January 2026
And some clever
quip...
Whiffin Spit
We went back to Victoria after Christmas. One day we decided
to go to Whiffin Spit with our new Mazda CX-90 (everyone in one
car). It was a cold day and the tide was super high but most
of the trail was still (just barely) above sea level.
Everybody brought good jackets and
The kids immediately found every surface that could be
climbed upon. They tried to climb a bit of tree that was
vertical. They skipped along the rocks that hold the spit from
moving.
I fixated on the birds. I was quite impressed with the black
turnstones at the waters edge, often just a meter from the busy
pathway. They were eating bugs in the kelp and seemed very
preoccupied with getting as much as possible. Brewers
Blackbirds were also common here and I haven't seen them in other
parts of Victoria.
As
we got further down the spit you start to get trees and shrubs and I
found a lot of smaller birds perching and eating.
Finally, out in the water we spotted birds that really prefer to be
floating - Cormorants and Harlequin ducks.
As we got to the end of
the spit we spotted seals out in the water. I can imagine the
current here gets quite strong but it was calm when we were there
and the seals were pretty lazy. Other people mentioned they
saw a river otter but we weren't luck enough to spot it.
Thanks everyone for the walk.
Claira's Photo Day
Claira had a school
assignment to take photos of a theme. Claira liked the look
from a tilt shift lens when it made scenes look like they are
models. To make the "model" look happen, you generally have to
shoot from well above your target and then shift the lens to make it
look like your perspective doesn't match the angle you are taking a
photo from.
Our first photos were from the Granville Street Bridge. It was
a bit windy and we got cold very quickly. Claira wanted a bit
more diversity so she came to my office and took a photo from the
lounge near the top of the building.
She did well on her project.
Waiting for Claira in Ladner
Claira was able to challenge here Grade 11 French course. The
exam was scheduled for 3 hours at a school in Ladner which is far
enough from our house that it doesn't really make sense to drive
home only to turn around and drive back. I went to a little
park called "Shirley's Walk". The trail is quite high compared
the wetlands around it so it was easy to watch a Harrier flying over
the bull rushes looking for food.
Tags: miniature effect(4), bench(1), seawall(1)
People: Claira(4), Nara(3), Lloyd(2), Helen(2), Janet(1)
Last Modified Monday, June 8th, 2026 at 22:47:23 Edit
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