Last (bird-watching) day of 2015

I was hoping to do more nature-related things when I came back home, but various tasks took place and I ended up not bird-watching until this morning when I drove my mother to the library to borrow some books and then went to Terra Nova for a walk.

I miss this view.  You can't see mountains and ocean (sort of) in the same view back in Ottawa.

Attempting photograph dragonflies in flight

Do insects sleep or do they just take breaks resting in their busy short lives?

Bumblebee "resting" on a blackberry leaf.

Pretty good day - wildlife-wise

This Glaucous-winged Gull was staring at me when I arrived at Phoenix Pond in Steveston. Looking around, I realized there was a dead salmon in the water below.

Insects from Iona Beach

I drove my mom to Iona Beach Regional Park to check out some wildlife before we went over to pick up my father from work.

Nice weather today. I am beginning to think that birding in the summer is not as exciting as spring or fall (when the birds are passing through during migration). We saw a lot of swallows, some gulls, and some ducks.

First day of May

Maybe it's just me but the last few days feel like summer - warm, somewhat humid, and sunny. Although it's suppose to change by tomorrow. Anyways, today's the second day of field equipment shopping where my mother and I went to MEC to get me a watch, pillow, natural toothpaste and body wash, and other items. I think everything is bought. Just need to start taking out the necessary clothes and packing them.

After shopping, coming back home, and eating lunch. I headed out again to enjoy the nice day.

Somewhat hazy day.

Lunch and Blossom Watching at Downtown Vancouver

Here're something different today. I had lunch with a couple of my old university friends at downtown Vancouver. Afterwards, I went to my old workplace and say hi to everybody.

Searching for blossoms in downtown, but most of them seem to be at the end of their flowering period.

Spider, Wasp, and Blossom

First thing I did today was head out to the South Dyke Sharing Farm to see if I can I find and observe some critters. But most of the gardens are still not yet planted, so it was pretty barren with dead vegetation from last year.

I didn't see much except for these spiders running around the dried dead grasses, which form excellent hiding spaces for these spiders. I think I have seen them before near the Terra Nova Sharing Farm, quite abundant and common.

Pooped on by a Bushtit (or two)...

I was pooped on by at least one Bushtits this afternoon when I was out photographing during my lunch break.

This is probably what it was trying to express...

Had a nervous moment when I thought my new lens wasn't focusing. Turns out it was switched to MF mode. Phew...

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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.

Another day at the dyke - eagles, heron, towhee, chickadee, bushtits, and more

Yesterday's weather was a bit confusing. It looked like it was going to rain with the heavy cloud cover, but it never did. It was the same thing this morning, but by the afternoon it actually turned out quite nice.

With nice clear sky.

LIFER! RNPH in Terra Nova!

My post begins today with entering the Terra Nova Sharing Farm, where birds of all sorts meet and greet, and enjoying the seeds and insects in the soil.

Entrance into a magical place!?

Birds such as:

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Hanging Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) with interesting bokeh


Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) with piercing eyes.


American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Most of the birds were quite shy and it was difficult to photograph them, especially so close to the sun setting where the lighting was not optimal. That was when I started pedaling to the back of the farm and hoped to find the Short-eared Owl again. And that was when I realized that someone (or something) was behind me!

Who is that!!?

Harbour Green Park revisited

It had been a while since I gone outside - with the busy work and the terrible weather. Amazingly, there was a break in the clouds when I left home.

During the lunchtime, I was getting lightheaded from being indoors for so long, and since it wasn't raining, I ate my lunch quickly and headed to the waterfront to get some fresh air. I was able to walked to Harbour Green Park where I visited often last year too when working in downtown. This was the first time this year I came back. Wow, I can't believe an year had gone by already!

The very gray sky-watching...

You can always expect to see cormorants on the waterfront. I like this image.

A pair of cormorants sharing a buoy.

In downtown, one of the most exciting but common scenes around is probably the sights of these window cleaners hanging around!

Also hanging around, but probably less viewed by people. Love these energetic Bushtits gleaning tiny insects on the branches.

Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus). One way to tell the sexes apart is by looking at their eyes - females have paler eyes and males have dark eyes.

Is that sunshine hiding behind the buildings!?

Autumn in the city

Looks like a mutated DNA strand or something...

Falling leaf...

366 days ago (2009-11-16) - First time to Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Part 1. Part 2. Hopefully I can revisit the place again this year....maybe when the weather improves.
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Hiking in Pacific Spirit Regional Park...until my battery ran out (Forest Edition)

I made the most out of today's amazing weather by hiking in the Pacific Spirit Regional Park surrounding UBC. Wanting to visit both the forest and the beach today, I decided to hike down the Spanish Trail, walk along Acadia and Tower Beach, and walked back up Trail 3 to the campus.

The weather as I said was amazing, beautiful blue sky with some clouds. It seemed to bring many people outdoors today as I encountered many people during my walk - resulting in less animals observed. Boo!

The only cooperative organisms that I could easily take pictures of were these fungi and slimes - the two groups of organisms that I have little knowledge of. I should have taken courses of them back in university.

All found on the same dead fallen tree, amazing source of nutrients!

Slimes?

I still saw and heard many animals though, such as the following:

Energetic Bushtit on the left - very hard to photograph. The (easier to photograph) Spotted Towhee is on the right.

This Bald Eagle pair flew over the forest several times.

A woodpecker of some sort on the distance. Stupid bikers and joggers kept going by me and scaring the animals away before I had a chance to better see it with my binocular.

Many dead trees with evidences of primary cavity producers, e.g. woodpecker, trying to make a cavity - for food and/or shelter.

Came across this Douglas's Squirrel feeding on something. It was a little bit bug-eyed. After it left the spot, I went and checked out what it was eating. And it turned out to be mushrooms, go figure.

Deceased spider in a tree hole. R.I.P.

A small dammed pond (formed by beavers?) is present next to the University Golf Course, and it created this interesting habitat. I wonder if I can find frogs and salamanders here during the summer.

A view of the blue sky by looking downward at the water.

And a direct view to the top.

Me trying out the Shutter Sister challenge - "Hold your camera down a bit and capture a shot of yourself with the sky as your backdrop. Then point your camera down and capture your feet on the ground."

Epiphytes, i.e. an organism that grows upon or attaches to a living plant!

The end of Spanish Bank Creek before it flows into ocean.

Good time to end today's post. I will post the "Ocean Edition" later - because I took way too many pictures (leading to running out of camera battery) and had too much to describe.

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