The Victoria waterfront, prior to disembarking onto Canadian soil – another stamp in the passport 

This morning we took the ferry to Canada. We did it mostly as a tourist thing rather than for birds, which we’d already been advised were likely to be few and far between. As it turned out it was uncharacteristically calm across the Straits of Juan Fuca and there were virtually no birds, certainly none that we couldn’t see from the shore, but the experience of disembarking onto Canadian soil and then standing in the US Customs line to get back was definitely worth it. I exaggerated when I suggested Canada for coffee – actually, by the time we’d cleared customs & immigration, it was too late to get coffee on the mainland so we had to have one on the boat on the way back! The afternoon was spent in a fruitless search for shorebirds along Three Crabs Road, Sequim. We also had an enjoyable walk around the National Wildlife Refuge at Dungeness, but again very few birds. It was only on our way back to the motel, to meet up with Rob & Gi, that we called in at Ediz Hook Road and found our new bird for the day / trip – Harlequin Duck.

Record shot of distant Harlequin Duck  – our new bird for the day