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.

See all 22 photos in this batch

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.

Birds

This time of year I'm mostly taking photographs of birds. Our recent spell of good weather helped. Victoria had the longest winter sunny dry spell in 85 years.

This cormorant was fishing at Ogden point. I wasn't sure what kind it was at first, but I think it's a juvenile Double-crested Cormorant.

It might only be a juvenile, but it had found a good school of fish.

A heron nearby was probably catching some of the same fish.

If there's nothing more exotic, there are always the gulls.

There have been quite a few Hooded Mergansers hanging around.

and Common Mergansers

and occasionally Red-breasted Mergansers

This one had to scramble to avoid any of her "friends" stealing her fish.

I was watching for the Harlequin Ducks but they were scarce until last week.

In Saskatoon I saw mostly Black-capped Chickadees. Here it's more Chestnut-backed Chickadees. Lately they've discovered the bird feeder. I'd like to get better photos but they don't tend to sit still for long.

A Great Blue Heron has taken to sitting in a tree behind our place.

The birds have mostly ignored these berries till now - they must not be as tasty. But with most of the others gone, they are starting to eat them.

See all 30 photos in this batch

Print of the Week

Two frequent subjects combined - a great blue heron and sunset reflections. I like how the darker water frames the heron on the right. And the wonderful detail in the reflections.

Butterflies

Recently Shelley and I had an appointment in the area so we decided to stop at the Butterfly Gardens. It's been a while since we'd been and I always enjoy photographing the butterflies. I must admit I was a bit spoiled by Costa Rica butterflies (and moths) last year. Some of the butterflies were the same, but the difference is that there they were native. It was also a good chance to try out a new camera lens.

I think this is an Autumn Leaf - an appropriate name.

Of course, just because there are lots of butterflies in a small area, it doesn't mean they sit still to be photographed. Some of them never seemed to settle. These Common Palmfly (I think) weren't very colorful but they were cooperative subjects.

The Giant Owl Butterflies also tend to perch, although not always in the most convenient spots! In addition to the large "eye" they have quite elaborate patterns on their wings.

Tiger Longwings are one of the ones I saw in Costa Rica.

A few posed with their wings open.

The little pond makes a good background.

The Butterfly Garden also has an "Insectarium" with a variety of exotic insects.

At first it was hard to tell what was in this exhibit. But once you spotted the leaf insects there were lots of them. Amazing camouflage.

Mantises are one of my favorite insects.

This Jungle Nymph was huge! They get over 6 inches long and are one of the heaviest insects.

See all 32 photos in this batch.