Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

The lovely little diving ducks are called Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola). They were swimming and diving quite energetically offshore of the West Bay Walkway when I noticed a large Harbour Seal (right below) approaching them.

The seal dived and a few moments later all the ducks were in flight. Seals are occasionally known to opportunistically attack sea birds and I suspect these little ducks must look as inviting from beneath the surface as they do above. The event was a little reminder that the animals we observe in these peaceful natural scenes probably see their environment quite differently from how we view it.

Cattle Point

I was going to post another sunrise photo today but I realized that they are a little like cupcakes - one is fine but a steady diet is a bit overwhelming. After I had glutted myself on sunrise yesterday at Willows Beach I went down to the end of the beach marked by Cattle Point. I was amazed by the variety and busy-ness of the wild life off that point. All these photos were taken within a few minutes.

Above is a female American Wigeon. There were lots of Mallards as well and a few other kinds of duck but the latter were so shy I was unable to get close enough to identify them. On the left, poking about among the rocks was a Black Oystercatcher. These birds always amuse me because they seem to be trying to be inconspicuous but those eyes and that beak are a dead giveaway. To the right, seemingly traveling in tandem, are one of our local seagulls and a Harbour Seal.

There seem to be more than the usual number of seals around lately. I see one or more pretty well every time I am down near the shoreline. Last night while on the West Bay Walkway I spent about a half an hour watching one dine off a dense school of thousands of small silvery fish that were swimming directly below the walkway.

Swallow's Landing

I am happy to share with you today my new favorite view of the Victoria Skyline. This is taken from the terrace of a pair of condominiums called "Swallow's Landing," overlooking the Matson Conservation Area along the West Bay Walkway. I'll tell you a little about this project tomorrow. For those of you who might be interested in yesterday's seal pup, he was there again today and I was a little better prepared with an 80-200mm zoom lens. Some of the people using the walkway are concerned that he is sick or wounded when they see him lying on the cement like this. Wikipedia, however, assures us that when not hunting or feeding, harbour seals like to pull themselves out of the water and rest on convenient rocks. To me he looks very happy and healthy and it is a treat to see him dropping off to sleep, losing his balance and snapping awake again.

Pup

As if to provide the perfect example of yesterday's discussion of my discovery of the digital teleconverter function of my Sony Alpha 550 DSLR I encountered this seal pup taking a break while I was out for my morning walk yesterday. I wasn't even carrying my camera bag, just the camera with the kit lens, an 18-55mm zoom, when I spied this little fellow lolling on a boat ramp along the Westsong Walkway. With the zoom maxed out at 55mm I focused in on him and took a few shots. Then I switched to "live view" and pushed the teleconverter button which gave me the equivalent of 110mm - not much of a telephoto but it still effectively halved the distance between me and this Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) pup. I suspect this is a feature of my camera that I will be using regularly.

Can You See It?

When I took the camera down from my face the gentleman visible sunbathing just left of centre in the above photo waved and pointed again. I walked over a little closer and he continued to point to the rocks just below him and then I saw something move. To the right you can see the Harbour Seal pup that had hauled itself up on the rocks to rest. Its dappled coat fits in so well with its surroundings that if it had not moved I doubt I would ever have seen it. The point of land jutting out in the above photo is Holland Point, along the shoreline below Dallas Road in the James Bay neighbourhood. The ocean is the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the mountains in the background are on the Olympic Peninsula in the USA.

Harbor Seal

Now that the kids are back in school and the weather is cooling down, the tourist core of Victoria is much quieter and I have begun to explore and re-explore areas a little further from the Victoria city center such as Macaulay Point and Fleming Beach in Esquimalt, where I chanced to meet this Harbor Seal enjoying a placid swim near the dock. I like this picture because the seal is looking up at me. As he approached he was focused on the bottom then he bent his head up and gazed at me. A few seconds later he surfaced and had a better look at me. If I'd had a fish (or maybe a ball) we could have had a little more conversation. But since nothing was forthcoming he rolled over and continued his leisurely survey of the bottom. The water is about a meter and a half (five feet) deep here and he was about a half meter below the surface when I took this picture.

Fisherman's Wharf - Harbour Seals

Some Victoria residents such as the harbour seal above prefer to live under Fisherman's Wharf, thus avoiding costly moorage fees while yet retaining easy access to tourists for research purposes. The three seals below, for instance, are attempting to find out if it is possible to communicate with these migratory creatures. Good luck!