Blogs from Courtenay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, North America

Since being at MARS, I haven't had time to create proper entries as I would have liked to, but c'est la vie. I wanted (and still do) to share my flight to Knight Inlet, second visit to the Pacific Ocean, and document all the rehabilitation I'm doing. With the lack of time, tonight I'm going to post some videos of the best parts of interning here. My videos are all on my new youtube account: BeccaBirding Videos featuring me doing rehab stuff are also on the MARS facebook page. Watch and enjoy! ... read more

Tonight I saw the worst thing I've seen since I got here: A fawn hit straight the head with a golf ball that is unconscious and seizing. There's a meeting in the workshop, which has the enclosure where he should go but can't due to the noise, so he is stuck in his kennel and there are only two options: A) Move him into a padded enclosure and, knowing the odds are not in his favour, see if he survives the night, and take him to a vet in the morning if he does, with hopes of rehabilitation and then release to his mother. B) Recognize that the odds are not in his favour and end his intermittent seizures with euthanasia. It's a really hard decision to make. There are those one-in-ten cat-attacked birds who due ... read more

Watch this video from the morning of the 13. ALSO: Today I went into Georgia Straight and officially touched the Pacific Ocean!... read more

I have started a travel blog! Nadine suggested it might be a good way for Barry and I to keep in touch with our friends and relatives when we travel to Australia in March. I should be able to update the blog regularly as we tour through the countryside in our motorhome. We've now got a slick little netbook that's small enough to fit in my handbag and, as long as we get wireless access occassionally in the campsites we visit, we can send regular updates home. Those of you who are interested in our journey can follow us (we hope you all will) and those of you who aren't interested don't need to! Easy. It's January now and the Aussie trip isn't too far off but, in the meantime, Nadine and I going to take ... read more

We vertrokken uit de Rocky's alweer in behoorlijk kil weer, amper 14°. We hoopten tijdens onze rit richting Vancouver op beter weer en het wachten werd beloond. Niet lang na ons vertrek, kwamen we de zon tegen en werd het warmer en warmer tot 28°. Een volgend landschap konden we tijdens de prachtige rit bewonderen, we trokken door een ander gebergte. In plaats van een groen berglandschap, kregen we nu een meer droog steppe landschap. Dit gebied wordt ook dit jaar al reeds lange tijd door meervoudige bosbranden, omwille van de droogte. Het uitzicht werd er daarom niet minder mooi op. We trokken door een grote Canyon, langsheen een grote rivier, door bergen en langsheen prachtige afdalingen. Vrij laat op de dag, na zo'n 600km gereden te hebben kwamen we eindelijk in de buurt van Vancouver. ... read more

Day 44. Tuesday. After my shower I decided to take advantage of Bob's laundry room before my looming departure back East. The thought of returning to work really does not appeal to me. I hope it's picked up some though. The thought of sitting half a day waiting for a load... well I just don't think I'd do it. The air filter I ordered for the Dodge is supposed to be in this morning so I'm waiting on that call from NAPA. Bob wants to show me Comox Bay and there is a store that sells local art and crafts that he said would be a good place to get a souvenir from the West if one was so inclined. It's overcast again which also makes me want to move on although I've heard the weather ... read more