Hummingbird at GCCG

A warm and sunny Saturday - good day to be outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Bald Eagle perched on Shady Island, not very shady at all.

Flowers and Insects from GRCG

Here are some photos from Gilbert Road Community Garden. On my way there, I saw a sign that said "Welcome to Gentle Cove" (or something like that) with many filming equipments around, must be for that TV show "Once Upon A Time" currently being shot in Steveston and Richmond. It would be kind of interesting to watch it just for the sake of seeing Steveston on TV.

Bright colours

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.

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!

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.

Birding on this cold cold day

Brrr! Today's probably the coldest I felt so far this season. But it was sunny and beautiful, so outside I must go (plus I had a late and filling lunch, and need to work it off)!

Snow-capped on Mount Baker

AM: Vancouver, PM: Finn Slough

My mother and I won a couple of tickets to Vancouver's 19th Annual Wellness Show and it was our destination for the day (and Sunday, as it turned out). It was our first time attending this event, so it was quite new and we didn't know what to make out of it. However, given that we had free tickets and was given a bag with free goodies each and sampled lots of delicious food, I'd say we had a good time overall.

Afterwards, we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful views.

Not a cloud in the sky.

Good birding day to start off February

Another sunny day today for me to go out and enjoy the bike ride to the dyke. Even though I don't bike that often now to the West Dyke Trail, you can definitely see and hear the Red-winged Blackbirds coming back and getting ready to claim their territories.

All the bird feeders along the trail are dominated by these blackbirds, except when I get near and start to take pictures, then they flew away and the other smaller birds start to take over.

A couple of Downy Woodpeckers enjoy the food as well. Now that I looked at the feeder again, the drawing outside is quite beautiful.

Finally a sunny day - visiting Minoru Park!

I have been pretty much stuck at home since I last went out on Wednesday, besides the usual break and whatnot, due to the crappy weather.

Anyways, the clouds finally cleared away and the blue sky appeared this morning! My mother and I took the bus to Minoru Park to soak up some much-needed sunshine!

Minoru Park

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.

Birding Saturday

On this sunny Saturday, I biked to South Dyke Trail and then to Finn Slough.

Not a cloud in sight.

After taking the photos of the view above, I got a feeling that someone was looking at me. Turned out it was this hawk - not completely sure if it is a Sharpie or a Cooper's.

Blue sky day

Biked to the south dyke trail again this afternoon. What a gorgeous day today, without any clouds at all.

Look at that blue sky!

Sky-watching and Mount Baker

Didn't go out the last two days because of the rain and working to find a job/grad school supervisors on-line.

Drove my mom to Steveston to find some wall art to hang up in our new home, but we didn't see any. Then we did some grocery shopping and borrowing books from the library.

On the way back...

Sky-watch


Mount Baker


Mt. Baker close-up, almost as beautiful as Mount Fuji.

.

Northern Flicker searching for food...

Another nice day today, although it was quite chilly and windy.

Blue sky.

Young Great Blue Heron.

I biked towards Steveston today. Along the way, I was searching for the harriers that always rested on the logs when I pass by. I didn't see anything except for this little round thing moving on top of the fallen log.

It was a female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) searching for food within the long-dead trees.

Moving on to another log.

Searching for food again. I think it was digging for insects rather than drilling for them, because I didn't hear anything loud drilling noises like the ones I usually hear from woodpeckers and barbets.

Arriving at Garry Point Park. At the edge of the rain-filled pond was a group of Ring-billed Gulls.

Saw a pair of shy Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator). Such peculiar looking birds with stylish crowns.

Mt. Baker and Pilot.

Saw this Northern Harrier when I biked home - just looking around and resting.

365 days ago (2009-02-17) ...
.

Biked to Steveston & Saw Kingfisher

I biked southward along the dyke today - towards Steveston. I did not saw too much wildlife today. But while I was photographing some Mallards, a blue something flew in between us. I looked at it and it was a female Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)!

It didn't stay perched for too long, and pretty soon it was off to another tree and then gone. Definitely made today's trip worthwhile.

I biked around the Garry Point Park enjoying the sunny blue sky and the sound of the ocean.

Looking at Olas de Viento (Wind Waves).

Mt. Baker.


Another lengthy photo of the sunset in Garry Point Park.
.

Photographic Sunday: Birds Chilling Out

Another cold day but who cares! I love the sunshine and the blue sky!

Another perfect view.

Today, I decided to head in a different direction from yesterday and biked towards Steveston. Soon enough, I spotted a Northern Harrier resting on a log!

It was so far away, but thankfully I brought my TCON-lens with me today.

The following photos were all taken with my TCON-lens. I got some of my best shots of the resting harrier today. So happy!

I spent at least ten to fifteen minutes freezing my fingers off but also had a great time photographing this bird. I guess the temperature was too cold for them to do any unnecessary flying.

The harrier then flew off and I continued southward. Near Steveston Farm, the birds were either eating or resting. One of the non-duck birds was a Wilson's Snipe.

Also another great shot taken with the TCON.

While I was taking photos of the birds in the puddle, a little chirp drew my attention and a Song Sparrow just rested near me and not moving. This, of course, deserves more images as well.

Then the sparrow flew off and stopped on a cattail to give me a better pose!






Thanks!

After the Song Sparrow moved on, I returned back to the snipe and saw it was resting.

Sleepy Snipe

But then four Killdeers flew above me and stopped in the ditch too.

3 of the 4.

Then I realized there were more snipes that I originally thought.

More snipes poking its long bill deep down into the mud for food.

The cold temperature has frozen parts of the ditch, and I saw this juvenile Great Blue Heron looking very weary and cold standing on a ice-frozen log.

I feel your coldness too.

Than I arrived at Steveston, the first time I have been back since my trip away from Canada.

Mount Baker in the distance. What's that red thing?

Snow Geese taking off - apparently spooked by something.

A closer look at the red thing. No plaque, no descriptions, no anything. [Edit: This is Wind Waves, or Olas de Viento, by Yvonne Domenge. More information here.]

Then it was just a nice relaxing time to just chill out and enjoy the sunset.

When returning home, a Northern Harrier was trying to attack something. Apparently it was a Belted Kingfisher (near Francis Road entrance part of the trail), and it escaped without too much trouble.

A final look at the kingfisher before it went away (while I was looking at the camera).

What a great birding Sunday!
.