An Afternoon at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC

This message is for my friend Jim in London, England......."Don't feed the bears in Canada," because they bite your hand!!

Vancouver is on the Pacific flyway, which means Fall and Spring migration are awesome to see.

Stanley Park is a bird watchers dream.  With over 230 species of birds coming and going throughout the year.  Hundreds of birds are hanging out around the sea wall on Stanley Park.....I am in my glory again.

Note:  The Pacific Flyway is a north-south flying plan for the travelling migrating birds.  They will follow the same path or part of it every year.  It runs from Alaska to Patagonia.

Some of the actually rest spots for these birds to gather is in British Columbia.  Both Boundary Bay and Westham Island off Richmond, BC area are deemed "Important Bird Area" by the Canadian government.

It is a wee bit rainy, but that has deterred this group of rowers.  Making their way through the birds.

There were also kayakers, canners and paddle boarders.

Fun and random shots with the rain drops. 

Love Deb's hat!  Beautiful Vancouver right across the water.

Stanley Park is entirely accessible by bus, car, foot from Vancouver downtown.

Bald Eagle on top of a very tall tree right along the water.  The park is home to 4 pairs of Bald Eagles.

How fortunate for us to eye this fella way, way up?

Prospect Point is the highest point in Stanley Park.  This is the place to get panoramic photos of Vancouver harbour and Lions Gate Bridge.

With the Lions Gate Bridge to the right of this spectacular view of Vancouver, it is easy to imagine how thrilled Cruise Ship passengers would be on their way to and from Alaska.

Deb and I with the Lions Gate Bridge behind us.  The bridge, built in 1938, is the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,553 feet long.

An incredible amount of ducks in the bay along the sea wall.

From L-R

A couple of Surf Scoter (with the orange beak), a few, maybe, Barrow's Goldeneye, and with the solid black head a Common Merganser.

Drift wood along the sea wall....a bit too bit for us to bring home for the garden?

This is fantastic.  It is an actual chair carved out of a dead tree stump.  Deb looks happy too.

This fantastic bird is a male Harlequin Duck.

That's going to be me in the Spring if not sooner.....

A female Harlequin Duck in the forefront of the photo.

Bike rentals are available on the island.  With almost 7 miles of bike path you can definitely see all of Stanley Park in about one hour.  With the North Shore Mountains, giant trees towering over you, the gardens....there is no lack of visible stimulation here.

The Brockton Point lighthouse is 100 years old.  Found on the most easterly part of Stanley Park it overlooks Coal Harbour.

A quick peek at the Royal Yacht Club.  I was actually looking at the beautiful red maple tree when I took the photo.

My buddy, the unappreciated seagull.