Sunday drive to Hell's Gate (and Back)

Each year my wife Edith volunteers for Bard on the Beach. One of the perks is a free BC Tourism Challenge passport. She gets free entry for two at various tourism sites in the province. She has to answer a quiz at each site to earn a stamp on her passport.

It was a rainy Sunday morning when we departed for the Hell's Gate attraction near Boston Bar. The tram  shown below takes passengers across the roaring Fraser River at one it's most treacherous locations. We'd seen a few birds here two years ago, so I brought my camera gear.


Hell's Gate Tram, near Boston Bar BC

On the ride across the river, there happened to be a train heading south. The cars had an eerie robotic look to them.

And here's a look at the Fraser River from the Tram. The suspension bridge is open to guests to walk over the river and get a close-up look.

Ot course, my primary focus is looking for birds and other creatures. The first one I spotted was this Chipmunk.

Yellow-pine Chipmunk - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

There were seed and nectar feeders near the restaurant and there were some birds at each.

Pine Siskin - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

The nectar feeders had male and female Rufous Hummingbirds competing for access. How this species reproduces is a mystery to me. The males were a bit camera shy.

Rufous Hummingbird - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

The female was more willing to come out and show herself.

Rufous Hummingbird (F) - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

On our way home we stopped in Yale for a tour of the Historic site. The only bird present was this Robin.

American Robin - Hell's Gate, Boston Bar BC

This ended out day's outing as we drove home in the rain. We'd be doing more tourism challenges later in the week, enough for a couple more blog posts.