Go, go, go, stop

Two large eagles, a hawk, trumpeter swans, snow geese, mallards, grebes, and a handful of heron. That is the list of birds I saw today at the George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary. I also saw zippy black-capped chickadees, which were near impossible to capture with my camera. Damn fast those little birds are. My Jedi skills are not up to the task.

My kids and I stopped along a path to play go, go, go, stop. Every time we moved, the ducks looking for our bird seed moved along with us. Every time we stopped, they just kept on moving, waddling to catch up. It’s hard to play go, go, go, stop with ducks who don’t know how to stop. At one point, a mallard jumped up and tried to bite our bird seed bag. Ducks are odd. Here they are, to the right, waddling behind us.

The bird sanctuary is on an island, about an hours drive from downtown Vancouver. Along the way, signs guide you to the site. Until you reach the island, and then you are greeted by a large sign that says something to the effect of “This Island Is Protected By The Westham Island Gun Club.” Go, go, go, stop of a different kind. Islanders can be odd, too.