Tag Archives: Southern Gulf Islands

Blog, Photo Wednesday, Photography, Wanderings

A walk in the woods: Lilliput world!

January 27, 2016 Andree Fredette

Above: one of the forests in which I wander, and its emerald carpet of mosses. A magical world…

I take a walk in the woods almost every day. These days, the air is moist, the ground is alive with mosses. And there are treasures everywhere!

A moss cushion in the afternoon sun, enjoying its position on a very wet rock.

That was a very wet spot, really. It was dripping in the late afternoon sun. I tried to capture a drop, about to fall off the moss, but not quite yet…

Above: a moss close-up. I have a new toy: a set of diopter filters (magnifier-like filters, in different strengths, and you can stack them to increase magnification). These are my first attempts are seeing how much of this mini-world I can get into focus.

Blooming club moss, above.

And then, there are the lichens… A whole new lilliputian world has opened up, through my lens.

Above: on a log, an entire miniature habitat where competitors reach for the moisture and nutrients. The tall ones are “pixie cup” Cladonia lichens, along with other lichens whose names are still a mystery to me, and some moss. (Note: I found a great lichen reference page here. Please have a look, if you are intrigued by lichens.)

Above: macro shot of Pixie cup lichen (Cladonia) and its “warts”… With the diopter filters, the depth of field is so shallow that hand-held shots are a “no breathing allowed” moment…

Once your eyes get used to the very diffuse light, you notice all kinds of details in the mosses. Above: a jelly tooth mushroom (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum), and it is a very gelatinous thing. Almost glows in the dark, that tiny one!

After the rains, there is a great deal of mushroom variety. Little ones, mostly. Like the orange guy above. Sorry, I have no idea about ID!

Above, in the darkest part of the forest, some coral mushrooms were peeking out of the forest litter. Maybe Clavulina cristata…

Delicate little “grey caps”, all lined-up for a dance.

Above: Witches’ butter mushrooms (Dacrymyces chrysospermus) on a fallen log.

And this lovely duo, basking in the afternoon light, in the clover…

To close this post, a shot of the seasonal creek that makes its way to the ocean, near my house…

Blog, Photo Wednesday, Photography

Boats on the water – Photo Wednesday

January 20, 2016 Andree Fredette

This Wednesday, my post is about the water… and boats.

(Above: The header photo shows the Mayne Queen, the trusty ferry that serves the Southern Gulf Islands in BC. It is on its way through Navy Channel, with Mayne Island on the right, and North Pender island on the left. The clouds were nicely hugging the islands’ curves that day…)

Above: Looking down at the water, from the top of Warburton Pike (the highest place on Saturna Island), the waves created by boats echo off each other, in the narrow space of Plumper Sound, between Saturna and Pender islands. They create a moiré effect. A bit like the splashing in a bathtub…

And below, another shot of the Mayne Queen, our link to civilization… on its way to Saturna island…

Blog, Inspiration, Photo Wednesday, Photography

My garden in January – Photo Wednesday

January 13, 2016 Andree Fredette

Header photo above: rosemary plant in bloom, in January.

Right now, it is raining. It has been raining for two days, pretty steadily. But I don’t mind, because it is definitely better than shoveling snow, like back East.

Before the rain, three days ago, I checked out all the things that need to be done in my garden. A lot of work awaits me. This post, however, is a visual report of what I found (not the jobs, just the beauty, life, and colours!)…

First, the orange flash is a self-seeded Calendula (Pot Marigold), one of the great-grand-children of the original Pacific Beauty seed packet I purchased years ago. Very hardy plant, that one. It keeps giving back all through the winter (I have even found blooms under a blanket of snow, one particular winter!).

Among the jobs: replenishing the bird feeders (there are 8…). This Chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens … had to look it up) and friends really enjoy sunflower seeds.

Naturally, it wouldn’t be winter in the Southern Gulf Islands without a batch of Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) blossoming in the lawn, between the rocks and even in the gravel driveway…

One of my feeders is known as the “party feeder”: it offers assorted nuts, including cashews (they must be the industrial rejects of packaging plants for human party mix, I tell myself). All manner of woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches are regular visitors of the party feeder. Above: a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), one of a gang of very lively and argumentative little birds.

And elsewhere, the first few Crocus are starting to come out, a little timidly, but all the rain is going to encourage them to blossom. And the weather is still decidedly above 5 degrees Celsius… so…

The winter flowering heathers are also coming into bloom. Above, a close-up, with a little filter play to make it more “painterly”…

This is a close-up of one of the larger rosemary plants in bloom – right now – on Saturna Island. The first winter after we moved here, ten years ago, I was amazed at this show of bright blue in the winter garden (it was a very large and old plant, about three feet wide and high, and covered in blossoms).

And finally, a reminder to all Gulf Islanders, and people on Vancouver Island as well: don’t forget the Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna), who are spending the winter in the area. One of them flew by my kitchen window, paused and looked me straight in the eye. Almost saying: “Hey, you forgot to refill the feeder!”…

No worries, my friend. Fresh mix of sugar water replenished!

And below, I found a video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that illustrates how a seemingly all-green Anna’s Hummingbird male can just turn his head, and flash you an extraordinary brilliant red colour!

The marvels of iridescence…

About Art, Blog, Inspiration, Photography

Winter Skies

January 3, 2016 Andree Fredette

Winter is the time to take a painterly approach to photography. And by painterly, I mean playing with some filters and special effects.

Winter is the time to look at the sky… Especially in the late afternoon, when the light can be magical.

Above, an aerial view of the Southern Gulf Islands, toward the west, at sunset.

And last week, traces of snow marked the goat paths at the top of Warbuton Pike, on Saturna Island.

When it’s time to leave the island, you take one final look from the back of the ferry…

That silhouette is unmistakably Saturna Island’s double bump.

This final picture is a repeat of the header (for those who are looking at this page on a small device, which may not show the header). Clouds reflected in the sandy shallows…

Blog, Wanderings

Boat Pass Hunter: A little drama

December 6, 2015 Andree Fredette

During the winter, all kinds of waterfowl spend the winter in the waters around these islands. Here is the story of a little drama I got to witness, a while ago.

The setting: Boat Pass, between Saturna and Samuel Islands. When the tide moves in or out at Boat Pass, the current moves swiftly, like rapids…

That day, on the strait side of Boat Pass (to the right, in the above photo), rafts of surf scoter ducks were floating about, feeding on the fish coming through with the tidal current. Rows upon rows of them, taking turns at diving – when at the front line – to feed. Very orderly system…

Minding their own business.

The hunter: a sea lion, riding the tide through the pass. Clever sea lion, using the tide to increase his speed and stealth… The only reason I spotted him was his loud breath (I was sitting on a rock, right next to the flow, at water’s edge, and he surprised me. These are really big animals, the size of a cow…).

While in the pass, at speed, he dove…

…and surfaced right in the middle of the birds.

The birds exploded into flight. Well, not quite flight because if you’ve seen surf scoters take off on the water, you’ll know that they need some serious flapping and “walking” on the water to take off. So their escape was not quite successful.

I am going to guess that some unlucky one (or more than one) did not make it… Score one or two for the sea lion.

Once the drama was over, the sea lion could be seen, swimming to the rocks the Belle Isles chain…

And the birds reformed into an interesting shape, and drifted off toward the islets in the distance.

Nothing to see, folks, move along.

Andrée Fredette