Nothing to see but ducks

We've had a few days of those thick fogs, the kind that makes you glad there's another car a few feet ahead of you; you can see its tail lights through the mist, and it's up to that driver to know where you're going. Yesterday morning's fog was just this side of rain. The garden was wet, but the sidewalks were barely damp.

It lifted slightly around lunch time, so we went to the beach.

Not that there would be much to see; blue-grey sky, grey sand, grey mud, grey water, grey birds. The tide was out a ways, coming in slowly, so slowly it brought no seaweed with it, just more grey water.

Ah, but those birds! Thousands upon thousands of ducks, in great grey rafts all across the Mud Bay end of the bay, visible mostly as dark lines on the horizon where there should be only more grey water. We walked north, towards them, but never got near enough to identify more than a few mallards. Most of the ducks were smaller. Wigeons, maybe; there had been a small flock on the duck pond in Centennial Park.

We walked for maybe an hour. It was chilly on the shore; the sun made a weak attempt at shining through the fog at one point, but quickly gave up. Not enough people out to make it worth its while.

Then something disturbed the ducks, probably an eagle. Clouds of birds rose off the water, circling silently. If they were complaining, we were too far away to hear them.

Lifting off

Laurie's camera does distances better than mine. Or than my eyes. These were the ducks nearest to us.

Sky dust.

A few wheeled overhead, before re-joining their flock at the far shore.

Zoomed 'way in; a fuzzy mallard. Many of the ducks were smaller.

The cloud lifted, swirled, thickened, and drifted off behind the dunes, where the mud lies too deep for walking. All we could see then was the end of the raft, black where everything else was grey. We gave up and went back to Tsawwassen and a toasty coffee shop.

As we drove home, the sky cleared in patches; we saw blue through the clouds. Half an hour later, they had all burnt off, and the sky was a deep, summertime blue. No fair!

Today we're back to fog and damp. Ah, BC!

A Skywatch post.