Back to Nature Weekend

We had a very nice weekend away on Quadra Island at the Taku resort.  It is low season on the island and very few tourists go there this time of year - a fabulous place to enjoy some peace, quiet and nature.  This post is a little photo heavy but it was hard to leave out any of the pictures(click on any photo to enlarge).   

These seals were right out front our resort lounging about on some logs attached to the marina.  They were just watching us when two got spooked, swam away then realized we meant no harm so came back, flopped back up on the log and gave us the big stare.  The photo above I believe is the baby harbour seal and the photo below is either Momma or Pappa.  Usually you just see their cute noses above the water but Friday they were not that shy.  They are such curious creatures.

Pappa, Momma and Baby

The Tlingit Tribes named Taku as the nesting place of birds.  We saw plenty of different types including this loon.

Friday was rainy (it has rained 25 days straight now after months of drought-like conditions) but it did break for 2 hours so we spent those on the beach and marina enjoying the wildlife.

I love nature of any kind and am fascinated by these anemones attached to the dock.  They were very healthy and plentiful, a sign of a good ecosystem.

As we were heading back inside we encountered this doe and fawn about 15 feet from our front door.  The fawn was busy eating but unfortunately the only picture I got of it was a bit blurry.

Doe keeping an eye on us.

Fawn completely ignoring us

Blue Heron

 I believe the fish in the picture below spotted off the dock are baby sturgeon (I am sure they are not salmon or trout) which grow to extremely large fish but are only 3 inches long here.

This duck is called a Harlequin duck and I believe from the markings is a Drake (male).  These guys are very shy as I see them a lot in Comox and usually cannot get close enough to get a decent picture.  The water was so peaceful on Sunday this guy was unconcerned by us and posed.

It rained almost all day Saturday so all these pictures were from Friday and Sunday.  On Saturday despite the rain we went for an hour walk on the beach with our umbrellas but got cold so went back and spent the day reading and watching movies.  Sunday the sun came out for the first time in over 3 weeks and it was a very nice day.  We went for a 1.5 hour walk at Rebecca Spit (a sandspit is a long slim finger of land with water on either side) which was directly across the harbour from our resort separating us from the Straight of Georgia (Salish Sea).

View of Rebecca Spit from Taku Resort

I love taking pictures of jellyfish, they are such beautiful creatures.  This one was particularly luminescent and right near the surface of the water.  I don't ever recall seeing so many jellyfish in one spot as how plentiful they were near the marina.

Walking on Rebecca Spit

I photo-stalk all creatures great and small.  

If I have misidentified any of the creatures in this post please let me know - I am certainly no expert, just like taking their pictures.

We are now preparing for Tropical Storm Ana that is supposed to hit Vancouver and Vancouver Island by late Monday night/Tuesday.  This is quite rare for Tropical storms to land so far north but it has happened in the past.  We have lots of candles, water and food, and will stay warm and cozy by the natural gas fireplace should the power go out.    Wouldn't you know that Tuesday is the day we scheduled the arrival of our new bed (our 1 year old bed is going to my stepdaughter, hubby's back is getting worse and we needed more support), scheduled a repairman for our washing machine and scheduled Doctors appointment.  I certainly hope Ana doesn't get in the way!