{"id":4213,"date":"2012-02-18T19:01:05","date_gmt":"2012-02-19T03:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=4213"},"modified":"2012-02-19T06:30:26","modified_gmt":"2012-02-19T14:30:26","slug":"best-bird-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=4213","title":{"rendered":"Best bird last"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past five days, I have seen a quite a few species of birds without an apparent theme emerging for a posting. So, here is a sampler&#8212;with the best observation saved for last. How do I decide what is best? Simply by noting that this is a good image of a rare sighting (at least for me).<\/p>\n<p>I start with what&#8212;although not a yard bird&#8212;is something I see with great regularity: the American dipper. Here are two shots. The first one shows it diving as it searches for food in Kokanee Creek.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4218\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/dipper120214bs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The second shows it surfacing with a delectable, possibly a grub, certainly something quickly eaten.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4222\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/dipper120214cs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Along with the dipper were the omnipresent Canada Geese. I rather enjoyed this view of three of them illuminated by the setting sun against the blue of the Lake.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4217\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/geese120214as.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Raptors are always a favourite. Here is a Red-tailed Hawk taking flight.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4216\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/redtailedhawk120215a2s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Finches are birds which occasionally arrive in the winter to feed. First there are two Pine Grosbeaks. This female was discovered eating grit on a back road. It is named for its rather substantial bill used for crunching seeds.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4223\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/pinegrosbeak120215s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">Here is one feasting on snowberries. This one may be a male, but it isn&#8217;t clear.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4219\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/pinegrosbeak120217cs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">The next birds turn up at feeders. I start with one of the more satisfying shots I have managed of a rather common bird: the Song Sparrow&#8212;I like this view.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4221\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/songsparrow120218s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">A Pine Siskin is neither rare nor common.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4226\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/pinesiskin120218s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">The Redpoll is an irruptive species from the north. This one has food on its face.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4220\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/redpoll120218as.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">There is always the ever-present heron. This one is back lit. The light of the setting Sun passed through its bill shows its yellows and blues to good advantage.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4215\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/heron120214s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">Finally, the best observation of this last week: a Golden Eagle. Granted I saw this same bird a couple of weeks earlier, but this is a better shot of it perched in a tree.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4214\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/goldeneagle120215as.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p onmousedown=\"return false\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past five days, I have seen a quite a few species of birds without an apparent theme emerging for a posting. So, here is a sampler&#8212;with the best observation saved for last. How do I decide what is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=4213\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4213"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4241,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4213\/revisions\/4241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}