First (bird-watching) day of 2016

I drove to Steveston with my mother today for an afternoon walk.  We stopped at a couple of places to do some bird-watching.

I miss this view.

November update

I apologize for not posting anything until the end of the month, but life is getting too busy for me to take breaks just for photographs.  During this month, I bought a year-long student membership to the Museum of Nature (and went there twice already), took up swimming during lunch breaks, and went out bird-watching three times.

Early November when the temperature was still pleasant enough to sit outside.  I was sitting on a bench and studying for my biological modeling midterm before taking this photo.

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.

Quick photographic post from the past week

Life lately has been quite hectic with little time for other activities, such as blogging or photography, because the "official" deadline for thesis submission happened last Friday.  On top of that, I have teaching, marking assignments, doing my tax forms, writing abstracts for presentations/conferences, planning to meeting potential PhD supervisors, reading papers, and writing/editing my thesis.  Therefore, little time for anything else, I am afraid.

I still managed to take some photos here and there though.

Saw this hawk out in the backyard last Saturday.  I think it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk, which I have seen around the neighbourhood before.

Biked to Lakefield on Sunday and now I am sick

The weather last Sunday was quite nice but it was definitely colder than the last time I biked to school.  I decided to bike to Lakefield Sewage Lagoon to do some bird-watching.  I saw many Ringed-billed Gulls, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Lesser Scaups, Chipping Sparrows, and maybe some Goldfinches.

However, by the time I returned from the lagoon and came back to my office, I immediately know I caught a cold because of a sore throat.  Three days after, here I am sick as a dog.  Hope it passes soon.

Here are some photos from the trip.  The photos are pretty self-explanatory and I am too sick to describe each of them.

Exploring Lady Eaton Drumlin

Passing by the nest again this morning. I brought my DSLR but no bird was on the nest.

Ganaraska Forest & Biked to Lakefield sewage lagoon

Another busy week gone by without any free time to take any photos or find anything interesting enough to blog about. Well, I tried Red Lobster for the first time yesterday, it was salty but I definitely had a good time.

This morning, I helped a lab-mate with her research project in Ganaraska Forest. It is a very nice forest - quiet and peaceful. I'd imagine it is livelier in the summer with all the birds and people, but I think I enjoy this time of the year more.

A small part of the forest.

Crystal Clear Day

A crystal clear day today. Spring doesn't get any better than this, I don't think.

Biking along the South Dyke Trail

Observing Common Merganser's courtship behaviour

I had a crazy proportion of brunch with family and family friends this morning. A bike ride in the afternoon was needed to burn off excess calories.

It was cloudy and gray, and high-tide as well. I began biking towards the South Dyke Sharing Farm.

VARSOVIA (a.k.a. Warsaw, the capital of Poland).

Bird- and blossom-watching in Steveston.

In the afternoon, I drove my mother to Steveston to buy groceries. We went there via Dyke Road to see some wildlife along the way.

Common Mergansers resting on a floating log.

Blossoms and then Cooper's Hawk

First thing today was going to London Heritage Farm to find myself some critters. I didn't see much until I reached the back corner of the farm and saw bees flying towards it.

It's a Bee Yard!

Officially Into Spring

One day into the actual Spring, and it was chilly and cloudy (compared to yesterday). It is never good to get your hopes up.

I went looking for pollinators in London Heritage Farm today. But given the weather and the flowering conditions (almost zero), most of the honey bees I saw were sunning (when the sun was out briefly).

There is a sharing farm in the back with several private gardens. One of them was guarded by this toy Stegosaurus.

Pretty good birding afternoon at Garry Point

I thought it would be colder today, apparently not. Maybe because I had another sweater and a warmer pants on. Nonetheless, it was another beautiful day out.

The first birds I saw were four Killdeers in this field sticking their bills into the water.

Male Goldeneye & Female Buffleheads

A nice day today to go out for a bike ride - windy and chilly but sunny.

On the water, I spotted three companions traveling together - a male Common Goldeneye and two female Buffleheads.

Short drive to the dyke

I remember taking pictures out my window yesterday morning (just after 12am) of snow falling. Today, almost all of it are gone. Not even enough time for me to go out and take some snow photos.

I drove my mom to Steveston today to the library and grocery store. Along the way, we stopped at the South Dyke Trail.

A single female Bufflehead looking...well, lonely.

Cityscape and bird-watching from Jericho Beach

Today I went to Vancouver to pick up a reference letter from one of my old professors for my application to Trent University. Since she lived close to Jericho Beach, I decided to walk down to it and take some pictures.

It was a cloudy day with raining clouds gathering together, and so it seemed more appropriate to have black-and-white photos to tell a more interesting story.

Peaceful North Shore Mountains.


The city from afar.

Seeing lots on bike ride today

This time next week, I will have arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport trying to catch a little bit of sleep before heading to my work site on Monday morning. Can't wait!

Before then, it was time for a bike ride this afternoon, and as soon as I arrived at the dyke trail, I immediately spotted a Muskrat swimming in the ditch! I haven't seen them in such a long time.

It was gone for a little while in the vegetation along the sides. But soon it appeared - eating the berry leaves - twice!

Arrival of cherry blossoms...

My mother and I visited Steveston this afternoon to buy some seafood and fruits. Near the bus stop, cherry trees were already blossoming! My mother think they are at least one month ahead of past years.

The pink flowers goes great with the blue sky background.

Close-up on the flowers.

Then we went to the dock first to check out the fishing boats. Since most of them haven't arrive yet, we decided to take a stroll along the waterfront first.

We saw several Common Mergansers, as well as one female Bufflehead.


Most birds were shy and pretty far away. The closest a bird got near us was this Double-crested Cormorant.

Bald Eagles across the river.

Then we arrive at the bridge and the outlook area.

Where the Mallards and Wigeons were dozing off in this gorgeous sunny day.

The usual male Bufflehead was around, but this time he has a female beside him. I wonder if it was the female I saw earlier.

In the midst of the peacefulness was this female Belted Kingfisher, circling around the water and continuously diving into the water. It caused quite a racket among the ducks. I wish I was able to photograph it's gracefulness diving into the water...

Then the kingfisher disappeared. But appeared again and flew on to the tree where a Great Blue Heron was also nearby. Can you spot the two birds in this picture?

One last look at the (white) cherry blossoms before we set out what we were here for - shopping.

365 days ago (2009-02-19) ...
.

Visiting Steveston on a Sunday

I bought a monthly transit pass this January and so today my mother and I visited Steveston using the Sunday special (one family per monthly pass).

Even though it wasn't sunny, the weather was dry and many people visited the harbour.

A black and white shot of the harbour.


There were many boats as usual. This is suppose to be a colored image, but for some reason only the boat in the middle stood out from the seemly black-and-white surroundings. Nice unintended effect, no?

Sky-watching

Gull on Patrol

While photographing, I noticed something on the water surface. Turned out to be a Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina, swimming among the boats.

It never raised more than its eyes and nose above the surface, but my mother and I had a great time trying to spot this mammal. Last time I saw a seal was about a year ago at the same spot.

On the other hand, the visitors focused more on the magnificent and attractive Mute Swan.

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Someone brought a huge bag of bread loaf sides and was feeding them.

Having enough of people feeding wild animals, my mother and I walked to the other side of the harbour.

A magnificent ship - Ku'ulakai.

Someone sailing away, I wonder where to.

Then we walked along the waterfronts and saw this male Common Goldeneye (because of the rounder white spot). It swam farther and farther away from us as I was trying to attach my teleconverter lens to the camera.

Bald Eagles on the other side of the bank.

Resting a bit.

Enjoying the golden reflection

A lone male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) was found.


It played catching-up with us, and I had a difficult photographing it.

We also saw this cute Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) in winter plumage.

It swam farther away from us. We saw it eventually again on the other side of the waterfront as we were heading to the bus stop, and it was continuing swimming towards the harbour.

What a great day!

Back to work tomorrow. Hooray! (but not really).

365 days ago (2009-01-03) ...
.

Rewarding birding day: Belted Kingfisher and Western Grebe

This afternoon, I drove my parents to Steveston to do some grocery shopping. After we were done, my mother and I walked along the walkway towards the Britannia Heritage Shipyard, and we saw four Double-crested Cormorants, many Mallards and American Wigeons, many Gulls, one male Red-breasted Merganser, a few Pigeons, and others.

The "others" were the highlights of the day.

Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) out at sea.

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) with a very unique headstyle.


A very lucky shot of a Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) taking off and running across the water.

But what really kept our attention was this female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) rattling and diving in a large "pond". This is my first time seeing it this year (last time was at Boundary Bay of last November) and my mother's first time ever. So she was pretty excited to see this beautiful special-looking bird.

There it was - feeding on a small fish between its heavy bill. It kept flying across the pond and feeding - not giving me a very good opportunity of taking its pictures.

This is a female because Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more colorful than the male (reverse sexual dimorphism). In this species, the female has a rufous band running across the upper belly, while the male does not.

A better view of this beautiful bird. I think Kingfishers are my favorite group of birds, especially with the more colorful species in Southeast Asia. I think they are just so cool-looking with that headstyle and that dangerous-looking bill. Too bad only this species is common across North America.

Later, I walked from Terra Nova back to home (while my parents drove the car back), and I saw the pair of Bald Eagle resting in their nest. But then a crow flew onto a adjacent tree and was causing some tension. So one eagle flew to that tree to warn it off. Then it was joined by its mate.

Looked as if they were talking to each other. I wonder about what.

What a loving pair!

Saw this pair of Hooded Mergansers when I was about to exit from the trail. Another happy couple.
.