Triangle Island Birding Adventure - Day 2 - Part 1

April 25th :

The day of the pelagic!!! The sky was splotchy blue and very little wind was blowing. Up out of the comfortable bed at the cottage, chug down breakfast, and out the door I go. Golden-crowned Sparrows serenaded from the bushes, and an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk zoomed by overhead. The calls of Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, and Townsend's Warblers were pleasant to hear, as well as Golden-crowned Kinglets and CB Chickadees from the loping cedars. A scan of the water waaayyy down below produced dots of two Red-necked Grebes.

We jumped into the car, and headed to the Port McNeill boat docks in high hopes that this pelagic may actually depart!!! I looked up on a telephone wire on the way and was bewildered to see a pair of Eurasian Collared-Doves!!! :O Seriously, their up HERE now, too?!!! Arriving in Port McNeill, I started to see scattered birders heading to the boat docks, which was a calming reminder that we had driven to the right place! We screeched to a halt at the pier parking area, and it is sure beautiful there! Muddy shoreline ( ooh, shorebird potential ), rocky edges, gorgeous parkscape, and of course a stunningly perfect North Vancouver Island boat dock were just some of the sights to be seen! I went straight to the muddy shoreline, and grabbed looks at breeding plumage Dunlin, Western Sandpiper, and Least Sandpiper. The flock of around of 70 of these birds crowded the shoreline. A Greater Yellowlegs was also present, prowling the muddy shore. Here's a picture of the beautiful ( yes, I've used that term a LOT so far ) ripples in the water near the muddy shore. Spot the GRYE.



Suddenly, a Belted Kingfisher burst past, rattlingly calling ( is that a word? ) In the boat dock area, Hooded Mergansers and Bufflehead were swimming about. As we approached the boat that would *hopefully* take me and 33 other birders out to sea, I did a final check : binoculars - check, camera - check, adrenaline - check. The boat that we ( the pelagic birders ) would take was the Naiad Explorer, a crafty and efficient boat, with ample windows and deck space. I was dumb enough not to take a picture of the boat, but it is moreover a 40 foot, two-story, two-tone yellow and gray boat, with two outside deck platforms at the back of the boat.

With two backpacks, and birding equipment in toe : Canon photography equip, binos, notebook, field guide, etc, I jumped from the dock to the Naiad Explorer. Final goodbyes to mom, and I was all ready to go! One of the first people whom I met on the boat was Liron Gertsman, my birding friend who had amazingly organized this whole pelagic himself; and he's only 13 like me! Thank you very much, Liron! I then met the skipper of the boat, Bill Mackay, and his wife Donna, who are wonderful people, and kindly offered their boat for this pelagic. After laying my gear down, downstairs in the bottom of the boat, I climbed back up and scanned the water... aha! There were two Marbled Murrelets out in the bay - a lifer!!! Did you know that Marbled Murrelets choose to nest high up in cedars inland? Their breeding habits were unknown until 1974, when a nest was discovered inland in a park in California. MAMUs are listed as Endangered. Back to the birding. There were Red-necked Grebes there, too; now in breeding plumage, and starting to pair up. As more and more eager people piled onto the boat, it was clear that this excursion was going to leave on time!

Finally, the last birders trickling onto the Naiad Explorer, and the vessel turned on its motors, and pulled away from the dock! Groups of birders clustered to different sides of the boat, to get different angles of the water. I chose the front right corner, behind the bridge. As we pulled away, we immediately noted Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, several more Marbled Murrelets, and a couple 'o Rhinos :


Rhinoceros Auklet in typical viewing position

Double-crested and predominantly Pelagic Cormorants dashed across the bow, stern, and sides of the boat. Two Long-tailed Ducks zipped by behind the boat, which I almost missed. I did get them, though ( year-bird #165 ). While cruising away from port, I met Dave, a veteran of 24 pelagics, and Ed Jordan, a fantastic birder from the Quadra Islands, who is also a pelagic veteran. Directing full attention back to birds, I got distant views at another lifer, Black Scoter, way out in the middle of a SUSC flock. I was then lucky enough to get a little group of Common Murres very close to the boat.... yet another lifer! Spotting a pack of 12 Western Grebes starboard-side was a nice surprise, as well as getting a quick fly-by Red-breasted Merganser.

The seas continued to be calm as we hugged the coast, bound to pick up the rest of the crew at the Port Hardy dock. In the midst of the sea-scanning, someone called "PORPOISE!" Yep, skipping past the vessel were 3 Dall's Porpoises, which are awesome to see. Just a second later, a Pacific White-sided Dolphin was spied near the back of the boat. Zipping up the island coast, we kept seeing Rhinoceros Auklets. Heaps of 'em. The cool ( dare I say COLD ) morning breeze ( dare I say GUST ) kept us very much awake at 9:30 a.m. In around 15 minutes, we reached the Port Hardy dock, where Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants were abundant, and Red-necked Grebes crowded the harbour; at least 13 of them were counted. We picked up nine more eager birders at Port Hardy, completing the roster for the trip; everybody showed up! This is looking to be a success! We still needed to get out to Triangle Island, though. While the other nine birders were boarding, an adult Bald Eagle gallantly flew over, as well as, um, Rock Pigeons.

Pushing away from the Port Hardy dock, a pair of Common Mergansers were noted swimming in the boat docks. We headed out into open waters, bound for TrIs, and the weather looked promising; only 0.5 metre swells, blue skies, and sun was pelting down from above! The last of the coldness of earlier that morning wore off, and birds were numerous. Our first White-winged Scoter blasted by starboard, keeping pace with the Naiad Explorer's 30 knot speed.




White-winged Scoter - Whoa, that bird's fast! He's clocking around 30 knots!!!

In this section, around Hope Island, the amount of alcids started picking up. Common Murres were getting more numerous, Rhinoceros Auklets were picking up ever more, and Pigeon Guillemot numbers were on the rise. Finally, OPEN SEA IS IN SIGHT!!!.....


Open seas are in sight!!!

..... and it looks calm out there! However, the open seas can be deceiving, and a northern wind could strike at any moment. So out we go, into the big ocean blue, with good friends, and pelagic birds too! Excuse my lame sense of poetry. Here's a Pelagic Cormorant that arrowed past the front of the boat :



In about 30 minutes, we were passing the Scott Islands, and all I could see was water, my first taste of true ocean! And there were birds out there, too! Tons of alcids perused the water; I counted at least 25 Rhinoceros Auklets, 7 Pigeon Guillemots, and 20 Common Murres in a small window of time.

The waves were getting 'somewhat' larger at around 2 metres, but that's nothing, so we powered on, out to even opener seas; while rising up... and falling down into the wave's trough. The amplitude wasn't too bad, though. Birds like P and DC Cormorants fooled us into thinking they were tubenoses or jaegers; example "Oh, there's a jaeger!... oh, another PECO", or "Shearwater! Wait... no, cormorant."

Several minutes later I am wondering when we were going to get some shearwaters. We were pretty far out at sea; already past halfway to Triangle Island. Come on, the swells are only 2 metres high, visiblity is high, and the sun is beating down on our pelagic souls. Finally, finally, I hear the call : "Sooty Shearwater!". Where, WHERE?!! Oh there, the massive flock of dark brown tubenoses portside. Happy dance time! Liron and I's first tubenoses of any kind! Dozens of these dark tubies rocketed by, and were giving us birders some great looks. I tried feebly to get a photo of them, but without a tripod, on a boat, which waves are playing with, it's tough to get a decent shot off! But, persistance pays, and I finally snapped a picture of a Sooty gliding over some soft ripples. Yes! A *picture* of a Sooty Shearwater!


Sooty Shearwater

Hey look, I took a SECOND picture of one! Now I'm really making progress! ~ note the sarcasm ~



Cruising along in the wide expanse of blue, there were Sooty Shearwaters everywhere, mixed with the usual alcids and Pelagic Cormorants. Here's a shot of a group of seabirds :


Group of pelagic birds - Can you count the species?

Superb sea conditions continued, and spirits were high. Our hearts were lifted even more as a Leach's Storm-Petrel dashed by on the left side of the boat!!! This tiny tubenose, resembling a pigeon, or even a Budgerier, skipped above the surface, enlightening our faces, and was yet another lifer for moi - #288 for B.C. After marvelling at this bird for some time as it dipped and fluttered about in the distance, we turned around, and believe it or not, the silhouette of Triangle Island could be seen rising over the horizon - the earth really is round! Although incredibly far away, we could SEE Triangle Island.

Fast forward half an hour.......... I was tediously trying to turn one of them there Sooties into a Pink-footed, but to no avail. Triangle Island continued to loom in the distance, and the waves only increased by half a metre; to 2 1/2 metres. Suddenly, some dark alcids zipped by - Cassin's Auklets!!! And a stocky little black bird with a colourful face - Tufted Puffin!!! Two lifers in quick succession. Alas, no photos; we were clipping along at quite a pace. I spotted a flock of queer little birds flapping rapidly together toward the direction of Triangle Island, which turned out to be Red-necked Phalaropes! There were lots of birds out there as we slowwwly advanced to TI. I mean, there were A LOT of birds, such as several White-winged Scoters, 1 Marbled Murrelet ( a bit far out for them? ), a few Glaucous-winged Gulls doing their very best albatross imitation - arrgghhh, and a massive flock of Brant flying swiftly high up in ( a few ) white clouds that started to dot the sky. A surreal sight, seeing about 120 Brant out in the middle of the sea! :) Quite a moment.

By now, I was starting to feel a bit nauseas; the boat was going up... and down... up... and down. I'm feeling woozy just thinking of it! However it wasn't too bad ( at the moment ), so I sat down and got some more looks at Cassin's Auklets scooting away from the boat; taking off from the water. Whoops! I'm getting a bit long-winded. I'm sure you're half asleep... but I hope you're not! ;)
At long last, we approached Triangle Island, and the views were breathtaking :


A piece of Triangle Island from the boat's perspective




Beautiful, isn't it?

Bill, the captain, powered down the boat, and we coasted along the side of the island slowly. - Nausea update - By this point, I was feeling GREEN. Yep, good ol' sea sickness sucks another helpless passenger into its belly of woe. "I'd better head downstairs to take some Gravol", I thought : no easy task I'm afraid. Woozily descending down the steeeep stairs to the bowels of the ship, I was greeted by the lovely smell of gas from the ship's motor. That didn't really help. Alright! I got to my bag. Gravol taken. Back up to top deck I wander. And then it happened. ( No, an albatross didn't swoop by dramatically ), I let go of my stomach's contents out the side of the ship. Thankfully, it was only water that I disgorged. That did the trick though, and I went back to seeing the sights of the island. Way up on the tippy top of the island was a Pelagic Cormorant / Glaucous-winged Gull colony, which I snapped some pictures of, but they didn't turn out.

Us folks on the Naiad Explorer celebrated, as going into this trip, we had a 1/7 odds of making it to the island. Well, here's to defying odds! To make matters even more pleasant, we viewed a Bald Eagle swoop by overhead, an immature. Also, as we rounded the backside of the island, a Peregrine Falcon was viewed by everyone on board, which was perched atop a peak on the mountain. A Sooty Shearwater caressed the waves beside us, and I snapped away with my camera. Yes! I finally got a keeper! I was genuinely gleeful at getting this shot.


Sooty Shearwater banking

After we had had our lunch, we were more than content with seeing Triangle Island in all its glory ( in the daytime, that is; at night, thousands of storm-petrels head out to sea to feed, as well as Cassin's Auklets, which would be impeccably amazing to see ).

Well, as we turned the last corner of Triangle Island, we decided it was time to start making our way back to Port Hardy. One last look at Tri I...



... and we relunctantly had to say goodbye to this phenominal island.

Stay tuned - our wonderful trip back to our starting berth in Port McNeill is the subject of Part 2. Lots more birds 'n' photos to come!

Logan

Triangle Island Birding Adventure - Day 1

I have had several regrets this year, including not finishing Part 3 of my Trip to the Lower Mainland blog series, but this trip was not one of them. Truly, this was a spectacular journey, encompassing five days, 1500 kms, and a pelagic trip to Triangle Island! So, sit down, buckle your seatbelts, and enjoy the ride, for this is going to be a multiple post summery of that wonderful and whirlwind weekend.

Day 1 - Thursday, April 24th :

The alarm clock went off at 5:45 a.m. on a drizzly Thursday morning. Up out of bed I haul myself, and down the stairs I plod, only to hear breaking news that may completely cancel the pelagic. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake just struck Port McNeill the night before. Great, the one time I have a chance to go on a pelagic, in the same week a random earthquake strikes in the place the boat is launching out of. Just great. Why wasn't it some other weekend?! Or some other place?!! Port McNeill of all places. Trying to forget that there was ever an earthquake, I solemnly packed my bags. Just to add to the uncertainty that hovered around this trip, I learned that there is storm warning on the Coquihalla, the main highway that connects Kelowna and Merritt, and then Merritt to Abbotsford.

When it was time to leave, my mood was brightened somewhat by seeing a Townsend's Solitare in the front tree, shivering from the cold and dampness. He looked miserable, that poor bird. Departing from the house at around 6:30 a.m., my mom and I drove off into the rain, crossing our fingers that Mother Nature will show some compassion. On the drive to the Coquihalla, through downtown Kelowna, I noted the usual city birds : Mallard, Rock Pigeon, and European Starling; the classic urban trio. Tensions started to rise as we hit the Coquihalla Highway, ( also called 97C ), as rain was plumetting down, as was the temperature. If you don't like the rain, I'm glad you weren't there. Ascending the wide highway, the rain shot down even harder, and I was bewildered to see three American Robins perched on some posts; why would they be out here in the midst of a storm? At such high elevations??? Also counted was a young Sharp-shinned Hawk, flying low over the trees. Suddenly, the rain turned to snow. This is where it got nasty. Slush was everywhere on the road, and you couldn't find your "footing" as a driver. To make mom and I's confidence dip down even lower, we saw a massive semi truck in a ditch; the accident looked fresh, too. All of a sudden, we were sucked into the side, then back into the middle, then into the side again. Slipping and sliding, we held on for dear life; hearts pounding! This is serious stuff! I was able to quickly take a picture of the dreadful highway conditions :
                         
Dreadful Coquihalla conditions!!!

As you can see, you can not really see the real pavement, and we had no idea what was under the snow - Ice? Slush? Or both? Finally, after a 45 minute drive through the worst road conditions my mother has ever driven on, the snow started to dissipate, and I could start looking for birds again. And, there were actually birds way up here! A few wandering Common Ravens were on the wing, flapping over the road and looking for scraps. A Gray Jay flew across the treetops, and several winter-finch sp. flew over. They were almost unidentifiable while travelling at 80 kph! Who knows... GC Rosy-finch? :) A bird that I WAS able to identify was a hunched Northern Pygmy-Owl of top of a tree! In ten minutes we were starting to descend down the Coq finally, and even more birds were tallied ( even though snow was still draped on everything ), including another Townsend's Solitare flying across, a lost Yellow-rumped ( Audubon's ) Warbler steadily flying over the car, and a distant Pileated Woodpecker on a thick tree. Now entering the lower elevations, near the Princeton turnoff, there was *still* snow everywhere! There are several small wetland areas and ponds near the road, which were fortunately unfrozen. We were going so fast that all I could ID in the smaller ponds were some Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Canada Geese. There were probably Redhead and American Coots too, but I couldn't tell for sure. Situated on top of a pine was a pretty American Kestrel. There are also at least two larger ponds ( that could classify for lakes ), which in one of them was a pair of breeding Common Loons. Further down the highway, there was a male Mountain Bluebird on a nice perch, which looked odd in the snow. If I posted this is winter I could probably get off with seeing the first ever winter Mountain Bluebird sighting for Thomson-Nicola. :) The freak snowstorm the night before really altered the way everything looked, such as seeing three Brewer's Blackbirds drinking from a pool of water... in the snow. American Robins were everywhere in bountiful amounts. They were on branches, on trees, on everything! Northern Flickers were also abundant, swooping and perching here and there. Descending quickly into Merritt, the snowline cut off rapidly, leaving a landscape of spring ahead of us.

Now, that was the Kelowna-Merritt section of the Coquihalla. Next up - ding, ding, ding - was the Merritt-Abbotsford portion, where there was a ( of course ) major snowstorm the night before. Teeth gritted, we started ascending again into the mountains. We were waiting; waiting for the sight of snow-covered roads and slushy sides yet again, but worse, yet we kept climbing, and there was no snow on the pavement. Ten minutes later... still no snow, and only minute amounts of slush scattered in some places. Okay, this was starting to get freaky. There was literally a major snowstorm the night before, and today, there is NO snow on the road. Climbing up and up we went, with no snow whatsoever. It was quite lovely up there! Momentarily, we reached the summit, and guess what - you guessed it - there were zero MOLECULES of snow on the highway! So, I started looking for avian life. There was a pair of smartly plumaged Common Mergansers on the creek that runs across the pass, and a randomly placed Mallard on a log near the creek, too. A pleasant surprise was seeing two Red Crossbills atop an evergreen, a year-bird for B.C. ( #154 ) as were commenced our descent down from the summit. As we neared the bottom of the Coq, Mom and I exchanged relieved and cheerful smiles, as we had conquered the Coquihalla Highway without a hitch.

From the base of the Coq, we then switched highways to the Trans-Canada ( Hwy 1 ), where we drove down a looong, straight stretch of highway, with prairies and farms on either side; typical of the Abbotsford area scenery. I observed Northwestern Crow - yay! When you're from the Okanagan, a NW Crow is a great bird to get, because it's a strictly coastal species of corvid. Some good duck fly-overs were Wood Duck; a pair jumping out from a wooded pond, and a female Hooded Merganser. In a flooded field, I was able to pick out Glaucous-winged and Mew Gulls, as well as a strutting Greater Yellowlegs. Several Bald Eagles were resting in a pack of trees, and Red-tailed Hawks were numerous. A drop-dead gorgeous sub-adult Northern Harrier drifted elegantly extremely close to the car in yet another field.

We were heading to the Tsawwasseen Ferry Docks, to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island, and then ultimately drive to Port McNeill. As we neared the ferry jetty several minutes later, I stopped for a quick listen/look before catching the ferry. The sweet tinkling song of a Savannah Sparrow wafted to my ears, and tons of waterbirds were in the bay. 12 Brant were taking a breather on a grassy spit, as well as Mallard; must I mention them? Two Common Loons were lingering close to shore and 3 Common Goldeneyes were in the water also. An amiable sight of 4 Black Oystercatchers on the shore was seen; I never get tired of watching them! Loads of Glaucous-winged and Western X Glaucous-winged Gulls circled around above the ferry port. We then checked in for the ferry, and waited our line to board.

Finally, after thirty minutes of waiting, we boarded the ferry and I quickly scaled the stairs to the top, outside deck. A second of scanning the water produced, bingo, my lifer Pigeon Guillemot riding the low waves in the harbor! A super start to the ferry ride, and only my second alcid I've ever seen. ( My only other alcid on my life list is Black Guillemot from Nova Scotia in 2012 ). Blowing its horn, the mighty cruiseliner, er ferry heaved out of its berth. I scanned the rocks on each side of ferry, picking up 'white-plumed' Double-crested Cormorants as well as the Pelagic kind, and a raft of 45 Surf Scoters packed closely together. Two stunning breeding plumaged Common Loons sprung out from the water in front of the boat as we started to increase speed. In only a few short minutes, we were out into the Strait of Georgia. I suddenly looked down. What are those black dots in the water there? Rhinoceros Auklets! Lifer number 2 for the trip, and all-time British Columbia lifer #283!!!

               
Things were going quite well. A nice male Red-breasted Merganser shot past, as well as another Pelagic Cormorant. There was a shocking amount of Red-throated Loons flying past, everywhere! Springing away from almost under the boat...

                

... flapping across the bow in the distance, and flying overhead the RTLOs were. Some individuals were in beautiful breeding colours, namesake red throat and all. Some scraggly immature Mew Gulls chugged past the boat. Standing at the bow of a ferry, looking at semi-pelagic birds, in the wind, and taking pictures; I could get used to this! "Just wait until I get out to Triangle Island!" I thought positively. Yet another wonderful sight to behold was watching 6 Killer Whales, a.k.a. Orcas swimming and surfacing spectacularly abreast the ship!!! :) Nearing the Nanaimo port, a young Bald Eagle flew overhead. I had several Red-and-white Lighthouse sightings and I viewed a cooperative and rare Russian Cargo-Ship near shore.

On the island for the first time in two years, Mom and I buckled our seatbelts for the 5 hour drive ahead of us, to Port McNeill. The drive to Qualicum Beach was quiet bird-wise, but we did manage to see multiple Turkey Vultures soaring above the trees, showing their characteristic V-shaped wings in flight. The forests that line the road along the Island Highway ( Hwy 19 ), are quite different from the vegetation that is native to the Okanagan. There are many more cedar trees, and the undergrowth is quite extensive. We did a brief stop at the Little Qualicum Estuary, for a half-hearted try to see the long-staying Northern Mockingbird. I did not get the M-bird, but there were loads of other birds there to somewhat occupy my time. Pine Siskins called overhead, Bushtits were chipping in the shrubs, many Chestnut-backed Chickadees were fluttering in the bushes, and a Spotted Towhee was posing for a picture :

                 

It was great to see a male Rufous Hummingbird buzzing ferociously while sitting arrogantly on top of a tall bush. I observed 12 Bonaparte's Gull swirling about near the pebbly beach, looking quite like terns, and two striking looking Black-bellied Plovers in full breeding colours took off from the shore.

                   

Time was of the essence if we wanted to reach Port McNeill while it was still light, so we got back on to the highway again, and plodded north up the island. As we pushed northward, the trees were getting denser and more deep green in colour. Birds spotted along the way were : mooore Turkey Vultures ( lotsa them ), one RT Hawk, and a gorgeous male Purple Martin showing off his deep violet colour underneath in the air. I had a close look at him. Apparently that is the northernmost record ever for that species on Vancouver island and comments are welcome...

Two hours later, we took a rest stop in Sayward, a tiny town around 45 minutes south of Port McNeill. In Sayward, we pit-stopped at the Cypress Tree Inn to fill up on gas ( the car ), and grab some snacks ( for us ). Hopefully not the other way around. ;) I birded the rich foresty edge that bordered the inn. A Hermit Thrush ( year-bird #161 ) hopped onto the ground in front of me, and I snapped this not-so-amazing shot of it.



Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows came into view in response to my pishing, and this Golden-crowned was particularly obliging :



From some crazy tall trees, a Golden-crowned Kinglet called, and a nice Orange-crowned Warbler flitted by in the scrubby bushes. Later, two Dark-eyed Juncos called agitatingly. After a successful stop at the Inn, we got back into our Hyundai and plodded on to Port McNeill. We finally, finally arrived at the outskirts of Port Mac around dusk, and boy it's beautiful!

At long last, Port McNeill in all its finest!


Stunning!

Lanqvist Road - the street that our cottage we stayed in is located


Beautiful forest and inlet...


The Malcom Island/Port McNeill ferry heading to port

We stayed at the Home Away From Home Cottage, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Port McNeill city centre. Once we had shifted our bags into the homey cabin, we took a walk at dusk down one of the trails down to the water. How beautiful and serene is it there? You will just have to go there and find out. It was breathtaking. And several birds were singing in the near complete darkness, too. From a patch of dense woodland, I heard an intricate, transfixing call, which incorporated a few American Robin notes into its song, too. Then, I saw some movement low down in the trees from the direction I heard the song. It turned out to be a dark race 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow! I pulled out the flash on my camera, and snapped some night shots on manuel focus. The pictures did not turn out badly!


My best shot of the "AMRO-imitating, dark race 'Sooty' Fox Sparrow, at night, in Port McNeill" The longest title ever. :D

All of a sudden, a Pacific Wren burst into song very close by, which literally can stop your heart for a second! In the fading light, I watched three pairs of beautiful Red-necked Grebes out on the water, and a Bald Eagle flew perfectly across the massive trees bordering the water. I was speechless the experience was so... so..... well, like I said, I'm speechless! After soaking it all in for a while, we headed back up the trail, clunking two rocks together to discourage the local Black Bears which are known to be active now. At the end of the path, across the street from the cottage, we flushed a Savannah Sparrow out of some weedy bushes. American Robins ( the real ones, not the Fox Sparrow imitations ) were serenading us from everywhere as we stepped onto the front porch. Once I finished my pasta dinner, I sat down to an NBA game before bed. - Just a little tidbit of me; I love sports of all kind, and I'm a Rapters fan. We the north!


Well that concludes the first day of my Triangle Island trip! For the journey, way up to Port McNeill, I tallied 64 species of bird, which I found fascinating and fantastic. The next day, I will get up to *hopefully* board the fishing boat to Triangle. Crossing my fingers that the weather holds up.....

P.S. Thank you so much, Mom, for driving through thick and thin, and nasty weather up on the Coquihalla. :) :)