Capturing the Art of Nature
Mud Bay Park
This small park is a dual use park – a 20Km long level walking/cycling trail and a phenomenal access point to viewing migratory birds. The dichotomy brought an interesting mixture of users.
Category
Coastal Views
2008
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It was now the end of January and I hadn’t been out to collect photos since early December, needless to say, I was getting very finger happy and I just had to get out somewhere. So though the weather was dull and still not very good for landscapes, I thought a short trip to a local park was in order. Since I had never explored Mud Bay Park I decided it was a good day to see just what potential it was hiding.
We arrived mid morning under a dull sky that was threatening rain, there was a cold breeze that quickly got my fingers feeling less than ideal but I was determined to look around the eastern end of the park. Our first stop took us just outside of the park area next to the long train trestle bridge that crosses Mud Bay. Considering how soggy the ground was I was amazed at the length and strength of a wooden bridge. Walking slightly past the tracks gave us a splendid view of old wooden dykes with Mount Baker as a back drop.
We returned to the park proper and made our way along the water edge enjoying the 10’s of thousands of ducks that were making their way south for the winter. The vast numbers of the birds was quite amazing. I found the contours of the coast line and marshy grounds also quite scenic though the dull skies hid much of their detail. We slowly made our way west along the main trail stopping every few yards to check the view. We walked this way for a few kilometers before turning back. The whole length of the distance we traveled was packed with birds. As we made our way, we were told about a group of Eagles resting in the grove of trees a few kilometers further along, but by then we were getting a bit worn out and decided to pass on seeing them.
We made our way back faster than our outward walk as we were getting quite cold and tired. It was an interesting site and was worth the effort to explore it. But there is much more yet to see, so I plan to try this park again, next time I will bring my bike and cycle its length - stopping at various spots along its length to enjoy the changing sights.