On Saturday the 18th, I was determined to get back out into the field. But, being as it was a Saturday, I had to stop for brunch first. My usual brunch is a long social (and gastronomic) affair, lasting from 1:30 to 4:00 or 4:30. This time schedule doesn't really work well with photography, especially with the days getting shorter and shorter, so I opted to have just a little food and head on after I'd had a chance to say hi to everyone.

I left brunch around 2:45 and drove down to Brunswick Point in Ladner, arriving around 3:30. I was driving a rental car, as my car was still in the shop.

It was darkish and cold, fairly typical November weather. Being as Brunswick Point is, well, a point, it was extra windy and cold there, compared to places farther inland.

I mounted the dyke and walked towards the park. On the path in front of me, I found a pretty little November caterpillar. Check out his cute little face.

I've seen these caterpillars around before; they're called Woolly Bear Caterpillars, because of their thick coat. This particular type of woolly bear is the larva of Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella Tiger Moth.

He's probably wandering around in search of a nice spot to hibernate. He'll overwinter as a caterpillar, wake up in the spring, eat a little bit, then pupate. I've never found an Isabella pupa or adult.

After taking just a few shots of the Woolly Bear, I carried on. On the right-hand side of the path, there is a tree that I remember well, because it is where I saw my first Varied Thrush. Sadly, my Varied Thrush friend was predisposed on this day, so he wasn't able to be there in the tree to greet me. However, he was kind enough to send his cousin Robin to do the honors.

As near as I can tell, the shorebirds are Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin.

At the branch point in the path, I headed left on the path that leads down into a thicket and small copse.

Now, I'm a big fan of fresh food. Don't be feeding me preserved or frozen or canned stuff when the real thing can be had. A mango that was picked green and sailed on a boat for a week or two and "ripened" in a warehouse is nothing like one that was picked ripe this morning.

I've been lucky enough to be in places where I could pick fruit off a tree and eat it right there. And I've thought that it just can't get any better or any fresher than that.

Apparently, I was wrong. Here's a House Finch enjoying the pinnacle of freshness...eating the fruit even before it's been picked.

I just have to give that a try sometime.

I watched her take about twenty bites out of that apple before heading back to the dyke trail.

Then I took a few more shots of shorebirds on piles before pressing on towards the point.

The cackles and honks were distinctive; before the birds even got high enough for me to see, I could tell they were Snow Geese.

Once airborne, they didn't settle back down right away, even though the eagle had long passed them by.

My lens wouldn't go wide enough for me to get the entire flock in the picture.

I watched for a while, and eventually, the geese did settle back down. It that had been a neat spectacle; I always find the sight and sound of Snow Geese on the wing somewhat thrilling.

Turning to the other side, I found a lone gull flying fairly high above the fields.

And here's another shot in roughly the same direction. On this one I somehow messed up, and didn't get any birds in the photo. I thought I'd include it just to show that I miss a few every now and then.

Once by the shore, they settled down behind the grasses. I walked the path to near where they disappeared; the foreshore at this part is not as long as where the Snow Geese were.

Just when I had decided that I should probably turn around, another eagle came by, scaring up the shorebirds. Apparently the small flock that I had seen had joined many others on the ground, because this flock was considerably larger than the sixty or so that I had seen earlier.

In this shot, the eagle is visible a little behind and just above the shorebirds in the top middle of the flock.

About half an hour later, right before I got to my car, a big noise in the east alerted me to more Snow Geese on the wing. This was a different flock than the one I saw before, unless that flock snuck away when I wasn't looking.

(Note that the idea of a sneaking flock of Snow Geese is a contradiction in terms. These birds can't move without making a huge commotion.)

Here's the noisy wedge of fliers. Snow Geese do a little slipstreaming but don't form the rigid formations that are typical of, say, Canada Geese.

It was pretty chilly and I was tired, and getting a bit sore. I enjoyed resting in the car for a few minutes as it warmed up.

It had been a good excursion, and nothing hurt too bad, so it seemed that (with some care) I would be able to resume my usual wanderings.

Returning to "normal",
Tom