LATEST: WILDERNESS ADVENTURES BOOKEDITORIAL
NEWS, EVENTS, OBSERVATIONS, OR JUST HAPPENINGS
February 6, 2022. Beavers Are Back!
Haven't seen any signs of their presence for a while.
Assumed they were gone for good. Apparently not!
October 10, 2021. CANADA
October 6, 2021. Sunset Walk

May 7, 2021. Life Strives
Life does
not need much to take hold: a pinch of wind-blown dirt, a blob of bird
poop, a lucky seed, a few drops of rain. And v
oila!!May 3, 2021. Deer Love Pretty Flowers

May 1, 2021. A Lunch with A View 
Resting on top of Mount Douglas after a double-peak hike
January 18, 2021. Bubbles

December 12, 2020. Hey, Buddy! I Want My Peanuts!
Beacon Hill Park, Victoria BC
October 12, 2020. An Evening at Ogden Point in Victoria BC
July 19, 2020. Milky Way

May 22, 2020. Little Mount Doug
April 15, 2020. Focus

Great Blue Heron focusing on a potential prey.
April 15, 2020. A Sunset Owl

Last
night, I spotted a pair of owls (one of them in the photo). They were
watching, with lots of interest, two cats fighting below. I wonder if
the owls were betting the next mouse on a winner. Or maybe sizing the
cats up, checking if one of them was small and distracted enough to
grab for supper
?
April 01, 2020. The Sign of Times: Park Bench Back in November 2019, Now Closed due to COVID-19

March 26, 2020. If a Duck Could Take a Selfie....

March 26, 2020. First Mushrooms of the Season?
March 20, 2020. Beavers Been Here
While the country is on the shutdown, beavers have been busy building their new home
March 20, 2020. Snake Basking in the Late Afternoon Sun
March 20, 2020. A Contemplating Owl
March 3, 2020. A Spider at My Home: A Sign of Spring?

An uninvited but still welcome guest. I was told they come into houses looking for mates, for love. Sorry buddy...
The thumb is for size reference, not to bite.
February 2020: Birds
January 2020: Multi-use Trail, Saanich

January 1, 2020: New Year Sky

October 2019: Swan Pub at Night
January 2019: Total Lunar Eclipse
It
is somewhat unusual to have clear skies in Victoria BC in normally
rainy January. This winter we have had quite a few dry days. One of
them coincided with the total lunar eclipse on the night of January 20.
The next one is in two years, in May 2021!May 2018: Swiftsure Yacht Race
March 2018: Counting Herons in Beacon Hill Park
Herons are back. At least seventeen here. Waiting for foliage to cover their nesting trees?
November 2017: Salmon Run in Sooke
The Fall season is gracing Victoria area with fallen leaves

After
a dry summer, the welcome autumn rains are feeding local streams,
rising water levels, making them passable for salmon that are heading
to the spawning grounds

The fish, dead and alive, feeds local wildlife

Bears come to add final layers of fat before denning for winter.
Catching live salmon takes time and energy: why bother when there are plenty of dead fish in the streams?

American dippers dive to retrieve salmon roe, their preferred salmon meal

Mild climate, plenty of moisture and nutrients from dead salmon all contribute to the lush forests
August 21, 2017: While Waiting for Solar Eclipse: Orcas

A pod of orcas passing in front of Clover Point at the beginning of the solar eclipse
July 18, 2017: Fluidity of Time - Salvador Dali's Dance of Time I on Display in Downtown Vancouver
January 3, 2017: Cold Days in Victoria BC
December 20, 2016: Stormy Seas and King Tides: Drenched People on Dallas Road, Victoria BC
A combination of high water levels during the king tides and stormy seas creates waves so monstrous
that they breach over the sea wall drenching people on sidewalks
October 22, 2016: Head & Tail of The Gorge Regatta
To the Finish Line!

Go, Mounties, Go!
June 5, 2016: Oak Bay Tea Party
Bathtub Race: Engine Troubles

Skydiver Landing

Air Show

Teapot Race: Assisted Finish
June 3, 2016: Mammoths and More at Royal BC Museum

Royal BC Museum: at the opening of
Mammoths! Giants of the Ice Age

And not just mammoths!
December 12, 2015: Stormy Seas and Sun (A View from Dallas Road)
December 12, 2015: At Tuba Christmas Concert
June 7, 2015: Bathtub Race at Oak Bay Tea Party
November 22, 2014: Search for the Sea Creatures of the Night
That’s in-Seine: Collections by Moonlight
Pulling the net during the search for sea creatures at Willows Beach with Royal BC Museum and Victoria Natural History Society

The Find
November 15, 2014: November Frost on Grass
A spell of cold Arctic air has brought an unusual mid-November freeze to Victoria depositing frost crystalls on grass.
December 16, 2013: Upper Harbour Sunset

Sun is setting over the Upper Harbour in Victoria BC
December 7, 2013: Snowy Road with Bear Footprints
A rare snow has covered Victoria with white dust.
A bear has walked this deserted road in a nearby forest just hours before me.
In most of BC, bears are already in hibernation. Warmer temperatures
typical for South Vancouver Island, combined with this year's plentiful salmon run,
have encouraged this fellow to stay up a bit longer.
November 2, 2013: Entrance into the Fall

Fallen leaves form a path leading to an entrance into the Market Square in Victoria BC.
November 1, 2013: Forgotten Veterans

Lost poppy flower pin is lying forgotten among dead autumn leaves. Observed and photographed in 2008.
October 20, 2013: Downtown Fog
Victoria downtown enveloped in heavy fog on Friday night. Ferries delayed, some flights canceled,
traffic slowed down. Still, a beautiful scene.
September 20, 2013: Rabbit and Flower

A
feral rabbit grazing in my neighbourhood has collected a mouthful
of grass.
One flower is still standing: too bitter? too beautiful?
September 17, 2013: My New Eight-Legged Roommate

I have just met my new neighbour or more likely roommate:
this fellow, at least five centimetre - long, has moved in today and,
after a brief introducion (this image), settled down behind my curtain.
December 1, 2012: Truck Light Parade in Victoria, BC

Canada Post truck with a letter to Santa Claus
December 1, 2012: Lighted Ships Parade in Victoria, BC

Sailboat with Christmas decorations parading in the Inner Harbour
Brown Pelicans in Victoria BC? Confirmed (November 26, 2012):

After a few years of absence, stray Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are again
sharing local waters with gulls off Dallas Road in Victoria, BC
Jubilee Salute on May 21, 2012
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee gun salute at the Government House in Victoria BC on May 21, 2012
Copyright © 2012-2021 Mikhail Belikov. All rights reserved.
© Unless specified otherwise, all text and photographs appearing on this site are the
property of Mikhail Belikov. They are protected by the copyright laws and
are not to be copied, downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written
permission of Mikhail Belikov.