Just wingin' it (Week 43)
"The world would be a better place if everyone was a birdwatcher." I wonder if the artist Robert Bateman knows just how popular birdwatching is these days. It may not be "everyone" but in one in five Canadians are now self-proclaimed birders. It's even soared past gardening in popularity. Naturally, I had to discover the joys of birdwatching for myself! Val and I are truly lucky in where we live. Just a few blocks from our front door in Esquimalt, we ambled down to a quiet marina, and immediately spotted a pair of mute swans drifting along as darkness approached. Maybe not as rare a spotting as the trumpeter swan with its all-black beak, but stirring just the same. It was enough to want to get out with the binoculars and get more serious. Next up was Esquimalt Lagoon, home of a migratory bird sanctuary that's been described as a birdwatcher's paradise. We went on a chilly but sunny day and were simply stunned at the variety and sheer numbers...