After we finally found parking, that is. It was touch and go for awhile. The village of Horseshoe Bay was packed when we arrived last Sunday in this hot summer tourist season. We ended up parking at the top of the hill and walking down to the ferry. Our plan all along had been to walk on the ferry.
Once off the ferry the entrance to Crippen Regional Park is just up the hill. From there to Killarney Lake is about another half an hour, dependeing on your choice of routes.
Scenery is quite diverse along the trail, from fairly dense forest cover to a marsh with white bark trees (I never know if they're Alder, Birch or something else so I won't even bother to name them), some live, some dead. They made for a good photo op, none-the-less.
The lake itself is larger than I would have thought considering it's on an island. There was even a canoe launched while we snacked on granola in the shade. A couple of swimmers braved the weedy water too.
Tannah earned her nap. She was on sensory overload the whole way. All sorts of wild smells to process.
The highlight of the trip, however, was on the return leg. I don't know what made me stop at this certain place along the trail, but I turned and looked out at a tree across a small clearing. I must have seen motion. There was a thick shape on a low branch, and I guess it took me a second to process that it wasn't part of the tree. It was an owl! I was not at all prepared to see an owl in the daylight. I had thought they were nocturnal. Obviously not.
According to the bird guide it's a Barred Owl. Check out the tail. And those eyes! They're kinda spooky actually. This particular owl was scoping out something below him in the foliage. I had time to snap a few frames before Tannah noticed the motion and went ballistic barking at it. Of course it flew away at that point.
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