Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)

When Fern and I were out at Goldstream Park last week I was pleased to spy this little fellow, a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), hopping around in the undergrowth and fallen logs while he searched for the little insects that are his diet. Another new species to add to my life-list! It's wonderful that no matter how often I go out into the forest I almost always see something new and interesting or some new facet of an old friend. Later this week when I've had a chance to edit the video, I'll share a Hooded Merganser mating dance I saw for the first time this week, though I've enjoyed these birds' winter company for more than a few years.

Puffballs

These puffballs look like they just landed from outer space. Sometimes they pop up as individuals (above) and other times a whole colony appears (below).

Goldstream Park

Sometimes light and water create magic. - Fern

Coral Fungus

Fern and I went out to Goldstream Park yesterday to see if we could see any salmon spawning. We saw a few - immense fish tiredly lolling in backwaters on the edges of the stream - but the run has clearly only just begun. A visit to Goldstream is always a delight in any case, just to walk among the immense trees and lush moss-gardens. Above is a fungus new to me - apparently there are a large number of fungi in this "coral" family so I cannot identify this one precisely. No matter what's its name, it's a beauty.

Hooker's Fairy-bell (Prosartes hookeri)

While in Goldstream Park last week I noticed this little wildflower that I had not identified previously. It is called Hooker's Fairy-bell (Prosartes hookeri), named after Joseph Hooker, a renowned botanist. Those little white flowers turn into bright red berries when they mature.

Goldstream Park

Most of the wildflowers I've been photographing lately are found in conjunction with the Garry Oak Ecosystem. Last week Fern and I went out to another eco-zone - the temperate rain forest that is found in Goldstream Park. Though not so rich in spring wildflowers as the sunnier and more open Garry Oak locations our rain forest is also full of burgeoning growth at this time of year. Above, a beam of sunlight catches the mosses and young leaves on some Bigleaf Maple trees.

Goldstream Park

There have been lots of posts on this blog of Goldstream Park, like this one
and this one. It's worth a visit at any time of year but in the fall, it is spectacular! - Fern

Goldstream Park

While out at Goldstream Park looking for new growth in the underbush, I found these instead. A salmon was probably dragged up onto the bank by scavengers and by the spring nothing was left but the bones.

Green-Winged Teal (Anas carolinensis)

Since I began to observe local birds and attempt to identify and photograph them I have been amazed to discover just how many different kinds there are, especially among the duck family. Here's one I've only seen once, the Green-Winged Teal (Anas carolinensis). This one and his mate were busily dabbling in some very mucky water at the head of Finlayson Arm in Goldstream Park. The photo above is practically the only time this drake had his head above water while I was there.

The Daily Fungus

I've fallen in love with fungi. They are such wonderful subjects - they are practically infinitely varied (about 1.5 million species); they come in all sorts of interesting colors, shapes and sizes; they stay nice and still and generally grow where the light is soft. What more could a photographer ask? What's more, they are a very weird and interesting life form. The more I find out about them the more they fascinate me. Wikipedia has a good article on fungi and is also host to the Fungi Portal with loads more information.

Crème Brulée

Maybe I'm just hungry this morning but the cap of this mushroom looks to me like some kind of delicious little cake topped with crème brulée or maybe carmelized sugar or... maybe crème brulée drizzled with carmelized sugar. (This probably means it's time to crawl directly to the emergency sugar stash....)

About Fungi

I almost always identify birds, animals and flowering plants that I photograph for this blog. Mosses and lichens and fungi however, are usually not identified. However, I will here share a bit of information about fungi that I have just learned from Wikipedia. Fungi are a "kingdom" meaning they are distinct from the other "kingdoms", animals and plants. One of the characteristics that differentiates them from plants is that their cell walls are made of chitin rather than cellulose. The kingdom contains about 1.5 million species of which only about 5% have been categorized. This makes me feel better about not being able to identify the various fungi I photograph. The fungus above was photographed recently in Goldstream Park near Victoria.

Trio

Like I said a few days ago, it's mushroom season.

Mmmmmmm

Another Spring

This photo so full of rich greens can serve as a suitable introduction to the next few days' posts. It's from a trip out to Goldstream Park last Friday when I realized that autumn in the rain forest here is very like spring in the incredible burgeoning of plant life. The mosses and lichens of course are thriving in the cool wetness much more than during summer's dry heat. But it is really the mushrooms, molds and other fungi that that caught my attention recently. They're popping up everywhere in all sorts of brilliant colors and odd shapes. Those in the photo below may serve as an example. Anyone know what they are? (*see note below)December 11, 2010: While browsing through an excellent local nature blog, "Island Nature" about nature on Vancouver Island, I came across a short article about this fungus. It's called Carbon Antlers or Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon).

Selective Focus

One way to deal with the overwhelming biomass of the rain forest is to focus down. As usual, I always try to get everything into one picture and I really have to think in order to stop and look at the distinct parts that make up the big picture. Above, instead of everything (see yesterday's pics), I managed to get it down to two items, mushrooms and moss. This is much more peaceful.

Rain Forest

Two weeks ago I posted a couple of photos of a waterfall in Goldstream Provincial Park, just outside Victoria. One of the most daunting aspects of a trip to Goldstream is that the forest is so overwhelming. It is such a rich, lush, busy chaotic environment it is very difficult to capture in a photograph. However, I offer these two photographs as a first attempt to picture some of our local rain forest. Above is a fairly typical bit of the forest and below is the waterfall in context.

Water in Motion

Water can be a challenging thing to photograph because it is rarely still. Today's photos are examples of a technique of photographing water that I find very attractive. This lovely silky effect of falling water is produced by long time exposures. The challenge comes from how to achieve long time exposures (4 seconds for these two photos) when there is lots of light. Under normal daylight conditions leaving the shutter open for 4 seconds would blur the waterfall beautifully but the photo would be badly overexposed. The solution is to cut down on the light using a filter over the lens. The filter designed for this purpose is called a neutral density filter. It blocks all visible wave lengths of light equally. Less light means the photographer can use a slower shutter speed or a time exposure. As is so often the case in life, however, a solution generates a different problem. Neutral density filters are hard to find and expensive. So how about today's photos - did I win the lottery? No, it turns out there is another solution. Many photographers will have a polarizing filter in their camera bag. These are readily available and relatively inexpensive filters generally used to cut glare and harsh reflections. The trick is to use two polarizing filters, one in front of the other. By rotating the front filter one can adjust how much light passes into the camera.(I didn't discover this myself but found it online in some forum or info page I've since lost. My thanks to the photographer who figured this out.) Hope you like these silky waterfalls since we will be seeing more of them from time to time. This particular waterfall was photographed yesterday in Goldstream Park, just outside Victoria.

Yellow Wood Violet (Viola glabella)

Roses are red,
Violets are blue... except when they're yellow, like the one above. Up until recently I always thought violets were violet colored, a sort of bluish purple. The variety pictured above, however, was recently encountered in Goldstream Park and is a common native wildflower known as the Yellow Wood Violet, Stream Violet or Smooth Violet (Viola glabella).

Western Trillium (Trillium ovatum)

Here's another spring wildflower encountered in Goldstream Park recently, our local species of Trillium, called Western Trillium (Trillium ovatum). Initially white, the flower turns this shade of purple as it ages.