As most probably are aware, British Columbia (and the areas surrounding Vancouver) are being devastated by wildfires. And while our days are filled with smoke, we are making the best of it. This was this morning's sunrise- a pretty side effect.
We arranged for a car rental in order to explore beyond the City. It was a day of diverse delights.
After a breakfast of poutine at yet another Costco, we headed to the little town of Richmond to learn its history. From the early 1880s, Richmond's fishing fleets brought their catches home to be processed in one of the numerous canneries that sprang up all along the river. This industry did more than bring fish to market. Related industries such as boat-building also thrived.
We delighted in the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, an authentic representation of a once thriving community of canneries, boat yards, residences and stores.
This is home to the oldest shipyard buildings in British Columbia, with many of the buildings dating back to 1885. They tell the stories of multi-ethnic residents and workers at the Britannia Cannery and Britannia Shipyards: Chinese, European, First Nations and Japanese.
The Britannia Shipyards building was originally constructed as a Cannery. It was built in 1889 and was purchased by the ABC Packing Company two years later to operate as a salmon cannery. It became one of the busiest canneries on the Fraser River, producing canned salmon for shipment all over the world.
We enjoyed the opportunity to meander, explore and learn in this quaint village just minutes from the Big City.
Our next explore was quite unique and a surprise. The Guan-Yin Temple was absolutely a jewel.
As a charitable, religious, and cultural organization established in 1981, the International Buddhist Society manages the International Buddhist Temple. Until the temple’s opening ceremony in 1983, Buddhists in the Lower Mainland did not have an authentic Chinese temple in which to study and practice Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.
This place was beyond AWESOME. For its spectacular architecture and meticulous workmanship, the City of Richmond acknowledges the International Buddhist Temple as Richmond’s “Point of Pride”.
After strolling these beautiful grounds, our minds were joyful indeed.
Our final stop was a visit to the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, one of 92 federal Migratory Bird Sanctuaries in Canada.
The Sanctuary consists of nearly 850 acres of managed wetlands, natural marshes and low dykes in the heart of the Fraser River Estuary. For the millions of birds seeking feeding and resting areas during their annual migrations along the Pacific Coast, the Sanctuary is ideally located. It is a place where wildlife and their habitats are protected from harm, and it lies next to miles of flat marshland and the farmland of Westham Island.
It was a place to get up close and personal with a variety of birds. I loved it all.
I have a soft spot for Sandhill Cranes, too.
This was cool. There are several small buildings along the trails. These are "bird blinds" or "hides" and are designed with small slat-like windows so that visitors can view the birds outside without disturbing the them.
Also cool was this two-story (30 ft. high) observation tower which provided an excellent view of the shallow ponds, the intertidal marshes of the Fraser River estuary outside the dykes, and on a clear day, we would have seen the ocean (Strait of Georgia) and various landmarks in the Vancouver area.
Do you know what this interesting nest is? I totally didn't. This is the nest of paper wasps and yellow jackets. It is made out of plant fibers collected by chewing leaves with their mandibles (mouth parts) and carrying the fiber in their mouth and digestive tract. These plant fibers are laid down with a type of sticky adhesive in their saliva. This saliva is water-proof and makes the nests very strong and water repellent. Each nest starts with a petiole, or stalk, from which the hexagonal comb shaped cells are developed, much like bees. If you look closely at the cells, or for those that encase their nests with paper (aerial yellow jackets) at the outside of the nest, you'll notice beautiful layering of white, brown, and grey. These are simply layers of plant fibers that are being added by the worker wasps.
“When he fell in love with birds and began to photograph them,
his anxieties dissipated.
The sound of birdsong reminded him
to look outwards at the world.”
― Kyo Maclear, Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation
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2 comments:
The dragonfly was spectacular and there was also the rare siting of Denise wearing her hat in a photo, which looked super cute :)
I once carried a wasp nest that size (if it's watermelon sized) from WA. to CA. in our car. We'd killed the wasps and removed it from our tenant's barn while on vacation. We HOPED the wasps were all dead. Then I had it on a shelf in my elementary school library where the insect books were located. They are amazing.
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