It sort of feels like summer is over although we are enjoying a warm stretch here in mid-September that has brought sun and warm temperatures and calm winds to the island. This is more typical of the summers I remember from half my life ago, before we experienced extreme heat and drought. There was always a dry patch between the middle of July and the middle of October with a bit of rain usually in August and more at the beginning of September. But in the past 20 years that pattern has changed. This summer seemed like an anomaly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as a result of the warm spell we are having there is a second dawn chorus in full swing. Yesterday I recorded 24 birds including forest and ocean and this morning the birdsong was so overwhelming that I just from my porch I have already recorded 27 in less than a half hour. Visiting sparrows make up the interesting bits: Savannah, Fox, Lincoln and a White-throated Sparrow clear as day. All of them added to the list of this year’s birds, which is up to 315 now. It might yet hot 365, but it’s going to need some additions from the mudflats of Reifel sanctuary and October migrations in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here on the island, the rhythm has returned somewhat to the quieter days of the shoulder season. With a pleasant weekend coming up I have no doubt that we will be overrun by visitors. Another few weeks, when the rains return and the daylight grows shorter, our visitor levels will return to “we aren’t complaining” levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the meantime, a pair of visitors to the inlet were taught the lesson we all know<\/a> about how volatile and unpredictable the sea can be here. Two kayakers, after being unable to find good information online, resorted to ChatGPT for advice about paddling in Howe Sound. The ended up being caught in a strong wind – both inflow and outflow winds can come up in mere minutes – and capsizing. They were very lucky not to have been killed in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howe Sound is an extremely dangerous body of water. The only way to navigate here is paying attention to conditions that you are faced with and understanding how forecast models might imply particular changes for particular places based on wind direction and tide. It takes years of observation and local knowledge to properly navigate here, especially in a small craft. Our local kayak shop supplies paddlers with this information tailored specifically for the moment you are setting out. That’s the reason it is hard to find good knowledge. The knowledge is context specific and changes by the hour or minute. If there is a small craft warning issued and the water looks calm, it may be perfectly safe to paddle. Or you may begin your paddled and few minutes later get caught up in what seems like two meter waves that come out of nowhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yesterday I travelled into the city across a beautiful calm sea, and Adam Taylor and I spotted five or six humpback whales. Adam, who has done more for ocean awareness and conservation on our island than anyone I know<\/a>, said that he thinks September and October are the high seasons for humpbacks now. It’s hard to know what their rhythms are as they travel through our waters or take up summer residence, but the herring schools start maturing around now so the whales of the Salish Sea have less urgency to head south to their birthing grounds. Some whales even stay well into the winter now before making the journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whales are new to the inlet. It has been five generations or so since we had regular folks noticing whale behaviour, because they were almost hunted to extinction. They are back now, and people like Adam, whose family have lived for more than a hundred years on Bowen have memories of the cetaceans that live around us. We talked about a famous pilot whale that for years was the only cetacean in the Sound who was always drawn to the hum of crew boat engines and tugs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n TH generations of people who have lived in these parts are being honoured in a couple of ways. Pauline Le Bel and I have reached our first fundraising goal for the Squamish Welcome Figure Project<\/a> which will be installed at the Community Centre once it’s completed. This first $15,000 allows us to pay our career Xwalacktun to begin work on the log he has secured for the carving. The next $15,000 we raise will pay for him to complete and deliver it and to host a ceremony and event to have it installed. You can donate here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n