MY SHADOW AND MY FURRY FRIEND!

My furry friend and I spent a lovely evening together! She munched on sea asparagus and I took pictures of her munching on sea asparagus! She didn’t mind me being close to her at all. The light was perfect!

FEATHERED MISADVENTURES

I was told by a good friend that there was an injured Eagle up in Fortune Channel! So I gathered my gear, included capturing gear, and headed out.

Some tourists had reported an injured Eagle. Whenever tourists report anything I’m cautious. Most do not know what they are seeing?

It took me over a hour to get out there. So when I arrived at the spot where they had seen the eagle,there was no eagle? I expanded my search area to 3 miles and did 4 passes. Still nothing.

So here is what I think happened. An eagle had tried to get a fish but accidentally went into the water. It was close enough to shore,so it swam. They literally do a breaststroke. It made it to shore but was hypothermic and so couldn’t fly. They instinctively will climb as high as they can get (to protect themselves from ground predators) and wait to warm up. Once they feel warmer, they’ll shake to remove as much water as possible. Then once fully recovered, they’ll fly off.

The tourists had spotted not an injured eagle but a very cold eagle I bet. This is why I’m reluctant to act upon what I hear from tourists. But hey,……..I had to check to make sure one of my friends wasn’t injured.

In the process of searching I came across a bear. Looked like a 3 year old female. She was a real sweetheart! I enjoyed spending time with her.

I could see to the south the fog spilling over the ridge. That meant everything was socked in and the only pictures I would be getting would be up in Fortune. So I stayed with her for over an hour. She really loved the sea asparagus! I’ve seen them sell that stuff in the local supermarket.

When I left I bundled up as I knew the fog would be cold. Sure enough the fog was not only cold but it had sat down and I couldn’t see anything! I practice going from point to point as If I’m on a compass bearing all the time. I’m very mindful of this! So because I’m very familiar with points of land I was able to get back to town without a compass or GPS. I do have both but wanted to test my abilities…….and I passed!

I am glad there was no injured eagle and that I found such a beautiful bear!

THE DAREDEVIL

None of you would know this but It takes a huge amount of work for me to go out on an evening shoot in my boat! So to reduce the number of times I get snookered by the clouds (snuffed),I look at the radar feed as well as the Cox bay camera.

Monday night was the last night for me to be able to get eagle/moon shots! Also,I have been waiting for years to get an excellent shot of Tofino with a moon over it! Only problem with that idea is that Tofino faces north! The only way I could get a shot of Tofino with the moon over it is if the moon was rising really far south………..and it was this time around! (Buck moon)

I checked and the azimuth for the moon was around 130 degrees! Which is really far south! I’ve never seen the moon that far south before!

So on Sunday the moon rose at 6:45 pm but the next day it was rising at 8:08 pm! That is a huge jump! Remember that the sun was setting at 9:26 pm and it takes at least an hour to get high enough to be able to see. If I waited until Tuesday to go out the moon would be rising way too late! So I went out Monday but in hindsight…….I shouldn’t have!

As I was riding down to the boat shed I spotted a fog tongue far off in a distant inlet. I knew the main body that tongue came from was close by. Radar does not pick up fog btw. I knew instantly that there was a good chance the fog could advance into the harbour, snuffing the light for me and ruining my chance at getting some great shots! But because I was up against the wall on this one I “pushed” it. Pushing things is almost a guarantee to screw things up and in this case,……yep!

Once I was out on the water I headed down to Tsapee Narrows to visit with the Daredevil! He flew over to greet me and seemed perky enough! I looked to the west and saw the fog bank had already eclipsed the harbour and was advancing eastward towards me! I knew instantly the evening shoot was gone!

I stayed for a while with my friend but had to say goodbye cause the light was saying goodbye! So I decided to go up into Fortune Channel to look for bears. It’s always sunny up there even when the fog has pushed inland! Unfortunately for me I couldn’t find any bears.

I was not amused.

So I headed back and noticed some light far off to the west! I was hoping It would clear by sunset but that was being overly optimistic!

Romeo came over, true but looked sluggish. It’s almost molting season and molting really drains their energies!

I was so disappointed that I didn’t even post these on Monday night. I wasn’t going to post them at all to be honest but changed my mind as a few friends thought the shots had merit.

Maybe next month?

LOOKING ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES

You can tell molting is around the corner for my friend here The Daredevil. Look at the edges of his tail feathers. They should be round and smooth but instead look terrible!

ROMEO

I went to visit with my friend Romeo. He did come over when I called but to be honest he seemed very lethargic. July and August are bad months for getting eagle action shots because they are preparing for or going through molting. Which zaps their energy supply big time!

I do appreciate my friend coming over to say hello even If he felt low in energy!

HAPPY CANADA DAY

I decided to do something different this year for Canada Day. I rode my bike along Chesterman’s beach towing my kite behind me. I attached a Canadian flag below the kite! Not only does it look great but also acts like a rudder. It keeps the kite from diving. (which Bat kites are famous for) I also attached a colourful fish windsock!

Now this is where I need to explain something about beaches……they are always windy! Unfortunately for me, the usually breezy beach was very calm. However the speed of my bike was just enough to counter the lack of wind and keep the everything aloft!