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Days in Pictures

Eyes front, soldier!

Look out over the marshes

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Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary

A female common bluet damselfly (equal parts vivid blue and dark grey) is resting on a small rock
Common bluet

I’m still trying to capture swallows in flight with… mixed results. They’re still around, so I know I still have a few more chances before they head back south.

On the bright side, it looks like chickadees are coming out of hiding. I see and hear them a lot more than in previous weeks, though the Chickadee Empire is still nowhere near the numbers it has in other seasons.

Also, I saw goldfinches today! It’s not exactly news, I know they live around the sanctuary, but I got a few nice shots of them from the outer dyke trail, hanging out on the cattails and two males even getting into a bit of a tussle. I love shooting these birds, they are so incredibly photogenic.

Aside from that, there just weren’t a lot of birds around — ’tis the season! — the real stars were the insects: beetles, butterflies, damselflies. Red soldier beetles doing the deed, all sorts of critters on the flowers. It’s a whole different world! One of these days I’ll get a macro lens and really go to down on the tiny little creatures surrounding me.

Meantime, I’ll keep doing birds and weird hazy surrealist landscapes. The Reifel outer marshes are very good for both!

Boundary Bay

I thought I wanted to take a nice brisk walk — haven’t been this way in a hot minute — but I ended up just walking back and forth over the same few hundred metres off the golf course. Turns out, goldfinches and pollinators are what I was really looking for!

ƛ̓éxətəm (Tlahutum) Regional Park

Veggies, herbs and flowers are growing nicely in the community gardens, which means thirsty hummingbirds and lots of hungry House Finches. I don’t remember seeing them like this in previous years, but maybe that’s a very specific seasonal thing: loose groups of half a dozen or so, probably families or extended families (some individuals were clearly adult, some looked more scruffy and juvenile) wandering around, picking at whatever seemed good to eat. I imagine it’s probably annoying to the people running these gardens, but I dig their energy!

The photos

A Barn Swallow on a branch, mostly facing me
Barn Swallow
A Barn Swallowin flight, backlit above greyish water
Barn Swallow
A Barn Swallow in a tree at about eye level, head up and bravely looking out
Barn Swallow
A Barn Swallow is on a branch, at about eye level. It is turning its head to face us, beak wide open
Barn Swallow
A Black-capped Chickadee on a branch surrounded by greenery, partly in the shade. It is holding a little bit of something in its beak
Black-capped Chickadee
An immature House Sparrow on the ground, seen from above. It is partly in the shade, with its head in the light. Its beak is partly open
House Sparrow
A Great Blue Heron in flight, wings fully extended and soaring, against a solid blue sky
Great Blue Heron
A few red soldier beetles on a cluster of yellow flowers, with fuzzy green in the background. Two of them are actively mating, and others are just pollinating
Red soldier beetles
An almost abstract landscape made hazy by heat. Green reeds from the marshes, a distorted BC Ferry, and behind that are hazy blue mountains and a slightly cloud sky
Hazy landscape with ferry
A couple of long-horned beetles mating, with a red soldier beetle looking on
Long-horned beetles
A variegated meadowhawk resting on gravelly ground
Variegated meadowhawk
Closeup of a faraway container ship, between green marshes and hazy blue mountains. The ship is very hazy, reflected either in the water or the air
Hazy container ship
A Bumblebee is dusty with pollen, working on fluffy violet flowers
Dusty bumblebee
A skipper butterfly, pale orange and greyish-brown in colour, is standing on a violet flower and delicately tasting it with its long tongue
Skipper butterfly
A bumblebee and a red soldier beetle are both pollinating a violet flower
Bumblebee and red soldier beetle
A seven-spotted ladybeetle on a dry flower
Seven-spotted ladybeetle
A female American Goldfinch is standing on a cluster of dried flowers. It is partly hidden by a closer plant
American Goldfinch
Two male American Goldfinches on the same cattail. They appear to be jostling for room
American Goldfinches
A male American Goldfinch on a cattail. Background is green marshy grasses
American Goldfinch
A damselfly with green eyes, mainly blue thorax, and mainly dark abdomen (with some blue) is resting on a branch
Forktail damselfly
A female common bluet damselfly (equal parts vivid blue and dark grey) is resting on a small rock
Common bluet
A bumblebee is hanging on from a lavender flower
Bumblebee
A Sandhill Crane, wings partly orange, is resting on the grassy ground
Sandhill Crane
A leafcutter bee son some small purple flowers
Leafcutter bee
A female Anna's Hummingbird standing at the edge of a feeder, with a tiny spider hanging from her beak
Anna’s Hummingbird and spider
A Sandhill Crane standing in short grass is preening its chest.
Sandhill Crane
A gold course, with a few golfers out and about. In the background is the club house, and behind that are hazy blue mountains with some clouds
Golf course
A woodland skipper butterfly on a cluster of tansy flowers, delicately tasting them with its long tongue
Woodland skipper
A male American Goldfinch is in a tree, looking right in my direction
American Goldfinch
A bumblebee with large orange pollen acs is crawling down a cluster of tansy flowers
Bumblebee
A female American Goldfinch is in a bush, looking to the side
American Goldfinch
A red soldier beetle is pollinating at the very tip of a cluster of small yellow flowers
Red soldier beetle
A red soldier beetle on a cluster of tansy flowers
Red soldier beetle
An immature Savannah Sparrow is at the top of a dry bush
Savannah Sparrow
View from the Boundary Bay trail: tall grasses, flowers, followed by muddy tidal flats and land / mountains way in the distance
Boundary Bay
A Blue Dasher couple in the middle of mating and hanging on to some long grasses
Blue Dasher couple
An immature Great Blue Heron standing on top of a swallow nest box, and glaring at the world
Great Blue Heron
An immature Tree Swallow is on a branch, back to us but head turned so we can see its bill. Background is yellowish-green fuzzy grasses and reeds
Immature Tree Swallow
A female Wood Duck is swimming along, followed by two quite grown ducklings
Wood Duck mother and children
A little creek lined with green bushes, and some tall trees right in front
Tlahutum creek
A somewhat blurry male Common Goldeneye, partly hidden by tall green grasses
Common Goldeneye
A Song Sparrow on the ground, surrounded by grenery. It is holding some little bugs in its beak, possibly ants
Song Sparrow with food
Some kind of wasp, with mostly black body and yellow legs, on a cluster of small flowers with white petals and pink cores
Wasp on pink flowers
A pair of red soldier beetles, mating in a cluster of small flowers with white petals and pink cores
Red soldier beetles
A tiny black house fly rubbing its forelegs together, on a large circular orange flower
Fly on orange flower
Tlahutum Regional Park landscape, looking north: tall grasses, bushes and trees, and behind them some mountains wreathed in clouds
Tlahutum landscape
A hovering female Anna's Hummingbird is partly hidden by some red flowers, among green grasses
Anna’s Hummingbird
An American Robin on a metal trellis, holding a worm and some kind of winged insect in its beak. Background is fuzzy dark green foliage, and the light is a bit dim
American Robin
An immature or female House Finch, sitting on a wooden fence
House Finch

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