July update - Rio Grande and San Isabel National Forests (July 5 - 8)

From July 5th to 8th, I traveled to Rio Grande and San Isabel National Forests to search for Mertensia lateriflora and M. ovata, respectively.

Stopping along the Silver Thread National Scenic Byway to take a look at Lake San Cristobal.

Bird-watching at Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland

I was debating where to spend some time outside this long weekend, especially because the public transit schedule is different every single day.  Looking at eBird, I realized there was a bird-watching spot very close to where I live called Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland, so I searched for instructions on how to get there this morning and walked there right after.

The main purposes of this man-made wetland are to collect run-off water and de-silt the water before it flows into Sawmill Creek.

Back from OE3C (at Western University)

I just got back from London, Ontario for the OE3C conference.  Overall, I think it's went very well, especially for my first "actual" conference - the venue/school is beautiful, just the right size in terms of attendees, and the weather is pleasant for the past three days.

We resided at the "Guest House on the Mound" for the duration of the conference.  Nothing to complain about the location.

Bald Eagle watching & first experience with OM lens

Today I headed to Finn Slough first thing in the afternoon to meet up with a fellow birder, who is kindly giving me his lens adapter for adapting old Olympus film OM lens to 4/3 digital bodies, as well as lending me his Zuiko OM 50mm f1.4 lens to try it out.

Before I got to Finn Slough, I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk on top of the telephone pole just above me. From experience, I know they tend to be very shy and almost always fly away before I can take out my camera. So I biked past it and took photos from about 100-m away. Not the best photo but good enough to finally show that there are Red-tailed Hawks around in the area.

Pink Blossoms and Gold Finch

Another beautiful sunny day without any clouds in the sky.

Saw a pair of Common Mergansers swimming towards the Phoenix Pond.

Blossom-watching at Garry Point

The weather has been pretty bad the last couple of days; thankfully, the rain ceased this afternoon and there were even some blue skies as well.

Keep on birding

Feeling the need to start building my insect knowledge, I first went to South Dyke Sharing Farm to see if I can spot any insects. No such luck.

Keep on birding until spring arrives, I suppose.

Weather was nice today when I went out. Mew Gull (I think) flying by.

My fav. kind of winter - cold and sunny; biking to the dyke

Today, my dad bought me a few things for me to prepare the harsh winters of Ontario - winter jacket, snow boots and a warm pair of jeans. Not the kind of things I usually use here in B.C.

In the afternoon, I biked to South Dyke Trail, almost to Finn Slough, then back home. Today's my favorite kind of winter - cold but sunny, and almost cloudless too. Great day for a photo outing, except that my digits get cold very quickly.

Beautiful day at the dyke trail. Many dogs and their humans out enjoying the nice weather.

Cloudless.

Biked to Terra Nova

Today begins a string of several pleasant days. Time for a bike ride to Terra Nova and try out my new bins. It is definitely an improvement - brighter and clearer images that allowed me to see some birds that weren't photographed by my camera, e.g. a male Common Merganser, a female Red-breasted Merganser and a Pied-billed Grebe.

Today's bike trip took me over five hours, I was exhausted by the time I got home, especially since I skipped lunch.

Here are some photos from Coots and Mallards photo from Steveston, as well as a female Brewer's Blackbird - one of those common brown birds that I don't normally pay attention to until this afternoon.

Blue sky & white clouds = favorite

The weather was very nice today, and my mother and I went out for a walk by the dyke.

Through the neighborhood. Love the blue sky and white clouds.

This cat was sunning when my mother saw it. It jumped down and walked away after we stared at it for too long.

Wordless Wednesday - Taking a break on a beautiful blue day

Larger image here.

Swallows are here

I took a short break from paper editing and rode to the dyke in the afternoon.

A gray day today.

Barn swallows are back! I hope they are here to enjoy the bugs that gets in my way when I rode my bike along the dyke. Many of them flew to my face and cloth and rested there. Kind of annoying!

Hungry Cat, Vole Alive

Let's start of today with some photos of the delicious strawberries that my mother bought today.

Very yum and sweet!

Bald Eagle drama

The predicted bad weather seemed to be delayed by an afternoon. Well, it hailed for a few minutes in the afternoon but later it stopped and gave me the chance to enjoy outside before being couped indoors for a week or so. Argh!

Still pretty gray and cloudy.

I did not see much wildlife until I passed the golf course and saw this juvenile Bald Eagle. It may be a fourth year bird according to this article (PDF).

And this young bird has a prey - I think a bird, but it was hard to see what kind) under its talons!

Enjoying the blossoms on Seafair Drive with mother

My mother wanted to see the blossoms that I photographed whenever I went to the dyke. So today, we walked to the dyke and I showed her the streets where I saw the blossoms.

Along Seafair Drive.

Then we went to the trail.

Photographic Post: Great Birding Day

Warning: I think I caught the shutterbug during my bike ride to the dyke today, so this is a lengthy post full of pictures. You have been warned.

Sunny day

Surprising capture of a Northern Harrier flying searching for food.




A juvenile Great Blue Heron standing near the trail hoping it won't be spotted by anyone.






Red-winged Blackbirds are back and konk-la-reeing!


Hiding in the grasses was a Short-eared Owl.


Think this is my first real sighting of Bald Eagles of the year. I was beginning to worry that they are not coming to Terra Nova this year.


Many sleepy heads, the heron was the only one awake.

Snow Geese taking off.

Biking towards the Terra Nova slough, I suddenly saw something big perched out of the corner of my eye. Using a tree as cover, I peeked and it was a Red-tailed Hawk - at my eye level and just a few meters away from me! What a chance! I put on the TCON-lens and started shooting away!

There was a ditch below this bridge and I suppose the hawk was looking at the critters running around below.


It looked at me a couple of times but wasn't concerned at all - I gave it a safety distance and with a tree in the middle.












What a handsome bird!


The hawk went into this position when a couple with two dogs came near us. The man took off his DSLR and started clicking away loudly. And then the hawk flew away. Go figures.

I saw a small furry critter went under this patch and I biked past it.

The only birds on the slough was two pairs of this species. Are they Gadwalls? I don't remembering them having the dark ear patch. HELP PLEASE?

A panoramic view of the setting sun.

The sun cutting the trees in half.

Two Bald Eagles. Hooray!

One more shot of the sunset.


And a moon watch image. That's all, I am going home now!

366 days ago (2009-01-25) ...
365 days ago (2009-01-26) ...
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