The tide was high, and the wind threw the rain and waves carelessly at the beach. Boats tossed on the rough water, my hands already numb from the cold. The on-going flooding of the ponds at Jericho park has grown and snaked to the beach.

I’ve never seen the water reach so far in the years I’ve been visiting. I couldn’t get a photo that captured the reality – I would have needed a drone, or perhaps I should I tried climbing a tree?

A flooded beach

Last weekend I felt compelled to return to the Tsawassen Ferry Jetty in search of the Whimbrel that eluded me on my previous visit. As I was making my way up the jetty, I spooked a bird – it was too fast to ID, but it didn’t look familiar and my first (wishful) thought was that it was a Whimbrel.

Nearing the end of the south side of the jetty, I gave up hope of finding the Whimbrel… but not long after that a large shorebird flew in and landed at the edge of the beach – and I don’t have to tell you what that bird was.

I made my way down the slippery embankment of boulders to the beach, slowly and carefully moving toward the Whimbrel, walking out into the water to get the best angle for the low morning sun.

Last weekend I made an early morning trip out to the Tsawassen Ferry Jetty in search of some Whimbrel that had been seen there a day or two earlier. If there were there, they eluded me. Even so, every time I visit the jetty, I realize I should bird there more often.

Visitor Map

Despite being difficult to decode, this old information sign near the parking lot has a strange beauty and stands as a ravaged sentinel of time. There is a newer, more legible sign beside it.

Why this sign was spared, I don’t know, but I’m glad it was. It may not excel at clarifying exactly where you are, but it seems to reveal something that I can’t articulate…

It connected with an aphorism I read recently: “All models are wrong, but some are useful”

The North Jetty at Iona Beach Regional Park is a favourite place of mine, especially in the fall or winter during cold and rainy weather. I rarely encounter anyone, and can imagine myself further away from civilization that I otherwise am – except for the roar of jets landing a YVR airport…