Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands Wildlife - 2018-2022 Seasons

For discussion and photos of Wildlife

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sassyk
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Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands Wildlife - 2018-2022 Seasons

Post by sassyk » Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:14 am

Welcome to the Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands Wildlife thread. If you have photos of wildlife seen in parks, on trails, at lagoons and wildlife sanctuaries/estuaries, in ponds, etc. in the Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands areas, you are welcome to post them here for everyone to enjoy. Adding a description of the area where the wildlife was photographed would be appreciated. Photos & videos of eagles for which there is no dedicated thread are also welcome here. You will find information and photos of wildlife in areas on Southern Vancouver Island in the old forum here.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Tue Oct 02, 2018 2:48 pm

Gulls looking for a meal at Esquimalt Lagoon on Sep. 29th.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Tue Oct 02, 2018 2:53 pm

A few more photos of the gulls at Esq. Lagoon on Sep. 29th.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Tue Oct 02, 2018 3:11 pm

Male & female Hooded Mergansers at Esquimalt Lagoon Sep. 29th.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Wed Oct 10, 2018 10:21 pm

A few birds from the Raptor Centre in Duncan, participating in flying demos at East Sooke Park on Sep. 29th.


Turkey Vulture Judge Dredd
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Peregrine Falcon Boeing.
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Red-tailed Hawk (forgot his name).
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by elle » Thu Oct 11, 2018 12:51 pm

Great Horned Owl at Anderson Hill Wednesday Oct 10
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Thu Oct 11, 2018 1:12 pm

Wow, that owl is well hidden ;) Nice catch :thumlft:
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:31 pm

I went on a Pelagic birding tour with the Victoria Natural History Society yesterday. We started from the Inner Harbour and cruised out to Race Rocks where this pair of bald eagles greeted us, perched high above the barking sea lions on the rocks below.
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Another beautiful bald eagle perched on a pole on shore near the Rocky Pt. Bird Observatory lands.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:43 pm

I have seen many Humpback Whales before but have only seen them breaching from a distance. There were 3 of them out beyond Race Rocks yesterday and all 3 breached at different times. I was lucky to be on the right side of the boat when one of them breached and managed to get a sequence of photos. All of these photos were taken with my 270mm lens fully extended and they have all been cropped.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:46 pm

Breaching Humpback cont'd.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 12:53 pm

I managed to capture the tail of another whale as it dove to feed. These photos were also taken with my 270mm lens fully extended and have all been cropped.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 1:00 pm

The last bit of the tail of the whale diving to feed.
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I missed capturing the breaching but managed to capture the spray as the whale hit the water.
There was a very small whale watching boat behind the whale.
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The lighthouse and buildings on Race Rocks.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 1:17 pm

This is the construction site of the new sewage plant being built at McLouchlan Pt. in Esquimalt. Taken as we were leaving the inner harbour.
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There were hundreds of sea lions barking and making their presence known on Race Rocks and the surrounding rocks. At first we thought this one was a California Sea Lion but the experts determined it was an Elephant Seal.
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The lighter coloured sea lion on the bottom step is the big bull, making sure the other bulls know he is guarding his harem.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 1:35 pm

The tail of another Humpback Whale disappearing to dive for feed.
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This is the 'footprint' the whales leave after they have gone down to feed.
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Re: Southern Vancouver Island Wildlife - 2018/2019 Season

Post by sassyk » Sun Oct 14, 2018 1:59 pm

We spotted an Otter playing in the kelp bed. It's on the bottom right in the photo and the Elephant Seal in on the top left.
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There were thousands of Common Murres everywhere we looked.
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There were lots of Heemann's Gulls along the shoreline on the way back from Race Rocks. The boat heads to the sewage outfall area off Clover Pt. before heading back to the dock, which gives the guests a good sighting of various species of gulls.
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