Estuaries and surrounding wetlands are highly productive ecosystems, where fresh water flows from rivers and mixes with the sea or ocean saltwater. The brackish admixture creates a rich habitat for plants and animals that have especially adapted to the tidal marshy conditions (NOAA, 2024 ).
The Belted Galloway cows living the life
Standing still, I could hear the rustling grass and sighing leaves, stirred by the swift breezes.
This is a protected habitat for migratory birds, wintering residents, and those species that call it home all year round. Birds like swans and snow geese live or pass through here on their long treks along the Pacific coast. At least 47 species of shorebirds have been found in this area. I recently wrote about the Great Blue Herons that I encountered there. Grasshoppers too. I did see a few swallows and even hummingbirds- heard mysterious chirpings- but it was a relatively quiet day in the neighbourhood.
The habitat is protected and a variety of projects take place in the area. The trail is a gravel path on top of a earth-filled dyke that was built there to protect the low-lying areas from encroaching waters.
There was something haunting and strange about this place. I couldn't put my finger on it. Perhaps it was the miles of endless swaying grass. The satellite dishes along the bank. What looked like a research station conjured up images of X-file episodes, UFOs, fish people, interdimensional gateways- such fancy notions began swirling in my head as I looked around the marshes and realized it would make a great setting for a story. Communication towers. Locked gates. Keep out signs. Yup, this place was no doubt the nexus of a vast cosmic conspiracy.
The highest concentration of wintering shorebirds in Canada is found here. But at that moment, it was mostly silent, aside from a few chirping crickets.
There were signs warning of coyotes in the area, and the seed-filled poop on the ground alerted me to the presence of large animals, who had likely been feasting on the blackberries that grew abundant on the side of the path.
The driftwood littered the grassy fields. I tried to imagine the processes that deposited them there. King tides? Storms? What a phenomenal world.
Busy bees
In the distance, the north shore and coastal mountains were barely visible in the haze. Airplanes flew low over the ocean, and I realized just how close the airport was from there. At one point, I could even make out the Canada air plane taxying on the runway.
What to make of this grand expanse of nature, here at the foot of the Cascadia range, on the jagged tectonic land that stretches for miles all around. It all makes you think big thoughts about nature and your place in it. It is perhaps fitting that this is the place where the rivers meets the sea.
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