Wildlife

Skippers aren't big flashy butterflies and often go unnoticed, but they are quite attractive if you get a close look.

Grass spiders are easy to spot - find their funnel webs on grass or bushes and look for the spider near the the tunnel. But don't make any sudden moves or it will disappear down that tunnel.

I had forgotten there were lizards around Victoria. These Common Wall Lizards are from Europe and were introduced to the Victoria area in the 1960's. There is a native Northern Alligator Lizard but I didn't spot any of them.

The American Bullfrog is another immigrant. They were brought in to be raised for food. That didn't work out, but the bullfrogs have stayed and multiplied. We saw lots at Swan Lake.

We saw this Harbor Seal mother and baby a few times. The baby seemed to be growing by the day.

Since childhood summer vacations on Vancouver Island, I've enjoyed turning over rocks on the beach to find the hiding crabs.

Of course, there are lots of gulls around. It was nice to see one finding its own food instead of scrounging human garbage.

Similarly, this crow had found a small fish, but it must have been quite tough since it was pecking away at it and not just swallowing it whole.

Great Blue Herons are much more common than in Saskatchewan.

I saw river otters a few times in the water. This one was out of the water by a busy path, in the middle of the afternoon.

A handsome black slug:

and a squadron of pelicans: (both at the Creston Wildlife Area on the drive home)