Whalebone is in shadows in the late afternoon, but beautiful still. See those dots in the water? Most of them are seals — I counted sixteen of them, though they don’t all appear in this photo. They pop up, look around, pop down… and I can never seem to get a clear zoom shot of [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos, sea creatures 2 Comments so far
So, old cars. There are a lot of them in the Gabriola forest, you know, rotting away. Mostly they’re in pieces, and being gradually covered in moss and salal. They’re usually a bit off the beaten path. Sometimes car parts become trail markers or salal decorations, like this tire rim.
Filed in Gabriola Island, junk in the forest, photos 3 Comments so far
You know those things people buy to cover the backs of their pick up trucks? I think they’re called canopies. (Example photos from Google images.) Most of them are rather ordinary.
And then there’s this one, which I spot at Folklife Village quite regularly. Look at that: all wood, reflects trees. Wow.
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They’re not very obvious, these: I walked past this trail blaze for years before I finally spotted it. There are a whole series of arrows on Douglas fir trees, leading one through the Gabriola woods.
Of course, these days there’s a very clear path as well, but I expect that the arrows came first.
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos, trails 2 Comments so far
I am smitten with this fungus. Smitten! I obsess about it, because isn’t it gorgeous? Ok, maybe this photo doesn’t do it justice. See more photos here.
I wish a mushroom expert would arrive to help me identify the fungi I find in the Gabriola woods, because that would be ever so helpful. I think this [...]
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Here’s some cheer for you from the Gabriola Commons, where this marker adorns a garden.
I don’t garden at the Commons, but oh MY I love that place.
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Here’s one of the things you’ll see in the Gabriola woods if you prowl around a bit. It’s a slime mold, and isn’t it just too cool for words?
Wikipedia explains that a slime mold is a broad term describing fungus-like organisms that use spores to reproduce. (…) Slime molds have been found all over the [...]
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I’ve already shown you one fine modified sign on Gabriola — here’s another.
I love the subtlety of this modification. Skateboarding is a mode of transportation in the warm months on Gabriola. Adding wheels underneath this pedestrian must have been too much to resist.
(This sign is on North Road, across the crosswalk from Folklife Village.)
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I’m interested in Gabriola’s trees, but not for the usual reasons. I want to know what they look like in various stages of decay, both before and after they fall to the ground. That rotting log or that moss-covered branch: was it a cedar tree? Grand fir? Douglas fir? Alder? I’m getting better at this.
Part [...]
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Last June I found a front derailleur serving as a trail-marker in the Gabriola woods. And now, not too far away, here’s the rear derailleur.
(It marks the location of an awesome mushroom that I must remember to photograph in September, when it’ll be at its peak.)
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos, trails One Response so far
The steps down to Whalebone Beach need somebody’s help. Something’s gone wrong at the bottom of the staircase, and the gap between the last stair and the sand is too great a gap. People who are young and fit will still be able to get onto the beach, but my elderly friend hasn’t a [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos 3 Comments so far
I’m not good at identifying birds, but I think this must be a downy woodpecker. This one is at Drumbeg, but of course they’re all over Gabriola. They’re hard (for me) to photograph because they don’t sit still for very long.
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Last year in February I found a tree decorated with blue Christmas ornaments in Gabriola’s Elder Cedar (S’ul-hween X’pey) Nature Reserve.
This last Christmas I hiked in the same area, wondering if somebody would decorate again. Saw nothing, ornament-wise. Nothing.
But today: more ornaments in the S’ul-hween X’pey! Am I just missing these at Christmas, or is [...]
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I know you’ve been waiting to see more of the mysterious antlers in the Gabriola woods, so here you go. For ages these antlers were twisted: one looked as it should, but the other had drooped down to point at the ground. We called them the twisty antlers. And then a few weeks ago – [...]
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Drive along North Road sometime, and look around a bit as you go through the Tunnel. Have you seen how many trees along there are flagged with pink or blue tape? The photos shows a recent addition. What is that about? Who is putting up that tape, and why?
There are too many things on [...]
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So, clothes dryers. Dump them in the forest seems to have been the favoured disposal method for old clothes dryers on Gabriola; I’ve found quite a few in the woods over the years. Recently I’ve been re-visiting the ones I know about, thinking that maybe I could find a good dryer drum for Michael Mehta, [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, junk in the forest, photos One Response so far
Will anything change on Gabriola during the Olympics, do you think? Will we be inundated with visitors, either those who’ve come from afar to see sporting events (and will make a side-trip to our island), or those who are fleeing Vancouver?
I’ve seen nothing about the Olympics here; maybe I just haven’t paid enough attention. Just [...]
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The Gabriola Post Office has a notice posted on the front door. Have you seen it? They’re looking for a contractor. They explain:
The nature of the services to be performed is sortation, delivery and collection of mail to and from designated tender points as described in the suggested Description of Service “Schedule A”, including transaction [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos 3 Comments so far
If you live on Gabriola, you’ve seen Buddy. He’s the dog who runs beside his human’s bike as they travel all over the island. Everywhere I go, I see this dog! He must be one of the fittest dogs on Gabriola, and maybe one of the happiest, too: he gets exercise, company, fresh air, and [...]
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This vase appeared in the middle of the Gabriola woods last year. Is it stranger that:
a) There’s a vase in the middle of the forest, or
b) Every time I pass there’s a new arrangement of greens or flowers, and fresh water?
Filed in Gabriola Island, photos, trails 2 Comments so far
Ah, such fine tugboats we see around Gabriola! These ones are near Drumbeg.
(Tugboat captain has been my fantasy career for a while now. I’d like to spend lots of time out on the water in a strong working boat.)
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It was sunny in Vancouver this afternoon, from what we could see. Meanwhile, we were on Whalebone Beach under moody clouds.
I like Gabriola’s gray winter days.
We had the beach to ourselves. The dog herded seagulls, and we listed to the eagles and watched as the young eagles waited to be fed in the trees overlooking [...]
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The weather on Gabriola right now is more like spring than winter, and the nettles agree. Last year it was March when I noticed that the island’s nettles were ready for picking. This year? Baby nettle plants are already a couple of inches tall in many parts of the forest. Head out to your favourite [...]
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I’ve seen all sorts of things rusting away on Gabriola, but this is a first for me. What is it? My primary consultant on Things Mechanical says it’s a steam engine — perhaps a steam-powered tractor, or a steam-powered plough, or maybe just an engine that was hooked up to something and used in place. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, history, photos 2 Comments so far
What do we all know about foam in Gabriola streams?
Well, ok. I know nothing, other than seeing masses of foam in streams all over the island. I rely now on your expertise. What do you know, wise and wonderful readers?
Is this evidence of polution? Dish-soap getting into Gabriola’s streams and wetlands? Or is there some [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island, environment, photos 5 Comments so far
