TRAVELLING BRITISH COLUMBIA
FEBRUARY - AUGUST, 2007.
PETER & MARION COXON
Leaving “Down Under’s” hot and humid weather on the 21st February and arriving in Vancouver on a cold & rainy day, we felt tired but excited at returning to our favourite holiday destination for the fourth time. We had bought all the right clothing with us to tackle the elements, hired a Jeep for six months and were organised for “Our Trip of a Life Time”.
Our “Wish List” for Bird & Animal sightings this time was quiet small as previous trips have been exceptionally rewarding, and in any case ALL sightings are great!!
Snowy Owls, Grizzly Bears & Loons calling top the list.
George Reifel Bird Sanctuary (a must see location for Birders & Photographers alike), was our first destination, thousands of Snow Geese greeted us in the fields as we drove in – what a beautiful sight. We made enquiries regarding sightings of Snowy Owls for this year and 72nd Avenue, Ladner was suggested as a possibility, so off we went.
At minus 5 degrees with flurries we walked the dykes at 72nd Avenue, carrying our bins, spotting scope, & cameras, we spotted a Saw-whet Owl & four Snowy Owls on the golf course and with three Snowies amongst the logs on the water front we couldn’t believe our luck. We stayed for hours until the weather sent us back to the warm
th of our hotel. A return visit two days later rewarded us with seeing nine Snowies.
March 3rd saw us arriving at Beachcomber near Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island for a six week stay in a little cottage right on the waterfront, lovely and warm with resident Bald Eagles for company. During the next 6 weeks we had the most wonderful wildlife experiences.
Participation in the Brant Festival: – Photography course, Bird Banding Lecture, Meeting experienced Birders, seeing thousands of water birds. Herring Spawn, Brant Geese, Long Tailed Ducks. “Old Man” River Otter feasting on a cod, Sea Lions, Seals, Orcas, whales the list just goes on & on. !!!!- Parksville /Qualicum area has it all. !!!!
Tagging along, with local Birders from the Backyard Bird Store Group in Nanaimo, was also very rewarding with great bird sightings and knowledge acquired.
We have travelled a good percentage of Vancouver Island, West Coast, East Coast, North to Port Hardy, down to Victoria, Sidney and all in between and conclude that it is one of the finest locations for wildlife viewing in North America. This includes the surrounding waterways and Pacific Ocean.
British Columbia gave us the most unbelievable wildlife experiences this trip, we travelled 9,000 k’s approx. through out B.C
At last, whilst staying at Tyhee Lake (near Williams Lake), we were able to hear LOONS calling in the wild and watch them at close range. – YES!!!!!!
Visiting the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary and actually seeing Lucy and her 3 cubs bought us and the Rangers to tears. They hadn’t seen her for just on twelv
e months. We had read about Lucy and the other Grizzlys from books we had bought from B.C. in 2005. Grizzly Bear sightings were 8 in 90 minutes.
Staying in Prince Rupert gave us the chance to visit the Khutzeymateen and also travel by ferry to the Queen Charlotte Islands where we stayed for five days.
Chartering a float plane and flying down to Gwaii Haanas and visiting Ninstints First Nation World Heritage sight - a never to be forgotten experience.
The area of Stewart/Hyder on the BC / Alaska border has magnificent scenery, with wonderful Black Bear sightings and in Hyder, the Grizzly Bear viewing area at Fish Creek is a must. This gave us the pleasure of watching, at very close range, a Mother Grizzly with 3 second year cubs chasing, catching and feeding on fresh salmon.
The noise of the younger bears and watching them fight over the fish will stay with us always.
We are trying our hardest to visit British Columbia, Our Birding Pals and the Brant Festival one more time in 2009.
Kindest Regards,
Peter & Marion
Wellington Point, Australia
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