On my own again

We wake early and do some birding at Lake Somenos nearby. It's a bit more lively here, though not much more. I manage to pick out a Lincoln sparrow. Hurrah, a full blown lifer, though it didn't exactly knock my socks off! We add a few more birds to the trip list, including a moulting drake wood duck.

We then drive round to Swartz Bay where the ferry leaves for Vancouver. After a great breakfast at a cafe in the nearby marina, I drop off Martin for his return journey and we say our farewells.

I take the car along the coast road down to Victoria, stopping off at a number of locations to take in the view and do some birding. It's a very nice stretch of coast, with fantastic panorama views across to the gulf islands. It's pleasantly mild and the sea is flat calm. I manage to see a few new birds. Perhaps the highlight is two Sandhill cranes flying along the coast. There are a few other new spec ies for the trip, though all are fairly common, and to be expected. A wasp managed to sneak inside my shirt and start to sting me. The first was the most serious, but the others had relatively little venom in them. Other occupants in the car park in the rather refined Oak Bay must have been put off their prosciutto and mozzarello do buffalo foaccaci at the sight of a shirtless Andy swiping at a long-gone wasp!

Not a Lincoln's sparrow, but a song sparrow

A group of harlequin ducks in Oak Bay

I drop off the hire car and wander around town for one last time, picking up a map and other bits and pieces, while the heavens opened on Victoria. The ferry is delayed and full of excited American football fans from Nebraska. They are converging on Seattle for a big college game, and there to support the Huskers. I get to my hotel at midnight - two hours later than planned. US immigration is a breeze from Canada on the ferry. The hotel is rather good - the Mediterranean Inn - a little outside the centre, but all easily accessible.