Some of Hornby Island’s Critters

What sort of critters can you find on Hornby Island? Well there are not any larger predatory animals such as black bears or cougars, I guess the largest predator on the island would be Bald Eagles. As for land mammals there are deer dotted around the island, but other than them I have not seen anything smaller either, such as raccoons, skunks or even squirrels. Most of the wildlife here on Hornby Island seem to be more of the avian variety.

I’m on a mission to get a prized photograph of an Adult Bald Eagle. A few times they have appeared to me up in the large fir trees here, but I have only been able to take photographs of them while the sun is primarily behind him, which means they are usually underexposed. While Robyn and I were swimming off the rocks in front of the cabin, she did point out to me a bald eagle perched in a tree above. I climbed out, went up to the cabin to fetch my camera and came back down.

The above photo is the result of about 60 photos I took, all at various distances from the Eagle. My lens plus an extender, allowed me to get closer than I have been able to in the past. Since I was shooting handheld with about 640mm of focal length, the image isn’t as sharp as I would have liked it. Still not a bad job, but I am my worst/meanest critic.

While walking through Helliwell park there were numerous birds flying about. A bald eagle was circling over head, robins seemed to follow us around, and I briefly glimpsed what I thought could have been a yellow finch. The coolest bird we saw though would have been the Black Oystercatcher.

These guys are relatively small, and make the cutest chirping noises. I just hope I didnt step on any of their nests/eggs while I crept closer. There were two of them just hanging out on a small island that we could access by foot as the tide was low. They just chirped up a storm as I stood around snapping photos of them.

Back at Ford’s Cove Marina we walked out on to the dock to look at the various boats that were moored. It seems that a few swallow families have taken up residence there and hang out among the tall masts.

I have always found it extremely difficult to capture a swallow in flight. They move so quickly and can change their direction in a heart beat. We just stood and watched them enter and leave the various swallow houses, possibly feeding their young.

Up top I mentioned that there is some sort of deer population on the island, right? Well we did see 2 female deer on our drive to Helliwell, but we got to see a doe closer up when Robyn took me to an orchard nearby.

This doe was watching us as we walked past the abandoned orchard. We stood there while taking photos of her. She walked off slowly and we proceeded back to the cabin.

One thing I have always liked about the shoreline and oceans are the many little tidal pools that are created when the tide goes out. We saw numerous groups of purple starfish, a huge amount of oysters as well as clams. I doubt you would want to eat these types of shellfish though. Robyn managed to find a Moon Snail shell and in good condition. I found a couple of smaller shells, but their not worth mentioning.

There were a ton of smaller crabs scurrying about their way as we wandered around the beach. Robyn said that she saw a bigger crab and I asked her to point it out to me. She used her foot to point and the crab reared up as you can see in the photo above. It looks like the little crab is lifting up Robyn’s foot! We left him alone after I got my photo and continued our walk.

So far these are the various critters we have seen here on Hornby Island. I hope to see some more wildlife, but being on a relatively small island I am sure there isn’t much more I have yet to see. We are going to try and hit up Mt.Geoffery sometime this week as it is the highest part of Hornby Island. Hopefully there are some impressive views along the many trail systems that seem to circle the island.