by Keith
and Heather Nicol
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| Harlequin ducks near 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 birds. One of our favourite places to paddle is at Point Holmes
since it offers ready access to scenic paddling and a variety of shorelines
from sandy beaches to rocky headlands. With the sunny, warm weather of late we
have been sea kayaking on a few occasions and our most recent outing was on
Saturday, April 18 and we weren’t disappointed. We almost always head around
Cape Lazo toward Kye Bay since this is where you tend to get the best bird and marine
mammal sitings. Also at this time of year the mountains still have quite abit
of winter snow which adds to the scenic beauty of this area.
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| A merganser takes flight with the Comox Glacier behind |
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| An offshore rock offers a good vantage point for an eagle |
On
this day we were pleased to see so much variety from basking sea lions, to
seals on rocks and
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| We usually stop for a snack at a sandy beach |
shorebirds like black bellied plovers. This is also a great
spot to site colourful harlequin ducks and we also saw some mergansers along
the rocks as well. We went a tide of
between 2.7 and 3.1 meters and this meant that many rocks were exposed which gave
places for birds to perch on. As well we usually make a point of stopping for a
snack at the lovely sandy beach that is between the boat launch and Cape Lazo.
Another bonus of paddling at Point Holmes is the fact that the boat launch has
a web cam that lets you see what the wave conditions are along the shore. It
can be viewed at: http://www.pointholmesrecreation.ca/rampcam/.
It is always interesting to see the variety of birds and other wildlife in this
area and we look forward to our next kayak trip to Point Holmes.
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| One seal on a rock and the other in the water |
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| A black bellied plover along the shore near Cape Lazo |
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