Black and White Walkway

I've been shooting black and white lately because with the weather so overcast and gray it seems that most of the color is drained out of the landscape anyway and black and white just avoids the problem of the colorless environment. And sometimes like in the photo above, black and white actually looks warmer than a color shot of the same scene. This photo was shot during a brief moment when the sun peeked through the clouds. I had one these old Takumar lenses on my camera, this one a 28mm f3.5 prime lens. It gives a quite a wide field of view with nice detail from from a few feet away to infinity.

Post Modern Landscape

These are the genius of Rosie, 3rd generation Victoria Daily Photo blogger and she took these pictures "because she thought they looked cool." I acted as curator and I have to agree. - Fern

Black Turnstone and Brewer's Blackbird

While I was out at Esquimalt Lagoon I was so focused on the Goldeneye and the Pintail ducks that I almost didn't see these little Black Turnstones and the female Brewer's Blackbird (far right). The saying is "Birds of a feather flock together" and it certainly seems to be true most of the time. However, I've begun to notice that sometimes there will be quite a mixture of species hanging out together. In the case above I think it was just chance that the Turnstones and the Blackbirds were intermixed since they were both feeding on the same bit of shoreline. But in the city here I have often noticed robins flying and feeding with starling flocks during the winter. In our back yard, the House Finches and House Sparrows don't seem to mind sharing the feeder and nearby roosts but both are quite intolerant of any Chickadees that try to share.

My First Hybrid

I've mentioned before that one of the challenges faced by a novice birder like myself is that many birds look different in different seasons and at various stages of their lives. However, there is a further though rarer challenge and that is that some species of birds interbreed occasionally and produce hybrids that may bear some of the characteristics of both parent species. Above is an example. There are two species of Goldeneye Ducks, the Common Goldeneye and the Barrow's Goldeneye. Differences in head shape, size and plumage distinguish the two species. However, occasionally they interbreed and produce a hybrid such as can be seen in the photo above. The hybrid is second from the left. He bears the teardrop-shaped white cheek patch characteristic of the Barrow's Goldeneye but the black and white pattern on his back is much closer to the Common Goldeneyes that surround him than is usual with the Barrow's Goldeneyes. Below is a photo of some Barrow's Goldeneyes for comparison. Note particularly the bird on the far right of the photo as he is the only male.

The Elegant, Dapper Northern Pintail

I can't think of a better photo to start the New Year with than this neatly attired, spotless and immaculately groomed Northern Pintail Duck as seen recently on the clear blue waters of Esquimalt Lagoon. Below is his mate, more demure but equally attractive.