View rom the south end of Roberts Bay looking northwest towards Mount Tuam on Saltspring Island

As fires burn in the Cariboo district of B.C. – summer habitat of the Bufflehead – migration begins in earnest on the coast. Every year at this time, Mew Gulls returning from the boreal forest, and California gulls from the prairies, join with numerous resident, Glaucous-winged Gulls to feed on the mudflats of Roberts Bay. Their behaviour and patterns reveal the rich benthic ecology of the bay, relative to the oceanographic features  of the area.

After a prolonged spell of stagnant weather, the air pressure will bottom out on Saturday, with the first touch of precipitation. Forest fires that have been burning in the Mackenzie Valley and northern Yukon, were largely extinguished last week, and the Fort Good Hope fire will be dampened with the development of a low pressure system by the end of this weekend. Finally we will see blue skies on the coast.

Then the next wave of migrants will appear in synchrony with the rhythms of the planetary (Rossby) waves.

Kerry Finley

Satellite view of BC fires and smoke- August 8, 2017