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Bird and Nature PhotographyBritish Columbia, Canada |
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| Photo Blog 2010-02-28 The sound of Marsh Wrens is definitely more prevalent of late with the nicer weather. I have also noticed a few Bewick’s Wrens in the area.
One afternoon surprise at Reifel was this Black-crowned Night-Heron on some dead fall along the edge of Fuller Slough.
Common Mergansers can usually be found in Robertson Slough along the driveway.
In spite of several trips to Boundary Bay and Brunswick Point I only caught one fleeting glimpse of a Northern Shrike. Even the Harriers and Short-eared Owls were not that active. Off in the distance one afternoon I did watch a Northern Harrier move in and take an Owls catch and fly off with it.
You can see the legs and tail of the vole hanging down below as it flew by a somewhat closer. The only other shots I managed were some distant flight shots.
While the American Wigeon is common, the Eurasian Wigeon is a little less frequent. There is one spot along Boundary Bay they seem to visit every winter.
In the river at Canoe Pass I was hoping this Double-crested Cormorant that was working its way towards me would come up with a fish.
No such luck though and shortly afterwards it left downstream.
Reifel in the meantime has been fairly quiet birding wise. There are still a couple of Northern Saw-whet Owls around, but usually not in great spots for photos.
But there are always the regulars.
The couple that shovels together stays together.
A less frequent visitor is the Canvasback.
The Pileated Woodpecker that showed up last fall is still around.
And the Northern Harriers can still show up in unexpected spots.
| Home | 2010-02-06 Why catch your own when you can take someone else’s? This is a common theme among birds of prey and other wildlife. While checking fields for potential flight shots I watched as a Merlin streaked low and fast into a flock of Starlings taking one to the ground. On rounding the corner and locating the Merlin in the grass with its prey a Great Blue Heron moved in and flushed the Merlin. Down but not quite out yet the Starling appeared and flew a short distance into a ditch. No longer a sure thing for the Heron it moved on. Meanwhile the Merlin had circled around and was about to land in the ditch when a Northern Harrier swooped in chasing it off. The Harrier disappeared out of sight in the ditch and the Starling did not reappear. Then I could hear a Peregrine calling above me. On looking up I could see the Falcon was harassing a Bald Eagle making passes at it.
Then to make matters worse for the Eagle a Red-tailed Hawk joined in the fray.
That was pretty much the excitement for the afternoon. | Home | 2010-02-04 A change of venue to start this month took me out to Brunswick Point for a couple of walks. While I had a few target birds in mind, I started off with this Fox Sparrow taking a bath.
One of the target species was owls, but the only one I encountered was this Short-eared Owl out in the marsh.
It was being harassed by the Harriers and eventually moved out of sight to the edge of the shoreline. Then another target bird showed up, ...
... one of two Northern Shrikes in this area. I usually find these birds difficult to get close to.
When hunting they are constantly on the move. They will perch briefly to scan the marsh below.
While easier to spot and track when using the tree tops, they will also remain lower using the logs and stumps. They may use one perch a few times, but it is not long before they move on to another spot.
I made a second visit to Brunswick Point hoping to spend some more time with the Shrike(s), but they were nowhere to be found. I did, however, find this lone Meadowlark.
I then decided to try and get some flight shots of the ever present Marsh Hawk.
When doing this I try to find an area they frequent, set up and hope they come to me.
I find this works better than remaining on the move or trying to follow them along the marsh.
Last month I commented on not forgetting the female Wood Duck.
This drake took exception and posed for me this month. | Home |
Previous Photo Blogs | 2010-01
| 2010-02 | |
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© Jim Martin |
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