Good Morning!

Here is what I see most mornings now when I go outside. This lineup of House Sparrows and about 50 of their friends and relatives are waiting for me to fill the feeder so they can have breakfast.

Useful Owl

Everyone likes to have wild birds in the neighborhood but sometimes they can make messes where you don't want them, like on your balcony. Here's a nifty solution - a fake owl.

At the Feeder

Fern recently installed a bird feeder in the back yard and I took some time yesterday to observe the surprisingly busy traffic. As well as trying out some new shooting techniques it also enabled me to continue with my quest to learn to distinguish all those little brown birds that populate our environment. Below are four that I have tentatively identified. If you're a birder, please feel free to correct me as I'm still not very confident when it comes to these little brown birds.

Mistakenly identified as a Pine Siskin. (See note * below)	House Finch
Fox Sparrow	Dark-eyed Junco

* Re: Top left photo - The Pine Siskin is similar to this but after looking at various field guides I feel quite sure this is actually a female House Finch. The red-capped male House Finches are relatively easy to id and since they are regular visitors in the same flocks, this adds additional weight to the case for this being a female of the species.

Northern Pintail Ducks (Anas acuta)

These very neat looking ducks are Northern Pintails (Anas acuta), newly arrived from the north where they spend their summers. Like our ubiquitous Mallards, they are dabbling ducks, which means they prefer the shallows so they can root around (dabble) on the bottom for the food they like. It also makes them popular with me since they hang out fairly close to the shore unlike diving ducks who prefer deeper water and are consequently more difficult to photograph.

Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)

Here's another winter resident, a Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala). These shorebirds breed only in Alaska during the spring and summer and then spend the winters further south. They like to poke around among the barnacles along the shoreline of the West Bay Walkway. Generally they move around in small flocks and this one was keeping company with about a dozen others.

Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary

I went out the the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary on the weekend to see if I could spot any of the birds that like to come here for the winter. I was amazed to find that the place was practically deserted by our feathered friends. It seems that most of the birds that spend the summer here have now flown south and birds from further north that like to spend the winter here have not yet arrived from their northern breeding and nesting areas. In any case I had an opportunity to enjoy the lake and its nearly fluorescent green dress of blue-green algae. We'll have a closer look at that tomorrow.

Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

Here's another winter visitor I have not identified before, the Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus). These grebes are now in their rather austere non-breeding plumage. We are not likely to see them here in the more colorful plumage they don when mating since they move further north and into the interior for breeding season.

Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

A few days ago I saw a Harlequin Duck very close to shore on my morning walk along the West Bay Walkway and cursed myself for not carrying my camera that day. Yesterday I took my camera with me in case he was still hanging around. No luck so I took some photos of what I thought was a Common Merganser swimming and diving some distance offshore. Once at home though and scrutinizing these photos carefully I realized that this bird was not a Common Merganser but something else. That white collar and rufous breast identify him as a male Red Breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator), a bird I've not identified (or seen) before. This serves as a good reminder to me that we often "see" what we expect to see, even when what we are looking at is something quite different.

The Red Breasted Merganser "...has been claimed to be the fastest bird in level flight, reaching speeds of 129 km/h (80 mph)..." according to Wikipedia. No wonder he's got that wind-blown hairstyle.

Young Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

I was lucky enough to see this young Cooper's Hawk out at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary last year and every time I look at the photos I managed to get I am struck by the ferocity and concentration that this bird displays. I posted another photo of this juvenile hawk HERE.

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This morning Victoria has several inches of fresh snow and the white stuff is still falling heavily. As soon as it gets a little lighter outside I plan to go out and make some pictures. Below is what it looks like through my front window right now (8:15am).

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Here's a bird I have seen and photographed many times without much success. Hummingbirds are a challenge to every photographer because they are so small, so agile and fast, and so beautifully colored. They are very charming birds and some fantastic photos have been taken of them. This is a male Anna's Hummingbird, the only hummingbird that overwinters around here. One of the problems I have when photographing this bird is that its brilliantly magenta colored head is so bright that it always overexposes when it catches the light. Here the bird is at enough of an angle so that only a bit of that brilliance shows. I posted a photo of some hummingbird chicks last year that were likely the progeny of this bird since he was guarding a territory within a stone's throw of their nest in Saxe Point Park.

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.

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

The first time I saw terns like these I had no telephoto lens with me but that didn't stop me from enjoying their hovering and missile-like diving. The photo above is the second time I saw them out at Esquimalt Lagoon but they were quite far away and mostly obscured by the many seagulls surrounding them. I am not 100% certain of my identification of these birds as Caspian Terns. They are the birds in this photo with the large red bills. The distinguishing feature that I think identifies them as Caspian Terns is the black feet and legs visible on the tern just coming in for a landing in this photo.

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)

While browsing through the archives lately I've come across a number of bird photos that I have not posted because, while they are good enough to enable identification of the bird, they may not be very appealing or competent as photographs. The Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) pictured above is one such and I have a few others that I am going to post over the next few days simply as part of the catalog of life in and around Victoria. I must confess to a slight sense of accomplishment when I manage to identify one of the many little brownish/grayish birds that flutter around on the edges of our urban consciousness. For those of my visitors who live here you will be happy to know that despite there being a number of species of chickadee, this is the only one that lives on Vancouver Island so, should you see something like this here you can be pretty sure it is a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. Wikipedia says it is sometimes considered to be the "most handsome" of chickadees - another good reason to visit this area, especially if you live where there are a lot of ugly chickadees.

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

I appear to have caught some kind of infection so here is a photo from a few weeks ago of a male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) photographed at Esquimalt Lagoon.

Female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I've mentioned before that Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) are one of my favourite ducks and I've posted several photos of the male of the species because his dramatic coloration makes him easy to identify. The female of the species is not so strikingly attired and since these Hooded Mergansers are often in company with other ducks whose females are also camouflaged I am always a little reluctant to post photos of the females of the species for fear of wrong identification. In general I believe the drabber, browner based plumage of females makes them less visible when on the nest, providing a distinct adaptive benefit. Above is a female Hooded Merganser, the mate of the male Hooded Merganser to the left.

Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

The lovely little diving ducks are called Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola). They were swimming and diving quite energetically offshore of the West Bay Walkway when I noticed a large Harbour Seal (right below) approaching them.

The seal dived and a few moments later all the ducks were in flight. Seals are occasionally known to opportunistically attack sea birds and I suspect these little ducks must look as inviting from beneath the surface as they do above. The event was a little reminder that the animals we observe in these peaceful natural scenes probably see their environment quite differently from how we view it.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I was pleased to see some Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) yesterday when out on my walk. Above are a pair of males. These beautiful little diving ducks re-ignited my enthusiasm for bird-watching nearly two years ago when I first saw them in the midst of a long gray December. I think they must nest further north and fly south to winter around here since I generally see them during the winter months.

Seagull Portrait

Here's one of Victoria's most common birds whose querulous and mournful call often provides the ambient music to our days. As I have mentioned before, it is difficult to take a photo in Victoria without including a gull somewhere in the background. Here is one who posed prettily out at Esquimalt Lagoon. They are so ubiquitous here it is easy to forget what graceful and resourceful birds they are. Here is a little more information about gulls - no need to read further if you know what kleptoparasitism is....

Gulls—the larger species in particular—are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders. Certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull) have exhibited tool use behaviour, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish, for example. Many species of gull have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh. A seagull in Aberdeen has been seen repeatedly shoplifting bagged crisps from a shop, apparently displaying a preference for cheese flavour Doritos.

From Wikipedia

Thanks to commenter and fellow blogger Mike Laplante, here is a video of the infamous Dorito thief.

I have a soft spot for Doritos myself.

American Wigeon (Male)

Ten days ago I posted a photo of a female American Wigeon (Anas americana) taken at Cattle Point. Here is the male of the species, photographed at Esquimalt Lagoon last week.

Brewer's Blackbird (Male)

The day before yesterday I posted a photo of a female of this species, a rather demure lady with tasteful brownish gray plumage. Here is the male Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) with his dramatic yellow-eyed glare. From a human perspective this bird looks angry - always. I wonder if his enemies also interpret his intensely staring eye as ferocity and shy away from attacking him?