Socks
Description: A dark, overcast day lends a painting-like effect to my photo of this Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (a West Coast "specialty"), who was perched on one of the fruit trees in the backyard and in no particular hurry to nab a seed from the hanging feeding stations. In the summertime, there may be as many as six of these chubby and inquisitive songbirds. Their song is sweeter and sounds almost like trickling water -- compared to the "disapproving" calls of the more numerous and flightier Black-Capped Chickadees.
Description: The "golden light" was just starting to fade as I chanced upon this male Pileated Woodpecker, who was ignoring me for the most part as he performed fast, efficient excavations (from 6-8 feet away) to extricate his dinner! A great way to finish my first evening at Galiano Island over the 150th Canada Day 2017 weekend!
Description: Though they have a legendary reputation for being extremely feisty, the Rufous hummingbirds seem to be subdued this year, stealthily sneaking in visits to the flowers before suffering the wrath of the resident Anna's hummingbirds. This beautiful little stranger was camping out in the California Lilac, and guarding her precious stash of nectar from within this large cage-like shrub.
Description: My second visit to the Maplewood Conservation Area produced meetings with not two, but six blacktail deer in a forest clearing... four fawns and two does who seemed completely at ease with the small group of photographers in their midst. This is one of the two deer families... a doe with her first year fawn (the one in front, who is just starting to lose its spots) and second year (browsing in the background) fawns.
Description: After getting used to the presence of a photographer in their midst, the entire flock of 100+ Sanderlings suddenly decided to take to the skies, and circle the shore just above the water several times. Photographed in late February 2015 at Boundary Bay Regional Park in sunny Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.
Description: On a cloudy day in late March 2017, a number of large raptors seemed to be flying quite close to the trails at Boundary Bay Regional Park, and this youngster was no exception. S/he came to within 20 feet of my lens that I was able to see the "white eyebrows" on its still dark face! Photographed in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.
Description: To eat, or not to eat, that is the question. A Black-Capped Chickadee wonders if it should go for seed from hand A or hand B. Decisions, decisions. We did not get swarmed with these little cuties as we had during our last couple of visits to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Ladner, British Columbia, Canada.
Description: Doing a flyby over the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway at very close range on an early and blustery afternoon in July 2015 was this adult Ring-Billed Gull. I found this photo, which captures the downstroke, to be even more dramatic than the upstroke, and it helps draw the shadows away from the subject's face.
Description: Our (unofficial) national bird of Canada, Grey Jays--also known as whiskeyjacks or Canada Jays--are the irrepressibly bold and friendly mountain birds one can find throughout the year from coast to coast. They are remarkably hardy creatures, flourishing in even the coldest of Canadian winters. I photographed my subject at E.C. Manning Park in the Okanagan-Similkameen area.
Description: Green-Winged Teals start to mass at Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake, Canada, as winter on the West Coast passes its halfway point. A number of North America's smallest dabbling ducks also start to engage in springtime courtship behaviors at this time. This drake was particularly vocal, and gave me a good angle of himself in the process.
Description: A male Wood Duck in all his breeding splendor poses for my lens. Wood Ducks are the most colorful all-year-round resident waterfowl one can find in Metro Vancouver, Canada, and they are equally at home in the water, on land, or in the trees -- being the only duck species who can grasp logs and branches.
Description: My first encounter with a Tropical Kingbird at Boundary Bay Regional Park in beautiful Tsawwassen, British Columbia. An unusual visitor during Pacific Northwest autumn months, the Tropical Kingbird adds a cheery bit of color to the fall with its striking butter yellow belly. This dazzling creature was relaxing in the early afternoon sun while a host of wildlife photographers quietly snapped away. Photographed in late October 2023.
Description: One of a dozen of Harlequin Ducks I had the fortune of meeting (along with an American White Pelican) at the beach, and my closest encounter with these diving sea ducks. Interestingly, all were adult males in near or full breeding regalia, showing off their slate grey, white, and rich cinnamon feathers, but there were no ladies of their own kind to impress. Photographed on the first full day of spring 2017 at the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway, in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.
Description: The first 'inhabitants' to greet us in the parking lot, Columbian Ground Squirrels are some of the most entertaining wildlife at Manning Provincial Park. What I am tickled to call "the Prairie Dogs of the West" were positioned near their network of holes in the ground (or in rotted tree stumps) and often called in an upright position like meerkats or groundhogs (when they weren't chasing or kissing each other). We found plenty at Manning Park Resort and Lightning Lake, staked out near picnic tables and people lounging in the grass. Columbian Ground Squirrels spend the short summer bulking up on fat reserves for their hibernation period, which lasts for seven months!
Description: It's always a wonderful moment when the subject seeks out the photographer instead of the other way around! A particularly bold adult male American Robin approaches the picnic tables at the Maplewood Conservation Area (near the Wild Bird trust Nature House) in North Vancouver, British Columbia, CAnada.
Description: I witnessed a beautiful moment of friendship today between these two gorgeous chestnut horses whilst driving down an old farm road one beautiful summer evening a few years ago. Were they mother and child; siblings; or simply stablemates without shared blood? It didn't matter what their relationship to each other was. The importance was the now of the moment. Not even a nicker did I hear pass between them; the simple act of touching spoke volumes for both. It said, "I am home."
Description: The Tree Swallows who visit Iona Island are intensely curious about humans, and this handsome fellow and accomplished aerialist--like several others of his kind--gave a small but rapt group of photographers plenty of closeup opportunities to capture their breathtaking beauty in dazzling detail.
Description: The African Superb Starling is such a beautiful rainbow of colours. When it makes an entrance, it really makes an entrance; it's no shrinking violet. Rare, though, is the moment when it stays still long enough to get a photo of it, but got it I did, as it waited for its turn to bathe in the waterfall.
Description: It's hard not to be amazed by such beauty! I am so used to seeing Dunlins in flocks of hundreds and thousands in their non-breeding/winter plumage, that to encounter a solitary member of the species is a bit puzzling. S/he was in full breeding regalia, and in no particular hurry to fly north for the summer. We almost missed seeing this peep--so intent on photographing the 20 Greater Scaups much further out from shore--that it was many moments before I realized that this Dunlin was quite calmly "pacing" us some 6-8 feet away on the shoreline! Being under great light and in such close proximity to this beauty enabled me to get a good look at that black belly patch and the wonderful russet brown feathers on its head and back!
Description: This is the third sighting I have had of this lovely but elusive songbird in the yard, but this is the only time I have seen it out in the open, perfectly and calmly posed on the pyracantha coccinea (Scarlet Firethorn), whose reddish-orange berries are a big hit with the usual repertoire of wintering birds in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The warm yellow background--courtesy of the leaves of the neighbor's weeping alder--adds a golden, autumn-y touch to this image! This photo was featured in the 2018 Wild Birds Unlimited Calendar, the 2018 Nature Canada Calendar, the 2020 Canadian Geographic Photo Club Calendar, and the 2021 Canadian Geographic 365-page-a-day Calendar.
