February 7th - Cadboro Point (#16)

I led a group of SISKA paddlers (Sean, Julie, Darlene, Steven and  Leanne) out to play in the currents at Cadboro Point. We had fun learning how to do eddy to eddy S-turns and get a feel for moving water. Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than intended due to rising winds. We had a bit of lumpy water and wind in our face for the paddle back to Flower Island. It was cool to see both ancient and marbled murrelets close to Flower Island. We also had nice views of harbour seals and river otters. The bird checklist is here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80627050

A cool coincidence. Jennifer P happened to be flying by the point in a friend's plane and took this shot - you can see the kayaks from two of our group below the "glass house":

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Steven and Sean by the glass house - click to enlarge

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There is a link to view a zoomable version temporarily available here:  https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/20210207180305-01099-map.html 

7 km, YTD 149 km.

February 6th - Finnerty Cove (#15)

Edgar and I set out from Cadboro Bay in relatively good conditions to paddle out to Cadboro Point and Maynard Cove where we met Jennie and Delcie. Due to the westerlies the current channel was a bit sloppy so we decided to paddle northwestwards and made it to Finnerty Cove for a lunch break.

If you look at the track plot, you can see by the colours that we had the westerlies and current in our face slowing us down. You can also see that Edgar and I had a strong headwind slowing us down between Cadboro Point and Flower Island. Between Cadboro Point and Flower Island the waters were a bit lumpy but for the rest of the trip we had pretty calm seas. It was harder to see birds in the lumpy waters, but we still managed to find 15 species: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80554151 It was good to get a nice look at some surfbirds - I have not seen them very often this winter. I was also happy to see both ancient and marbled murrelets fairly close to shore.

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14 km, YTD 142 km

February 5th - Cadboro Bay (#14)

Dan and I went for an afternoon SUP around the bay. It was a bit windy from the SE to begin with which made paddling out hard. We crossed the bay, which was a bit lumpy, kneeling and then took a big rest at Flower Island. While we were resting the wind died down. A bit harder to see birds today but I still saw the usual suspects: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80486902

Paddling a SUP definitely uses a different set of muscles!

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5 km, YTD 128 km

February 3rd - Chatham Island (#13)

 I Joined Jennie's group of Wednesday paddlers (Jennie, Julie, Julia, Pat, Diane and Barry) for a play in currents at Cadboro Point. A nice ebb had set in and we had fun ferrying back and forth and playing in the eddies. After a while we decided to head over to Chatham, encountering some lumpy water on the way. The "sluice" was running well and we had fun playing there too. On the way back the current was weaker and we made it over to Jemmy Jones and Cattle Point. We experimented with each others' paddles and I was able to give some pointers on greenland-style paddling. Sunny without too much wind made for a great day on the water. I was not as focussed on birding today so I submitted an incidental ebird list: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80387242 The view of Mt. Baker today was spectacular!

our lunch spot - click to enlarge

Yours truly playing in the current - click to enlarge

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13 km, TDT 125 km

February 1st - Cattle Point (#12)

Dan and I went for a nice afternoon SUP paddle out to Cattle point. We managed to miss the rain and the wind as Dan wanted to try SUPing again. It was nice to be up high and seeing the water from a different perspective. No murrlets today, but we did not go very far from shore. Not as many species as normal but we still saw most of the usual suspects! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80292520

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5 km, YTD 110 km

January 31 - Oak Bay (#11)

I joined Jennie and David at RVYC for a paddle over to Oak Bay. We had light rain on and off but importantly almost glass-calm seas - making for great birding. I got some great views of ancient murrelets, a brace of red-breasted mergansers as well as lots of others. Including the singing Bewick's wren I saw walking home from the beach, 23 species: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80216349

a rather blurry view of what I think may be a red-necked grebe click to enlarge

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12 km, YTD

January 30th - Cadboro Bay (#10)

I went for a relaxed birding paddle around the bay, stopping to try to get photos of some of the species I saw. I managed 20 species in the 6.5 km paddle and got some photos which are attached to the list. The photos are not portraits but I think are good enough to confirm the ID of six species.   https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80156654 

Horned grebe in winter plumage - click to enlarge

pigeon guillemot in winter plumage - click to enlarge

4 double-crested and 3 pelagic cormorants plus two black turnstones - click to enlarge

Three ancient murrelets

Pigeon guillemot and Cadboro Point - click to enlarge

my route - click to enlarge

6 km, YTD 93 km

January 29th - Discovery Island (#9)

Dan and I saw a nice morning weather window in the forecast and went out in glassy conditions for a paddle around the islands. The wind picked up a little bit after the first hour or so but was not that bad. We saw lots of bald eagles on Discovery and possibly one golden eagle (but I am not confident enough to count it!) The current gave us quite a boost heading down Baynes Channel!

There were a lot of black oystercatchers around as well as cormorants. I also saw more pigeon guillemots that have turned towards summer plumage! No ancient murrelets seen today. We also saw a group of four male Califormia sea lions. We saw them on the way out in the middle of Cadboro Bay and on the way back near "old boat point". No Steller's sea lions seen out at Seabird Point on Discovery.

I wonder if the weekend weather will allow me to get ten paddles and 100km in the first month of the year! :)

nice light this morning - click to enlarge

Dan out ahead of me - click to enlarge

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15 km, YTD 87 km

January 28th - Cadboro Bay (#8)

I led a SISKA paddle around the bay this morning. There were four of us in my pod (Liz, Paul, Tim and me). It was a bit chillier and windier than the last one but not too bad. Twenty bird species seen (https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S80035988) but no ancient murrelets! No surf scoter but one female white-winged scoter. I did notice that the pigeon guillemots seem to be darkening up - another sign of spring around the corner?

There was about a 10 knot wind throughout the paddle that made for a bit of lumpy water near Jemmy Jones, but not too bad

RVYC winds today

The wind report came from the RVYC weather station.

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9 km, YTD 72 km

Update 20120130: Tim shot a few pictures and sent them to me:

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trying to paddle through the swing! click to enlarge

January 23rd (#7) update

While Dan and I were out yesterday he got a snap of me. Not bad weather for mid-January! (Todays weather... not so nice!)

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January 23rd - Discovery Island (#7)

Dan and I started off our morning paddle with frost everywhere but calm sunny conditions and little current out there. We had a nice circuit of the islands (only the second time this year!) and saw most of the usual birds. Mt. Baker looked stunning as we crossed Baynes Channel with ancient murrelets popping up all around us. They are my pick for cutest seabird! 

Temperature graph from the "Killarney Kayak clubhouse"! - click to enlarge

You can see how things warmed up as we started our paddle at around 9 AM.

Today's bird list: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S79775067 

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16 km, YTD 63 km

January 16th - Cadboro Bay (#6)

I went for an afternoon paddle with the surf ski - conditions were very nice for a relaxing putter along the shores, looking for birds. It was pretty cloudy around and there were no views of the American volcanoes!

I managed to clearly ID 20 species: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S79365059

I took my Canon S1 with 10x zoom in its waterproof case and was able to use a couple of shots with it to positively identify a common loon by size and the partical white neck band as well as confirm the common goldeneye.

Common Loon - fuzzy but the neck band is visible - click to enlarge

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9 km, YTD 47 km

January 14th - Cadboro Bay (#5)

I organized and led a group of SISKA paddlers for a "light" paddle around Cadboro Bay. We noodled along the shoreline out to Cattle Point, over to Flower Island and back into Gyro Beach. Conditions were great  and we observed many birds: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S79246021 as well as some harbour seals and one male California Sea Lion! I am not sure that I have seen a sea lion in close to the beach before. I can't complain about January paddling conditions today!

Even though conditions were good, it looks like our paddle from 10-12 was during the windiest part of the day!

today's winds at RVYC -click to enlarge

RVYC's weather station page:  

Pod A route - click to enlarge

7 km, YTD 38 km

January 8th - Cadboro bay (#4)

 I decided to go for a quick SUP paddle around the bay before sunset. Conditions were idyllic and there were lots of people on the beach. I saw some nice birds as usual, though the highlight was seeing a Cooper's hawk as I walked back up the street to the house! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S78908827

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3 km, YTD 31 km

January 6th - Cadboro Bay (#3)

I decided to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon and get out for a short, relaxed paddle. Conditions were nice  for birding and I think I may have seen the first example of a red-breasted merganser where I was confident I could see the red breast! https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S78802149

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5km, YTD 28 km.