Tag Archive | West Coast

Scenes from a foggy day

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We have been basking in warm, moist air here on the West Coast, while the rest of the country is freezing in Arctic outflows. This “Pineapple Express” has brought a lot of rain over the past week, but that is now letting up. Yesterday was calm and foggy, and a bit eerie in its warmth. I was in Victoria, so I went walkabout to see what I could see.

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Monday night the fog rolled in, smelling of the sea.

 

 

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On Mt. Tolmie Tuesday morning, the air was still and moist, and collembollans could be found up on the vegetation.

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Rock Flipping Day is every day for me, and has been since i was a kid. I found this beautiful spider that looks very much like a Pimoa.

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Oddly, I also found 3 colonies of Aphaenogaster occidentalis, under rocks where 2 weeks ago none were evident. The warmth must have penetrated the soil, and the colonies moved themselves and their brood upwards.

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These are some of my favourite myrmicines, and appear to be quite common in Garry Oak meadow habitats.

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Jackson was along for this outing, and spent some time chewing rocks…You should see his teeth after 9 years of this awful habit!

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I even managed to find a beautiful Phidippus!

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On the ferry coming back to Vancouver, the waters were calm.

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As it was high tide, the seals were hauled up on the rocky shores of Galiano Island.

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Here, the ferry comes up on a log with cormorants and gulls.

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Which scatter, somewhat comically.

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A large volcano, Mt. Baker, which I visited several months back.

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Winter lighting in this part of the world means sunset-like conditions at 2:30!

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Which make for beautiful backgrounds.