Sea Kayaking and birding at Point Holmes, Comox

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Heather paddling around Cape Lazo

Sea kayaks are great vessels for observing wildlife from seals to whales and they are also ideal for observing shorebirds, ducks and other marine birds . We have noted that recently various ducks have returned to the waters off of Comox and Point Holmes offers a perfect launch point for seeing these new arrivals. On Tuesday, Oct 1 under clear skies and light easterly winds  we kayaked on a tide of about 3.5 meters  We usually paddle toward Cape Lazo and around to Kye Bay. However, most bird sitings seem to occur away from where people and dogs are located so closer you get to the sandy beaches of Kye Bay the fewer birds we typically see. We find our best bird sitings are along the rocky shoreline at the south end of Cape Lazo.

A seal perched on rock

On this day we were pleased to see numerous harlequin ducks with several colourful males in the mix and also many common mergansers seemed to have just arrived. Also many pelagic cormorants adorned some of the taller rocks and we even saw several on a log floating off shore. As well many gulls occupied many sections of sandy beaches along this route. We also saw several seals basking on rocks. It is always interesting to see what new arrivals we can see and we look forward to our next kayak trip to Point Holmes. 

A colourful male harlequin duck

Common mergansers seem to have recently arrived

 

Cycling from Qualicum Beach to Moorecroft Regional Park

By Keith and Heather Nicol

Along a great cycle path

     On Monday September 31,  the Evergreen Cycling group based in Courtenay decided to do a trip that many members had been wanting to check for some time- Qualicum Beach to Moorecroft  Regional Park. Since the group had already done trips from the Ravensong Aquatic Centre to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park earlier in the summer, most of the best cycling route had already been scoped out.  But this added trip to Moorecroft Park added an extra 20 km to the trip and some hills so it made for longish trip of close to 60 km. 

Much of the route features quiet roads and side streets

   Ten of set out from Courtenay at 9:15 by car for Qualicum Beach and by 10:30 or so we were busy linking up the various sections of road, bike trail and quiet city streets that make up the PQ Cycling Links trail. Most of it is well sign posted but it makes sense to get a Qualicum – Parksville map if you want to try this route on your own. This led us to Rathtrevor Provincial Park and then we took Resort Drive to Northwest Bay Road. At this point the route becomes hillier but very pleasant as you pass farms with a good shoulder on the edge of the road for cycling. We turned left on Stewart Rd and then descended down some steep sections to Moorecroft  Regional Park where we had lunch at a sunny picnic table in a small garry oak meadow overlooking the ocean. It was a perfect place to relax and enjoy a sunny fall day. 

At the Garry Oak Meadow at Moorecroft Park

  But we then had to cycle back up the hills and what kept many going was the thought of an ice cream cone at the store adjacent to Rathtrevor Park. From there we backtracked along the same route back to the Ravensong Aquatic Centre.  Overall we cycled for about 3 and ½ hours not counting stops for ice cream, lunch and water along the way. We arrived back in Courtenay around 4:30ish having spent had some great exercise while exploring some new terrain for most of us. For more information on the Evergreen Cycling group see: http://evergreenclub.ca/. 

    

Lunch in the sun overlooking the water