Every time I take a good look at arbutus trees, I notice something else about their lines, their bark, their endurance. There is a plasticity, and a natural grace that are played out as the tree grows, as it sheds its old bark, to reveal what is coming up. Fresh starts.
End of the winter on the Southern Gulf Islands of BC…
Here is a shot of the Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum), all dried up and curled up, in winter mode. New fronds are issuing form the ground. According to traditional teachings, in the spring, when no other food source was available, its roots were a food item for various First nations tribes of the West Coast of North America. Roasted and peeled, the roots were eaten… like potatoes, I guess.
I like its elegant lines.
Nature reveals itself in patterns, when you live on the windy West Coast… Since late December, I have noticed the return of the big birds. They are busy doing aerial acrobatics, there is a lot of high-pitched peeping (like Mike Tyson, eagles are big and mean-looking, but their “voice” is a high-pitched bell-like sound…). I presume these sounds and aerial displays are discussions over territory. There are quite a few bald eagles around Saturna.
Some birds – like the ravens – never leave the island, but bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) head for the salmon rivers of BC in the fall. During that season, those rivers are true all-you-can-eat buffets for eagles and other wildlife. For pictures of that, see my November post about Goldstream, near Victoria.
This set of pictures was taken from my deck, yesterday. First, an adult perched on that tree for almost 30 minutes in the early afternoon. Surveying the neighbourhood, trying to decide if anything edible might be around. Love those piercing yellow eyes, don’t you?
Then, four hours later, while fixing dinner, I spotted the next visitor to the same tree. An immature bald eagle. According to the bird books in my collection, immature eagles only acquire the full white feathers on the head and tail by their fifth year, less frequently when they are four years old… So Junior, below, was probably following mommy around.
I left my cooking to get my camera, and get some pictures of Junior too. It was getting dark, so they are a bit grainy.
This week’s composition: a trio of mushrooms on a decaying log.
Winter hikes on Saturna have led me to accumulate lots of close-ups of the forest floor. The textures are amazing, when you start to pay attention!
I think this one is Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), but I couldcertainly be wrong… This mushroom is quite common around here. In China and Japan, T versicolor is used as an adjuvant in cancer therapy…
Still wandering on Saturna island, staring at the ocean and at the horizon. Mount Baker, in Washington state, iis often visible across the Georgia Strait. It occupies the horizon with great aplomb… Its height (10,781 feet or 3,286 m), makes it the third highest in Washington state. According to its description, this is a young and active stratovolcano… I keep in mind that this volcano is about 60 miles away, as the bird flies… and I know that I live in a very active zone, seismically-speaking. Check out this Government of Canada page on earthquakes in Southwestern British Columbia…
The first picture was taken at Russel Reef on the North side of Saturna, on a clear day. The second shot was taken from the ferry leaving Saturna at sunrise …
