Second outing of 2013 - Boundary Bay revisited - Attempt 2

The past few days my mother and I have been paying close attention to the weather forecast and hoping for good weather so that we could go out to Boundary Bay again to look for Snowy Owls (since last time was unsuccessful).

Despite the 90% POP, the rain still did not show up in the morning, so my parents and I decided to take the chance and go out to Boundary Bay again right after lunch.  The rain did not come at all this afternoon and we even saw a bit of sunshine, so that was pretty much a success in itself.  The lighting wasn't that great today, so I had to set most of my minimal ISO to 800 for the birding shots, hence the "noisy" photos.

Lots of Northern Harriers flying around today.

Last lifer of 2010 - Silver Pheasant

Quarter to 12am and 2011! Probably be 2011 by the time I finishes this post.

Originally I wanted to use my month bus pass for one final long birding day-trip (i.e. Stanley Park). In the end, I ended up going to Richmond Nature Park with my mother, and boy, did I glad I did - because I got lots of good photos as well as a final lifer of 2010!

Overall, 2010 has been a memorable year - working with and meeting new people, learning new things, absorbing new information, spending a lot time with wildlife in the outdoors and more. I hope 2011 can be just as exciting.

Now, some photos from Richmond Nature Park. First, some non-bird photos.

Just like the feeling this image provokes.


Frost on wooden fence. Wish I captured it better, but it was really neat to look at the frost close-up.

Bloedel Floral Conservatory - Part 2

Went to Steveston in this cloudy day (with some sunny breaks) to return a library book and buy some groceries. I also brought my camera with me, but I forgot to change out the battery from yesterday's extensive use so it was in low power today. But nothing too interesting to take pictures of.

Anyways, back to more birds in Bloedel Floral Conservatory (blog).

Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata)

Swallows are here

I took a short break from paper editing and rode to the dyke in the afternoon.

A gray day today.

Barn swallows are back! I hope they are here to enjoy the bugs that gets in my way when I rode my bike along the dyke. Many of them flew to my face and cloth and rested there. Kind of annoying!

Hungry Cat, Vole Alive

Let's start of today with some photos of the delicious strawberries that my mother bought today.

Very yum and sweet!

Photographic post & Rainbow at the end of the day.

Such a cloudy day today.

Look at that cloud cover! Thank goodness it was retreating.

Sky slowly clearing.

Good Birding Monday - female Canvasback, Sharpie, Snow Geese-in-flight, eagles, and Harrier-in-flight

I was going to walk with my mother to the dyke today. But just a few blocks away from our house, light rain started to fall and my mother decided to head back home and I can bike to the dyke by myself. Sigh.

Grey weather.

Looking at the water for something unusual.

Running away from the sex-crazed pheasant!

The title pretty much summed up what happened to me today. But let's start in a normal fashion.

Using my new camera for a sky-watch photo.

I saw a Great Blue Heron standing on a log hunting. It was quite far away so I used my trusty FZ18 for the job.

Looking.

Small fish caught!

Showing the RNPH to my mother

Today, my parents and I went to Richmond centre to run errands - buy myself a back-up CF memory card (on sale at Staples), eat lunch at Shanghai-style restaurant, buy groceries from Richmond Public Market.

Then my mother wanted to go to Terra Nova Sharing Farm to see the things people are planting now, as well as if she can see the Ring-necked Pheasant for herself - she really likes this bird and thinks it's just beautiful!

When we got there, it was very windy and I did not see the pheasant anywhere. However, far away (near the spot where I first saw the pheasant in Terra Nova), I spotted something moving on the ground. Using my binocular, it was the pheasant! I quickly called my mother and we slowly walked towards it. However, before we got there, a pair of walkers walked past it and a Red-tailed Hawk hovered above it - causing it to run and hide.

The Red-tailed Hawk.

When we got to the spot, the pheasant was nowhere to be found. But I told my mother to be patient and quiet and it should reveal itself soon.

Meanwhile, we sky-watched.

Every Sunny Weekend Should Be Canada/US Hockey Game...

...that way, I can always enjoy my bike ride in peace while other people can stay indoors and watch their game. A win-win situation really.

Actually, I watched parts of the game until the beginning of the third period. That was when I headed outside for a bike ride.

The lack of people allowed me to fool around and take this photo while riding the bike at the same time.

I didn't see much until I got to the Terra Nova Sharing Farm again. This is a female Northern Harrier.

Langley's Nicomekl River & RNPH again!

After my work in Langley ended earlier than expected, I decided to walk around and check out the nearby parks. But maybe because I was in the mood to hurry back to Richmond or something, the parks were not too appealing.

Nicomekl River, but I must be upstream because it certainly doesn't look what Wanderin' Weeta had described.

Then I headed back to Richmond. I decided to get off a couple of stops before my "home" stop and went to Terra Nova and slowly walked back home. And guess who I saw again!?

Yep, the Ring-necked Pheasant was out again and was also saw by three people.

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!!?

Short Post again: Moon and Pheasants

Gosh, I hope I am not getting lazy to go outside these days. Maybe it's because of the cold temperature? Anyways, I still didn't go out during my lunch break today, but again had two more images to share today.

(Half) moon-watch in the early morning.

And inside the gentleman's restroom in one of the hotels in downtown Vancouver hangs this picture of a male and female Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). It seemed very strange to me that the hotel decides to hang this picture in the men's washroom.

Pheasants, M & F - Plate LVII

Anyways, after some Googling just now, I discovered that this beautifully hand-colored engraving belongs in the second edition of Prideaux John Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology (London: 1841-1846) and was being auctioned here. Very neat - especially the idea of full-sized paintings!

365 days ago (2008-12-08) ...
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