310 : Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee - Poecile rufescens

I have very sore feet this evening having perhaps only walked 5-6 miles or so. I don't have very good walking boots with me and a poor decision on the way back from a national park trail to our car left us walking along a hard roadside for about 2 miles. The irony of long birding walks is that more often than not some of the nicest birds you see are hanging around the car park albeit in this case a very nice conifer lined car park in a national park.

So the North Americans call a Tit a Chickadee. This a western specialist of the pine forests - its range hugging the Pacific coast from Alaska all the way down to Northern California. The twittering sounds reminded me of long tailed tits and the flock seemed to be 10 birds or more strong.

Completely off subject but my aching feet do seem to be reacting to the restorative qualities of a Brufen,  two panadol and the first few glasses of my "growler" of the Tofino Brewing Company's session ale. Jane has opted for a smaller "Growlita" of the Spruce beer - doctored with fresh spruce tips. I love the idea of your local brewery where you just pop in and fill up your Growler on the way home and the staff are all happy and the clientele is lined up at the bar in this case discussing surf and beer. It may be Canada but Tofino is very much a surf town and people are turned off and tuned in or whatever the expression is. People here are very nice. The sense of humour is great - we ate beautiful food last night at the Wickanish Inn - the best I have eaten in a long while. Interesting flavours and great produce. Even fish and chips from a van is made beautifully - sustainable Pacific cod. Don't get me on British Columbian wine - too little to export - I had a Chardonnay last night that I felt was as nice as a decent Burgundy - Quail's landing was the producer. They also made a desert Reisling that went very well with my British Columbian artisan cheeses. This place is just to die for really.

Back to my beer ! So a growler is the bottle you purchase with your first order of beer from your local craft brewery (a kind of non-refundable deposit system) and then your next fill up is half the price. Its a great system and a good business model. The more you drink the cheaper it gets. The man behind the bar told me that eventually he would be paying me to drink the stuff. Very witty.

More Chickadees !

So there we have it ! Growlers are a new one on me but once you are over (in my case) the $12 deposit for the bottle you are locked in for refills at just $12 for 2 litres which seems quite reasonable - 4 pints of so for 8 pounds. Four very nice pints that is and straight from the brewery. 

I really am falling in love with this place - it is charming and so are the people. The guy who introduced  my main course last night at the Wick laughed with me at the description of my "rasped" egg on warm salmon. They really don't take themselves so seriously. They take their food, wine and beer quite seriously though - they do seem to have a craft. 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile Rufescens

Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

5 August 2014