Hiking in Pacific Spirit Regional Park...until my battery ran out (Forest Edition)

I made the most out of today's amazing weather by hiking in the Pacific Spirit Regional Park surrounding UBC. Wanting to visit both the forest and the beach today, I decided to hike down the Spanish Trail, walk along Acadia and Tower Beach, and walked back up Trail 3 to the campus.

The weather as I said was amazing, beautiful blue sky with some clouds. It seemed to bring many people outdoors today as I encountered many people during my walk - resulting in less animals observed. Boo!

The only cooperative organisms that I could easily take pictures of were these fungi and slimes - the two groups of organisms that I have little knowledge of. I should have taken courses of them back in university.

All found on the same dead fallen tree, amazing source of nutrients!

Slimes?

I still saw and heard many animals though, such as the following:

Energetic Bushtit on the left - very hard to photograph. The (easier to photograph) Spotted Towhee is on the right.

This Bald Eagle pair flew over the forest several times.

A woodpecker of some sort on the distance. Stupid bikers and joggers kept going by me and scaring the animals away before I had a chance to better see it with my binocular.

Many dead trees with evidences of primary cavity producers, e.g. woodpecker, trying to make a cavity - for food and/or shelter.

Came across this Douglas's Squirrel feeding on something. It was a little bit bug-eyed. After it left the spot, I went and checked out what it was eating. And it turned out to be mushrooms, go figure.

Deceased spider in a tree hole. R.I.P.

A small dammed pond (formed by beavers?) is present next to the University Golf Course, and it created this interesting habitat. I wonder if I can find frogs and salamanders here during the summer.

A view of the blue sky by looking downward at the water.

And a direct view to the top.

Me trying out the Shutter Sister challenge - "Hold your camera down a bit and capture a shot of yourself with the sky as your backdrop. Then point your camera down and capture your feet on the ground."

Epiphytes, i.e. an organism that grows upon or attaches to a living plant!

The end of Spanish Bank Creek before it flows into ocean.

Good time to end today's post. I will post the "Ocean Edition" later - because I took way too many pictures (leading to running out of camera battery) and had too much to describe.

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