Song Sparrow

Here is one of natures great singers, an aptly named Song Sparrow. Here is a little of what Wikipedia has to say about their song:

The songs are very crisp, clear, and precise, making them easily distinguishable by human ears. A particular song is determined not only by pitch and rhythm but also by the timbre of the trills. Although one bird will know many songs—as many as 20 different tunes with as many as 1000 improvised variations on the basic theme, unlike thrushes, the song sparrow usually repeats the same song many times before switching to a different song.

This photo was taken in April 2010 in the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Here's another of Victoria's sparrows, a Golden-crowned Sparrow. This one was photographed at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary in 2014.

From Christmas Hill

I've recently shown you some views from high points in the city. Today's view of the city was taken on a recent visit Fern and I made to Christmas Hill, another great little Garry Oak park. You can see glimpses of Swan Lake in the foreground. It's also part of this nature preserve.

Best of 2015 - 1

While browsing among the year's photos looking for calendar shots I began to think that some of the year's posts were worth a second look and since I tend to be a bit housebound during the winter I'm going to finish this year by a little retrospective. Above is a Double Crested Cormorant photographed in March 2015 at Swan Lake. I like this photo because it shows some aspects of this cormorant that I rarely see. The beautifully mottled feather markings are particularly visible as is the red around the beak and the remarkable emerald eyes. Usually when I see cormorants all I see is a large black bird flying low over the water. This photo reminds me that they are actually quite spectacular. As far as the Mallard Drake to the right is concerned, I like how close up it is, how you can see right into his eye. Mallards always look so peaceful and happy.

Looking Southwest

I think this is the best view overlooking the city. Here we are looking southwest from the top of Christmas Hill. In the foreground is Swan Lake.

Savannah Sparrow

Like many other birds at this time of year this little Savannah Sparrow was busily gathering nest materials when I took this photo out at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary on Wednesday.

Song Sparrow

The last couple of times I went out to Swan Lake I was hoping to get some photos of Marsh Wrens. These perky little birds are especially active and visible in the spring but not, it seems, quite yet. Instead I've been seeing many Song Sparrows posing beautifully on the cat-tail stalks, a symphony of brown and gold. So here's a Song Sparrow (above) with a promise of Marsh Wrens to come.

Dapples

Whenever I see a Double-crested Cormorant up close I am always dazzled by their dappled plumage. The colors and pattern are so subtle - if you see one from a little further away it just looks black, but up close, what riches! They have a wonderful color scheme - the jade-green eyes are also very striking. A visit to Swan Lake never disappoints.

Spring Blush

Here's what Swan Lake looked like earlier this week. There's just the faintest green blush of leaf buds on the various kinds of bush and willows that edge the lake, and lots of pussy-willows.

Barred Owl

Just as I was leaving the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary last week another photographer drew my attention to this Barred Owl having a snooze in a tree near the exit trail. There were actually two owls but the other one,perched a little below this one, was obscured by branches. Owls are becoming another favorite model of mine since, like Great Blue Herons, they often sit unmoving for long periods of time, thus enabling even torpid photographers like myself to get a photograph.

Ring-necked Ducks

I've mentioned before that one of the difficulties of identifying birds is that members of the same species don't always look the same. Here's another example I saw out at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary earlier this week. Both the ducks pictured above are Ring-necked Ducks. The one on the left is a mature male in breeding plumage. The one on the right is a juvenile.

Up Close and Personal

I went out to Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary on Wednesday to see what birds were there. I saw a very nice assortment though nothing unusual - Ring-necked Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, Lesser Scaup, Spotted Towhee, Red-winged Blackbirds, Sparrows of several kinds, Downy Woodpecker, Anna's Hummingbird, American Coot, Bufflehead Duck, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Marsh Wren. The Mallard Ducks at Swan Lake are very friendly and the drake above posed so photogenically in his new breeding plumage that I couldn't resist taking a dozen photos of him.

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

Just to round out a birdy week, above is a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) that I took a few days ago at Swan Lake. The stripes on its head indicate that it is a juvenile. I saw an adult of the species in breeding plumage at Swan Lake in April. To the right is a photo I took at that time. I suspect that young bird above is an offspring of last mating season. Below is an adult Pied-billed Grebe in non-breeding plumage, photo taken a few days ago at Swan Lake. Here we have the same species but in three different plumages depending on the time of year and the age of the bird.

Three's Company

Out at Swan Lake yesterday I enjoyed this trio catching some rays.

Some Ducks

Ah, for the days when I imagined that bird identification was simply a matter of checking off significant features. What I am discovering as I plunge a little more deeply into actually trying to identify birds is that they wear different costumes at different times of the year as well as at different times during their lives. So any given species may have a a half dozen different costumes depending on its gender, age and whether it is breeding season or not. Thus I can tell you that the duck on the left above is a Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) because of its very distinctive large flat bill. But I don't know its age or gender for sure. The yellow eye makes me think it's a male but the orange-ish bill makes me think it's a female. And though I've checked with several reputable field guides I can't really tell for sure whether it is a juvenile or an adult in non-breeding season plumage. In breeding season the male's distinctive plumage makes gender id easy and there don't appear to be any juveniles around at that time of year.

On the right above is a Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) but once again, for similar reasons, I am unable to be sure whether it is a male or female or a juvenile of either gender. Thanks to the internet I can check these identifications with more knowledgeable people on a local birding forum. I'll let you know what I find out.

Both of these ducks were photographed a few days ago at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary on the outskirts of Victoria in Saanich.

Natural Framing

I've always liked the feeling of photos where the scene is framed by something within the photo itself. Here some branches arching over the path nicely frame the wooden floating walkway that crosses one end of Swan Lake. A number of unusual birds have been reported at Swan Lake recently but when they heard I was coming to see them they all took the day off. Only my good friends the duck family showed up so we'll have a look at some ducks tomorrow. Swan Lake, oddly enough, doesn't have any swans although there are lots of swans in lagoons along the coast near Victoria.

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On top of the page today is a new header graphic. Hope you like it.

Grumpy?

Great Blue Herons are quite common in North America and I see them often on my morning walk. I like them because they are large, not too shy, and spend a lot of time standing very still - the photographer's ideal bird. However, even after a successful morning's fishing they always wear an expression of deep gloom, despair and desolation. Mallard Ducks, on the other hand, always seem to be smiling and calm. This has set me to thinking about how we interpret the expressions on the faces of birds and about human faces also. I have a particular empathy with the Great Blue Herons pictured here because I am often surprised by the expression on the face that looks back at me from the mirror every morning. With age my face seems to have settled into an expression of gloomy bad temper, a mood that I rarely feel. Yet I suspect that people seeing me often assume I am angry and dissatisfied when I am actually quite content, even merry from time to time. I am hoping that this is the case with Great Blue Herons.

Traffic Jam

Volunteers at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary have tethered floating logs here and there all around the edges of the lake as basking spots for the Western Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii). But when I was out there last week all the logs were vacant except for this one. Why they all decided to pile up on this one log is a mystery to me. However, these animals have been around for about 15 million years so I guess they know what they're doing.

Spring!

We're getting lots of April Showers these days but after winter's long doldrums spring is forging ahead. The Maple blossoms above and Apple blossoms below are testament to that. They were photographed at Swan Lake last week. I think one of the reasons we like spring so much is because there is so much young, new growth, like babies, and who can resist that fresh, newly minted perfection? It's like we all were before life marked and wore us.

Mourning Cloak

While the topside of the wings visible here is a deep russet shade, this butterfly is named Mourning Cloak because of the dark underside of its wings. People used to wear black to indicate they were mourning the death of a loved one. I suspect this is a custom that is dying out. I always associate butterflies with hot weather so I was pleased to see this one at Swan Lake recently though our weather is still a bit cool.