For three consecutive years, from 2019 to 2021, three different owls were on the covers of my annual reports. But 2022 has changed this not-very-long tradition: a Northern Gannet took their place. So why not establish a new not-very-long tradition, with different boobies on the cover, and with a good reason - in 2023 year I saw two species of them: Northern Gannet and Brown Booby (see the photo below):

If you look at this image and think the horizon line is leaning to the left, it's okay. Don't worry about the horizon. The horizon is still horizontal, no matter what's happening in this world. It's me who's been tilting like an old sailor standing on the deck of the ferry.

Believe it or not, British Columbia has two Vancouvers: the city and the island. Another fun fact - on a clear day, you can see one Vancouver from the other, across the Strait of Georgia. This strait (practically a sea) is full of whales, dolphins and mermaids. More exciting: these waters are rich in pelagic birds, and we will talk about it soon.

During just two days of September 2016, I've got nine lifers! Not a big deal for the fall time unless one thing - all of them belonged to the same group - Warblers. Moreover, from the day of my arrival in Canada, on July 1, till this moment, I met only one warbler species - Yellow Warbler.