2 updates January 29, 2026

This collage shows some of the photographs I captured last week in Loreto Mexico, of both the Blue Whales' and Humpbacks Whales' flukes. The left and right fluke make up a whale's tail, which are used for propulsion and steering. I learned when I whale watched in Victoria last October that each whale's flukes have unique marks that are used for identification.  When the whale lifts its tail in the air just before it is ready to do a deep dive, it is called fluking.  While seeing the whales was exciting, seeing them do their deep dive was the most exciting! These photos were my inspiration for a seaglass project using the seaglass collection from the Sea of Cortez. I have an update on my progress so I hope you will stay tuned to see the completed project! 

With pretty much all the snow melted in the city, there is nothing but brown and grey shades to please the eyes.  The beauty I find in those shades does not come by way of landscape scenery, rather by way of the birds and ducks at Carburn Park.  They were plentiful this morning, they were active and boisterous too.  I searched for the Great Horned Owls and also the Glaucous Gull but they were no where to be seen.  What I did see was this Male Hooded Merganser. 

This Female Ring-necked Duck was sitting like this when I arrived. 

Two hours lates when on the way to my vehicle she was still sitting there like that.  

This Trumpeter Swan veered off from the dozen or so others and went flying solo! Another birder I was standing with told me when the group takes off in flight, this one always heads in another direction by itself. 

Some one left seeds for the birds. 

This Black-capped Chickadee threw away a bad seed!

One of these things is not like the other!

I have an update on the Carburn Bald Eagles!  Twice I spent about twenty minutes watching them during this visit to the Park. Only once did the one in the nest fly away for a couple of minutes then come back to sit there again.  It rearranged a few branches while it sat there. In conversations with other birders, the Bald Eagles appear to have chosen this nest, out of the two they were building, to be their home.  Another birder said they should be mating by now. 

It pleases me that you stayed tuned and now get to see my completed seaglass project! It's a whale preparing to do a deep dive into the sea. I used pretty much all the seaglass I collected from the Sea of Cortez.  I needed to include numerous pieces from the collection I already had from other beach locations.  The water was created using white pieces which I painted with various shades of blue.  If you look closely, you will see one piece of green seaglass shaped like a heart.  Do you see it? This now sits on a fern table in my living area. 

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