Blog of the Plague Year(s)

 21 February-- Time for  a change of scene.  I'm headed north to camp three nights at Cluxewe campground, a bit north of Port McNeill. Having finally got the drawers in my camper fully functional (I had to cheat a bit and put gate hooks on one on which the latch doesn't work.), I booked three nights at the campground, and organised myself for travel.  The weather should be--more or less--ok.  It is, after all, still the end of February at the north end of Vancouver Island.  The forecast is for -15C with wind chill tonight.  Got myself more or less set up and hit the road this morning.  The wind was biting, and showed in the Salish Sea off Qualicum Beach this morning. I opted to take the Inland Island Highway north as far as Campbell River.  It doesn't go any further.  It's not as nice a drive as the route along the shore but I wanted to arrive in good time to make camp.   North of Campbell River, the highway narrows, and the co...

16 February eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S102751390 weather:  9 am 7C wind W8, 1 pm 9C wind NW 14,  sunny tide:  10:30  3.6m, falling 18 February eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S102909230 weather:  9 am 5C wind N 3, 1 pm 8C wind E 14.  cloudy tide:  11 am 3.4m 16 February Glorious sun.  I suspect that I over-use that phrase, but after the past dark months, it becomes somehow unavoidable.   I find it curious that as the weather clears, the number of bird species I can spot diminishes.  I've no idea why this should be. That said, it was a fine morning to be out.  The skies were wonderful, as was the sea. The tide was down, leaving views of the flats. It appeared to be overcast on the mainland, but there was a relatively good view of the islands to the northeast. The river is down and calm.  The foliage is changing toward spring. 18 February Cloudy, but mild temperatures.  A low tide, with...

  12 February eBird data:https://ebird.org/checklist/S102515311 weather:  8:30 am -2 C wind calm,  12:30 pm  7C wind WNW 8, hard frost tide:  10:30 am 3.8 m, turning  13 February eBird data:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S102589366 weather:  8:30 am -2C, 12:30 5C, wind data unavailable, initially cloudy, then clearing tide:  10:30 am 3.7 m, mid-tide, rising 12 February A brilliantly clear morning but startlingly chilly--it's been milder for some days, but there was a hard frost this morning. At 9 am there was, yet again, a very noisy and raucous "Freedom Convoy," which I gather had set out from Campbell River enroute to Victoria.  It was the loudest of the three Saturdays when this has happened and went on for longer.  I find it very upsetting.  I'd always thought (most) Canadians were more or less civil people, at least overtly, but this is goon behaviour.   Nevertheless, I bundled up, put on my warmest socks and set ...