Baldie

Always nice to run into one of the locals when you're out and about.

Goldeneyes

A pair of male Barrow's Goldeneye ducks on the local waterfront. With not getting out much recently I haven't

taken my usual many winter duck photos, and these are the first of the year.

Steller's Jay

Steller's Jays are a close relative to the well-known Blue Jays of parts east, but we don't have the Blues

and they don't have the Steller's. To my mind, one of the best looking birds of the coast. The reference

material says they can be enticed with peanuts, but for whatever reason, they always disdain mine.
And I have tried, and tried.

Bald Eagle

With the horrendous weather lately I'm having to dig into the archives, so here's one of

my favourite Bald Eagle photos. A classic pose on the rocks of the South Harbour breakwater.

It's Not Just The Canadas ...

... that are fouling our parks and playing fields. Their cousins the Snow Geese are lending a hand.

These "helping hands" were busy at the JP Dallos soccer field. It's a mess. 

Lip-Licking Good

Accessing the archives, from a series taken in Fall 2012. No catch-and-release here.

Black Oystercatcher, Once More

As noted more than once before, these are my favourite shorebird, and while a few issues have kept

me away from my camera and blogging, I did manage to catch this Oystercatcher catching

its breakfast one day late last week.

They may not eat oysters, but they certainly have a taste for any mussel they can find along shore. I

watched this bird for about 20 minutes, watched it find and eat 3 of these clams.

Black Oystercatchers

I've featured these before, but as they're one of my favourite shorebirds, and there's a number of them along

the Seawalk the last little while, these are here again. "Oystercatcher" is actually a misnomer as

they don't eat oysters, though they do have a fondness for clams.

The top bird is a juvenile, it doesn't have the full bright orbital eye ring that this adult has, and also
the beak is a duller orange.

Leucism

Leucism : a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white,

pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes. (Wikipedia)

As in this Northwestern Crow. 

Seeing Double

A domestic bird, somebody on Cranberry Lake must be rearing Muscovy Ducks, a handful

of these were floating around on the lake at the bottom of Drake St., yesterday.

Merlin

From the archives: this photo is dated August 2010, and though that's a few years back,

it seems like yesterday. I was out doing what I do with my camera, and made a stop

at Parson's Park on Cranberry Lake, where I spotted this fellow. But no long lens.

The next day, by chance, I was there again, but again, no long lens. The 3rd day,

against the odds, I went back with the long lens, and my bird was still there. And

this is still my best Merlin shot to date.

Great Blue

I have taken a good number of Great Blue Heron photos over the years, and this one,

from the summer of  '13, is still one of my 2 favourites. (The other was posted

last March.) 

And while they really are a magnificent photogenic bird in profile, they do look

more than a bit silly face on.

Cherry Picking

Cherry picking is what the owner of this tree should get to, before there aren't any left to pick.

Killdeer

I've posted Killdeer photos before, but they are a delightful little bird and when I come

across a cooperative one, I take the photos.

A late lunch, and according to the time stamps on the camera, less than 2 seconds

to scarf it down. Must have been hungry.

Old Friend

This Eagle is getting to be an old friend, we seem to meet regularly on the same

branch of the same tree. And like many an old friend ...

...sometimes you've had enough of each other, and it's time to head to the next tree.

Osprey

This week last year a friend and myself packed our camera gear in his boat and headed

"up the lake". That being Powell Lake for the non-resident readers. One item on

the list was Osprey photos, of which there are a fair number of opportunities up the lake.

June is nesting season, and there was a hatchling, maybe two, in this nest underneath that adult.

 They are a magnificent bird, as all raptors are, but I've always thought they look just a little bit silly face on.

Mixed Feelings

I have mixed feelings over Canada Geese. On the one hand they are definitely a handsome bird, and they

certainly photograph well. On the other, the  mess they make of our parks nobody would wish for.

But when I see some fool let his dog chase them out of the park, as happened here, I get
this urge to kick the dog ...and its master. Mixed feelings.

These birds were catching the sun at Willingdon Beach.

One half of a domestic squabble, best not to interfere!

Posing for the portrait.

Corvus caurinus

Corvus caurinus AKA the Northwestern Crow. Endemic to the coast of the Pacific

Northwest, they are a tad smaller than the American Crow in parts east, though you would

need to see them side by each to tell the difference. As you can see, it gave me an
appraising eye, then decided I was worth the cold shoulder. Intelligent bird.

An aside: I had thought the phrase "side by each" to also be endemic to our coast, I certainly
never heard it till I came West, but it seems it's used on both coasts. Live and learn.

According to Wikipedia, "Beaches and shorelines are the principal forage areas" and

that's where I found this bird, on one of the logs at Willingdon Beach.

Here's Looking At You

Checking me out, but it's seen me several times before, so there's nothing new here.

(And by the look of that white-ish stain it has the same seagull problem

my coats occasionally get!)

Ball of Fluff

A very young Killdeer, not much body, but a lot of leg. I didn't like to get too close, the parent

bird was already excited, so these are very much cropped photos, even using a longer lens.

A tiny, tiny little thing, but it sure knew how to use those long legs. It scurried down the beach at speed.