Wildlife Recovery Centre

 Just outside of Parksville we discovered the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre.  A place where they rehab injured animals for release back into the wild or if their injuries are too severe they live out their days at the Centre.  Most of the animals were birds, many the result of encounters with vehicles.  There was also one black bear wandering around one enclosure.  

It was hard getting good pictures as the fencing made focusing and getting a clean shot almost impossible.  Lots of owls and eagles.

This guy was in a large enclosure however the door was open as due to his injuries he wasn't going anywhere.  Looked pretty content and totally ignored us. 

Lunch time.

Turkey vulture.  Saw lots of these soaring above the desert in Az.   A face only a mother could love. 

Beautiful eagle that we could get close to.  He kept grabbing at the wire fencing with his beak trying to break out from his confinement.  

A junior bald eagle.  His wing was pretty banged up so he is here for the duration.  

An interesting visit.  An employee told us that something as innocent as throwing an apple core from your vehicle can result in injuries to the birds.  The apple core attracts rats to the roadway which attracts hawks, owls and eagles and their focus is totally on the rodent and often end up colliding with a vehicle.  Guess I won't be throwing my apple cores out the window any more.  

Kudos to those who work to rehab these animals.

Little Qualicum Falls

 We have made 2 visits to the Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.  Amazing place for photography plus a very pretty walk through a rain forest.  Second visit I brought my tripod and the new filters that I bought this winter.  They are magnetic so after the base is screwed on different filters can easily be snapped on and off or put multiple filters on without having to worry about cross treading them.  I used a CPL and 3 stop ND filter individually or in combination on some of these pictures.  Really helpful when dealing with glare and moving water.    

Enjoy.

Our time is winding down here but still a few things to see in our last few days.  Rain is in the forecast however we usually get a few hours of rain and then a break for awhile so hopefully we can still get out and see a few more sights before we start our slow trek east.  

Victoria to Port Renfrew

Tuesday we went for a drive.  A little longer than we had planned but overall a good day.  We had initially planned to do Fishermans Wharf and take in some of the sights along the waterfront.  Unfortunately while it wasn't raining it was cool and very windy and not really conducive to walking along the waterfront.  We did a quick walk around the wharf, walked down to the Empress hotel and went into the Robert Bateman gallery.  By that time we were pretty chilled.  We drove around Beacon Hill Park and then decided to head to Sooke for lunch.  We had a great meal at Route 14 restaurant and then drove to Port Renfrew and took the mountain route back to Duncan and on up to Nanoose Bay and home.  A long drive but some great sights along the way.

The working fleet down on the wharf.

Houseboats of every shape and colour

Some are private residences and some are restaurants or tour operators. 

Saw this little boat down by the end of the pier.  Was really curious who the owner was so I asked Google.  Didn't find the owners name however did find out that it is for sale.  Price has been reduced.  Only asking $21 million.  

Float planes lined up just waiting for the tourists to arrive. 

BC Legislative buildings.  

Empress Hotel.  Pretty grand. 

More houseboats on the wharf.  

Our drive to Port Renfrew we noticed these trees with white bark and green moss.  They really stood out from the rest of the forest. 

Port Renfrew.  Clouds had really moved in with rain and I was a little worried that as we headed to higher elevation we would experience snow.  We didn't and I was very happy about that.  

Saw a group of harbour seals but they kept their distance. 

We took the mountain road back to Duncan and came upon this forest.  Miles of thick trees covered in moss with all the limbs broken off until you got way up into the canopy.  It was so dark and wet just a few feet from the road.  I wish I had taken more time to explore.  

 The drive back was interesting.  Lots of narrow bridges only allowing one way traffic and many signs to beware of logging trucks.  We didn't meet any thank goodness.  The hills showed lots of logging activity.  From virgin forest to clear cut areas to sections that had been reforested. 

Last long driving day before we head to Lake Louise.  The rest of our stay here will be shorter trips and with rain in the forecast some time for reading, blogging and snoozing.