Some of the birds in Ivvavik National Park

Life is still very busy right now - I have a final exam (on Statistics) on Sunday, a committee meeting on Monday, need to grade all the research reports for the Plant Ecology class, invigilate the Plant Ecology final exam on Wednesday, and fly back to BC on the same night. Phew!

I can't wait to go back to BC to relax (just a bit...still a lot of work to do back home) and do some birding - I have seen a lot of Snowy Owls photos by Lower Mainland photographers that I am feeling very jealous of. Birding is not particularly interesting here, or maybe I am just way too busy.

Here are some of the bird photos that I took this past summer in Ivvavik.

Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) - they were found in alpine tundra areas - grassy or rocky with very little vegetation.

Snipes and Coyotes

Another bike ride to Terra Nova today. Passing the large group of Mallards and Coots.

Handsome Mallard male.

Birding on the dyke & Christmas Houses watching

This afternoon, I biked to the dyke again. And there was the Northern Harrier far far away.

A female Northern Flicker perched on the branch among crows.

Sky-watch. These were taken as I biked southward first towards Steveston.

Then it was time to turn around and head for Terra Nova.

I spotted an unusual bird hiding in the bushes on the borders of the golf course. It was a Wilson's Snipe! It was feeding at first, but after it saw me watching it, it went into a freezing and hiding mode. Not effective, but I got the idea that it doesn't like to be watched. So I leave it alone.

The view as the sun slowly sets

A female Mallard crossed the trail looking for her friends and partner on the other side of the ditch. It then flew, jumped, tumbled, and walked in front of me to get to her friends.

Watching the sun set.


Watching the moon rise.

In the evening, my parents and I walked (and drove) to several houses in west Richmond enjoying the Christmas displays people set up in front of their houses.

This "Ho Ho Ho" house (on Garry Street) is probably the most impressive one.

Christmas lights also give me a change to practice one of the photography techniques I always wanted to try out - bokeh.

Original.

Bokeh style!

Merry Christmas, everyone!
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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!
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What a day to be a glider!

What have I been up to lately? Same old. Searching for biology jobs, writing resumes and cover letters, sending those out, looking at which DSLR suits me best, learning how to use a DSLR without even owning one, checking my e-mail inbox (every couple of hours or so) to see if any employer replied back (so far, nil), and reading "We Bought A Zoo". Overall, not how I imagine spending my post-graduation days, but I doubt I am the only Ecology graduate going through this process.

Anyways, feeling sorry for myself aside, I decided to take a walk to the dyke again because the snow is more or less disappeared from the sidewalks and roads, and the sky was surprisingly clear in the afternoon (totally opposite from what the forecast predicted, again). But I don't remember the forecast mentioning the strong winds that I experienced while walking along the waterfront.

Waves were crashing and the ocean was as close as ever.

The flag was a good indication of how strong the wind was. It never let down. The left photo was taken first, and the right photo was taken when heading home.

The strong wind quickly blew away all the clouds and resulted in a beautiful blue sky.

An interesting phenomenon I saw today was the humongous gathering of gulls at the mouth of the Fraser River. Even though it was extremely windy, these gulls zig-zagged towards the mouth. I think I saw at least hundred (if not thousands) of gulls gliding today. Amazing sight.

Also saw small groups of Snow Geese gathering on Sturgeon Bank. The melting snow must drove out some worms for these geese to feed on.

While walking along the dog path (i.e. the road less traveled), a Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) was frightened by me (which in turn startled me when it flew up and yelled). But this also revealed its position and I was able to get some close shots. It must think I could not find it again when it landed in a new spot. Well, I am smarter than I look. Ha.

Can you find the Wilson's Snipe?

As I continued with the dog path, I saw a small brown furry thing ahead. At first, I thought it was a dead rat. But then it was moving. Moving closer, I believe it is a Red-backed Vole (Clethrionomys spp.), but which species? Well, based on species distribution, it is most likely either a Southern Red-backed Vole or Townsend's Vole. But Southern Red-backed Vole isn't described to live in grassy areas. So, I am more sure that it is Townsend's Vole because it can be found in wet meadows and marshes. It was digging in the gravel for something. When it saw me looking at it, it froze for a second before continuing on with its digging. But when I got closer, it quickly hid underneath the concrete squares, enabling me to take a photo of whatever hole it was digging.

I saw this coot from a distance when it wandered off the pond and was pecking along the gravel road with its white tail feathers held strangely high. But as I walked closer, it quickly went back into the pond.

American Coot (Fulica americana)

Beautiful day!

Look how metallic green the male Mallard's head is in direct sunlight!

Not just the gulls were gliding today. Even this adult Bald Eagle is doing it.

One thing I hate is dog owners who doesn't pick up their dog's doo and leave it in the snow which becomes more noticeable (and more disgusting) against the white background.

Anyways, I don't believe this scat belongs to a dog because it has feathers in it. It could be from one of the coyotes in the area.

Ice is still present in the ditch, which makes swimming (or walking, in the case of the heron) a bit of a problem. The Great Blue Heron was avoiding me and so it went across the ice. It almost slipped walking across it, which was kind of funny (but I felt bad at the same time). Same goes for the Green-winged Teals on the right.

One thing after the snow had melted away is leaving behind these strange marks on the grass. Is it formed by aliens? Perhaps, but a more likely answer is that it is used by animals (e.g. voles and mice) who traveled around underneath the snow pack during the snowfall, and leaving behind the well-traveled routes visible to naked eyes. It is a good indication of the presence of these animals. (Edit: These are called "subnivean" tunnels as later found by Huckleberry Days as well.)

In addition to these routes, when you follow them to an end, sometimes they lead to an entrance/exit. Looking closer, I saw more animal scats just outside this particular hole. Only after snowfall can you more easily observe these things. Another bonus of having snow.

Meanwhile, the wind was still strong and the gulls kept on coming and gliding.

I walked farther today than usual. Usually, I turned around at the bridge crossing the Rural Area. But since there was no snow on the ground and the weather was good, I kept on going.

Saw this heron standing on top of the hill. I was going to take a picture of it before it took off angrily. I certainly made many animals angry today.

The same hornet's nest as last month.

Always enjoy walking underneath these trees.

Heading back home, at the golf course, I saw this Bald Eagle carrying a stick to be put on this nest. Could this mean that it's a resident of this home?

After a while, this Bald Eagle flew up and hovered for a while before gliding off to the distance. Later on, I saw a juvenile Bald Eagle gliding by too.

The sun was setting.

The moon was rising.

Time for me to get going.