Through the Window

I've managed to photograph a number of the creatures visiting our yard lately. At first I tried to go outside to photograph them, but they would take off as soon as I appeared, if not as soon as the door opened. I've had a bit more luck staying inside and shooting through the windows. That's not ideal, but it can work surprising well.

The first visitors were three Northern Flickers. Only one of them stuck around long enough for me to get my camera. This looks like a female red-shafted. Confusingly, yellow-shafted females are the ones with red on their head. Flickers are woodpeckers but they feed on the ground mostly on ants and beetles. I'm not sure if this one was finding much but he was digging around vigorously. Northern Flickers are the only North American woodpeckers that are strongly migratory, moving south for the winter.

A robin managed to photobomb one shot.

As you can see in this photo, woodpeckers feet are zygodactyl, with four toes, the first and the fourth facing backward and the second and third facing forward - good for grasping trees.

There were also some Golden-crowned sparrows, which are apparently common, but I haven't noticed them before. They are related to White-crowned sparrows which I see more often.

I was working at my computer when I noticed a couple of hummingbirds go by the window. I didn't pay too much attention since I've seen them briefly other times. But this time they settled on the bush just outside the window. I thought I might be able to get some photographs, but as soon as I stood up to get my camera they left. This happened several times. Eventually I got my camera and kept it on the desk beside me. They came back again and this time I managed to slide out of my chair to the floor and start taking photos. They came back a few more times. I'm not sure if they got accustomed to me, or I got better at moving without scaring them. In the end I was resting my lens against the window only a few feet away from them. I assume this Anna's Hummingbird was a female since it didn't have the brighter colors of the males. I wondered why they were hanging around so much, but then Shelley spotted a new hummingbird feed at one of our neighbors.

Later in the day, a couple of young male Black-tailed mule deer were in the yard. They were quite "full of beans" as my mother would have said. (Which I see may have originally referred to coffee beans.) They were butting heads and, as Shelley described it, bouncing around like kangaroos. (Also known as "pronking" or "stotting".) One of them only had one antler.

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Recent Photos

I haven't finished posting photos from my last trip, but I thought I'd take a break and share a few more recent ones since I got home.

We had visited Esquimalt Gorge Park before, but we hadn't discovered the restored area along the creek/inlet. There were American Wigeons and Mallards, and a Kingfisher that even let me get somewhat close. (Unfortunately, I didn't have my long telephoto lens with me.)

There are still a few flowers hanging on.

Victoria doesn't have the best fall colors but there are a few splashes of color.

Despite the cooler weather, I've taken advantage of a few sunny calm days to get out kayaking.

One day we walked out on the breakwater. There was a bit of a breeze and the gulls were soaring back and forth in the updraft. I took many photos trying to catch them as they cruised by. A few turned out ok.

There was a big red ship in the background that added color to the waves.

And barnacles, and kelp, and pebble beaches shining in the sun.

The bugs are mostly gone now, but the odd one turns up on the wall of our townhouse and lets me practice my macro photography.

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Zoo Too

Some photos from a second visit to the Santa Barbara zoo (on our way home).

This Blue Crowned Pigeon was a very cooperative subject and I got lots of photos, so I combined five of them onto one big print.

I liked the reflections in these decorations.

As usual, I photographed some of the unofficial visitors/residents at the zoo.

Loreto Diving - Big Stuff

The highlight of our boat trips out to dive sites was encountering two Bryde's whales, a mother and a young one. Bryde's are related to Blue and Humpback whales. Like them, it's a baleen filter feeder. They are "medium" sized, which was still plenty big. Spring is the better whale watching season here, but the water is too cold for pleasant diving. Occasionally we see whales in the fall diving season but it's usually a brief glimpse from a long distance. This time the whales hung around for quite a long time and swam around and under our boat. Even the locals were excited at this extended close encounter.

It's hard to do justice to the encounter with still photographs. Shelley's video gives a better feel.

We were also lucky to see a large group of dolphins on our first day. I didn't have my camera that day, but Shelley got a brief video. We saw individual dolphins other days, but this was the only big group.

Sea lions are a much more reliable sighting. Our first day of diving, Shelley figured we'd be going to the sea lions, a popular dive. But they told us, no, we were going to one of the farther islands. Except the wind turned out to be wrong, so we went to the sea lions after all. Over our eight days of diving we ended up going back to that site several times. It's an interesting area, with intricate rock formations and Blue and Brown footed boobies.

Depending on the wind, your first clue that you're approaching the sea lions is often the smell.

Sea lions have a curious habit of floating with their fins in the air. This is known as "sailing" and is a way of regulating their temperature.

They don't breed here, so they're quite mellow.

It's always fun when they come to check you out underwater. They can be quite curious and inquisitive sometimes. Although having them suddenly zoom by at high speed can be a bit disconcerting.

And that wraps up this dive trip. As always we enjoyed Loreto and the underwater world nearby.