet me,proving eagles do have a “eagle eye” when it comes to seeing things!
Romeo couldn’t be bothered with me tonight! If I didn’t know better I’d say he was pissed off at me for not stopping yesterday! He’s never acted this way before? I hope he gets over it.
I left them both & looked around for some harbour shots. I went to watch the sunset & was hoping to see a “Green Flash”,but alas it didn’t happen. The sun did deform as it set however. There was (as per normal with the ocean) a cold layer of air just above the ocean. This air is denser because of being colder. When the light enters this cold layer it bends (refracts) slightly. Thus deforming the sun’s shape.

All in all another outstanding days shoot in paradise folks!

DUNLIN HEAVEN

QUALITY TIME

I found these two eagles down in Tranquil Inlet. Tranquil is a large area,so there are many eagles down there. I would have to stay down there for awhile to become familiar with who is who & where they live.
Notice the size difference. The female is on the left. That mountain face is several miles away.

TRANQUIL’S TRUMPETER’S

PRECARIOUS PERCH

ADORABLE DUNLIN’S

THE DAREDEVIL WITH DELILAH HANGING AROUND

MAGGIE BEING MAGGIE

FACES OF MAGGIE

TOUCH DOWN

MV “GEORGIA TRANSPORTER”

I saw this boat coming into the harbour from the north. I glassed it as I didn’t recognize it at a distance? I have never seen this boat before. It was being used by BC Hydro. They are laying a submarine power cable down just north of Tofino. It’s part of the power grid to Ahoushat. A Native village northwest of Tofino.

HARBOUR SUNSET

REFRACTION

The sun deformed somewhat tonight as it set. It did this because of a colder layer of air just above the oceans surface. The air is denser when it’s colder & thus refracts or bends the light when it enters this cooler layer.

DRYING OUT

One of the most significant factors affecting the light for my photography are clouds. The clouds block the light & everything looks so drab! No light,no pictures basically!
So I began to pay attention to the weather. I started using real time satellite sites to see what was coming my way. So I inadvertently became a arm chair meteorologist. I’m not a expert on weather by any means but do pay attention to what is going on around me. I Twitter the weather every morning for Tofino & have 200 or so signed up.
I wake up every morning, look at various sites & make my prediction for that day.I’d like to think I’m fairly accurate but the truth is I’m way off base sometimes!
That’s what happened today! I thought it was going to stay cloudy with a chance of some precip? There was a large cloud system moving up from the Sates & I thought it was going to hug the coast & stick around?
Turns out a mini-high pressure system developed right around Tofino! It was clear north,south & west of Tofino for many miles!
So I corrected my mistake on Twitter & headed out in my boat. I had no sooner gotten out & was fueling up when I noticed a fog bank moving in!
I call these moments “Sucker” moments! Mother Nature had just suckered me! I couldn’t do anything but try to make the most of it.It takes a lot of effort to haul my boat/gear down to the water & I wasn’t about to return so quickly empty handed! I looked across the harbour & saw the fog was already putting the harbour into darkness. I knew instantly that I wouldn’t be visiting Romeo & Juliette today! So I turned around & headed over to visit Maggie & Moe before the light was gone there too! It would only take 10 minutes before the darkness eclipsed the entire harbour!
Unfortunately Maggie was nowhere to be found (i suspect she might of been on the nest?). I had to keep moving eastward to stay out of the fogs shadow. So I headed down to Tsapee Narrows to visit with the Daredevil. I got a few shots of him doing his thing & continued eastward.I went up into Fortune Channel & thought I might look for some bears? Normally I wouldn’t of done this because it’s still too early but I had no choice today. Couldn’t see any bruins anywhere & decided to continue northward around Meares island! I heard that a pod of 12 Orca’s had been spotted less than 24 hours earlier on the north side of Meares & thought maybe I could get lucky if they were still in the area?
They weren’t around but I did take a few shots around Matlset Narrows. I continued around Meares & could see the fog had moved around the NW corner of Meares. It was thick & cold! I couldn’t see the land but continued forward feeling my way around. I finally worked my way back into the harbour. I had to go right by Deadmans island where Romeo & Juliette live. I couldn’t stop for a visit because the light was totally gone!
I did see Romeo coming out of the fog to greet me however & yelled to him sorry for not stopping!
The entire area was draped in a dull drab cold pale! I was glad to come in out of that stuff & get home where it was warm.
Mother Nature cut my shoot short today & my subject matter was sparse at best,but I still had fun & hey,thats what it’s all about………..right!

MR.HERON

Today was fuel day. I take my fuel jug & fill it up. While I was there,I noticed this Heron close by! I decided to use a large boat as cover & sneak up on it.Worked like a charm!
I’ve learned that as long as I don’t move when it spots me,I can get close. As soon as I move,it realizes I’m a animal & is out of there!

WHERE IS MAGGIE?

Maggie wasn’t around today. I did see Moe & he only stared at me.
I can only assume she must be on the nest expecting?

SHOPPING FOR SUPPER

DUNLIN’S

THE DAREDEVIL

CARVING

MATLSET NARROWS EAGLE

A FOGGY CATS FACE

THE “HARVEST KING” COMING BACK IN

NERVOUS!

I do not know these eagles & they do not know me.So anytime I meet strangers,they do not hang around very long! They get nervous & take off!
I had maybe 30 seconds before this eagle booked it!

HARBOUR SEAL

SKIMMING

DELILAH

HEADING DOWN THE INLET

MAGGIE FLIPPING OUT

MAGGIE

SUNSET STRIKE

PERFECT FORM

ROMEO & JULIETTE AT SUNSET

ROMEO

STORM SEARCHING

ICU

My furry friends should be coming out of their winter’s sleep soon? I can’t wait to see them again! Many remember me & I’m sure there will be new small faces to become familiar with too!

LIGHTHOUSE SUNSET

I shot this on April 27th,2009. Lennard Island Lighthouse is a great spot for sunset. I almost never go out there during the winter. Way too rough!
I always try to get the sun in the background with the Lighthouse in the foreground. I cannot line them up in the winter anyways. The sun is too far south to be able to line up with the Lighthouse.

ERNIE & ETHEL

The sun came out too late in the day to justify me getting out in my boat. So I went out to the beach & shot a few. I saw both Ernie & Ethel chillin up their perch on Strawberry island & couldn’t resist. Strathcona mountains have a nice coating of snow on them finally! I think it’s the first time I’ve seen that much snow on them this winter!

MR.RAVEN

BEACH SHELL

ENJOYING THE DAY

DAYS END

HOME SWEET HOME

COMING HOME

THE THREE STOOGES

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

I originally shot this on May 23rd,2009. The collective noun for a group of Otters is a “raft”.
I saw a small raft of Otter’s on a dock & sneaked up on them. I used a boat as cover. I had the motor off so as to be silent. I paddled around the bow of the boat & they didn’t even see me. I was in perfect position!
Otters are very territorial! When they smell another animals scent,they make sure to scent on top of it. They have musk glands that give off a very strong scent!
This Otter had just smelled the rope behind it. It must of had the boat owners scent on it & he was just finishing his scenting when he spotted me!

FLOW

EL CAPITAN

EL CAPITAN’S WINTER MORNING

HALF DOME SUNSET

Half Dome is a solid mass of very hard granite! It was sheared in half by the last glaciation more than 2 to 3 thousand years ago! This area has had at least three major glacial events.