Reifel Bird Sanctuary
I didn’t think we’d still have fledglings, let alone swallows. But Barn Swallows do stick around later than their Tree cousins!
I don’t remember seeing this particular pattern on a hoverfly. It seems every week I’m discovering a new species!
I learned what these things are called: rose hips. You can make jam out of them! Or, alternatively, if they’re just sitting on a fence, shoot them for a lovely artsy shot.
Teenagers, amirite? Always rasslin’.
Close to The Rasslin’ Mallards (my new band name!), this crane was foraging on the ground, then moved into the water to have a drink. That had the nice side effect of getting its bill all nice and clean.
I don’t usually post landscape photos from the outer dike trail… but this one just speaks to me. There’s texture here, and shapes, and even the shallow depth of field kinda works!
I have no idea what’s going on here, or what all these little black bugs are. Something like aphids? In some spots I noticed some red soldier beetles hanging around them, so now I’m imagining them as serfs and the beetles as the protecting knights or something.
Glamour shot, #144922
They are so common, but so cute!
Watch as I struggle to take good photos of goldfinches, even as it poses and preens against the light.
I am all about contrasts, and Northern Bluets sure do offer a lot of them.
These weird little guys are called yellow-collared scape moths!
And this is a female Western Pondhawk dragonfly. The one we saw at Sturgeon Slough, with a green-yellow gradient on her abdomen, was also an adult female, and it seems there’s some variation with the colour scheme. Females are green overall, and males light blue.
Oh look, another Mallard glamour shot. Note that this is an eclipse male!
Just as we were heading out, we saw a Peregrine Falcon! Technically not a lifer, because now I’m remembering our Terra Nova guide pointing a couple out, but I don’t think I actually saw them. So I’m saying it here: lifer. Those black cheek patches against a white throat are very distinctive, and that is absolutely a falcony silhouette.
Shut up I can stop shooting skippers anytime.
Hello yellow
Boundary Bay
These guys were out on the bay on their horsies? Never seen that before. It looks like they set out from the foot of 72nd street (just as we did) then headed straight out to the beach so as not to trample vegetation too much. Good for them! I assume this sort of thing is allowed, since it’s hard to imagine a group sneaking around on a damn horse.
A Tiger Swallowtail!
This beautiful Bald Eagle was sitting on a power line thing and mostly seemed to ignore the puny humans respectfully keeping their distance… until I crossed the trail and got maybe a little too close, and then it glared in my direction for a while. Not straight at me, I don’t think, but it definitely looks like I registered somehow.
Blackie Spit
Yeah, let’s do a few more landscapes shall we? This is a view north from the beach.
And a red soldier beetle, just hanging out
More hanging out for this Greater Yellowlegs
And this grasshopper? I just learned from Ze Frank videos that grasshoppers and locusts and crickets are not synonymous, but now I don’t know what this particular critter is.
I like shooting these pilings
And finally, here’s a honeybee on some yellow flowers, as we slide into golden hour.
