Bald Juvenile

This is a young Bald Eagle, spotted one morning a few weeks ago perched above the West Bay Walkway. He looks like a scruffy teenager though he's not more than two or three years old since the white head and tail of the adult bird comes with maturity around four years. Though he looks quite imperturbable, he was being buzzed mercilessly by a couple of crows and finally took off in search of a quieter place to take a break.

Birds in Bronze

In a photograph of the Legislative Assembly Building I posted in September there is a fountain in the foreground. Around the outer rim of this fountain are sculptures of four animals important in the mythologies of the native peoples of British Columbia. Above is a raven. Below is an eagle. There are also small sculptures of a bear and a wolf and, in the center of this fountain a few stone sea otters.

Great Blue Heron

A nesting colony of Great Blue Herons is located in Beacon Hill Park, within a few minutes walk from downtown Victoria. The colony has been under attack lately from Bald Eagles who occasionally nest nearby, causing a small controversy amongst locals, some maintaining that the herons should be protected while others say that the eagles and herons are natural enemies and the attacks are simply nature taking its course. However, the herons are a small and at-risk population while the Bald Eagle is thriving - estimated population in BC is 20 to 30 thousand, about a third of the North American total. In any case, it seemed like a rare privilege for a city dweller like myself to be able to approach such a splendid creature so closely and I hope the eagles will find something else to eat.