Esquimalt Lagoon

 After our lunch with a view, we drove home via Esquimalt Lagoon, one of our old birding haunts from when we lived here in the early 80s.  It was very busy for a weekday, but of course there are now housing subdivisions surrounding it.

Although it doesn't look busy at all in this photo. We were on the less trafficked but more birdy lagoon side of the road.

Where Leo got some good shots:

Hooded Merganser

Brewers Blackbird

The much maligned starling is actually a beautiful creature:

Pintail

Eurasian Widgeon

On the beach side an artist has created lots of driftwood sculptures:

Mount Wells

 Our next hill climb was Mount Wells because it has the best show of satin flowers at the summit.

We reached the satinflower meadow! Photos don't do them justice:

Unless you enhance the colour saturation! 😉 

No enhancement here:

We reached the summit!

(It's not a real mountain, just a half hour to summit.)

At our lunchstop we saw turkey vultures and an Anna's hummingbird.

Maple Buds

 While on the Island We partook in a local foraging specialty, maple buds.  They are the unopened flower buds of big leaf maple.  

We went for a walk along the gorge and the galloping goose trail, 

Stopping to pick the buds along the way.  

Dorothea fried up some maple fritters for breakfast. 

She also made stir-fry with other vegetables.  Yum.

Mill Hill and Thetis Lake

On Sunday Leo ran his first race since fall of 2018, the Westcoast Sooke 10k.  He did well, coming in third in his age class.  Not bad after a long layoff.

Meanwhile Dorothea and I went hiking with her Sunday hiking group up Mill Hill to see spring flowers.  There were lots of fawn lilies in the forest.

At the top 

there were views of all the development in recent years

As well as more wildflowers, including satin flowers.

We hiked back down, then crossed a busy road and walked around Thetis Lake.

After a lunch break we headed back through new subdivisions to the Mill Hill parking.

Nice park area in new subdivision

Including lunch, it was 4-1/2 hours, the longest hike I 've been on in a long time.

Up to Nanaimo

 We drove up to Nanaimo to visit our nephew Stephen and his fiance Heidi.  We checked out a new trail to Ammonite falls.  They've built extensive steps down to the falls.  

Unfortunately, the trail was really muddy and we had to turn back.  I did not want to relive the trauma of the 2020 birdcount, when I had to crawl up a muddy slope on my hands and knees. Instead we took a much shorter route from the other side of the park where we successfully reached the falls.

Heidi was taking a dog showing course all day so we're able to meet up with her for dinner at the the Crow and Gate, a pub nicely situated in the countryside.  

Heidi, Stephen and Dorothea with Sparrow, who also attended dog showing course.

On to Victoria

Felt a bit odd taking the ferry the next morning.  So many people all crammed together.

Soon after we arrived Dorothea took us on a 3 peaks tour of her neighborhood.  We began by walking up to the reservoir above Dorothea's long ago rental house on Montrose Street (Leo lived there too back in the day).   

Haeussler sisters come in matching g burgundy.

Then we headed over to Peacock Hill where we saw fawn lilies and lots of naturalized daffodils.

A host of daffodils 

Lastly we climbed up Camrose Park before returning via the Cedar Hill Golf Course.  

View from Peacock Hill

I had to look up the parks on Google maps to get their names.  Dorothea will correct me if I'm wrong.

Trip to Vancouver Island

 We hadn't seen my sister Dorothea since Spring of 2019 so we were overdue for a visit.  

It was our first trip through the Fraser Canyon since the fires last summer and the November floods cut off all our highway connections.  They were busy repairing the flood damage (only a few short waits), but we were more shocked by all the fire damage.  A fence has been erected along the highway to prevent viewing of the Lytton fire (the town was destroyed) but what I could see through the cracks was devastating.

We spent a day in Vancouver visiting our friends there, also not seen since Covid.  Ken took us on a walk around the neighborhood.  We visited Kits beach

and past his favorite giant camelia bush.

The next day we were invited to lunch by our good friends Ann Marie and Andrew.  Ann Marie and I were roommates at University and each other's maid/matron of honor and this year is their 40th wedding anniversary!

Ann Marie's lovely home

We got to tour the laneway house they built for their daughter in the back yard (no photo).

So good to se these old friends.  Feels like the end of a long winter.