We meet at the Ballpark in Gillies Bay at 10:00am
Last week we hiked from the Oasis west through the forest on the trail that heads down the east side of Paxton Lake to the Airport. From there we headed down to Cox Lagoon and along the beach stopping from lunch not far from Sandbanks. We looked in vain for Harbour Porpoise that are in this for most of the summer months and sometimes in the winter too. It was not the best day for spotting this very small marine mammal because the sea was rather choppy and it their tiny dorsal fins just get lost in the contant movement of the sea surface.
My photo this month has nothing to do with hiking, but it's a bird photo first for me so I wanted to share it with you. Last winter and again this winter Gillies Bay has had some Annas Hummingbird that have decided to stay here as long as they can depend on a few feeders that are regularly replenished with extra concentrated sugar water. I tried to get a good photo of one last year, but without any luck, but this week I managed to get several nice pictures of one that has been hanging around in my yard for much of the day. I don't often see it, but I do hear it's noisy wings and high pitched voice. It always astonishes me that such a tiny bird can survive this kind of weather — not much above 0 C during the day and dropping to below freezing throughout the long nights.
It looks as if Friday and Saturday are going to be especially cold so if you decide to come on the hike do be well prepared.
JD
An Annas hummingbird at my feeder a few days ago — a sunny afternoon in early December
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