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This hidden treasure is tucked away in the village of Cowichan Bay. A small stream, that dries up in the summer, winds through this hidden ravine. It is a corridor of towering douglas fir, cedar trees and arbutus trees with dense foliage that is tucked in between developed areas on either side. Sword and maiden-hair ferns and a wide diversity of wildflowers grow in the cool, moist mini-ecosystem. A few villagers have maintained a trail with an almost invisible entrance at the end of a clearing on Wilmot. I am not sure that it is precisely located on the Flickr map but the coordinated are (48°44'23.86"N, 123°37'39.45" W).
I made several video clips of the ravine and the rookery that I will upload to Youtube and to Google video.
There is an active heron rookery at the edge of the ravine (48°44'21.80"N, 123°37'38.78"W). A local Cowichan Bay resident has groomed a small hiking trail nearby along the natural spring that feeds into Cowichan Bay. The huge nests balance on the tops of alder trees. In june 2007 the young were visible with the naked eye. They are awkward and seem to be oversized for their nests which sway as they fight over food that parents bring. The activity in the nest is so aggressive and loud you would think an eagle was attacking. They can be heard long before you can see them.
The approach to the rookery and the ravine is a vacant lot that will probably be developed soon. Wildflowers grow here in abundance. It amazes me that the same plants that were invasive weeds in the garden on Pavenham, are so stunningly beautiful in this setting. Swamp grass looks like a decorative grass. Clover that attacked the roots of the heather in the garden are the most fragrant plants in the undeveloped field.
Calgary has been named as the cleanest city in the world? It has a long history of residents planting trees, a state of the art sewage treatment plant, a plan for a pick-up service for all recyclables including plastics that will begin in 2009?
On Christmas Day the walking-cycling trail that winds its way along the Bow River visible from our home, was a quiet place. Dogs and their humans of course needed to go for their regular runs. The more determined joggers ran by.
On our own short jaunt we were drawn to the ice along the riverside. Enough of the pebbly shore was clear of ice and snow so it wasn't necessary to venture out on the treacherous ice to catch the unusual effects of the glass-like quality of clean ice. We live in a city which is still known for urban fishing.
The light was wrong for photography but we can't resist taking photos. This huge ice slab actually had perfectly formed 90 degree angles.
Lately we have been exploring aspects of our new home through the lens of the watershed.
The Douglas Fir on the Edworthy Park escarpment are reflected in a watery film on the frozen surface of Bow River. The Bow River Pathway offers year round access with help from volunteers like Ray whom we met today. There are five areas along the CPR tracks where the runoff from the escarpment has flooded and frozen into mini-icerinks. Ray has been making the icy spots less treacherous by giving the unprepared a hand across the worst spots, sprinkling dirt where the ice is really bad and even carving canals through the think layer of ice to allow water to drain off. We met one of Ray's walking buddies who told us that Ray has planted over 800 trees along the trail, trees he will never see mature in his lifetime. It's his way to help others.
From the other side of the river we could see a culvert under the CPR tracks that was filled like a cork in a bottle with ice! No wonder the trail gets flooded.
The handfuls of dirt strewn in front of me to create a pathway as I slipped along the ice patches were acts of poetic gallantry on the scale of rose petals and the proverbial cape over the rain puddle.
an alternative process of learning, of learning not by separating and
isolating knowledge, but by awareness of the interaction and interdependency
of people and nature, the blending (and clashing) of cultural, ecological,
political and economic forces which constitute life ... and destruction
1995 ).