Cattle Point, Oak Bay, British Columbia
February 20, 2020
Photographer: Stu Witmer
Summary Author: Stu Witmer
Named for being the delivery place for barges of livestock to the local farms in years past, Cattle Point is now a popular park and boat-launching site on Haro Strait between the San Juan Islands of Washington state (seen in the distance) and the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Characteristic of the Victoria area and recognizable by its alternating bands of light (quartz and plagioclase feldspar) and dark (hornblende) layers the rock here is metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rock of the Colquitz gneiss. Glacial erosion processes, including abrasion, frost wedging and plucking, have produced a landscape known as roche moutonnée (sheep-like rock). Also in the area are erratic boulders of granodiorite which were carried here by glaciers of the Fraser Glaciation 25,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Apparently, this is also a popular area to feed the birds. Note the crows in the foreground waiting for me to toss them some more almonds. Photo taken January 7, 2020.
Photo Details: Camera: Samsung SM-G960U; Exposure Time: 0.0003s (1/3585); Aperture: ƒ/2.4; ISO equivalent: 50; Focal Length (35mm): 26.