Nature's Turn

I have written mostly about Victoria's urban life in this blog. It's time to acknowledge the presence of nature here.

It is easy to stroll -- even along the oceanfront -- and not pay attention to the natural world on which we depend. I have been walking with a couple of different groups and find that in the throes of conversation with other people, I miss a lot of things I would normally notice if I was out by myself or with Ken.

Yesterday we sat by the water's edge and watched a Black Oystercatcher through the binoculars. He stood on rocks that were being covered with sluicing water as the incoming tide washed over him, sometimes getting completely soaked. But he seemed unperturbed, scooting around the rocks and grabbing at whatever marine life was clinging to them.

Black Oystercatcher.
Source: www.islandlight.ca/cortes-island-oystercatcher-photo-885

The day before we had watched -- without binoculars -- three animals that appeared to be otters, on rocks far out in the ocean. We initially guessed that they must be sea otters, but now understand that sea otters do not usually come this far south. They must have been river otters.

There are many Mergansers and Bufflehead in the waters along Dallas Road.  We are familiar with these ducks from their spring and summer sojourns in the interior, where they come to breed. It was enjoyable watching their feeding behaviour in salt water.

By contrast, I find the over dense population of Mallards at Beacon Hill Park to be an indicator of something out of balance. The photo below shows that the population is so high, they have eroded all the grass in the area. I saw one Ruddy duck, and a number of American Wigeon, mixed in, but 90% of the ducks are Mallards.

Beacon Hill Park is an urban park, not a natural one, and the experience of these children with the ducks is an encounter more zoo-like than anything.

Feeding ducks at Beacon Hill Park

Look Up! Herons in Douglas fir at Beacon Hill Park

We talked with a photographer who had these herons in his scope. They have just returned; he said these were males.


All these experiences of nature have skated around the most essential point, which is that nature's systems provide the fundamental source for life on the planet.

Some use the term "natural capital" - the services that the earth's ecosystems provide us. It is rather a peculiarly modern way of looking at things, that our ecosystems serve us and that we have to put a dollar quantity on the value of the services that they provide. It is an indicator that we cannot value our environment for its intrinsic benefits, or because we are all part of the web of life. Rather, we have to find a dollar value.

Here is one chart that I found that is oriented to the oceans and the ecosystem services they provide - including food sources, but also filtering water, protecting coastlines, and sequestering carbon:

Source: https://oceanwealth.org/ecosystem-services/

Because we have primarily stayed in the James Bay area on this trip, we have not been to the wilder ocean scenes. Here are a couple from our last trip further up the island.

Natural coastline, Courtenay area

When the tide recedes

Life in the city tends to be very separated from nature. I would like to see much more awareness and connection - even in this most "green" of cities.