Getting a taste of spring in BC

While most parts of Canada are under deep snow and freezing temperatures, the west coast has been experiencing springlike conditions.  My mother and I went for a drive/walk to West Dyke Trail this morning to do some bird-watching.

View from West Dyke Trail with Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) scattered across the land.  I took this image with my new phone (Xiaomi HM Note 1W) which has pretty good camera capability (13 megapixels).

Bees, Tulips, Eagles, Flycatcher(!) and Blossom

It is such a nice day today. Perfect day to go bike-riding.

Look at the view! Only a few clouds in the horizon.

Visiting Minoru Park

In the morning, I drove my mother to the Brighouse (Main) Library to return and borrow some books. Afterwards, we walked to Minoru Park to see the blossoms.

In addition to the cherry blossoms, there are several plants flowering too.

Unknown yellow flowers.

Bird- and blossom-watching in Steveston.

In the afternoon, I drove my mother to Steveston to buy groceries. We went there via Dyke Road to see some wildlife along the way.

Common Mergansers resting on a floating log.

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.

Pink Blossoms and Gold Finch

Another beautiful sunny day without any clouds in the sky.

Saw a pair of Common Mergansers swimming towards the Phoenix Pond.

Blossom-watching at Garry Point

The weather has been pretty bad the last couple of days; thankfully, the rain ceased this afternoon and there were even some blue skies as well.

First nice weather of April

Yesterday's constant rain was probably Mother Nature's way of saying Happy April Fools. Regardless, today's nice weather made up for it.

B's of the day: blossom, bumblebee, and bittern

A much nicer day compared to yesterday. Is spring break going on right now or something? I am out of school for so long that it such a surprise to see so many kids outside during school hours.

Sunny day.

American birds - Goldfinch and Bittern

While making lunch today, I found this spider on the floor in front of the fridge. I quickly scooped it up and moved it outside to save it from feeling the wrath of my mother's slipper. I also took these photos of it on the plant outside.

Blossoms and then Cooper's Hawk

First thing today was going to London Heritage Farm to find myself some critters. I didn't see much until I reached the back corner of the farm and saw bees flying towards it.

It's a Bee Yard!

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.

Minoru Park & Biked to the dyke

Yesterday, my co-authors in Taiwan received our submitted manuscript on our study about the breeding biology of the Taiwan Barbet in Taipei Botanical Garden. We had good remarks, but we also needed a lot of revision and re-analysis of the results. They scanned they copy to me and now my goal is to get as much revision and rewrite as possible in the last 15 days before I leave for Ontario without internet connection or land-line telephones. Wish me luck!

But first thing in this morning I went to Richmond centre with my mother for our weekly grocery shopping.

Once again, we strolled in Minoru Park before heading to the Public Market.

Minoru Chapel with gorgeous blue sky. Some people call it the Olympus Blue (for the blue color that Olympus cameras produce). Cool!

House Finch, Bittern, and more...

I would had like to go out yesterday, but it was raining when I wanted to go out and sunshine when I did not want to go out. In the end, I did not.

This morning, I went to my local bank branch to get myself a VISA card for my expenses during my times in Ontario. While heading back home, I saw my first Small Cabbage White butterfly on the year! Spring is definitely here! After lunch, my mother and I walked to the dyke to enjoy this nice Monday.

Nice blue sky.

I pointed out this handsome male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) to my mother. She enjoys watching this pretty bird and listening to its songs!

Good time to visit Minoru Lakes Park!

I helped out my mother with grocery shopping today in Richmond center. Before that we walked around the Minoru Lakes Park. It was very beautiful with the blossoming flowers and the colors! It was a very nice walk!

White Magnolia flowers.

Colorful hyacinths.

Enjoying the blossoms on Seafair Drive with mother

My mother wanted to see the blossoms that I photographed whenever I went to the dyke. So today, we walked to the dyke and I showed her the streets where I saw the blossoms.

Along Seafair Drive.

Then we went to the trail.

More Blossoms in Steveston

I drove my mother to Steveston to return some library books and buy some groceries.

After borrowing the books, we walked around the library and the Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre to check out the blossoms.

Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

A busy bee enjoying the blossoms.

After finish buying the groceries, we drove to Garry Point Park to walk around and enjoy the salty air.

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.

Herons on tree-top & Sharp-shinned Hawk

The cherry plum trees are in full blossom in our neighborhood, so this morning, my mother and I walked around and I took the photographs.

I softened the images and increased the hues. Gave the photos a more interesting feel to it. I like it.

In the afternoon, I biked to the dyke.

Arrival of cherry blossoms...

My mother and I visited Steveston this afternoon to buy some seafood and fruits. Near the bus stop, cherry trees were already blossoming! My mother think they are at least one month ahead of past years.

The pink flowers goes great with the blue sky background.

Close-up on the flowers.

Then we went to the dock first to check out the fishing boats. Since most of them haven't arrive yet, we decided to take a stroll along the waterfront first.

We saw several Common Mergansers, as well as one female Bufflehead.


Most birds were shy and pretty far away. The closest a bird got near us was this Double-crested Cormorant.

Bald Eagles across the river.

Then we arrive at the bridge and the outlook area.

Where the Mallards and Wigeons were dozing off in this gorgeous sunny day.

The usual male Bufflehead was around, but this time he has a female beside him. I wonder if it was the female I saw earlier.

In the midst of the peacefulness was this female Belted Kingfisher, circling around the water and continuously diving into the water. It caused quite a racket among the ducks. I wish I was able to photograph it's gracefulness diving into the water...

Then the kingfisher disappeared. But appeared again and flew on to the tree where a Great Blue Heron was also nearby. Can you spot the two birds in this picture?

One last look at the (white) cherry blossoms before we set out what we were here for - shopping.

365 days ago (2009-02-19) ...
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