Small Stuff

As the weather warms up the insects and spiders are gradually coming out. I found this spider in our sun room and it surprisingly stuck around long enough for me to go and get my camera. The Seek app thinks it's a Mouse Spider, a new one for me.

I tend to fall back on using my telephoto lens and photographing birds. But there's lots of small stuff around too so I try to make a point of going out with my macro lens. Here are some details of the moss growing all over.

When flies are buzzing around we tend to think of them as generic "flies". But there are so many kinds. Photographing them is a good way to see the variety. I think this is a Cluster Fly. Unlike common blow flies, they don't lay their eggs in our food. Instead they parasitize earthworms.

When visiting the coast as a kid I loved exploring the tide pools. Now I have tide pools minutes away and I don't visit them often enough. The Aggregating Anemones are common but they're beautiful close up.

It's fascinating how when they close up the outer green part becomes the most visible, sometimes leaving just the pink tips of the tentacles showing.

Areas of the rocks are covered by barnacles, I think these are Pacific Acorn Barnacles.

When I was examining the barnacles I noticed some flies around. Once I noticed them I realized there were a lot. I think they are Oedoparena Glauca (no common name that I could find). They lay their eggs on barnacles and that's what the larva feed on. They then pupate in an empty barnacle shell.

These tiny amphipods are common but they are usually either hiding or in constant motion - hard to photograph. The color and pattern on this one caught my eye, quite a good match to the background. Amphipods are crustaceans like crabs but with no carapace.

At first I thought these splashes of color were encrusting coralline algae but they turned out to be a kind of sponge. Although they don't look much like it, sponges are animals, not plants or algae.

Of course, I can't resist turning over a few rocks to see the Yellow Shore Crabs. I'm always amazed how abundant they are. It seem like every rock you turn over has a dozen under it, of a range of sizes.

And of course, there are a variety of flowers emerging.

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Birds

It seems like there have been more different kinds of birds around the feeder recently. At first it was almost all House Finches, now there are also Juncos, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Spotted Towhees and even a Downy Woodpecker and a Golden-crowned Sparrow.

Slightly further afield, I spotted this House Sparrow collecting what I assume is nesting material.

My Terra Station device had reported Bewick's Wren, but I hadn't identified any, so I was glad to discover I took a photograph of one. I wouldn't have spotted it, but it was singing loudly.

This Song Sparrow was another vocal one.

Of course, the usual Anna's Hummingbirds are around.

There haven't been as many Wigeons around as other years but a few showed up recently.

I always enjoy seeing (and photographing) the colorful Harlequin Ducks.

This Great Blue Heron seemed to be enjoying the view.

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Spring Flowers

The amazingly early spring (for a prairie person) has arrived in Victoria again. If you look for them, you can find a few flowers blooming all winter, but February and March they come out in force.

One of the earliest are the Snow Drops.

The daffodils are another early one. Neither snowdrops or daffodils are native to North America, but they grow "wild" here, outside of any official flower bed.

These hyacinths were in a flower bed, but I still enjoyed watching them develop.

There are a few different kinds of crocuses. I think this one is a Snow Crocus.

Whereas this one I think is a Spring Crocus.

And last but not least, the cherry (or plum?) blossoms are gathering momentum.

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Ice

After a long warm spell we got some colder weather, and with it some ice and snow.

But at the same time, the "spring" crocuses were blooming.

Pine Siskins

The birds at the feeder have gone through an interesting progression. First it was a "development" of House Finches, easily identified by their red color. Then a "banditry" of Chestnut-backed Chickadees. And now a "company" of Pine Siskins. Plus the occasional House Sparrow and Spotted Towhee. The towhees are a little big for the feeder perches so they mostly sit nearby and gaze longingly at all that food.

At first I wasn't sure what they were. They looked like small sparrows but none of the sparrows in my bird guide had yellow on the wings. I looked at "small" local birds but didn't see them. It wasn't till I looked at "extra small" birds that I found them. Pine Siskins are in the finch family. There were lots of them and the ones that weren't competing over the feeder perched in the nearby magnolia tree, where I could photograph them through the window. A window isn't ideal, but with a little work on the computer they're reasonable. This shot shows the yellow and the notched tail.

Another identifying feature is the heavy streaking.

They are puffed up to stay warm in these photos. They are actually slimmer birds. Pine Siskins can survive in colder weather than other songbirds due to their higher metabolism.