Category Archives: Photo Wednesday

Island Wandering – Photo Wednesday

April 6, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above: A view of the point at Narvaez Bay, taken from Fiddler’s Cove, Saturna island. Can you spot the hikers?

This beautiful and peaceful spot is Fiddler’s Cove at low tide. To get there, you have to clamber down a steep trail (and remember that what goes down has to come up at the end of the excursion…).

This spot has beautiful lacy sandstone (also called tafoni). Over the years, I have watched lots of people take photos of it, because everyone finds it intriguing. How can rocks look so lacy?

Here is a closer crop of the above photo, to show you a lichen detail:

I am new to lichen identification, so this little red béret lichen crowd will remain unnamed for the moment.

And here is “big nose”, the rock that overhangs the water. It frames the horizon.

If you look carefully between the rocks at the water’s edge, you can get lucky and spy an anemone…

So the lesson is: keep your eyes open, you never know what you’ll spot.

Blog, Just Because, Photo Wednesday, Wanderings

Gulls have attitude – Photo Wednesday

March 9, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above: a gull conference on a fishing vessel at the Steveston docks, south of Vancouver, BC.

Last weekend, I got off the island for a while. Felt nice. Took lots of pictures, which will feed this blog for a couple of weeks, at least.

First up: the gulls of Steveston (a fishing port south of Vancouver, BC).

It’s a fishing sort of place, so you can expect gulls. Tons of gulls.

Every boat, every piling, every roof: crowned with gulls. Notice the white roof in the background? Yep.

I just thought the broken railing, above, made it more interesting… A frame, so to speak.

Old boat, new boat. Didn’t matter. What mattered was the fish smell emanating from the nets and the holds.

Hello, attitude dude!

Yeah, that was the tough guy. And he had his buds with him, including the other tough guy, the “wingman” (ha) to his right. See below…

Then, there was the choir on top of the cannery building…

I suddlenly started thinking of “The Birds”, the Hitchcock movie, you know… But I am no Tippi Hedren. I was safe.

Blog, Just Because, Photo Wednesday, Wanderings

Looking closely – Photo Wednesday

March 2, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above:A jewel-like line-up of mosses in the glorious late afternoon light at the Lyall Creek Trail, on Saturna Island, BC.

Practicing with the close-up views of the world around me. It is a very verdant and natural world at the moment: it rains practically every day, and all this “wet” nourishes the greenery.

Have a look.

(Psst: if you find that I have incorrectly identified one of the following tiny denizens of our forest, feel free to use my contact page to let me know. I will be very grateful to make a correction!)

Those are the blooms (or capsules) of a new moss colony in my rock garden. The sun showed up that day. It is gone now.

And in the forest around here, little treasures on the forest floor, in the mosses… if you look really closely. Above: British soldier lichen (Cladonia cristadella).

Another view of these interesting tiny lichens. It looks like when they bloom, the “mouth” of capsules opens. Just my observation, and I am not an expert by any means.

Above: some Pixie cup lichens (Cladonia chlorophaea) sometimes find it useful to grow on top of each other. I guess the space available on the right side of rocks is getting tight. Location, location. Competition!

A new lichen colony, standing up in the mosses.

Above: on a branch that had fallen in the mosses, some really leafy lichen. No idea about ID (my middle name!). Admire the texture.

Above: Grand foam lichen (Stereocaulon grande), with bloom capsules. Our forest floor is full of little treasures, you just have to look closely.

Above: another very common lichen: Freckle pelt (Peltigera aphthosa) with its capsules opening.

And I leave you with the above delicate little treasures: mosses sending up a couple of “beaky” seed capsules. Had to hold my breath to get that shot.

Happy trails.

Blog, Just Because, Photo Wednesday

Water Moods – Photo Wednesday

February 24, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above: Header photo of the quick flow of water across a forest path, over pebbles, reflecting the sky.

Today’s theme is brought to you by the rains, which have fed all manner of ponds, seasonal creeks, and riverlets flowing around the wood paths, and the roads.

This is a macro shot of the surface tension of blades of grass, pushed by the water flow on a forest track.

And more play with reed reflections on pond water. Amazing magic happens when you throw a stick into the pond! Sinuous waves.

And to conclude, I leave you with yesterday morning’s moonset, around 7 am, over Pender Island… Moody blues and pinks.

It pays to look out the window, early in the morning!

Blog, Just Because, Photo Wednesday, Photography

Where the newts live – Photo Wednesday

February 17, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above photo: hunting for newts in the pond, the photographer wore rubber boots…

There was a break in the rain. A little sunshine even… So I went for a walk in the forest, and headed for the pond.

On the path, I noticed some Black earth tongue mushrooms (Trichoglossum something…). Sorry about the fuzzy photo, forgot to bring a flash and it was very dark in the woods.

And very close by, an old White worm coral mushroom (Clavaria vermicularis Sporocarp), which looked like it had been stepped on… Life is tough in the forest.

And then, at the pond, I enjoyed the quiet surface of the water.

A forest pond = prime newt habitat.

Say hello to my little friend: Rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa). Here is a link with lots of information on this interesting salamander of the Pacific Northwest. Did you know that they have few predators because they are highly toxic?

There were a few in the water today, but the crowd will gather in a few weeks, when the sun warms up the water, for the big Spring Party. Reproduction involves a behaviour called “amplexus”, which – to the uninitiated – looks a lot like wrasslin’… Here is another link to inform the curious.

And to conclude this post, a slightly manipulated photo of the water that is quickly draining down the logging road, bending grasses as it goes, and creating a lovely abstract pattern in its wake.

Andrée Fredette