JOURNAL 202 - Apr. 2 - Currant Affairs I've quoted the poet, Keats, before and I'll probably do it again many times: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." There is so much beauty in nature that if people spent more time enjoying nature and less time consuming natural resources, the world would certainly be a better place. Ounce for ounce it is difficult to exceed the beauty of the diminuitative Rufous Hummingbird. I spent most of the day enjoying their routines and trying to capture some of them in photos to share with you. The first sequence illustrates the female's collection of material for her nest. Moss, lichen, bark, plant down, and spider webs are the main ingredients. Bulrush fluff serves very well as plant down to line the nests. The second sequence demonstrates the coordination of the hummers' migration with the flowering of native plants. In late February in Oregon, the hummers rely on the mananita blossoms for the energy giving nectar. In mid to late March, they depend on the wild currants and salmon berries on Vancouver Island. Bulrush fluff is a very popular material for lining the nest cups. The wild currants started opening on Mar. 2 in Nanoose Bay. They are probably a week earlier in Victoria. The hummingbirds were instantly attracted to the wild currant blossoms. It was interesting to see that the hummers were very posssessive about the currant bush. I'm not sure if there was a pecking order but there was always a confrontation when another hummer arrived at the bush. SAVE-ON FOODS (WOODGROVE) SAVE-ON FOODS (COUNTRY CLUB) CHAPTERS FALCONER BOOKS SIDNEY - VICTORIAN BIRD HOUSE TANNER'S BOOKSTORE COMOX - BLUE HERON BOOKS BOWSER - LIGHTHOUSE GIFTS DEEP BAY - Ship & SHORE SAANICH - WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED BUTCHART GARDENS VICTORIA - BOLEN BOOKS MUNRO'S CAMPBELL RIVER - CAMPBELL RIVER MUSEUM BOOK BONANZA SAVE-ON FOODS DUNCAN - VOLUME 1 BOOKSTORE CHEMAINUS - LITTLE SHOP OF NOVELS LADYSMITH - SALAMANDER BOOKS NANOOSE - SCHOONER COVE MARINA SOOKE - SOOKE HARBOUR HOUSE LAKE COWICHAN - GALLOPING MOON GALLERY TOFINO - BOTANICAL GARDENS UCLUELET - WORDS END BOOKSELLERS Quadra Island - EXPLORE & BOOK BONANZA
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