10 December 2020

Trigger warning:  The final photo is of a pan of oysters frying.  I think they look delicious, but if you really don't like oysters you may be grossed out by their presence. 

I decided yesterday morning, after a few days of letting a badly jammed little toe recover, to drive up-Island and check out the Trumpeter swan situation in the Comox estuary.  People I've met down here told me that they'd seen quite a few swans up there (about 80km north of here).  I thought I'd still manage better driving than walking.  

So I set out with a thermos of coffee, a pb&j sandwich, some mandarin oranges (from Spain) and a few of my speculaas that I've baked lately.

Stopped overlooking the beach in Qualicum Bay, not far from here.  There were big --what?--herds?-- of sea lions offshore.  Noisy and not an easy photoshot.  


I hear them in the night, sometimes, and see them offshore from the Englishman River Estuary, but not in the numbers in Qualicum Bay.  I'm told they gather on the docks down at Nanoose Bay.  A big, big nuisance.

There is a long beach at Qualicum Bay, often birdy, but rather quiet yesterday.


I hadn't travelled north of Qualicum, which is only about 20km north of Parksville, for years.  Between Parksville and Comox/Courtenay (they're so closely adjoined as to be practically one town), there are a number of small communities, a couple of First Nations reserves, and a few resorts.  The area is becoming more developed, as is the case almost everywhere, with vacation homes.  Still, quite a bit of it remains the domain of fishing and oyster farming (of which more anon.)
 




 Curious to relate, there was what had been a Washington State Ferry moored offshore at one point.
 

 It looked rusty and derelict, but I'd guess people were living aboard.
 
I made my way to Courtney/Comox hoping to find swans along the estuary there.  Comox remains a big military air base, with several squadrons.  Its presence has an effect on the community, quite unlike any of the other towns on Vancouver Island.  
 
There is also some agriculture in the estuarine land, uncommon on the north end of Vancouver Island.  As it happened, the only place I saw swans was on Comox Valley Farm, closed to visitors (apart, of course, from swans!).  
 
 

These are trumpeter swans.  A misnomer, they really sound more like trombones.   I think the lower mainland of BC must be more attractive for swans or better for their migration routes--I used to see LOTS of swans around Ladner or up the Fraser Valley.
 
In any case, it was an interesting change of scene.  

On my way home I stopped in Union Bay and bought oysters.  Excellent oysters, very fresh.  There were fine views of the mountain range along the spine of the Island.



On arriving home, I cracked an undistinguished bottle of BC white wine and fried up the oysters.  They're delicious. 
 

 
 
 
 I'll have left-overs tonight.
 
My foot seems fully recovered (crossed fingers), and the weather being propitious, I can resume my walks tomorrow.

 

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