Birding, August 15, 2026: Poop, flies, kings, and bears

Where: Blakeburn Lagoons Park, DeBoville Slough Port Coquitlam), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, 21–25°C

Brought to you by the colour green and a whole lot of bear poop.

Blakeburn Lagoons Park

One of the two lagoons, this one featuring a sneaky Green Heron.

I suggested Blakeburn Lagoons Park because Green Herons have been known to hang out there and we fleetingly saw one fly off on one visit. I didn’t actually expect to see one.

But we did!

At the first viewing platform was a couple with binoculars and cameras and the man described to us a nearby Green Heron at the edge of the lagoon. He also politely asked Nic to not squee too loud as the heron is apparently skittish.

And lo, there it was, hunkered down in front of the grass on the lagoon edge, very well camouflaged. We watched it attempt to grab a fish (it looked like it missed), then it flew off…but landed in a nearby tree, where it hung out for a good while, preening, and looking about before moving on. Neat.

We also saw three grebes, two adults and a younger one following one of the adults, because it was carrying a yummy fish in its bill. Most of the two lagoons were occupied by Mallards. The single coot was not present, except in our hearts.

DeBoville Slough

One of the spacious fields popular with bears.

Having scored early, we headed off to the DeBoville Slough, where it felt a lot hotter than it was, dang humidity. We saw a lot of bear poop on the trail and when we approached the first vast farm field on the left, there was a large black bear strolling through it, possibly looking for a place to poop (again). We later had people advise us of a black bear in a tree (we did not see it) and a mother bear with two cubs traversing the river’s edge (we also did not see these, which I am thankful for, because mother bears don’t always understand that humans without guns are harmless and not good to eat).

But what really stood out were the Eastern Kingbirds. We don’t seem them too frequently, but here they were out in abundance, flitting from tree to tree, chasing each other and occasionally sitting just right on a branch for us to get awesome shots. I don’t know if there was a Kingbird Festival going on or what, but I was pleased to get my best Kingbird shots.

Before the Kingbirdpalooza, we shot some young Savannah Sparrows hopping around on the trail, but it later turned out they were actually Chipping Sparrows. The adult males have extremely dapper scarlet caps on their heads (the colour, not actual caps, though those would also look very dapper) and while these younger ones lacked the colour, they were still very cute and energetic.

We also got some good views of kingfishers (it was a royal day for birding), spotted some waxwings, robins, and others, making the slough a surprisingly decent birding spot (we usually fall back on all the pretty scenery).

Tlahutum Regional Park

A lot of haze in the sky, but not much water in the Coquitlam River.

We concluded at Tlahutum, stopping first by the drinking fountain, which had a “Wasp Nest” sign on the opposite side from us. Handy.

Having not gotten stung, we ventured into the community garden and perhaps due to it being later in the afternoon and quite humid, we did not see many birds about. We did see even more Kingbirds, though. The Coquitlam River was very low and the big pond was almost nothing but mud, the water largely absent, revealing Nazi warships a plastic crate long hidden.

There were pollinators and plenty of pretty flowers, though, so it was fine.

At the end, I checked my stats and I had walked 500 miles. Or at least it felt like it. And I would walk 500 more (for another Green Heron, maybe).

The Shots

All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • American Robin
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Eastern Kingbird (roughly one million)
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Willow Flycatcher
  • Yellow Tanager

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Canada Goose
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Green Heron
  • Mallard
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • European Starling
  • Some seagulls

Raptors:

  • Northern Harrier
  • Bald Eagle

Non-birds:

  • Assorted pollinators
  • Grasshoppers, grasshoppers, grasshoppers
  • Black bear
  • Western Painted Turtle

Tonight I edited a 17 year old post

Why? Because I was looking at my tags (all 100 million of them) and Nic noticed one that was so long it wasn’t wrapping properly in a column. I said it was probably for a review of the movie 2012, which I remembered correctly. Then we reread the review and Nic pointed out I had said the fissure in the Sistine Chapel appears between God’s finger and David, when it is, in fact, Adam. So I fixed it. The post was written on November 14, 2009.

Is this hardcore blogging or am I just a weirdo?

Yes.

My featured quote is a paraphrase

And I only found out, by chance, today!

Dorothy Parker was a poet and writer who died back in 1967. Her acerbic wit lives on through her many biting quotes. One of them is this:

I hate writing, I love having written.

You can see a wide selection of her quotes, including the one above, here: https://www.dorothyparker.org/quotes.html

I have a quote by journalist James Fallows at the top right of my blog which reads:

In my experience, what anyone serious about writing likes is having written.

Now, it’s entirely possible that Fallows came up with this on his own, unaware of Parker’s original quote, and the tone is different–appropriately, Parker’s version is more direct and cutting.

I’m unsure if I should keep the Fallows quote, switch to the Parker one or maybe put something else completely different in that upper right corner. Maybe I’ll put my own quote there. Or a cat. I will ponder.

Instagzam and other logo redesigns

Today, Instagram updated its logo wordmark. CNET had a nice image of the before and after, presented below as after and before:

Instagzam vs. Instagram

Although I don’t think AI was used in the creation of the new logo, it still smells of it in the way AI messes up things, like:

  • Goofy kerning
  • Goofy mix of cursive and non-cursive letters (apparently trying to call back to the previous logo the same way someone riding a bike off a picnic table and crashing calls back to Evel Knievel)
  • Goofy letters (notably the R, G and S. Someone on Ars Technica commented that the S looks like a side boob and now I can’t unsee it.)
  • Despite all the above, still looking limp and bland

Speaking of Ars, their creative director Aurich Lawson wrote a rare and relatively brief article offering his thoughts on the redesign (spoiler: Like most of the internet, he does not like it).

My take? Yes, it’s bad. The old logo is instantly recognizable, legible and stylish. The new one is a graceless “reeks of committee” thing. It’s also exactly the kind of logo I’d expect a big (and awful) tech company like Meta to produce in 2026.

This led me to other logo redesigns of recent years, such as the also awful one for Pringles:

Quaint, quaint, groovy, pretty good, perfectly fine, blech!

Here, I think they really hit it in 2009, though 2001 is pretty good, too. The flattened, gormless 2021 redesign is so bad that the longer you look at the face, the less it looks like a face and just a set of weird shapes. It also inspired me to do this:

I am your nightmare.

You’re welcome!

Another good (bad) example is Jaguar’s recent logo redesign:

Cool cat vs. A mix of letters

It went from instantly recognizable to something absolutely generic that says nothing (it’s still way better than Instagram’s, even at that).

In conclusion: Logo design is a fine balancing act between art, character, and image (the type you project). We live in an era where almost every logo out there is being flattened, simplified and stripped of all character and identity (see also: Jaguar’s impressively bad update). The only reason I can think why this is happening is companies are going cheap by making logos so simple they can be slapped on anything at any size with no need for adjustment. If it’s not this, then somehow bad design has become good design, the same way 2 + 2 = 5.

Empire (1990) aged like milk

Like a lot of people, in 1990 I bought Queensryche’s fourth album, Empire, because the song “Silent Lucidity” was such an effective clone of that big, spacey Pink Floyd sound. I’ve said before that if you dropped the song onto either of the post-Waters Pink Floyd albums, no one would have batted an eye.

But Empire is more than just “Silent Lucidity”. It also features the title track, which is about the usual decline of urban America, its descent into violence and guns, guns, guns (“Got an AK-47 for his best friend/Business the American way1“).

But there’s a spoken word section that recites the following:

In fiscal year of 1986 to 1987, local, state and federal governments spent a combined total of 60.6 million on law enforcement. Federal law expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars and accounted for only a sixth percent of federal spending. By way of comparison, the federal government spent 24 million more on space exploration and 43 -times- more on national defense and international relations than law enforcement.

This seems like a pretty clear statement of “more funding for police = better!”, which was naive in 1990 and in 2026, with police in most American cities being very well-funded, and ICE terrorizing citizens, the reality is that well-funded law enforcement has created a de facto police state in America. And solved none of the issues that the song “Empire” speaks to. Whoops.

But “Silent Lucidity” is still a very nice Pink Floyd homage.

  1. If the lyrics had been more openly sarcastic, they would have worked better, but that might be just me. ↩︎

Run 1,053: Five degrees of perspiration

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: It doesn’t look hotter, but it’s hotter.

Today’s run was the opposite of Monday’s: hot and gross. Monday it started out at 19°C, which was nice. Today it was 24°C and I felt every one of those five extra degrees.

It started out seemingly well, with an initial pace of 6:08/km, but I slipped to 6:18/km and after that it was Slog City™ to the end. I stopped twice, once at the Nature House to hydrate at the water fountain and again just after entering the Conifer Loop, because I was tired. I didn’t stop for long either time and I don’t think they had any real effect on my overall result, except for allowing me to push on just a bit longer.

I also did a short loop and made it tighter than usual so I’d have less walking to do on the way home. That part worked well!

No particular highlights on the run, of course, and near the end some dope passed by on an electric scooter. I told him they weren’t allowed on the trail, but he probably heard it as, “Why does that sweaty man who looks like he’s dying mumbling at me?”

Anyway, I started late and paid the price. Lesson learned (in theory). I’ll start earlier on Friday, I totes promise.

Brunette River, pre-run: I was too tired to take photos after.

Stats:

Run 1,053
Average pace: 6:20/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: +0
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 11:39 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24°C
Humidity: 55%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 170.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,070 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (50/108/158)

Music: Shuffle play

A collection of assorted thoughts on “Tech sucks: You have to vote with your wallet, or nothing will change”

Andreas over on 82MHz has written about how you can’t expect giant tech companies to change if you keep buying their products: Tech sucks: You have to vote with your wallet, or nothing will change.

And I agree.

I realized some years back that for all my Apple-bashing here on this blog (it is legion, and kind of embarrassing, though some of my takes on various Apple events still amuse me) I actually had a lot of Apple products:

  • iPod (nano and Classic)
  • AirPods
  • iPhone 12
  • iPad Pro
  • Mac Studio
  • Apple Watch

That’s just what I have now. I’ve also had Mac minis and a MacBook Air and Pro in the past. Of the still-have items, the only ones in active use are the iPad Pro (2020) and AirPods (3rd gen, and being used with a Samsung Galaxy S26, not an iPhone), so I’ve pretty much moved out of the Apple ecosystem. I no longer use Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud, or any other Apple services. Once you break from the services, it gets a lot easier to move away from Apple, especially if you aren’t also beholden to an Apple-specific app (I still use Procreate on my iPad Pro, but am drawing more on a Galaxy tablet lately, so I can make the switch if needed).

And I’m happy with the decision to move away from Apple. I can’t and won’t drop every thing from every company I object to. It would be overwhelming. I’d end up being a monk living on a bamboo mat in a monastery up in mist-shrouded mountains. Monks are cool, but I still enjoy using and messing around with tech. Plus I’d probably look funny in a robe.

But I do what I can. And much as I loathe moving over to Android because of Google’s ownership and their nutty desire to shove “AI” into every part of Android, I make do.

Apple got the message from me: I’m done with it, its products, and its services. I’m just one little drop in their trillions-valued bucket, but I’m content with that. For me, it’s nice to have local backups again, to have more direct control over my tech, and to not feel trapped in what looks like a garden but feels more like a cell1OK, even I’ll admit that’s a bit melodramatic, but I couldn’t resist..

Anyone want a used Mac Studio? It doesn’t have Tahoe installed!

Run 1,052: The early runner gets the BPM

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Calm and cooler.

Today, the difference was all in the timing and weather.

Once again, it was sunny and warm, but the max temperature today is expected to be 25°C, which is a bit cooler than it’s been on recent run days. That helped, because it meant it would not be as hot, no matter when I headed out.

But I also left much closer to my usual start time and it was a mere 19°C at the start of the run, which feels almost comfy at this point in the summer.

The result is a much better pace (6:10/km), better BPM (147) and even a lap (the fifth) where my pace almost dipped below the six-minute mark (it was right on the nose–6:00/km).

The trail was pretty lightly occupied, probably due to the earlier start, and I didn’t experience any issues. The higher humidity was not a factor, given the lower temperatures. I still got all sweaty up in the hizzy, but not as much.

I went clockwise and this time decided to go up Roberts Road if the Trail Closed sign was out. But it was not, and it appears the trail work is complete, so I was able to finish my run without any puddle jumping. Neat.

A good start to the week. I implore everyone to go out and touch trees. Or at least get near them. You don’t have to run, I just do it because it’s cheap exercise.

Still Creek, post-run.

Stats:

Run 1,052
Average pace: 6:10/km
Training status: Productive
Performance Condition: +1
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:27 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:00
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19–21°C
Humidity: 68–63%
Wind: light
BPM: 147
Weight: 169.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,065 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (45/100/145)

Music: Pyramid, The Alan Parsons Project

Birding, August 8, 2026: Bad day to be a fish

Where: Serpentine Fen, Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach (Surrey), Brydon Lagoon (Langley)
Weather: Sunny, 21–27°C

In which certain aspects of the food chain are demonstrated live.

Serpentine Fen

The start of our trek at Serpentine Fen, featuring the Serpentine River.

As we often do, we saw some Great Blue Herons at the fen, standing in or near the river, waiting to stab fish. We saw a little action, but didn’t notice any great blue success.

That would change farther down the river, where some gulls were hanging out. One took off, circled over the river, came in to land and promptly snapped up a sizable fish. It then started gliding around the very still water and dunked its head in, coming up with an even larger fish that took several large gulps to swallow. I swear I could see the fish twitching from inside the gull on the way down. It was a vivid demonstration of how gulls can hunt and eat more than just French fries.

We also watched a pair of Kingfishers chase each other about in the sky above us. Whether it was love or war I could not determine.

We also saw a sole Hooded Merganser, which allegedly don’t migrate, but like coots, pintails and shovellers, seem to hide somewhere during the summer.

One of the three viewing towers has a hole in the (wooden) floor and it seems to be getting a little bigger each time we visit. I guess if you stick to the parts of the floor where the planks are intact, it’s still safe?

We also saw a million grasshoppers because it’s grasshopper season. They continue to demonstrate the power of excellent camouflage, as I often did not see them until we got close enough to prompt them to vamoose.

It was nice to return to the fen, even if birds were a bit in short supply. This is expected in summer, but we could at least appreciate the lush vegetation and warm weather.

Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach

Small bay at Blackie Spit.

Blackie Spit’s parking lots were full, so we had to park on a nearby street. This meant we started a bit further down on Crescent Beach, where I saw a hydrant that I had to shoot (with my phone). Nic said he overhead some guys walking by commenting on the weirdo shooting photos of the hydrant. Yes, I am that weirdo!

Here is the hydrant:

A sturdy little plug.

We saw bunches of herons here, along with some Greater Yellowlegs, and Killdeer. Sadly, most of them were a bit far away, but we were lucky to see them at all, as the tide was actually in when we arrived (it’s usually not just out, but way out).

The beach and picnic areas were very active, so with birds, especially songbirds, a bit on the rare side, I took more scenery shots of boats and random objects.

Brydon Lagoon

Looking north across the lagoon.

Our final stop was Brydon Lagoon, which gave us a single Grebe and our first Wood Ducks. There were gulls here, too, but instead of hunting, they were mostly bossing around the ducks, establishing just which floating objects they could sit upon. We saw one rather young Wood Duck that still could not fly and it was either parent-free or the parents were letting it test its freedom. It seemed to be fine.

Overall, a perfectly cromulent day of birding. The fall/winter migrants should be arriving soon, so variety should be improving. Also, the mostly absent squirrels might return. I have no idea where or why they are hiding. Maybe they don’t like the sun. I mean, if you were fur-covered, would you?

The Shots

All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.

The Birds (and other critters)

Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:

  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Spotted Towhee
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Yellow Tanager

Waterfowl and shorebirds:

  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Canada Goose
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Greater Yellowlegs
  • Hooded Merganser
  • Mallard
  • Killdeer
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Wood Duck

Common:

  • American Crow
  • European Starling
  • Various seagulls

Raptors:

  • None!

Non-birds:

  • Assorted pollinators