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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Native #wildflowers are popping in the hills of #VancouverIsland. These two beauties were found in the #SookeHills over the weekend. Magenta petals of Satinflower - Olsynium douglasii. We are at the northern end of their range. Rustyhair Saxifrage - Micranthes rufidula. Our early saxifrage. 🌿

Satinflower - Olsynium douglasii. Member of the Iris family.

Rustyhair Saxifrage - Micranthes rufidula. With a strand or two of Wallace's Selaginella to keep it company.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Red Crossbills - southern #VancouverIsland. The bills can cross left over right or vice versa. It seems to be random. The bills start to form when they are nestlings. It initially looks "normal", but starts to cross a few weeks after hatching. An adaptation for opening pine cones. 🌿 #birds #nature

Male Red Crossbill - bill is crossed left over right.

Female Red Crossbill (maybe immature?) - bill is crossed right over left.

Female Red Crossbill - left over right bill crossing.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

"Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light." The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Mornings from the #SalishSea at the bottom of my road. #landscapephotography #VanIsle

Sunrise mirage on the Salish Sea. The mountains in the Boulder River Wilderness in Washington State look like they are floating islands in the sky.

Crescent moon over the Salish Sea - southern Vancouver Island, Canada looking to Washington State, USA.

Crescent moon sets the scene over the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island, Canada and Washington State, USA.

Mist and a morning mirage make these mountains over in Washington State look like they are floating in the sky. The one in the middle is probably Baring Mountain (or maybe Gunn Peak). This is a ridge surrounded on either side by the north (left in the photo) and south forks of the Skykomish River.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

An eruption of Red Crossbills today on my walk in #ThetisLakePark on south #VancouverIsland. Years since I've seen so many. I think they "follow the money" (where "money" is their preferred food - conifer seeds). Maybe we've had good cone growth. The xed-bills help them pry open pine cones. 🌿

Ornamenting this arbutus tree snag: Red crossbills (bigger birds) and Pine siskins. Thetis Lake Park, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Female Red Crossbill in the top of an arbutus tree.

Good look at this (probably) immature female's crossed bill. Bills can cross right over left or vice-versa. This one crosses right over left.

Male Red Crossbills are reddish overall with dark brown wings. This fellows beak is a left over right cross.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

#MtAssiniboine: a fav area for me in the Canadian #RockyMtns. B&W images: 1913 & 16. I repeated them 100+ yrs later in 2017. Some things the same, but glacial retreat and forest infill require adaptation ( #forestfire, #water, #mountaineering safety). #ClimateChange #geography #geology #landscape

Mt Assiniboine and Magog Lake from below The Nub - late summer of 2017. Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada.

Mt Assiniboine and Magog Lake from below The Nub. B&W photo by A.O. Wheeler, Inter-provincial Boundary Survey, late summer of 1913. B&W courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada.

On the Towers: Mt Assiniboine in the background with Lake Gloria, (L-R) Mt Gloria, Ion Peak, Aye Peak, & Mt Assiniboine. Terrapin Peak in front. late summer of 2017. Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada.

On the Towers: B&W photos by A.O. Wheeler, Inter-provincial Boundary Survey, late summer of 1916. B&W courtesy of Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

#RobertMacfarlane poses 2 questions we should ask of strong landscapes: "firstly, what do I know when I am in this place that I can know nowhere else? And then, vainly, what does this place know of me that I cannot know of myself?” (The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot) #landscape #photography #SalishSea

Just before sunrise on the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island (Canada) and Washington State (USA). The end of golden hour.

The light develops with subtlety and texture.

As the morning progresses the sun rises into the clouds and the light almost reverses itself.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Sunrise on the #SalishSea between #VancouverIsland, BC, Canada, and the #Olympics in #WashingtonState, USA. "You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn't waste either." #GalenRowell #Landscape #photography

Salish Sea - the light changes as the sun emerges.

The Salish Sea - just before sunrise. The view is eastward (of course!).

The end of golden hour in the morning. The mountain floating in the sky are in Washington State - Boulder River Wilderness. The highest in the background is Glacier Peak (3214m).

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Jan 15: wildflowers already blooming in the #SookeHills, #VancouverIsland😍! Spring Gold, Tall Oregon Grape & Rusty-haired saxifrage. The saxifrage is an indicator species here, signalling moist, shaded habitats on rocky slopes & cliffs. Its presence tells us about soil quality & moisture. #ecology

Tall Oregon Grape - Mahonia Aquifolium. Its presence often indicates dry to moderately dry, moisture-deficient sites. It tends to like well-drained, acidic soils. This one was beside a rocky trail.

Rusty-haired saxifrage - Micranthes rufidula. It is an indicator species on Vancouver Island. Its presence indicates specific environmental conditions: moist, shaded habitats on rocky slopes and cliffs.

Rusty-haired saxifrage - Micranthes rufidula. Just starting to bloom. Always a pleasure to see these dotting the cliffs and wet, rocky seeps in the hills of southern Vancouver Island.

Spring Gold - Lomatium utriculatium. This member of the carrot family is probably our earliest native wildflower bloomer. I've seen it in the hills as early as late December.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

The first of the spring #wildflowers are starting to pop up in the hills here on southern #VancouverIsland. Spring Gold - Lomatium utriculatum. This member of the carrot family is always early. The dark green leaves of Calypso Orchid - Calypso bulbosa are out too. #hiking #nature #botany

The beautiful Calypso Orchid - aka Fairyslipper Orchid - Calypso bulbosa.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Wishing everyone a wonderful solstice - Fiat Lux - Let There be Light!

First light from the shores of the Salish Sea. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Retired from #UVic's Mountain Legacy Project (mountainlegacy.ca). I do repeat mountain photography to deepen my own understanding of mtn environments. Huge change here. Ice will be gone by 2100. Photos: flic.kr/s/aHBqjBKy35 Location: tinyurl.com/y4rwfmpx #landscape #climatechange #geosky #glacier

Mt Alan Campbell in the Cdn Rocky Mtns - north of Golden, British Columbia, Canada. Taken on Sept 7, 2024. We were repeating photos taken in 1918 by A.O. Wheeler from the same spot.

The B&W inset images of Mt Alan Campbell were taken by Arthur Wheeler, Alan Campbell (yes, named for him), and Lee Cameron on July 18, 1918.

From the top of Diamond Peak looking eastward over the Campbell Icefield: Sept 7, 2024.

From the top of Diamond Peak looking eastward over the Campbell Icefield: July 18, 1918 (B&W inset).

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

A lovely hike in the Peak District: Derbyshire's Dragon's Back. The limestone reef knolls of Parkhouse & Chrome Hill can be slimy, but the route has great views. Amazing to think when on the Dragon's Back you are really on the sea floor 350m years ago! #landscape #geology #PeakDistrict #geography

Parkhouse Hill from Chrome Hill, Peak District NP, Derbyshire, UK.

On the way up Chrome Hill - Derbyshire, Peak District NP, UK.

With Pat and Doug - two of my favourite hiking buddies!

Ready for any weather - Sept 2023, on Chrome Hill, Derbyshire, Peak District NP, UK.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." Edward Abbey(1927-89) Sunset from #AlpineClubofCanada's Hišimy̓awiƛ mtn hut below 5040 Peak #VancouverIsland BC Canada #landscape #mountains #photography

Sunset into the Pacific Ocean - image from below 5040 Peak, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

"There are two kinds of climbers: those who climb because their heart sings when they're in the mountains, and all the rest." Alex Lowe - American mountaineer (1958 - 1999). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Lowe Sunset from Hišimy̓awiƛ below 5040 Peak #VanIsle BC Canada #landscape #mountains #photography

Alpine Club of Canada's Hišimy̓awiƛ mountain hut below 5040 Peak on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Alpine #environment in this part of the Canadian Rocky Mtns. A good view of the debris cone below where the big slab let go from Thunder Mtn (right) in Jan 2022. Looks like this mtn has been geologically "active" for a loooong time! Location: tinyurl.com/ye4tva7c #geography #geology #landscapes

Alpine meadows, ridges, and mountains in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Hi Dan - the meltwater off this glacier (the Mummery) was so sooty you could taste it in the water. Kind of like a cross between retsina and a peaty single malt - but maybe middle schoolers don't need to know that part 😁

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

A small rockfall (top right corner of the big slab area) during our stay. You can see the track in the photos. Lots of noise and dust. Glad we weren't in that valley just then! #Mountains #LandscapePhotography #geology

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

This huge slab on Thunder Mtn (apt name!) came down Jan 2022. The #Campbell_Icefield_Chalet is across the valley (B&W photo). No one was there but I expect that slab falling generated a pressure wave. We caught a small rockfall - and it was loud and dusty! #geosky #landscapes #geology #Rockies

Thunder Mtn, Canadian Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada.

Campbell Icefields Chalet, Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Sub-alpine wetlands here (southern Cdn Rocky Mts) are rare - maybe 3 - 4% of land base. They punch above their weight for biodiversity. This #wetland is just below 2000m. It drains into Bluewater Creek and then into the mighty #ColumbiaRiver just west of #GoldenBC. #geosky #biodiversity

This was probably a glacial lake at one time.

Rare sub-alpine wetland below Mt Alan Campbell, Rocky Mtns, British Columbia, Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

A few comparison photos from this area - #Banff National Park, #Alberta, #Canada.

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Mary Sanseverino @msanseve.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Good morning from #Victoria-BC-Canada on the shores of the beautiful Salish Sea. Victoria is on the the traditional territories of the Lkwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples.

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