A Day Walking in Victoria, Part 4--Squirrels and More (+6 insets!)

(+6 insets)

Trip Talk: Animals Along the Way!

Steve and I saw plenty of wildlife on our trip to Vancouver Island. Off the top of my head I remember seeing many species of birds, deer, insects, snakes, lizards, seals, crabs, snails, slugs, fish, various rodents…we even saw a Black Bear! However, we didn't spend a lot of time just chilling out, which meant that we didn't get to see as many animals as we'd have liked to. (I hoped to see elk, whales, more bears, otters, beavers, etc.) It would have been nice to quietly make my way around the edge of an estuary so I could see more of the birds (how I wanted to see a kingfisher!) but it wasn't in the cards."Sitting still" made us feel guilty because we couldn't escape the urge to get the very most out of every day. We weren't frantic about this so we did relax plenty, but we didn't have occasions where we sat and allowed nature to come out of hiding around us. I'm so happy that we got to see at least a few animals and so I thought today I'd share some pictures of critters we've seen up to this point in our trip. (Some of these are reposts from days before.)

Today's Pictures

While Steve and I wandered up through Beacon Hill's beautiful park, I spotted a black squirrel on a tree! I was so happy that it wasn't afraid of us and came down to see if we had anything to eat. The main picture shows our fluffy friend pausing on its tree before leaping onto the lush lawn below. (By the way, I was surprised to learn that this squirrel is a variant of grey tree squirrel, which can be pure black or a sooty color like this one. I also learned that Grey squirrels were introduced to the city of Vancouver's Stanley Park in 1909 and then to Vancouver Island in 1966. They were considered to be invasive until it was learned that these squirrels are more visible because they adapt to cities better. Local species prefer the forest and move away from civilization, whereas Grey squirrels establish themselves where there are people.)

Insets 1 and 2: We almost always have a bag of mixed nuts with us for a snack, so Steve tossed some into the grass for our little buddy.

Inset 3: I noticed a pair of very noisy crows in a nearby tree and liked the way they looked up there!

Inset 4: This Bald Eagle picture was such a highlight for me! These birds actually live within miles of our home here in southern Oregon but until I got this picture, I'd never seen one so close before. Exhilarating!

Insets 5 and 6: What a nice treat it was to get these pictures of Canada Geese on our way up to Vancouver Island. My Sony camera made it possible to get some great close-ups!

Pam, I can't remember what sort of squirrels live around your place. We get normal grey squirrels, though they don't come around the house and prefer to bark rude comments at me from the trees down in the lower forest! Instead we have ground squirrels, as you know, heh. Did you know that we've actually had to shoo these little stinkers out of the house from time to time?! They'd come in through the dog door looking for treats or water or both. Ridiculous! :D I hope the lovely sunny day we're having is the same for you! *BIG HUGS*

Explored on 9/24/19; highest placement #1.