Our first day in Victoria, and the shock of going from having one or two neighbours to suddenly having thousands is causing us to wander around the downtown like a couple of extras from the cast of Deliverance. "How'd they get them buildings so tall?"
The seals, herons, river otters and eagles of Powell River are nowhere to be seen here, just people people people.
But wait-
While walking home from grocery shopping we notice what looks like snow falling, but it's only falling in one place: right in front of us. Not snow, feathers.
Peering up into a painters scaffolding above us, we spot the feathers former owner. A freshly killed pigeon, clutched tightly in the talons of a ferociously feeding hawk. The hawk spots us and waits a beat to see if we will move on. Of course we don't. We are rooted to the spot like a couple of turkeys hypnotized by rain (our usual wildlife viewing pose.) Annoyed by our presence, the hawk takes tighter grip of it's prey and launches itself south over the rooftops, pigeon feathers raining down in it's wake.
We really couldn't have asked for a more welcoming transition back into city life.