Away...Again

Sometimes life is just like today...one day, everything was going your way, and the next day, nothing is going your way. I am talking about wildlife watching, of course, although I can't really complain because I still saw quite a lot.

Today's weather was gorgeous!

Initially I went to London Farm to see if I can spot some pollinators again. But when I got there, the gate was closed. I should have checked their website (http://www.londonheritagefarm.ca/) beforehand to realize that they only open during the weekends (from Feb to June).

Then I decided to go to Finn Slough instead.

When I crossed the little bridge along the railtrack, I saw something on a log. And it was a turtle. When it spotted me looking at it and taking out my camera, it jumped into the water. Unfortunately the water was quite slow and muddy, and the turtle was stuck sideways (above photo). Thankfully, it got off the jam after a few struggles. I am so sorry, turtle!

When walking in the wooded area, a hawk flew through the trees. It was a Red-tailed Hawk. And like the story of the day, it flew to another tree when I approached. This is the shot before I decided not to pursue it.

I decided to photograph something easier and more stationary, like the interesting bark of a tree. These reminded me of the ancient maps on goat-skin papers.

I pedaled through Finn Slough without seeing much of anything, so I decided to keep going. That's when I saw this Cooper's Hawk on the wire.

The wires in the background make this photo that much more interesting.

And then it flew to the opposite side higher than before.

I still got two decent shots before getting my bike from the other side. That's when I realized there are some pink flowers in the shrubs next to the road.

I believe these are Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) flowers, but I could easily be wrong.

Such delicate-looking petals. Not all the flowers were blooming so I definitely have to visit in a few days to see if they attract pollinators or not (and what species).


Number Four was taking a peaceful nap when I saw him. I took a couple of photos and leave him be.


The young Mute Swan is still with its parent.


View to Mount Baker.

There are some of these tiny white flowers when you bike around the packaging plant. I don't know what they are, but they are also interesting and hard to photograph (the white flowers are easily overexposed). [Edit: They are some kind of Whitlow-Grass (Draba spp.)]

Got this semi-unfocused photo of the flower, but for some reason, I really like this image.

Cloudless sky.

Just when I put my camera away and ready to go home, a woman called out to her son to watch the Bald Eagle flying above us (and it was very close to us). It landed on a dead tree, and so I quickly took out my camera, changed the lens, took 3 photos...

...before it flew away again.

Sigh. Story of the day.