Birds

An assortment of recent bird photos. A few weeks ago we were in Sooke for the weekend and saw a few different birds. It was good to see an osprey - for some reason I don't seem them around the harbor in Victoria. It's not a great photo but enough to identify it.

Near where we were staying I spotted a bald eagle in a tree. It was quite far away, but the distinctive coloring of the adults makes them easier to identify. While we were watching it, a second adult arrived and landed in the tree beside the first. And then a third immature one arrived and flew around. It would make sense for the two adults to be a pair, but I'm not sure why the immature one was hanging around them. It doesn't sound like juveniles normally stay with their parents. Maybe it was some kind of territorial dispute.

Turkey Vultures are quite common, but it was nice to catch a photo in flight.

Birds in flight has been a bit of a theme lately. Despite the help from the camera, I'm still not very good at it. Most of my shots are write offs.

Whiffin Spit seems to be a hang out for White-crowned Sparrows. And spring is the time for the birds to be singing.

I think this one is a Song Sparrow.

And last but not least, even the House Sparrows are singing.

This gull preening itself caught my eye.

Most of the winter ducks are gone, but there are some different ones around like Red-breasted Mergansers (love the red eye) and Mallards

Anna's Hummingbirds are common, and they have their favorite perches if you know where to look. The trick is to get the angle right to show the color on their heads. Otherwise they just look black. (although still pretty)

The Chestnut-backed Chickadees, on the other hand, seldom sit still.

The Black Oystercatchers always look slightly comical with their large orange beak. I see them carrying these shells but even with their large beak I'm not sure how they crack them open.

This lone Canada goose let me get quite close.

The Great Blue Herons normally don't like you getting too close but occasionally one will be more tolerant.

I'm not sure what was going on with this Great Blue Heron. I've never seen one pose like that. It makes me wonder if it was sick but it looks in reasonable condition otherwise.

And finally, a few more attempts on birds in flight, starting with a couple of Great Blue Herons.

I watched this sparrow collecting nest material from last year's giant thistle. It had a damaged foot but seemed to be managing ok.

And to wrap up, a rather scruffy looking House Sparrow in nice morning light.

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Tulip

We had some tulips in the living room and I noticed the sun was shining on them nicely. The challenge was to find a plain background. They were sitting in front of the tv and I realized the black screen made a reasonable background, although I had to adjust the angle so I didn't just get a reflection of the room. Then I realized if I got the right angle I could get a reflection of the tulip, like a product photo on a shiny surface. Slightly artificial but at least it was something a little different.

Crow

I came around the corner and there was a crow sitting on the railing. I stopped. The crow looked at me. I wondered if he'd fly away as soon as I raised my camera, but surprisingly I got a few shots before he flew away with a squawk at being disturbed.

Flowers

It's hard not to take flower photos in the spring. And spring starts early here in Victoria, with Christmas Roses (Hellebores)

Daffodils are a clearer sign of spring. Lots of different kinds.

Tulips and Hyacinths come after the daffodils.

Different trees blossom at different times.

The Red-flowering Currant is always a nice splash of color.

The Red Deadnettle come out early. I'm sure most people think of them as weeds, but I like their tiny flowers.

Speaking of weeds, I thought this was interesting looking, but I think it's chickweed.

There's a patch of Perennial Cornflowers by the walkway. I saw the buds first and wasn't sure what they were.

The Camas have just recently started flowering. I should get over to Beacon Hill park to see the big meadows of them. Camas were first called lilies, then hyacinths, and now they've been classified with asparagus. Notice the aphid near the top. I didn't spot it till I was looking at the photos on the computer.

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Print of the Week

From the coloring I'd guess this Bald Eagle is 2 or 3 years old. Starting to get the white coloring but not quite there yet.