Photos I’ve taken of scenery, interesting objects and other things.
I was going to post these shots yesterday, but because I had a terrible sleep the night before, then somehow decided it was a good idea to walk 29,000+ steps the next day, I fell asleep instead.
Here they are, using FooGallery’s adorably kitschy Polaroid theme.
I meant to post this the other day, this is art on the side of a building housing a daycare centre. The wiener dog1Yes, I know they are Dachsunds. They will always be wiener dogs to me. looks very sad, maybe because the other animals are riding a train and it has to walk on its stubby li’l legs.
Where: Blackie Spit/Crescent Beach (Surrey) and Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Cloudy, 8-10°C
Also known as All the Spits.
We got off to a late start, trying to work around the showers forecast for early and later in the day, so we began with lunch, then headed to Blackie Spit while it continued to shower.
Fortunately, by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped and the sun even cutely tried to come out for a few minutes before giving up. It was a bit breezy, but temperatures continue to be well above normal.
We saw cormorants, loons and buffleheads here, but they were all farther out, which is totally on brand for Blackie Spit. Some herons were a little closer, getting ruffled by the wind and looking displeased at the conditions (or everything, as they do). Several people promised us a kingfisher near the pump house, but all we got was the pump house.
The highlight was probably a pair of red-headed Eurasian wigeons, possibly off-course, but content to hang out with their American brethren.
There were a lot of giant puddles on the trails.
With not a lot of light left on what was already a very dim gray dead, we opted to wrap things up at Piper Spit. Nic girded himself for the inevitable naughty people feeding the birds–and they were there. Bad people, no!
The pier itself was fairly sparse with people, though. Apparently the imminent threat of rain and the wind kept most people off it.
The land mass is still there, which surprised me after the recent deluge, so I assume most of the excess water is being fed through the gates at Cariboo Dam. The land itself was unoccupied, though, and the usual gang of seagulls was absent. The geese were also elsewhere, likely over on the sports fields to the west. Much of the shallows was filled with branches and other debris swept in by recent storms.
We did see dowitchers, but they were in full snorebird mode.
The current from Eagle Creek was unusually strong and a number of ducks were taking advantage, letting it sweep them down and past the pier. A few had to pedal furiously when they chose to return upstream, though.
There seemed to be more coots than before. Everywhere I looked there was a coot. No coot drama, though, which in itself is kind of unnerving.
The highlight here were some buffleheads, in particular a female that was diving and surfacing quite close to the pier, allowing for some good shots, notwithstanding the aforementioned dim, gray conditions.
We wrapped up about 15 minutes before sunset (if there had been sun) and escaped before the rains resumed. In all, not a bad outing, considering the forecast and the possibility of getting a wee bit drenched if the weather had shifted just a little.
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Gallery soon™.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
Shot today while birding.
Keeping your dog safe:
An aggressive sign that needed to be chained to keep others safe:
Not the band, an actual pair of doors. Specifically, the doors for the storage in Lower Hume Park, which I have post-processed into some black and white something:
Where: DeBoville Slough, Blakeburn Lagoons Park (Port Coquitlam), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam)
Weather: Sunny, -2-5°C
The temperature started out below freezing, but thanks to sun, little wind and warm pockets, it didn’t feel too cold as we headed north and east for today’s birding. We had planned on going to Reifel, but they remain closed after a boat struck the only bridge to Westham Island last week. It’s looking like we may have to explore other places for some time.
The first spot was a return to DeBoville Slough, on the north trail. We were here last summer, so the scenery is a lot more austere now. The freezing temperatures did help make things pretty, with vegetation and trees in shaded areas covered in frost and some of the waterways iced over.
And birds. We saw more birds than I expected, with towhees especially well-represented. The main item on the menu for them and others were berries that survive and grow in the winter. There is nothing quite like a towhee sitting on a naked branch, its red eye staring out, while it clutches a full, round berry in its bill. And I got that shot!
Other than the birds, a lot of people were out, too. Again, sunny weather in January is probably enough for most, regardless of temperature.
Some of the birds we spotted were deeper in the trees and proved elusive, like a Steller’s Jay and a Marsh Wren that Nic managed to get one shot of, but we still had lots of scenery to shoot as backup.
We did not see any bears because they are sleeping, and the osprey nest on the Pitt River is understandably empty, but it was nice to return and see the slough in a different mood.
We next went back to Blakeburn Lagoons, which remains a nicely compact pair of water bodies you can walk around fairly quickly if you need to just bird ‘n go. A lot of the water here was frozen, but in a few spots we did see some mallards and a surprise Northern Shoveller. While a Green Heron remained elusive, we were treated to a Varied Thrush a couple of times, allowing us to get some good shots, along with an Anna’s Hummingbird that was claiming half the place, and a single but very vocal chickadee.
By the time we got to Tlahutum, the light was turning golden and it was very golden when we left, shortly before sunset. Again, the waterways here were a mix of open and frozen, though most of the main pond was frozen. The open part was at the far end, alas, so the waterfowl were all gathered there because they aren’t going to walk all over the icy surface for our amusement and pleasure.
We saw a lot of the usual birds here and a couple of odder sights, such as an appropriately-named murder of crows harassing a bald eagle, a flock of Canad geese flying in a classic V-formation, then shifting into more of a Silly String formation, without any particular goose leading them. But mostly, voles.
Tlahutum is the kind of spot where voles–small rodents related to hamsters–are likely to hang out, as it has a number of large, grassy expanses. It’s also why we often see eagles or raptors here, as voles are bite-sized snacks for them. But I had never seen an actual vole until today. Then I saw all of them.
Along the first trail into the park, there is a tall wild grass on both sides. Right now it is yellow and flattened down for the winter, but on the trail edges, shorter green grass and vegetation is still growing. And it seems that a whole pile of Meadow Voles know this. We spotted one, then another, then an entire platoon, or whatever you call a bunch of voles. Each would have its own little burrow in the tall grass and would dash out to the trail edge to eat the green grass, then dash back under cover. They did not seem especially perturbed by people, waiting mere moments for someone to pass before returning to nibble. And they may have felt safer with the crows deciding the best use of their time was to pester and chase the one eagle in the area.
They are also very cute, if you find hamsters or hamster-like animals cute.
I wonder if we will see them as the weather warms and the wild grass grows tall again.
We stayed close until sunset and ended with some final shots of the sun going down.
In all, a fine day and an enjoyable alternative to Reifel.
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Gallery soon™.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
Where: Centennial Beach (Delta), Richmond Nature House (Richmond), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby)
Weather: Fog and sun, 5-8°C
For the first time in five weeks, the schedule and weather cooperated and we went birding, woo.
Reifel has been closed for a few weeks due to some fairly significant flooding, so we opted to start at Centennial Beach, where things were not quite as expected.
Namely, there was very dense fog, so dense that we could barely see Boundary Bay at all.
Despite the fog, the area turned out to be chock-full of birds today, starting with a juvenile bald eagle chowing down on a snack in a tree right next to the parking lot. There were other eagles perched on various branches and nearby trees, as well. The kid eagle was regularly dropping bits of whatever ex-animal it was eating, which would be kind of a gross thing to land on you if you happened to be walking by underneath.
Golden-crowned Sparrows were in abundance, as were the somewhat more scarce but sexy Fox Sparrows.
The fog rolled back enough for us to see a short ways across the bay and we noticed a large gathering of waterfowl that did not look familiar. Checking later, we confirmed it was a gaggle of Brant Geese–the first time either of us have seen them locally. Neat! Too bad they were so far away.
Closer up were shorebirds, teals and plenty of gulls mixing, mingling and occasionally bathing.
The fog provided a nice spooky backdrop to the scenery and shots of broody herons and the like.
In all, we saw a lot more than II was expecting.
Nic wanted to check out the Richmond Nature House, because you don’t have to find the birds, you just go to the feeders and the challenge is deciding which of the billion juncos to shoot. In addition to the juncos, there were squirrels fattening themselves on seed, along with towhees, finches and a Downy Woodpecker.
One of the hummingbird feeders, clothed in a knit sock to keep the nectar from freezing, saw business from a female Anna’s hummingbird. The hummingbird did not have socks.
Since you don’t need to go anywhere to get shots at the nature house, we got our supply in and headed out for Piper Spit, hoping it would not be foggy there as the light shifted into the golden hour.
And it was not foggy! What it was, was busy. And there were bad people feeding the birds, because apparently nothing short of running around and poking them with a cattle prod will stop some people. And maybe not even that, who knows?
Likely due to the shifting depth of the lake, the dowitchers were much closer to the pier than usual, and seemed unperturbed by us pesky humans. A few were so close I had to pull back on the zoom, which happens approximately never.
The cormorants were not here this time, though, replaced by a lot of crows and gulls. The usual waterfowl were present, and the light presented both opportunities with shadow and reflection, as well as challenges with overexposure. But hey, it was actually sunny!
In all, a much better day of birding than I had expected. I’m probably good for fog for the rest of the year, though.
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
Gallery soon™.
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Common:
Raptors:
Non-birds:
What the title says. Presented using a carousel, because I’m feeling wacky. No captions because the shots are pretty self-explanatory. The sun was out, and low fog was hanging over the river, allowing for some nice shots, even using my olden iPhone 12.
Seen on what would have been an unremarkable concrete wall on the side of a building a few blocks away.
A Great Blue Heron, pondering in the river, shot with my Canon R7.
I ended the year by going out on a rare sunny afternoon and grabbing some shots in and around Sapperton Landing. Birds, hydrants, berries, a little of everything.
I also didn’t fuss around with the shots. I used the JPEG versions and edited them in the default Windows 11 Photos program. The advantage? The gallery is done, rather than being in-progress for some unspecified length of time.
Looking up, shot with my iPhone 12.
