Prints of the Week

All spring, as usual, I've been taking photos of the trees coming back to life, flowering and sprouting leaves. I've fallen behind processing them, but here are a few that I decided to print as I was going through them.



The EM-1 with the 60mm macro lens works great for these kind of shots.



Your eyes wouldn't see a black background like this, just a deep shadow. But the camera can't handle the huge difference between bright sun and dark shade so the background goes black. A mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder is great for this kind of shot because you can see the exposure you'll get and easily adjust until it looks the way you want.



When I was taking this last one I was consciously trying to center it between the branches in the background but everything was moving in the wind. I almost got it.

Goslings

It's always nice to see the baby geese in the spring. Although the adults can get quite defensive and I often get hissed at when I'm running by the river.

Photo of the Day

It is spring again.

The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

A trial day back working at the office. Of course, the best part was the walk to work. After our stark winters, spring is such an explosion of wonders.

Print of the Week

One of a second batch of crocus flowers from the beginning of May.



See all 23 photos in this album

Beaver

Shelley suggested we get our kayaks out on the river since it was a nice day. We made it almost to the weir when I saw something sitting on a log at the edge of the water. It was a beaver. WRSOS had released a juvenile beaver near here this morning (after treating it) so I assume it was the same one. Hopefully it manages to reconnect with its family.



Photographing from a kayak can work really well because you can often approach closer and get a better angle. But it can also be extremely frustrating, especially in moving water. When you take your hands off the paddle to get the camera out and take photos, you start drifting and often turning. You either drift away or you drift too close. And often by the time you finish futzing around the bird or animal is long gone. This beaver didn't seem too worried about me, maybe because of its recent contact with humans, or because it was a juvenile. But still, by the time I got my camera out of the dry bag, and managed to jam my kayak between a couple of rocks, it slid into the water and swam away. I figured that was the last I'd see of it, but as I prepared to paddle away it returned and climbed out onto the same log.



I tried to take a few shots but the kayak was rocking and it was impossible to hold the long telephoto (800mm equivalent) steady. To heck with it, I got out of the kayak, pulled it up on shore and shot from the land. Luckily I was out of sight behind some boulders most of the time. The other problem was that I was shooting straight into the sun. On the shore I managed to maneuver around to where I had a slightly better angle.



I even thought to shoot a little video. It seemed obsessed with cleaning its fur. Hopefully that's not a symptom of a problem.



It's always nice to see the beavers. I see lots of signs of their activity (trees cut down) but not the beavers themselves usually. They are beautiful unique creatures but often persecuted. The city traps them and kills them because they are a "nuisance". We have such little tolerance for anything besides human infestation.

Blackbirds and More

We had to take the car to Toyota out in Stonebridge and when we drove by the water catchment nearby I could see blackbirds on the cattails. So when we went back to pick up the car I took my camera. I was expecting Red-winged Blackbirds, but there were actually more Yellow-headed Blackbirds. I don't usually see them as much. I'm not sure why there were so many here.





Thankfully for photography, they're not as skittish as some birds, But the males were busy defending their territories and chasing females so they didn't sit still for too long. And it was quite windy so even when they were perched, they weren't exactly still.





Of course, they were also busy singing. I love the liquid sound of the Red-winged Blackbirds. The Yellow-headed have a little "rougher" song.

As usual, the males are the flashy colorful ones. The Yellow-headed females still have some yellow color, but nowhere near as bright.



And the Red-headed females are quite nondescript.



There were also some ducks. Usually it's just Mallards, but for some reason this pond was almost all Canvasbacks.



Along with their shiny brown heads, the males red/orange eyes stood out.



The Canvasbacks were also playing mating games.



There were a fewRed-necked grebes. They were a little more shy.



The first time I walked by here I missed this Canada Goose on her nest, even though she was only about 10 feet away. She certainly didn't miss me. She stared intently at me the whole time. I saw my first goslings last week when I was out running. That seemed quite early given our cold April.



See all 36 photos in this album

8 Legged Surprises

The good thing about finding a spider in the bathroom sink is that it can't get away. The steep porcelain sides are too slippery even for a spider. Another good thing is that it's a plain background. And finally, if you use a flash, the white makes a good reflector. And you probably need a flash because there's not a lot of light in bathrooms, especially first thing in the morning.



The EM-1 comes with a tiny little external flash that doesn't have its own batteries, just uses the ones in the camera. It's perfect for this kind of thing.

PS. No spiders were hurt during the making of this photograph. I put it outside after its portrait session.

Birds

I've been taking photos faster than I've been processing and sharing them. Here are some of the bird photos I've taken lately.

I was missing my morning walks to work, so a few mornings I headed out early to see what I could see. I was happy to see a number of Downy Woodpeckers - Canada's smallest woodpecker. They come to our bird feeder occasionally (for the peanuts) but I prefer photographing them in a more natural setting. Several of them were busy excavating nest holes. When they are deliberately hammering to attract mates they can be very noisy, but when they're actually digging a nest hole they make very little noise.



It must be a lot of work to dig a hole big enough for a nest. This hole was at eye level - you'd think they'd put it higher out of reach.



Most of the gulls I've been seeing appear to be Ring-billed Gulls.



I don't usually see them diving for fish like this:



This photo could be sharper but I was glad to get this shot so I could identify it. This was a new one for me - a Blue-winged Teal (not that you can see the blue wings in this photo)



Also not a great shot, but it was interesting to see the Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding its mate. He knows how to win her heart :-)



This looked and sounded a bit like a Meadowlark at first, but I think it's a Song Sparrow, singing vigorously. (I think the bush is Red Osier Dogwood)



Occasionally the Canada Geese will nest under the bridges. It's a safe spot, but it must be frightening when it's time for the goslings to leave the nest.



I had to go pick up a package at the office, which was a good excuse to spend some time around the pond at Innovation Place. No fishing spiders yet, but there were a pair of Mallards hanging out.



I noticed a robin digging in the mud beside the pond. At first I assumed it was searching for food, but instead it collected a big beak-full of mud and flew away with it, presumably for building a nest. I thought it might come back for another load so I got my camera ready and waited. Sure enough, it was back for more and I managed to catch a shot.



There are lots of robins around and occasionally they'll cooperate to have their picture taken.



Another common one, this House Sparrow was hiding out in the grape vines, looking a little wind blown.



I don't see Dark-eyed Junco's as often. They don't visit our bird feeder much for some reason. They always look cute with their pink beaks.



See all 31 photos in this album

Greater Bee Fly

This was a new one for me - a Greater Bee Fly. (at least I hope iNaturalist will confirm that id)



I had my new Lumix 100-400mm (200-800 equivalent on micro 4/3) telephoto lens on the camera when I saw it, but luckily it focuses quite close and is actually surprisingly good for macro photography as long as you can hold the long telephoto steady. (helped by the Olympus OM-D's amazing stabilization) Even if I'd had my macro lens on, getting that close could easily have scared it away. With the telephoto I took this shot from 4 feet away.

I was on the lookout for bees on the crocuses. Coincidentally, I had seen a photograph of a bee fly just recently, although I wasn't sure that's what this was until I looked at on the computer (and used the iNaturalist Seek app on it) I only managed a few shots before it flew away, luckily this one was reasonably sharp. Too bad the twig was in there. After it left I moved the twig and waited to see if it or anything else would come back, but nothing did.

It's interesting that almost all the observations on iNaturalist are in April or early May. I wonder why it's not seen later in the summer? I only see one other observation in Saskatoon and another in Regina.

Like most life, it has an interesting story. It flicks its eggs into the burrows of bees and wasps, or failing that, deposits them on plants where bees and wasps visit. The larva then feed on the larva of the bee or wasp. The adult flies feed on both nectar and pollen, with the females eating more pollen. It locates flowers by color, preferring blue and violet (which fits with the Prairie Crocus. The bumblebee like appearance both discourages predators, and also lets it sneak up on the bees and wasps it parasitizes.

They apparently can feed while hovering, like a hummingbird, but this one had landed and was taking its time (a good thing for photographing it).