Flock of Coots, Ho Ho Ho House and Moon watch

I had quite a busy afternoon today. First up, biking to the dyke.

Nice weather today.

Resting heron.

Arrival of Olympus E-620 & its first trip to the dyke...

My Olympus E-620 arrived at 10:43 this morning safe and sound. I looked out my window ever so often hoping to see the delivery truck, and when it pulled up, I was almost out the door ready to greet the delivery gentleman!

The unboxing photos. This is the 2 lenses kit.

In the afternoon, I brought both cameras to the dyke to test them out. But wanting to get familiar with the new camera quicker, all photos below were taken with it.

Another good birding day..

Another gorgeous day today!

Not a cloud in sight.

Saw this small-sized accipiter flew past me while near the golf course. I quickly turned around and followed it. It was hiding in the branches against the sun, so I had to really overexpose the picture to get a brighter shot. Luckily, the software was able to bring some of the colors back. This was definitely not a Red-tailed Hawk, I think it was either a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned Hawk - I can never really tell them apart even with the help of this website.

A Cooper's Hawk, perhaps? Because of the finer brown streaks on the upper breast.

A Bald Eagle was already in the nest when I came out. It was sticking its head (the only reason I could spot it) and perhaps looking for its partner?

A Great Blue Heron was dozing off on this tree today. Is it because it is safer and/or drier?


A closer-up shot.


Saw many Golden-crowned Sparrows today. This was one of them.

Hooded Mergansers and Gadwalls were spotted at the Terra Nova slough.

I think today was a day when I saw the most Short-eared Owls in all of my outings. I think I saw them at least five or six times today, with at least two individuals observed.

365 days ago (2009-02-20) ...
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Some announcements & enjoying the blue cloudless day

What is going on with me lately, you may ask. Well, yesterday I received an HP Photosmart D5460 Printer as a winning prize from a photo contest I submitted to. But seeing how I already have two printers (one becomes a fax machine and one is currently in use), I may sell it and use that money to go towards buying a DSLR for myself. So if you're interested, let me know. Otherwise, I might turn it into a photo printer (which it is) and start to print some of my photos.

In addition, the Ontario job that I applied/phone-interviewed for went through, and so I'll be spending 4+ months in Carden, Ontario in the summer - which I am quite excited and nervous about since this will be actually my first time away from home for an extended period of time (interning and working in Taiwan doesn't really count). But I am also excited to be a part of an important program and the opportunity to see other parts of Canada and its wildlife.

But that's not for another two months, so I need to stop worrying (about food, housing, laundry, travel, etc) and enjoy the nice weather we have today.

Beautiful cloudless blue sky.

Snow Geese at Terra Nova Natural Area.

More Snow Geese at Terra Nova Rural Park.

I feel calm and peaceful everytime I come here.

Mr. Gadwall, as well as American Wigeons, a Scaup, and some Hooded Mergansers were found in the slough.

Flowering Crocuses.

Nice view.

Heard and then saw these two Bald Eagles. Then they flew back to the nest.

One Bald Eagle was inside and one was outside the nest. Then suddenly the eagle outside the nest took off - leaving me with a dark dark photo because I didn't have time to change the settings. But thanks to the wonderful computer technology, I was able to clean it up and produce the image above. Not bad at all, if I say so myself.

That's all for today. Cheers!

365 days ago (2009-02-16) ...
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Missed pheasant, but saw Blue-winged Teal

A very nice day today. Blue sky appeared since noon and continued to have stayed.

In the Terra Nova Slough, a pair of Blue-winged Teals (Anas discors) were spotted. A bird lifer for me! Such an interesting duck with the white crescent mark on the male's face. My guide book mentioned that the birds seen here are on their migration route to the Interior breeding grounds.

The blue part on the wings is not very evident. Hugh (of Rock Paper Lizard) wrote a very interesting post about the three species of teals that can be found in our province.

While I was looking at hummingbirds and trying to photograph them, a bird was flushed out by me from whatever it was hiding. It flew towards the marsh (I was on the other side of the ditch) and it was gone. It had a long tail and my initial instinct was that it is a Ring-necked Pheasant - especially when I came across a dog walker yesterday who mentioned to me about seeing a male pheasant running around in Terra Nova lately. I immediately pedaled to the other side, but it was already hiding out of sight. Darn, it would have been a lifer for me as well. How I wish I see it just once before I leave Richmond for the summer.

This Painted Lady landed right on the trail trying to get some minerals (I guess), but it wasn't very smart as there were walkers and bikers passing by - none of them (appreciative enough of nature) are curious at what I was looking at on the ground. Thankfully, a bike missed it (narrowly) and sending it fluttering towards the field.

One of the ten Gadwalls (five pairs) that I saw today.

No crows harassing the Bald Eagle today (although I did see a crow and a gull ganging up on a hawk in flight). So it was just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine.

Until someone struck a golf ball that sounded like a gun shot, and the eagle took off after that.

Tomorrow is International Migratory Bird Day, and on a sadder note about the state of our avian friends and their (and our) world - read this article "Save the birds? Save their habitat" and feel free to post your comments on that article.
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Finally a sunny break

What a gorgeous day it turned out to be in the afternoon. The sky cleared and animals were out in full forces enjoying the rare sunshine.

The Bald Eagle was out too. Although it didn't look too happy?

Turned out the reason was this annoying crow that kept diving at the eagle and cawing loudly.

Ignoring it won't work.

Nor will screaming at it. Some people (or birds) just never get it.

I was also lucky enough today to see this Great Blue Heron enjoying a nice, big, fat fish. Yum.

Mushrooms are here? I guess the rain the last couple of days had the fungi thinking it is autumn already.

A couple of Lesser Yellowlegs were out feeding.

While looking at the mushroom and Yellowlegs, I sort of wondered too close to the Killdeers' nest - leading to its infamous broken wing act. It was my first time seeing it performed and they did it quite well.

Yes, I fell for your trick. Now go back and attend those eggs, please.

Near the same location, four Canada Geese and a pair of Gadwall were enjoying the fresh green grasses.

Love this view. Too bad the trail was only a few metres long. It would be pretty amazing if there is an entire forest beyond this opening.

A Golden-crowned Sparrow pulling out the Dandelion fluffs and eating the seeds. Must be tasty because it ate quite a lot.

A nice round tummy.

Probably the same Great Blue Heron as the one I saw earlier.

Hooray, Friday tomorrow!

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Turtle finding!

Quite a nice day today, except for the rain that came down when I was about to head back and the flat tire on my bike which made the paddling through the rain even more difficult. Sigh.

Great Blue Heron herding the Gadwalls onward.

Catching a small snack.

A Brown-headed Cowbird that likes to perch on treetop at the worst lighting conditions ever. Nice songs though.

Near the Terra Nova Rural Area, a pair of Cinnamon Teals and a (immature?) Hooded Merganser were spotted in the pond (as well as the nesting Killdeer).

While looking at the ducks, I accidentally stepped on something solid. And this was what I saw when looking down! A turtle shell??

Is it still alive? This is the upper shell, also known as the carapace.


It looked fine to me.

The lower shell, also known as the plastron. It's a small-sized turtle that's about the size of my palm. I wonder what species is it? [Edit: According to Hugh, it seems like another case of exotic pet unwanted and abandoned. I hope bad karma goes to whoever that abandoned this creature.]

I was thinking why it was there and what to do with it? Either it's a wild turtle or someone has decided to release it there. And should I leave it back on the grass or should I bring it home and decide it's fate when I get home. Eventually, I decided to leave it be and put it closer to the water edge to see if it will go into the pond where it's safer from human feet.

Slowly, it came out of hiding and slowly crawled into the pond and away it goes! Hope I made the right decision.

Uh-oh. Rain is coming. Time to pack up the camera and go home.
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