Tag: prince george

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2016-06-05: What I’ve seen this week

I spent some time Saturday morning watching the birds in the backyard, and happened to be at the right place at the right time to see a male and female western tanager pass through the yard.  It was only the third time I’ve ever seen these birds, and the first opportunity to photograph, so needless to say, I was thrilled.

I had another interesting sighting earlier in the week; while out on my bike I spotted an interesting bird with a very long beak.  After looking on my bird app, I figured it was likely a long-billed curlew, a first time I have seen the species.  I hopped in the car with my camera to see if they were still in the area, and luckily managed a couple photos.

That’s enough of the chatter, I hope you enjoy the birds I have seen this week 🙂

 

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A dark-eyed oregon junco with her chicks.  Even though the ground was full of sunflower seeds that I spilled earlier in the day whilst filling up feeders, the chicks still wanted Mom to feed them.

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I was watching the hummingbirds with camera in hand when I saw a flash of yellow land behind some branches.  I moved slowly to get a better vantage point, worried I would scare the bird off before getting to ID it.  
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The male and female tanagers arrived at separate times and only stayed a minute or to.  I was really lucky to have seen them.

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A long-billed curlew.
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A pair of long-billed curlews with a chick (mid photo far right).  I was taking photos when pulled over on the side of the main road into my neighbourhood, so I didn’t spend any time adjusting settings; a couple quick photos then I was off.
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2016-05-08: What I’ve seen this week

I just took a pause in editing the photos for this post for some breakfast, and spotted a pair of deer in the yard.  It’s overcast and they are heading deeper into the bush, so no sense in trying to get a photo to add to the post.

This week, I’ve got some slightly better photos of the red breasted sapsucker that is hanging out at the top of my street, as well as some photos of a yellow bellied sapsucker (at least, to the best of my identification abilities, that is what it is, though they aren’t supposed to be in my area at all.

Here are my choices for the week, I hope you enjoy.

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On my Saturday morning walk, I heard the loveliest singing from the trees, but was really having a hard time seeing the bird to get an ID. Once I loaded the photos onto the computer, I realized it was the yellow rumped warbler.
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A yellow bellied sapsucker?
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I believe this is a yellow bellied sapsucker… but if you have other ideas, please let me know!
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The red breasted sapsucker.
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The red breasted sapsucker loves to hang around the utility poles and make quite the racket.
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I was surprised that this bunny hopped out of the bushes and close to the road when he/she could easily see Spencer and I walking along. I snapped this just before a car came along; luckily it hopped back into the bush and not the other direction.
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2016-05-01: What I’ve seen this week

The back yard continues to get busier, as more and more birds are heading into town.  The warm weather has also meant trips to the garden centre to start sprucing up the yard, and getting some colourful flowers to contrast the sea of green.

This weekend has flown by, and there is still much to do, so I will leave it at that and get to the photos.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

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Not the sharpest photo, but nice to have evidence of a few rufous hummingbirds getting along, and sharing the feeder.
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A pileated woodpecker seen on a morning walk.
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The purple finches have arrived, and along with the yellow pumped warbler, are filling the yard with lovely songs.
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The yellow pumped warbler – he’s quite a shy one!
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From the trunk up… I have no idea what type of tree this is, but it was one of the things that caught my eye while doing a photo walk downtown early this week with my local photo club.
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Lovely blossoms, but again I ave no idea what variety.
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I saw three deer while out on my bike Sunday afternoon, and then this single one spent a great deal of time in the yard on Monday.
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I snapped a few quick photos of this bird before it flew away; I was unable to tell until I got it on the computer that it is a red breasted sapsucker.
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Another view of the lovely deer that visited on Monday.
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Enjoying the backyard salt lick.
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2016-04-24: What I’ve seen this week

After a few fairly quiet weeks at the feeders, the backyard is coming alive again with new visitors.  The warm weather has brought in the rufous hummingbirds, and I’ve also seen a yellow rumped warbler around the yard.  There are at least one pair of pine siskins feedings on sunflower seeds as well.

Out on my walks, I’ve been seeing bunnies every day (including a pair that looked as if they were planning a bunny rendezvous in the near future) but I wasn’t able to capture any decent photos of them this week.

Onto the pictures, have a great week everyone!

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A male rufous hummingbird (with his tongue sticking out just a little bit).
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A yellow rumped warbler (Audubon’s).
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A yellow rumped warbler hanging around the back garden.
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A pair of crows I spotted on an early morning walk.
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A female rufous hummingbird.
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A pair of pine siskins.
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A ruffed grouse I spotted while out walking.

 

 

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2016-04-17: What I’ve seen this week

It’s been a great week for birds around the neighbourhood, especially yesterday, when I managed to capture photos of 5 different species in one morning walk (plus 3 different bunnies).

Wishing everyone a wonderful week 🙂

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I actually saw a pair of flickers yesterday, and while they conveniently perched together in a tree, I didn’t manage to get any shots of the two together worth sharing, as they were so high up, and I didn’t have to big lens. This one was working hard tapping at this dead tree; I heard it long before I saw it.
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A hairy woodpecker pauses from pecking between the tree branches early yesterday morning.
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A sure sign of spring are the robins singing from the treetops every morning. I caught this one searching for worms on the roadside.
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Earlier this week, I saw frantic activity below a large pine tree; I snapped loads of photos just so I could try to identify the birds. This was the best that I managed, but I include it here as it was a new species for me, a white winged crossbill.
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The juncos are back in town, but generally don’t visit the feeder; they are part of the clean up crew that keeps that area beneath the feeder tidy (thanks guys!).
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The pileated woodpecker was tapping away at the top of this pole, making quite the racket.
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One of the 3 bunnies I saw yesterday; this one was right next to my driveway at the end of our walk. Luckily, Spencer only barks at them about 1 in 10 times that he sees them. Mostly he just patiently waits for me to finish taking a photograph.
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I’ve been hearing the ruffed grouse drumming for some time now, but this was the first time I’ve seen one this year. This beauty hung around under the bird feeder, cleaning up fallen sunflower seeds.
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I was happy I was able to quietly sneak outside and get a few photos (I was hiding behind the garden hose reel so I didn’t disturb the grouse browsing).
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Sunflower seed success.
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2016-04-10: What I’ve seen this week

I went for a quick drive this morning, after hearing about tree swallows and potentially mountain bluebirds nesting in a field fairly close to home.  I was rewarded with seeing both.  I’ve never seen mountain bluebirds before this, and the intensity of the males feathers reminds me of the brightly coloured birds of Southern Africa.

It’s far too nice today though to spend much time indoors, so I’ll get to the photos and wish everyone a wonderful week ahead. 🙂

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The first time you ask your partner to do something around the house…

 

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The 87th time you’ve asked your partner to do that very same thing around the house!
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So nice to have the sun shining to show off the beautiful iridescent feathers of the tree swallow.
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A perfect portrait pose.
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My first view of a Mountain Bluebird.
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One couple was hanging out around nest box 20.
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Another preferred nest box 30.  How I wish I could have captured the male and female together.  Perhaps next weekend!
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The shockingly blue male Mountain Bluebird.
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Moments before he took to the skies.
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2016-04-03: What I’ve seen this week

It’s been a very quiet week here for photos.  We’ve been having some lovely, and unseasonably warm weather (20C in the afternoons!) which has really changed the dynamics with the backyard birds.  The redpoll groups had been waning over the last couple weeks, but I’ve not seen any for days, so I assume they’ve finally headed back north.

The snow is all gone (hurrah!), and one creature that hasn’t caught up to that are the neighbourhood  bunnies.  They are very conspicuous in their white coats at the moment…making it easy for me to spot them while out on early morning walks.  I’ve seen bunnies a few times this week; I assume it’s always the same one since it’s in the same area each day.

That’s all I have for today, enjoy your week everyone 🙂

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2016-03-20: What I’ve seen this week

Happy first day of spring! 🙂

It’s a very bird centred post this week – I had some infrequent visitors to the yard that I managed to capture, and I took a trip out to Vanderhoof on Saturday to visit the Nechako Migratory Bird Sanctuary, where there a currently a fairly large population of swans.  The light wasn’t in my favour, but I made the best of it (and be sure to check out tomorrow’s Monochrome Monday post, where my favourites from Saturday will be featured).  The lacklustre light has let me play around with editing a little more than I would otherwise, which has actually been a lot of fun.

And with that, I’ll leave it to the photos.

Have a wonderful week!

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Not a phenomenal photo by any stretch; I just think it’s so cool that I can capture Jupiter and 4 moons with my set-up. From top right: Io, Ganymede, Jupiter, Europa, Callisto. Being out looking at the stars makes me want to go rematch the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. 1/8sec, f6.3, ISO 1000
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Since I was already outside taking a picture of Jupiter, ignoring the moon just didn’t seem right. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 1000
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I frequently see magpies around the neighbourhood, but it’s rare to see them hanging around the yard. This one stuck around just long enough to grab a photo through my office window. By the time I got outside, it was long gone. 1/1250sec, f6.0, ISO 1000
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Another bird I often see in the neighbourhood, but rarely in the yard. I’m pretty sure this is a raven, not a crow, but I’ll be totally honest, from photos I have a hard time distinguishing them, especially when perched. 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 1000
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A couple of swans having a morning gossip session. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 800
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I was told the number of swans that were there Saturday was really low (only maybe a hundred or so), but for me, I’ve never seen more than a couple at one time, so Iw as still impressed. The chattering was non-stop.

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For me, this one is all about the wing shape.
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Going for a little pre-flight jog across the water 🙂 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 1600
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As soon as one group set off (apparently for foraging at a nearby farmer’s field) the rest soon followed. I was happy to capture a group of them in various stagesof taking off.

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So low to the water, the wingtips are nearly touching.

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Off they go. 1/2500sec, f6.0, ISO 1250

 

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2016-03-13: What I’ve seen this week

Last Sunday brought clear skies and a showing of the aurora; unfortunately I knew I would be really busy Monday morning, and decided to just hang around the yard and snap a few photos.  I did see a few glimpses, but I’m sure if I would have headed for an area with fewer tall trees, the view would have been outstanding.

I spent a bit of time outside today watching, and photographing, the redpolls.  I don’t think they will be here for much longer, but I know their absence will be filled with other birds heading back after wintering further south.

Signs of spring are all over the place; tree branches in bud, and more visible ground than snow, though yesterday we had quite the afternoon storm with driving wind, hail and a bit of snow.  My attempts to photograph the near sideways hail left me flat.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week; here are the photos.

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Aurora glow and a satellite passing by.
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The house, garage and forest getting in the way of a clear shot!
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There was a green glow to one side of the house, and magenta on the other.
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The hairy woodpecker stopped by one morning for some suet and to browse the trees in the back yard.

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The lovely redpolls.  I will be sad to see them leave, they are very spirited and chirpy in the yard.

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