Random photos from phone and camera

I'm departing for Colorado in less than a week, and life is too busy at the moment for me to post frequently.  Here are some of the photos I took since the last post (and also some photos before that taken with my phone that I didn't upload to my computer until yesterday).

April 22th - Sky-watching.

Looking at the dramatic clouds.

Good wildlife-watching day; Bad photography day

Life sometimes like to play funny tricks on you. For example, today is incredibly cloudy and a bad day for photography, but yet I saw so many cool critters, e.g. Muskrat, lots of raptors, Mink(! - no photo). Sigh, blurry photos will still serve as a good day.

First, I saw a Muskrat eating vegetation in the ditch. First Muskrat of the year!

Crazy girl scaring geese

I went out for another bike ride today. The first time I tried to go out, it was raining. But it stopped a few minutes later.

Still cloudy though.

Saw a pair of Muskrat in the ditch again just as I entered the trail.

Munching on the surrounding vegetation.

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!

Opportunities (Missed and Achieved)

Quite a nice outing today. Although they were a couple of missed moments - mostly caused by crows! Darn them crows.

Cloudless and blue sky. Can't ask for anything better as we approach the weekend.

Spotted the Muskrat again. Look at its blade-like tail! Strong and powerful for an aquatic rodent.

The only photograph I got of a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) as it dived away afterwards. I can't believe how sharply-focused this image is despite the distance away. Lucky me!

Only when I put this photo on the computer did I realized that there was a Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) in the nest box. Lovely.

I finally successful photographed my first (two) butterflies of the year. They were Cabbage White Butterflies (Pieris rapae). One was a male, and this is the female - as identified by the two spots on her wings (males have one spot).

The flowers in the community garden are coming along nicely. Look at these bright red flowers!

This looks like an oil painting with the way the light bouncing off the glossy red petals. Beautiful!

I also spotted these two Scaups (left - female; right - male). I think they are Greater Scaups (Aythya marila) with the rounder head. But I could be wrong.

Coming back, I (think I) saw a Peregrine Falcon hovering above the Terra Nova Natureal Area. But it was being hounded by a crow, so they flew back and forth over the field - not enabling me to get a good look at the bird. But there was a couple of times when the falcon would "hover" in the air looking down.

Then it was time to head home. The birds on Sturgeon Bank at this time of the year are: Tree Swallows, Eurpean Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds, Mallards, Wrens (pictured below), and Sparrows. As you can tell, I am not too confident with the identification of the little brown birds that I saw on the marsh.

Is this a Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) or a Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)? I think a Marsh Wren, no?

At the steps near Francis Road, on the telephone was this immature Bald Eagle - looking quite mysterious with the dark band over its eyes. Having a bird of such power doesn't sit well with the crows in the area, and it was chased off by three crows immediately. Darn them crows!
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Rainy but (very) Happy

In the morning, I drove to Steveston to buy some groceries, and of course, I couldn't be there and not check out the wildlife along the waterfront.

Sky-watch of today.

A very shy pair of Mallards.

The strangest position I seen a Great Blue Heron in. Is it drying its feathers?

Cherry blossoms are now in full flowering mode. Soon all of it will be sakura fubuki (i.e. cherry blossom snowfall).

When I returned home, it started to drizzle a bit and then stopped. So I decided to quickly go out and bike along the dyke before the harder rainfall comes.

As usual, Muskrat is out feeding again before the rain comes.

And guess what!? I saw the Great Horned Owl again. This time, it was on the tree closer to me (but facing the other side). A new birding friend and I saw it, and we were quite excited to see it so clearly. What a beauty!

As you can see, they blend-in quite well to their surroundings.

Great Horned Owls are widely distributed across North America as well as parts of Central and South America. This raptor is considered one of the top avian predators in North America - taking large prey including other owls.

Afterwards, the rain really started to come down hard. So I decided to head home. Before then, I saw this dead bird's leg on the ground. Being the curious person that I am, I poked at it (with a stick), and this beetle sudden came out of hiding!

I have no idea what kind of Ground Beetle this is, so I submitted to BugGuide hoping to get an identification. Nevertheless, it's an awesome-looking bug.

Even though rain was coming down when I was biking home, I was (very) happy inside to see all the wildlife that I saw today!
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Return of Clouds, Muskrat, and Killdeers

Good weathers never last. Cloudy days are back (and it is raining at the moment), but that certainly didn't stopped me from biking out today.

Only a tiny break of clouds at the Gulf Islands.

Animals' intuition about weather is so mysterious. I swear, everytime I see a Muskrat, the weather of the following day is usually going to be raining or snowing.

I had a fun time observing this Bald Eagle eating its meal. Looks like fish to me with the very red flesh. I'll bet the maintenance workers in the golf course below will know.

Meal finished, and a satisfied Bald Eagle.

Went to the Terra Nova Slough again, and this Killdeer was wagging its head and body in front of me - knowing that I want to photograph it. And of couse, I know exactly what it was up to. (But no, it wasn't the "broken wing" act. Maybe they learned from that?)

It was trying to lead me away from its nest. A clever but a naive bird. But I will go along with it since I don't really want to disturb new life being born into this world. Good luck!
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Seeing the Muskrat upclose and Northern Shrike returning!

The sky early morning didn't look too promising, so I decided to switch up my daily routine and biked to the dyke after breakfast. And what a rewarding decision!

The clouds were thick and heavy in the morning. It turned better in the afternoon, but I was already tired from the morning bike ride.

Whoa! When I biked to the wooden lookout at the Terra Nova Natural Park, this Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) was right underneath it - enabling me to take these great closer-than-usual images. Thankfully, it didn't seemed to notice me for a while. Such a beautiful looking creature.

Munching on grasses. Yum.

Snow Geese are still around. This is a panormaic view. Not too many birds, I guess.

Pink flowers.

Near the slough, I came across a pair of shy Killdeers (Charadrius vociferus) calling out loudly. Not the time yet to see them do their nest-protecting strategy (as witnessed by Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard), maybe in a month or two.

Across from the field from where the Killdeers flew to, I noticed a lone bird perched on the top of the tree. It certainly doesn't look like a Red-winged Blackbird or an European Starling, and it had a much longer tail. Then I realized it was a Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)! It had been a while since I saw it last time back in Christmas holidays. And this time, I have a much powerful camera to document its beauty.

This bird didn't seem to be in a hunting mode as it stayed on a tree for quite a while. Meanwhile, several Chickadees were quite nervous on nearby trees, as this is a predatory songbird looking to hunt small birds, mammals, and insects.

It actually sang a song for a bit. It sounded like water trying to come off the tap but with water is turned off - warbling with squeaky notes.

Shelter

It drizzled for a tiny bit when I was about to go home. But the weather turned out better in the afternoon. Nevertheless, today was definitely a rewarding day. Some other things that I saw but didn't/couldn't photograph were: flying swallows, hummingbirds hanging around blackberry trees, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk being harassed by crows and jays.
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Good birding on a gray Wednesday. Cinnamon Teals!

Nice weather doesn't last forever, and today was cloudy and chilly. Sigh.

Gray sky-watch photo of the day.

Luckily, the first animal that I photographed (I first saw swallows but didn't take pictures) was a Muskrat. It was busy eating and didn't notice me.

Such a cute-looking aquatic rodent. It noticed me when I turned the bike, and gave me the anterior view of it. That's my cue for leaving it in peace.

Then I watched this Great Blue Heron trying to catch a meal.

Haven't seen this Red-tailed Hawk in a while. I am glad it's still around.

As I slowly biked home (while avoiding Snow Geese droppings), a Northern Harrier was on the horizon hunting.

While searching for the Muskrat along the edge of the ditch, I noticed there was something off about this particular duck - mainly because of the bright color. I took some shots and looked through my field guide. They are Cinnamon Teals - Anas cyanoptera (I am assuming the one swimming beside it is the female). I haven't seen this bird before, so I am very happy with the find today. Even though this species is found throughout the American West, southern British Columbia is its most northern range, so I guess it's not common for us to see it. Lucky me!

As I approach home, a female Northern Flicker was calling loudly. Rain tomorrow?
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