"Highly recommend using the wonderful fire pit. For wildlife lovers, on the property's beach in the evening, we saw seals and a family of about ten river otters swim by. There was also some sort of eagle convention going on." Alexandra J, May ‘22
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Wildlife is Part of the Scenery
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Wildlife is part of the scenery here and it often comes to you! We're on a two acre lot that's been carved out of the forest next to the ocean. The wildlife doesn't seem to have noticed us; the animals just continue to go about their business. It may be a cliché, but it really is a privilege to live so close to nature. We get a kick out of sharing it with guests. As a photographer, I (Mark) am delighted to share some of my favourite images here.
A Week in the Life of Manna House...
In one week (July 14-20, '22) three Fledgling Cedar Waxwings, 2 new fawns, 1 tiny tree frog and a Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly presented themselves to be photographed. And, as usual, the bald eagles stole the show!
Fledgling Cedar Waxwings
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These baby bandits were huddled up in the sour cherry tree about ten feet off the ground, looking quite unruffled by my close presence, perhaps waiting for their parents to return, when they decided to practice a bit of preening, which didn't seem to do much for the scruffy one on the left.
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These entertaining birds feed on the salmon berries, thimble berries, and now our sour cherries! Whilst developing the gardens we've been careful to leave swaths of wild berries (including tons of blackberries), creating wildlife corridors for the birds and other critters. The berries form an essential part of many animals' diets, from the deer to hummingbirds.
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A New Arrival
The doe that had been frequenting our front yard presented her two new arrivals. Our garden is a place where she feels it's safe to leave them alone while she goes off to forage and take care of other important deer business.
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Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
The butterflies usually make taking a close-up photograph difficult, they tend to flutter away when you approach them. This one was obviously having a tough time (note the torn wings), perhaps nearing the end of it's 6-10 day adult life span.
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Bald Eagles
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The eagles spend a lot of time in the trees that grow from the bank down to the ocean, from where they call and chuckle to each other. Then they launch themselves off on another fishing trip and bring the catch back to consume.
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These two started mid-air combat as soon as they were airborne, and I managed to snag this shot with a rainbow in the background! We frequently see rainbows over the ocean when it rains in the afternoon but not usually with battling eagles at the same time.
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More Critters (without feathers) seen on, from, and above these 2 acres
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Pacific Tree Frogs (and introducing Boris & Ethel, aka "The Residents")
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Note that none of the frogs on this page are in a tree, because it's only when they visit our world that they become visible, or when you come across them by accident. Pacific tree frogs vary a lot in size, colouration and wartyness, as you can see, even on the same patch of land.
↕ Photos not to scale, enlarged x2 - x3
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River Otter (July '22)
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We often see river otters in the ocean, usually swimming not far off shore where the fish are found, or lounging on a rock. It's usually a large family group, with the cubs scrapping and clambering over long suffering parents. (Sound familiar?) This lone male was preening himself on a rock and tolerated my getting within 10 metres to take photos. You can see he was as curious about me as I was interested in him.
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Occasionally we'll see a lone otter tearing across our back lawn enroute to our neighbour's large fish pond! They come up the steep bank from the beach using a path they've made, then cross the road and progress via the network of drainage ditches and between the lots. We've even encountered an otter on the road.
The Herring Run
↕ Herring Run, March 2019, viewed from the first floor. Overnight the water turns a milky turquoise.
The arrival of the herring to spawn on the East Coast of Vancouver Island, from Parksville to Campbell River, is traditionally a major global wildlife event, helping to sustain the First Nations people and wildlife alike. California and Steller sealions start noisily announcing their anticipation in December. Orca pods, hundreds (if not thousands) of bald eagles, and hundreds of thousands of sea birds all arrive for the early spring feast. The Lambert Channel is reckoned to be the most important stretch of water, with concentrations of the spawning on Denman's east coast and Hornby's west coast. We've had a ringside seat for the last 20+ years and have also sadly witnessed its' accelerating decline due to over-fishing.
↕ Fishing the herring
Most of the catch is only for the roe, destined for the luxury Japanese food market. I remember standing at the top of the bank and counting over 80 fishing vessels all clanking away, from as far as I could see to the north and as far as I could see to the south.
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Last year the provincial government restricted the catch to the First Nations Fleet; just as well because for the first time ever known, there was no spawning on our shore. For years, concerned conservation groups and scientists have been calling for a serious moratorium on the over-fishing. Let's hope we can report something of a recovery soon with spawning once again taking place on our shore.
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Breaching Seal
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This was taken through the living room window. I had the camera set up on a tripod, trained on the snag at the bottom of the drive, the eagles' favourite hang-out, doing time-lapse photography for four months. One day I noticed some activity in the water and moments later captured this decisive moment!
Seals are very common in these waters, curious and playful, but usually it's just a head up out of the water to say hello, then they're gone again. That must have been one excited seal to leap clean out of the water! |
White-Tailed Deer
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Denman Island has evolved its own sub-species of white-tailed deer, slightly smaller than their cousins on Vancouver Island. With no natural predators, population control is a contentious issue which I'm not going to weigh in on, but I can tell you that if you visit Denman Island, you'll see a lot of deer!
They are a delight to have around, but can also be a real nuisance to the gardener and will go to amazing lengths to get at veggies, roses, and other delectable plants. Our solution has been to fence off all of the back gardens and the front gardens for the units, but allow them to roam free over the rest of the front gardens where we stick to deer-resistant plants. Thus a wildlife corridor connects our two acres to the rest of Denman's deer habitat. As a result there's a family that includes this land within their territory every year.
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Does and fawns through the seasons ↕
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"We loved seeing multiple deer every day on the property and in the area." Linda F, Sept '21
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This buck is chillin' about 5 metres from our living room window - who needs a lawn?
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I'm sure another reason that we are favoured is we leave some, if not all of our front lawn to become a wild flower meadow. Whilst we can mow it when we want and achieve something resembling green ground cover, we gave up on the perfect lawn long ago. We find the many different long grasses, clover, dandelions, thistles, california poppies and foxgloves much more interesting to look at. And it's providing habitat for insects, birds, bats and the deer, who require a varied grazing diet. We're just trying to do our bit!
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Dragonflies
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During the summer, several of these large and thankfully benign insects are constantly on the move, patrolling the air within a few feet off the ground over the gardens. They move fast, darting this way and that, on the hunt for mosquitos and other small flies, bless 'em.
However, they are apt to fly in through open doors and windows, and have to be coaxed out or delicately removed. After exhausting themselves by attempting to fly through a closed skylight for a couple of hours, they will gladly allow you to handle them, and might rest awhile on the tip of your finger to freshen up before taking flight.
At least 80 species of dragonflies and damselflies live in British Columbia. Most of those on patrol here have the blue on black of the Lance-Tipped Darner (above). We occasionally see the large Common Green Darners, and the little one on the tip of my finger, rescued from the living room window (seen in the slideshow), I haven't identified.
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This Common Green Darner was trapped in a covered walkway for a while and gave its wings a good bashing. Once on the outside it was content to rest on the cedar planking, giving me the opportunity to take some detailed close-ups.
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