iBiome

A great blue heron at Jericho pond

Last Sunday I managed to get close enough, courtesy of my megazoom, to a Great Blue Heron hunting in the duck pond at Jericho Beach.  Beautiful creatures.  

Success!  

Our Herons are a non-migratory sub-species, and you can see them nesting in Stanley Park.  More here.

an owl in a tree

a rough image in low light, this evening we had the happy fortune of meeting a barred owl on the grounds of my kids' school, girding herself for an evening hunt.

westside coyote

Spotted this coyote making its way back to Pacific Spirit park. Didn't register our presence or seem to care. Just kept on its way past our vehicle.  I've seen a number of coyotes over the years, usually at dawn or dusk. This mid-day sighting was unusual.

Here's a link to the Coyote page at the Stanley Park Ecology Society.

 

a large day

Looking west from the tower at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary last week, before ice and snow began to maul Vancouver. 

wings over Boundary Bay

Bald eagles are everywhere on the BC Coast but I rarely get one in front of the camera. Unfortunately not even this image is as clear as it could be.

This particular eagle was slowly riding the cool breeze over Boundary Bay on Saturday evening. 

The Bullhead Derby

A couple of weekends ago the bairns and I participated in the Bullhead Derby in Steveston.  Scores of kids chasing sculpins large and small off the shore of Garry Point.  It was a lot of fun and #2 child took 2nd prize with a 9 1/2" fish (at right). All good.

a colony of bees in the garden

Last weekend we were treated to an unusual wildlife encounter. A colony of bees, likely in the process of locating and founding a new hive, settled in our garden on Saturday afternoon.  After trying out a branch in our plum tree, they dropped to the ground and settled for the next 24 hours or so.  Individual bees, perhaps scouts, shuttled in and out of the cluster until sunset and then again throughout Sunday morning.  Finally on Sunday evening they rose in one great cloud (well, they did leave some stragglers) and made their way to Pacific Spirit Park.   

It's great to see honey bees around and, it seems, in good health.

backyard birding

I'm not much for birding actually but recently there have been a couple of raptors hanging out in the neighbourhood, hassling the crows and other local birdlife. From what I can discern from my Peterson's, they seem to be immature Sharp-Shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus).

Correction: I am told by a an actual birder that based on it's size it's more likely a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), which is apparently more prevalent in urban Vancouver .

urban jungle

  Forested area along the canal, close to Clementi Rd. Evening walk, Monday, May 2. A bright bold chorus of birds and insects, so close to the concrete.