Coastal BC Birds: Oregon Junco

Oregon Junco

One bird that arrives in spring at our float cabin on Powell Lake is the Oregon Junco, a regional variation of the Dark-eyed Junco.  They are a member of the sparrow family with a distinctive dark hooded head and brownish bodies. A sturdy beak is well suited for seed eating.

An Oregon Junco on our granite cliff.

Oregon Juncos are common in the western United States and British Columbia. They live in the understory of coniferous forests. In winter they move to open areas including fields and lawns in town.

An Oregon Junco fledgling on our bridge to shore.

Oregon Juncos typically have two broods a year. Juncos build ground-based nests in protected areas. Each brood has from three to five chicks that hatch in about twelve days and fledge about twelve days later.

Mother Junco feeds one of her fledglings a seed.

For the last two years, a pair of Juncos has raised their family on our granite cliff. The female brought her young chicks to the seed feeders on our bridge to shore. It was also fun to watch young birds playing in the water in the shallows nearby.

Two fledglings taking a bath in the shallows on shore.

One year a large flock of Oregon Juncos arrived at the same time. It was the same week that I planted seeds in my float garden.

Wayne with our protective garden netting.

Wayne and I raced to cover the beds with bird netting to protect my crops. Even so, some got through and we had to help them get out. After the fact we termed this the Junco Wars. You can read that story by clicking here. -- Margy

Repotting a Red Currant

Painting the outside of the drum.

Last year I potted a red currant in a small container. It grew substantially over the summer so this spring I gave it a bigger home.

I used a 55-gallon plastic barrel given to me by my friend John. It was quite worn, so I spray painted the exterior with Rust-oleum flat black that adheres plastic.

The bottom filled with empty plastic bottles.

The top third of the barrel was cut off (I used it for a separate planter), leaving a large area for soil and root growth. After drilling the bottom with drain holes, I filled it with a layer of empty plastic bottles.

Cutting a drainage filter.

Then I cut a large circle of mill felt (course woven polyester) to go on top of the bottles to prevent soil from clogging the drainage holes. When I don't have mill felt, I use cut-to-fit air conditioner replacement pads.

Before filling the container with soil, I inserted a 64" high metal fan trellis and attached it to the back of the barrel by drilling holes and wiring it securely in place.

My repotted red currant now has ample space for root growth and a trellis to train and support its branches. This summer I'm hoping for a good crop of berries on the branches that grew last year.

The red currant repotted with a trellis to support vertical growth.

The cost for my new container was $24.00:

55-gallon barrel (free from a friend)
Rustoleum Spray Paint $4.00 (with lots left over)
Fan trellis from Canadian Tire ($20.00)
Plastic bottles (recycled)
Mill felt (free from a friend)

How do you get low cost large containers for growing plants? -- Margy

Canning: Pressure Canning Carrots

I grow carrots in my float garden. I plant in spring and begin harvesting in August. I can carrots in the ground through winter. Our climate can get below freezing, but even with a bit of snow they survive better in the ground than indoors.

This week I pulled the last of my carrots to prepare my beds for spring planting. There were so many left I decided to can them to tide us over until the new crop comes in.


I'm new at canning, especially pressure canning. In fact, this is my second time doing it. The first was with potatoes. I found a Facebook group called Safe Canning Recipes and the admins and members help answer my newbie questions. I read their blog, used their advice and then followed the recipe that came with my Presto pressure canner.

Processing the carrots.

First I had to process all the carrots. Some were quite large. Scarlet Nantes get that way yet remain crisp and sweet. I washed, trimmed and peeled them before chopping into medium-sized chunks. Thanks to Ginger on Facebook for the tip to keep them in water until ready to can.

I used the raw pack method. I packed the carrot chunks into each jar leaving an inch of empty space. Then I filled the jar with boiling water, again leaving one inch of head space for expansion during canning.

Filling the pints one at a time.

I have a dial-gauge, so I have to watch the canner while it's working. I treated myself to a glass of wine and played solitaire on my iPad for the 25 minutes of processing time. For complete safe canning instructions refer to National Center for Home Food Preservation and your canner's manufacturer.

The finished product resting for 24-hours on a rare winter sunny day.

Tonight I’ll wash the jars and put them in my pantry. Canning carrots is much easier than jam or pickles. This year I’ll do more vegetables and fruits to have on hand for winter use. It’s been nice to go to my pantry and make meals without having to go to the store so often.

Can’t you image us opening a jar of these lovely bright orange carrots for dinner some night?  Do you can at your home? What are some of your favourite things to put up? -- Margy

Float Cabin Marina

When you live in a floating cabin, boats are a very important part of your life, but I think we may have taken it to the extreme. Our float cabin decks and docks have turned into a mini-marina. Each of our boats has a different purpose.

Our aluminum Hewscraft is for transportation on our 50 km long fjord-like Powell Lake. It's a sturdy craft to travel even in wind driven waves.

Other boats include a 2452 ocean-going Bayliner that visits in the winter for a freshwater bath, a barge to carry our quads to logging roads, a small tin boat for odd jobs and fishing, and Wayne's sailboat.

Come along on a video walking tour of our float cabin marina.

Do you have a boat? What kind do you have and how do you use it? -- Margy

Hockey Night in Powell River

Throughout Canada everyone knows about Hockey Night in Canada and its distinctive theme song that was dubbed "Canada's second national anthem." However, when CBC lost the rights it had a contest for a replacement.

We have our own Hockey Night in Powell River. The Kings are Powell River's Junior "A" Hockey Club. Young men from across Canada (and a few from the States) to play for the glory of our home town.

Home games are held at Hap Parker Arena in the Recreation Complex, and great seats are always available.

You will see young, old and everyone in between cheering on our team. And you will meet Rocco, the King's mascot. In his personal Kings uniform, this feisty lion can rouse the team to victory.

Come join us for Hockey Night in Powell River. The games are exciting, the food is tasty (love those chips 'n gravy) and see all your friends in the stands. You might even win the 50-50 draw. Can't make the game? Listen live on Powell River's CoastFM 95.7. -- Margy

Second Sunset

This time of year we don't get many hours of direct sunlight at our float cabin home. The sun "rises" over the treetops at about 9:00 a.m. and "sets" behind more trees early in the afternoon. Of course, that is well before actual sunset.


Later we experience what we call second sunset. Sunlight skips over our cabin but illuminates Goat Island across the bay from our front porch. Starting at about 5:00 we watch the shadow of the Bunster Range walk up the face of Goat Island for the next half hour. We call that our "second sunset."


Of course, sunsets are only visible on sunny days. Those have been few and far between this month. -- Margy

Winter Quad Ride on Goat Island

We waited a long time for a sunny weekend to go quad riding. Logging roads in working forests are available for public recreation after 6:00 pm or on weekends and holidays.

On a sunny Saturday we headed for a favourite destination, Goat Island.

We took our new Garmin VIRB Ultra30 with us. Here are three short videos from the film taken on that trip.

We left Hole in the Wall in our barge with the quads loaded out front. We headed north in calm water to Western Forest Products' Goat Island (Clover) Dock. We used their barge ramp to off-load and later on-load our quads.

We used Frog Pond Main to get up to Spire Main on the southwest side of Goat Island. On the way we encountered deep snow on the road, which surprised both of us.

After turning around we went on a spur in search of two large trees we can see on the ridge of Goat Island from our float cabin home in Hole in the Wall. We didn't succeed, but had a great ride on an older deactivated road.

Thanks for coming along on our ride. We had a very enjoyable day and learned a lot about our new camera. And later I also learned a lot about using the new version of iMovie to create my videos.

Do you create videos about your activities and adventures? What kinds of cameras and software do you use? -- Margy