Hi Richard,
Thanks for your reply! Klootchman Park is not very well known, as you discovered. It is a great park. It would probably be better known in the rock climbing community. On my first visit, two families were hiking in to go rock climbing on the cliffs. There is a trail for beginners at the base of the cliffs. If you fall, it's only no more than ten or twelve feet to the water. I have been back a couple of times since my first visit. I enjoy it very much now!
The first place I saw black oystercatchers in Vancouver was on the side of the road of the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty two years ago. There were four or five of them right there!! It was very cool!
I don' t know if the crested mynahs are gone. I know that they are very rare here though. I am hoping that I will be able to find one on a walk in the area where they are reported to still be. I'll let you know if I see one.
On today's walk at the beach, my boyfriend Les and I saw two common loons in winter phase and three harbour seals. There were lots of mallards, as usual, about 20 american widgeons, and a few female greater scaups on the duck pond. I forgot to mention the pair of mean mute swans resident on the pond. Over on Capilano river, I saw a few female common mergansers. Oh, I forgot to note there are always gulls present and pelagic cormorants around at the beach. I unfortunately am not too keen on gulls. Thus I haven't learned the distinguishing features of any of the gulls in Vancouver.
Recent changes around here include a pair of beavers at the Ambleside Duck Pond. This has been the first time I've seen beavers. So I go down to the duck pond quite often to see them. Though I didn't see them today. A raft of surf scoters was floating off the beach for a couple of days last week. Hopefully, they will return soon to stay for the winter. Also, a family of otters over the summer were living in the rocks of the western rock jetty right next to the dog beach at Ambleside. Two weekends ago, Les and I went up to Cypress Bowl, where we saw a black bear from a distance. That was another first for me! If that wasn't exciting enough, last Saturday, a black bear woke me up when it was trying to get at the window birdfeeder. The window where the birdfeeder was located was right above my head!! The bear has been back through the yard since then, too. It left a souvenir....bear droppings!! We live only five streets up from the Marine Drive in West Vancouver. The bears have never been down this low! Due to the drought we had over the summer, the bears have come down the mountain to forage....right through our yard!!! We live next to a small park. We think the bear is sleeping in the underbrush during the day and foraging after dark.
This afternoon, we watched the weather news and saw a story about the destruction of Point Pleasant Park by Hurricane Juan in Halifax. The report said that about 70% of the trees in the park were destroyed. Also, the report stated that clean up of the park will begin very soon. Is Kentville near Halifax? I am wondering if Point Pleasant was an area well populated with birds and wildlife. I am assuming that birds and animals have been greatly affected by the destruction of the trees throughout the park.
What other great birign areas are there besides Fundy Bay in NS?
Kate
