Catkins herald spring along the Courtenay River.
With spring at hand it has been a pleasure to get out to experience nature here in the beautiful Comox Valley. In addition to my wanderings in the centrre of the city, I have recently enjoyed a couple of personal tours further afield from those who know the Valley well.
Crossing Millard Creek in Courtenay's Millard Nature Park.
One afternoon Jan showed me Millard Nature Park where the salmon berries are blooming in the beautiful mossy forest and the sparkling Millard Creek is an important salmon habitat.
Mossy forest and salmon stream in Millard Nature Park.
Salmonberry flowers are blooming.
Another day Rod and Frances took me to several beaches and a rain forest park. I had been hearing about the herring run. At Kye Bay Recreational Shellfish Reserve we saw the evidence, with roe washed up on the beach and the gulls and Brant geese feasting in the water. A woman with a bucket and shovel gathered roe and seaweed for garden fertilizer.
Brant geese and gulls feast on herring roe at Kye Bay.
Herring roe on the beach at Kye Bay.
Seal Bay Nature Park impressed us with its towering Douglas firs and the vast expanse of ferns that cover the forest floor. Back on the road, in several spots we saw trumpeter swans pausing to eat for the continuation of their migration northward.
Marvelling at the rain forest in Seal Bay Regional Nature Park.
The ferns are prolific at Seal Bay Regional Nature Park.