Buttertubs Merlins

Today I went to Buttertubs Marsh. I haven't been there for quite some time as I have been busy with all of the activity at Neck Point. Buttertubs has it's own kind of action but can be quite slow some days.

The Merlins were out as they usually are this time of year. One was a mature bird possibly a parent of the second bird. The plumage on the mature merlin seemed quite clean, colorful, and well defined where as the second Merlin looked a bit beat up like it's adult plumage had yet to grow in.

Their main interest was to fly out over the marsh at high speed and snatch Dragon Flies out of the air. It seemed as though the mature Merlin was prompting the other bird as it would come and harrass it occaisionally and then disapear again. This I gathered was the parents way of motivating the immature bird to hunt on it's own.

There was a multitude of smaller birds at the marsh as well such as Black Headed Grosbeaks, several different types of warblers, plus the usual ocupants like Robins, Red Winged Blackbirds and Cedar Waxwings.

Visit to Colony Farm In Coquitlam

Hi there,
This week I had the pleasure of visiting Colony Farm in Coquitlam. It's Quite the place for a birder/photographer like me. Lots of activity but somewhat subdued at this time of year. I really needed to be there about a month or so earlier to catch all of the major action with the mating and nest building. Apparently there have bee several sightings of the Lazuli Bunting as was noted on the news board at the head of the path before starting the walk in. There are also lots of different kinds of swallows including the Rough Winged Swallow and of course the regulars like the Tree Swallow and Violet Green Swallow. There are plenty of fly catchers there too such as the Eastern King Bird and Willow Fly Catcher.

I was hoping to see a Green Heron on our walk as I had heard that they too were there on the odd occaision. To my delight we hadn't gotten more than a couple of hundred feet into the farm when an immature Green Heron flushed from one of the ditches right in front of us. Using my old 20D and a Canon 100-400mm lens that I had aquired some time ago, I managed to get a couple of decent shots. Too bad the parents were'nt around anywhere as their plumage is supposed to be quite a bit more colorful than the new fledglings.

Another Great time to visit Colony Farm is in the fall when migrants stop by to rest. In the winter there have been reports of a rare and beautiful Great Grey Owl that has shown up for the last couple of years around Christmas time and usually stays until the end of January. Due to scheduling and financial restraints I couldn't make it when he was there but I am hoping he will show up again this winter so I can see him in person. Hopefully I will have all of my regular gear replaced by then and I can get higher quality shots.

July Tanagers

I must appologize as it's been a while since I have posted anything in this blog. I have been plagued by personal theft which has left me temporarily without my camera gear.

Here is a shot from my last outing with my camera. It is of the beautiful Western Tanager. Normally you can't get very close to these birds as they tend to spend a great deal of time up in the forest canopy searching for bugs. The male is brightly colored with a yellow body and a red head and has black and white wings and a black tail. To see them for the first time you would think that someone's tropical bird had escaped. You wouldn't be too far wrong to make that assumtion either.

Tanagers originate in South America where they spend the winter. The purpose of coming up to Canada and other northern climates in the summer is for breeding. The Western Tanager Male uses his red pigment to attract the female. Normally in the off season the male is all yellow but when he migrates north he feeds on certain insects in the fir trees that contain a special chemical. This chemical has the effect of turning his head feathers a bright red during mating season. The female picks the male with the reddest head. This ensures that he will be a good provider of insects for the young when they establish their nest. The Tanager pictured here is in post breeding plumage but you can still see remnants of his red pigment closer to his beak.

I'll be back with more picture blog updates once I have my camera gear replaced.
Untill then, take care and enjoy the summer.

Great Horned Owl at Neck Point

Friday was one of those weird nights where you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. When I pulled into the Neck Point parking lot I knew that I was in for some owl shooting by all of the commotion that the Robins were making. Just off of the parking lot by a couple of hundred feet was a Great Horned Owl. I got my camera gear ready and headed over to the tree where all of the noise was coming from. Sure enough there he was with an added suprise. He had a freshly killed rabbit in his talons.

I have photographed the Owls at Neck Point for years but had never seen one with any prey. This was my lucky night. I was kind of excited and needed to hurry because my light was running out. The owl kept on changing perches and moving from one tree to another. I think he must have thought that I was after his dinner. At first I thought that the animal it had caught was someone's cat because of the distinct black and white tuxedo type markings but later I could see that it was one of the local farrow rabbits that inhabit the park. The Owl finally came to rest on a large fir tree branch about 50 feet up on the side of the hill. It paused there for several minutes while a flock of crows attacked it and that is when I got the shot that is pictured here. Not a bad clarity for a 1/2 second exposure at around 9:00pm in the evening.

McGregor Marsh - Home of the Grosbeak

This week I have been spending a lot of time at McGregor Marsh at the top of Rutherford hill. Tons of stuff going on in there like a lot of places this time of year. There seems to be a large amount of Black Headed Grosbeaks there along with a large number of Cedar Waxwings and other assorted summer birds. If you are lucky you may catch sight of a Western Tanager down near the ponds in the old dead trees. The Grosbeaks usually like to sing from a high perch but there are times when you can get close and find them down low to get a quick snap shot. It took me three or four times out there to get the picure of this guy on the right. He is like a guard and seems to man the entrance to the marsh. A couple of Willow Flycatchers help him out in the same area just to go scurrying away to warn the other birds when anyone approches. Along the way there is evidence of some beaver activity where the upper marsh drains into a metal culvert on it's way to the pond closest to the main road.

If you stay on the road you can access the upper pond which is alive with all sorts of summer birds now such as different types of Verios and lots of different species of Warblers.

Brookwood Marsh - A Busy Place

Hi There,
During a breif break in the rain I took a trip out to Brookwood Marsh just off of Rutherford Road. Even though the weather wasn't great the place was just buzzing with bird activity. Everything you can think of from the raucus Red Wing Black Birds to Wood Ducks and Yellow Warblers. For the uninitiated, Brookwood is a rather special little microcosm right in the middle of a large subdivision. It can't be much bigger than a couple of acres but it is packed with life. There are houses all around the outside of the marsh and even a small children's play ground but life goes on for the creatures that dwell there including birds, turtles and frogs. Although I have never seen it personally, it is said that there is even an active beaver that lives there.

Normally I have quite a bit of trouble with certain birds in that they are very easily spooked and hard to approch for a good shot. As a lot of the birds are used to people at Brookwood it makes many of these species more accessable to being photographed. Here with this post are some example shots of what used to be a difficult bird to shoot, the Wood Duck. The female had to run from other ducks because she had caught a juvinile Bull Frog and they all wanted a bite. It took her about ten minutes but she finally managed to swallow it whole and still kicking.

Tune it for the next post sometime soon!

Pileated Woodpeckers Nest at Neck Point

Hello All,
Just finished a nice shoot at the Pileated Woodpeckers nest at Neck Point. Got to love the chicks. Real cute with their "Punk Rock" hair styles. Not quite as easy as you might think to photograph though as the adults only fed the chicks about twice an hour. After quite a bit of patience I managed to get a couple of good shots. Most of the time however, the parents would cover the hole while feeding the chicks so it was impossible for any kind of good family portraits.

I will spend a bit of time near the nest and attempt to use my "Better Beamer" flash unit to get some more detail in the adults plumage at lower ISO levels and hopefully higher shutter speeds.

While waiting for the adults to return to the nest I could hear other bird activity all around me. Twice today I heard a Western Tanager go by. Although I did not see him I could tell he was around by his distinctive call. Also, after heading towards the car I spent about ten minutes chasing a Black Headed Grosbeak to no availe as just as I would zero in on him he would realize that I was watching him and take off.

Stay tuned for further postings!!!