Dave Ingram's Natural History Blog

Lake Beautiful, Strathcona Provincial Park

Located in Strathcona Provincial Park, Lake Beautiful is an aptly named hiking destination. It takes a bit of effort to get to the lake but it is well worth the long hike and on a hot day the swimming is fantastic.

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Beach Stone Abstract 1

Had a bit of time out at Goose Spit in Comox, BC this morning and with a high tide there wasn’t much to photograph. My son was focused on picking up and throwing rocks and I thought to myself that maybe he had the right idea. We didn’t get too far on our walk but I was able to find some interesting colours and textures with the rocks that were nearby. More photos below…

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Awesome Aster

This wonderful seed-head was one of many in a field full of tall weedy dandelion like asters in front of the old Hamilton Mac Laing house in Comox. Unfortunately my 2 year-old son only allowed me to take a couple of photographs before it was time to move on!

Echinacea

With two young children it’s often difficult to get out to a new location to photograph. As a result, I usually have to revisit a location that I’ve photographed before – the challenge then becomes how to create new images with the same subjects. Taking the time to look at details, repositioning the camera and playing with depth of field can produce good results. And in a garden, things are always changing as flowers come into bloom or go to seed. And of course the insects come and go as well! More photos below.

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Menzies' Burnet | Sanquisorba menziesii

Subalpine Daisy | Erigeron peregrinus

The last two days up at Paradise Meadows (located in Strathcona Provincial Park, BC) have definitely had a hint of the fall in the air. While this makes for good hiking weather (cool but not cold) it’s also a sign that the late summer bloom is nearly done and that the leaves will be changing colour soon. Most of the late summer flowers in the meadows are now in seed although you can still find a few bedraggled flowers here and there. For plant photography it’s time to focus on seed heads while waiting for the fall colours.

The photograph top left is the seed head of a Subalpine Daisy (Erigeron peregrinus) – fairly common in the meadows. The image top right is Menzies’ Burnet (Sanguisorba menziesii), a hybrid of the Sitka Burnet (S. canadensis) and the Great Burnet (S. officinallis). It was the only burnet flower that I could find that looked somewhat fresh!