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.

See all the photos in this batch