We were back on the island for the weekend, with lots of work to do. We cut more broome, had a big fire to burn it all, hung out with some friends and got a bunch of work done around the property. Sunday morning we joined up with a local bird walk to see what we might see around Bellhouse Provincial Park. It was quite a nice weekend, and we saw more than birds!

We took the ferry over on Thursday night, to give us more time on island. The weather has been really nice, and we wanted to make the most of it. The main task was to burn the huge pile of broome we had made a few weeks back.

Friday was (sadly) still a work day, so we kept at it until around 5:00. As the day was nice, we headed out and cut some more broome, seeing as how we were burning Saturday anyway. We didn’t spend too much time - a couple of hours - then called it to make dinner hand have a relaxing evening.

Saturday morning I headed down to the golf course and played a round. Things are drying up nicely and the course looks in better shape than it did last year at this time.

After the round I came home and we got a bunch of projects done around the property - replaced some posts on the mound, planted more seeds in the garden, and other small projects. Then we stopped for lunch, and after that, it was time to burn!

This was the starting point for the clean up.

We had lots of other random wood to burn as well.

This was the area we had cleared out. What we discovered was, rather than fighting with the big stalks, you just cut all the branches off. Next year after the roots die, you can just pull the stalks from the ground.

Once the burning starts, it actually goes quite fast. This one burned hot!

All that was left was a pile of ash, which eventually burned down completely.

The next, all that broome was gone!

Our friend David came over towards the end of the burning and helped wrap things. He had a friend with him on-island and we all hung out while we wrapped up the buring. David drove his friend down to the ferry then came back and joined us for dinner and games. We played Scrabble, drank scotch and had a fine night.

Sunday, we had to be up relatively early to head to the south end of a bird walk at Bellhouse Park. There’s a local guy on island, Michael, that writes a bird article each month in the Active Page (our local magazine) and leads these every April and May. We’ve seen them for years, but for whatever reason they have never aligned with our schedule.

Arriving at Bellhouse, the first thing we noticed was not birds, but some sea lions rafting just off shore. It was a good start.

It’s spring, which means warblers! This little yellow-rumped warbler seemed to be a local - Michael had named him.

He flitted about, completely unperturbed by the group of 15 or so of us that showed for the walk.

There’s a pair of bald eagles that nests in the park. They were not around while we were there.

Mountains off in the distance.

Probably my favorite shot from the walk. Our little warbler in the oak tree.

One of the reasons for doing the bird walk in Bellhouse (which sits along Active Pass) is that in the spring it’s a resting/feeding place for Bonaparte Gulls. This time of year, the males have the distinctive black heads. These are small gulls, probably the nicest looking of them.

Bellhouse is quite a small park, so the “walk” wasn’t long. We walked out to the point to look for Bonaparte’s, and were not disappointed. While not tens of thousands there certainly were hundreds of them! There were also a few other fun things along the way.

The lovely views of Bellhouse.

Orange crowned warbler

Common loon

Belted kingfisher

A couple of Bonapartes

As we were talking about birds, a humpback whale decided that he was going to steal the show and hang out just off the point! This is apparently a juvenile that’s been hanging out in Active Pass feeding, for a couple of weeks. While it’s cool to see one up close from shore, a lot of big ferries cruise through at quite the speed, a few an hour. So far he’s avoided disaster, and I hope he manages to stay out of harm’s way.

Despite the whale’s distraction, the gulls were still the main event. They wheeled and soared, diving for fish and even at times settling on the water. It was good fun, even if the light wasn’t great.

We looped back up to the parking lot and wrapped up this part of the walk. Michael was continuing on to another beach access point, and we decided to join him. Most people headed home but a small group of us continued on. As he wrapped up the formal part of the walk, a few more birds showed themselves.

Our little wabler came back to say goodbye

Little brown creeper

Dark-eye junco

The white-crowned sparrows were singing up a storm all day

We walked from the parking lot, down the road, onto one of the side roads and down to a beach access point. Along the way we found a downy woodpecker building a nest. He seemed to be working on two separate holes.

At the beach access point, there were a few more gulls, this time hanging out a lot closer to us. We would have liked to stay longer, but I had to get home, so I could head back down south to get to the Board Meeting for the Golf Club. That absorbed much of my afternoon, as we had a lot of topics to discuss after our recent AGM and with the course opening on May 2nd.

A good look at a male in his full breeding plumage.

A little female (or juvenile maybe?)

A nice view of the little bay - Bellhouse is on the left.

After getting back from the meeting, we wander around to check on the progress that was happening in the gardens and in the orchard. There was lots to see!

Lots of little asparagus are starting to sprout. Sadly, i think Justine is going to eat them all.

Close up of the pear blossoms.

One of our rhododendrons is about to bloom.

It’s mostly radishes so far that are sprouting.

The pears are in full bloom.

But the apples are a little further behind.

Monday was a work day, so there’s not a lot to share. We were a little early getting down to the ferry terminal, so we had some time to see what was going on. The humpback was still there - we saw him a couple of times - plus there was other actions going on, out on the water.