This blog covers travel suggestions and ideas by Keith and Heather Nicol. Most of our travels deal with outdoor activities like hiking,sea kayaking, cross country skiing, alpine skiing and other activities. We also enjoy traditional music and cultures. We have written over 800 articles in various magazines and newspapers. We are frequent contributors to Ski Trax and Saltscapes Magazines. Keith Nicol has also written 2 books and has a popular you tube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/k2nicol
The rocky tide pools have lots of interesting life
Mother’s Day in Courtenay, BC had amazing
weather for the time year with afternoon temperatures in the mid to high 20’s C
so we decided to head to Pt Holmes to
check the tide pools. The tide at 2:45 pm for Sunday, May 10 was just 0.5
meters which we knew meant that many of the bedrock tide pools would be
exposed. For those people not familiar
with this area it is to the right of the boat launch and there is parking for a
number of cars just off of Lazo Road. Because of the large tides in this area
the tide pools are 200-300 meters from the parking area and footing can be
tricky especially near the rocky outcrops. We wore hiking shoes but some people
we saw were wearing rubber boots. Flip flops or similar sandals are not
recommended given the slippery, seed weed covered rocks.
Crow with a Midshipman Fish
We
saw many ochre sea stars clinging to the underside of clefts in the rock and in
the tidal pools.
Ochre Sea Stars are making a comeback
We saw a large green anemone with its delicate tentacles as
well as lots of small crabs. This is also the time of year for midshipman fish
to come to these tidal areas to lay their eggs. They like to lay their eggs
under rocks where they will be protected from predators but sometimes birds can
find them and score an easy meal. We saw a crow fly from rock to rock carrying
a midshipman trying to keep it away from other crows. We also saw a gull with
some sort of tide pool fish. It was interesting to watch the gull try to eat
this fish and then spit it out and try again before finally swallowing it whole.
Next time we go we are going to bring a guide book to help us identify many of
the other creatures we saw under the rocks and in the tide pools. Bring your camera and binoculars since you don’t
know what you might see.
On Saturday , May 2
we headed down to a parking lot behind the Courtenay Museum to see if the
Vaux’s Swifts that are in the area might fly down the chimney to roost for the
evening. Evidently they have been seen coming to this chimney for the last few
years around this time of year and one person we spoke to said they will likely
be here for the next few weeks. The Vaux’s Swifts spend the winter in Mexico
and breed in large hollow trees found in old growth forests in BC, Washingon
and Oregon. Because of this their numbers are in decline as logging removes
their breeding habitat.
The birds feed
on insects and their shape has been described as cigars with wings.On Saturday we were joined by close to 15
other people who had heard about this chimney roosting behavior. We arrived at
6:45 pm armed with binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens.Their arrival to the chimney seems to depend
on the weather and so you don’t know when they might arrive. Around 7:30 pm we
began to see a swarm of Vaux’s Swifts swoop over head and fly over the chimney.
They then disappeared for a few minutes only to return again for another fly
over. Then they began to spiral around and just like Santa they headed down the
chimney. Presumably they like the rough interior of the chimney and spend the night
huddled together along the edges of the chimney.
The Vaux's Swifts soaring above the Courtenay Museum
No sooner had this
group headed down that another swarm of 40-50 birds did their fly by and after
disappearing they reappeared and like the first group dropped down into the
chimney. Over the next few minutes a total of 200 birds had descended into the chimney!!
Video of the Vaux's Swifts streaming into the Museum Chimney
One of the birders we spoke
said that they have counted up to 3600 birds drop down into this chimney in one
evening and 2 nights ago they counted 750 birds!! Needless to say these birds are
NOT social distancing in this chimney. Birding is apparently on the upswing
with Covid 19 and you don’t have to be a avid birder to be impressed by this
phenomenon so be sure to check it out.
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.
A merganser takes flight with the Comox Glacier behind
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
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.
One seal on a rock and the other in the water
A black bellied plover along the shore near Cape Lazo
Most people that view this blog know that it typically
deals with a variety of outdoor activities in the Comox Valley and beyond. However in this era of Covid 19 I thought I
would let readers know about using a ski waxing mask to stay healthy during
this pandemic.We bought this waxing
mask to reduce the effects of cross country ski waxing on our respiratory
system. In further checking the details on this mask we found that it is rated
as a N 95 mask so is basically equivalent the ones that doctors use. This ski waxing mask has a wide soft plastic
brim so seals nicely against your face. It is critical that the mask fit well
around the nose and mouth so that there are no leakages.
Ready to go shopping
Although the Canadian government is currently suggesting that people not wear masks when they go out shopping (instead emphasizing social
distancing and hand washing) I am wearing a mask with sunglasses for the following 3 reasons. First of all it is sometimes impossible to avoid people by 2 meters and
if someone who is asymptomatic coughs when you are close by this might create droplets which you might breath in or fall your sunglasses. This mask will go along way in preventing that from happening. A second reason is that it is impossible to touch your nose or mouth
when you are out shopping with this mask on. It is often hard to keep your hands constantly
clean while shopping since you are opening doors, touching shelves,
using shopping carts , pumping gas, etc.
All you need is someone who is asymptomatic (ie not showing any symptoms of Covid 19) who has touched some of these
surfaces and then when you touch it and then scratch your nose, you could possibly
get Covid 19. And thirdly since I
could be asymptomatic I am protecting our grocery store clerks, people stocking shelves and others who
are doing such a great job. The last thing I want to do in contaminate someone else.
Video of using a cross country ski mask
Once I get
home I wash my hands, take off my mask and sunglasses and leave those in the
garage. Then I rewash my hands and leave the plastic mask for 5-6 days before reusing
it which should be enough time for any virus on the surface to die off. So if you have a ski waxing mask in your basement or garage you might
want to dust it off and see if it might work while we deal with this Covid 19 crisis.
NOTE: When I wrote this on April 1 the Canadian Gov't suggested that people NOT wear masks when they go shopping but as of today (April 6) they are suggesting people could use cloth masks. Obviously a mask like this (if you have one) is far superior to a cloth mask since it fits tightly around the nose and mouth and filters out smaller material than cotton.
