Category Archives: birds

Problem hawk

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Alistair

  Sometimes I just don’t know what it is I am looking at.  Consider this hawk seen this morning: what is it? Suggestions are welcome.  

Posted in birds | 5 Comments

Headless fish flying

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Alistair

  Unexpectedly, many of the fish flying around our skies are headless. That fish fly is courtesy of the good graces of ospreys. Yet, it is striking that many of these flying fish lack a head. After catching a fish, … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, fish | 1 Comment

Caught mid-gronk

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Alistair

  The Great Blue Heron is fairly visible — yet it is listed as locally vulnerable. It is almost always silent — yet it was photographed mid-gronk. In one’s imagination, the raspy gronk of the heron is atavistic: the call of … Continue reading →

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Sub-alpine delights

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Alistair

  There are delights in the high country that are unknown, or uncommon, in the valleys. Items, below, were seen a few days ago at an elevation of about 1600 metres. This is the Western Anemone (Pulsatilla occidentalis). Another term for … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, mammals, wildflowers | 2 Comments

Heron’s low yield

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Alistair

  Being a Great Blue Heron is hard work: Repeated attempts at fishing produced rather little. Over a period of twenty minutes, a wading heron made 37 lightning thrusts into the water as it tried to capture various fish it had … Continue reading →

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Juvenile feeds itself

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Alistair

  Robins in the spring follow a pattern. Early on, the adults hunt for worms or moths, capture them, and then pause before taking their prize back to the nest to feed the chicks. Photographing an adult with such a … Continue reading →

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Dead Duck Day

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Alistair

  A month ago, I posted a story, Mallard’s #metoo, about the gang rape of a mommy mallard. At the time, I did not relate my observations to a TED Talk, How a dead duck changed my life, I had … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary | 1 Comment

Seasonal birds

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Alistair

  Birds come and go. Here are a few to be seen in June. The Cedar Waxwing is primarily a bird of the warm season. It breeds around the Lake. The Warbling Vireo is only found around here from May … Continue reading →

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Merganser mommy

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Alistair

  Postings this May have been dramatic: spatting redwing blackbirds, loons fighting, mallard being raped, grizzlies foraging, many mating toads. Maybe it is time for a lovely, but non-dramatic, sighting: a family of Common Mergansers. Two merganser chicks ride on mommy’s … Continue reading →

Posted in birds | 3 Comments

Rapidity of May

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Alistair

  The rapidity of May is the speed of change that takes place as the region shifts from winter to summer. Events pile up on my camera. Here are a few of them. The rising waters of the Lake overflow … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bugs, herptiles, mammals | 6 Comments