I'm on my way back to Ontario after a quick trip to Vancouver to visit a beloved friend. Another visitor to these parts at this time of year is the bald eagle. My friend and I went for a walk in Lighthouse Park yesterday and we could hear the eagles squeeking at each other, but I didn't get any pictures unfortunately. The forest was very dark and wet, and the tops of the ancient Douglas Firs disappeared into the mist -- well beyond my meagre photography skills to capture properly, I'm afraid.
Here are a few shots from a walk along the less photographically challenging Steveston Dyke, at the end of No. 1 Road in Richmond. The Siberian Snow Geese and eagles hugged the shoreline, just out of reach of my zoom lens. A heron played hide and seek with me, obviously concerned about being on the receiving end of too much attention.
Only a few years ago this walk along the Dyke was tranquil, bordered on one side by marsh and ocean and by fine farmland on the other. This farmland was supposedly protected by the ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve). It has all been swallowed by suburbia now, and the only remaining patch of green space has been transformed into a "nature park". The roar of jets taking off from the Vancouver International Airport across the bay is constant and unrelenting. This piece of land, one of the most important migratory flyways for birds in North America, is no longer peaceful. No wonder the heron was nervous.
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