Photos of the Week

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower - Albert Camus

As usual, I took photos of great blue herons. I haven't got bored with them, it's actually good to see them so much because I can work on better, more interesting photos.

One morning I got to combine the herons with my love of reflections. I really like how these turned out. These two were my prints this week. Check them out on a bigger screen.

By moving back and forth along the walkway I could choose the background. It was a beautiful calm morning. The heron was quite far away but I had my biggest lens.

And not to neglect the the other usual suspects

And a pure reflection to wrap up

See all 20 photos in this batch

Photos of the Week

Out kayaking, I saw a kingfisher again. No fish this time. It would be nice if the background wasn't so busy.

I thought these were purple martins since their nest boxes are nearby, but these turned out to be barn swallows, and juveniles judging by the white lined beaks. Barn swallows are widespread world-wide, but threatened in Canada. I'm not sure where the nest was. I didn't expect to see them on rocks near the ocean.

I've seen the otters several times this week. They often come out on the shore to eat their fish or crabs. I've tried to figure out what kind of fish they're catching, but they're hard to identify. Often they are all catching the same kind of fish. Maybe they find a school of them.

I've taken similar photos before but I like the lone heron on the rock.

I was watching this gull, which just seemed to be hanging out, when it jumped in the water and then jumped back out with a crab. Unlike the herons, it hadn't seemed to be watching the water at all. It's a little tricky eating a live crab. The gull managed by pulling its legs off first. Ouch.

The harbor seals are still around. The babies are getting big and sometimes it's hard to tell which are mothers and babies and which are adults molting. I think this is a mother and baby.

I looked up from my book and saw a big fin slicing through the water in front of our place. (an orca) By the time I got my camera and the right lens, I only managed a few shots from the house. It was headed into the harbor so I went out to see if I could spot it on the way back out, but no luck. A few whale watching boats came into the harbor looking for it, but they didn't seem to spot it either. Usually they are in groups but this one appeared to be on its own.

Some of the last of the roses. I like the colors on this bush.

The wet arbutus bark is almost as colorful as the flowers.

See all 30 photos in this batch

Recent Photos

Another batch of random photos from the last little while. Mostly just around the neighborhood plus some from the HCP gardens.

I've found a good spot where I can photograph the otters without bothering them. The trick of course is to be there when they are. I wonder if these ones are sibling juveniles.

I like sparrows. They're seem to have a good attitude (whatever that means).

Crows also have attitude, although it's not always a good attitude!

Whereas the herons seems to always be focused.

The kingfisher was a little far away for the lens I had but still good to see.

There are lots of Common Wall Lizards (not native, but ubiquitous). They are hard to photograph at the best of times since they're quite skittish. The best approach is to use a telephoto lens to keep your distance. However, when there's a mob of small children around, that approach doesn't always work either! The recent hatchlings are only about an inch long. This is an adult. Their coloring varies quite a bit. This one was a nice green.

I didn't take a lot of photos of them but the flowers at HCP were at their prime.

There were quite a few of what I think are Woodland Skippers.

I spotted a bush with a number of unusual spiders on it. Once again, the inquisitive mob of small children did not help with the photography!

There were also quite a few damselflies (Bluet?)

The wasps were also enjoying the flowers

We're used to the noisy seaplanes taking off so we were slow to realize the Snowbirds were doing a  flyby.

And a few abstracts to finish up.

See all 40 photos in this batch

From the Water

After missing out on some good sightings the week before, the next time I got out kayaking I made sure to take my camera. There were lots of seals and the bald eagle was in the same spot. I didn't see the baby raccoons this time but there was a kingfisher instead.

The bald eagle was on one of the harbor markers. They can be skittish, but this one didn't seem to mind me in the kayak. I actually had to make a little noise to get it to even look in my direction.

I think this was the most seals I've seen in one outing. The photos with buildings in the background are a reminder that the animals that do well these days are the ones that can tolerate humans.

Note: It might look like I'm getting quite close, but that's only because I'm using a long telephoto lens. I am careful to keep my distance and to back off if they show any signs of nervousness at my presence. They are definitely aware of my presence but I figure if they look up and then lie back down and close their eyes that I'm probably not disturbing them much.

This one looks like a pregnant female.

Most seals fast while nursing but harbor seals leave their pups to feed. On the island in front of our place we see the lone pups waiting on the shore while the mother is away feeding.

On the way back I heard the distinctive chatter of a Belted Kingfisher. For a change it didn't just fly away. I would have like to be a bit closer but at least I got a few photos. It had just caught a fish (they dive into the water for them) and was banging it against the tree branch to kill it. It was quite a large fish to swallow whole. Kingfishers are one of my favorite local birds but they are hard to photograph. The chestnut brown coloring indicates it's a female. I haven't seen them much lately.

See all 20 photos in this batch