Recent Photos

See all 67 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

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

Baby Harbor Seal

I spotted some baby harbor seals when I was kayaking last weekend. Other years we've had a mother and baby on the island in front of our place so I've been keeping an eye out. The other morning I saw a seal in the water by the island. In the evening there was a seal out on the island. She (?) looked quite plump.

Usually the front flippers just look like fins, but it's interesting to see in this photo that they actually have 5 fingers and nails.

An hour or so later I looked out again and now there was a baby! At first we weren't sure if it was the same seal, but looking at the photos the markings look the same. She looked less plump after giving birth.

Pups can weigh up to 16 kg (35 lb) and are able to swim within hours of birth. I think you can see some signs of the birth on the mother.

Feeding time

The island is about 100 m (330 ft) from the shore. I was using my longest telephoto and it was a challenge to get sharp photos. I even got out the big tripod but it didn't seem to make much difference. I had been resting on the railing so I was pretty steady even without it. And the stabilization on the OM-1 is very good.

See all 22 photos in this batch