By this time (mid-afternoon) it was very hot and the children went for a swim in the sea before we carried on our journey north.
Not much was seen on the drive apart from Turkey Vultures, but we made a stop at Somenos Lake as I had read that Marsh Wren could be found here (we’d missed it at Reifel as I foolishly forgot to specifically look for it.) We found the small pull-in that leads to a broadwalk over the (dried) marshes and soon scored with our target as well as Savannah Sparrow, a small flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds, and a Merlin. The Merlin, being the dark, Pacific form, had us quite confused for a while, particularly as it spent it’s time dragonfly catching in a manner similar to a Eurasian Hobby. It would take its prey midair before carrying and consuming them at the top of a tall tree before going on another sortie. This was something we’d never witnessed from a Merlin.
We continued down to the lake itself, but it held little, so continued on to Nanaimo where we had an excellent meal on the seafront (including “Nanaimo Bars”.) At dusk we then strolled along the promenade watching the buskers the people crabbing.
