Yellow-headed Blackbird

While visiting Iona i decided to see if i could get any decent shots of the Yellow-headed blackbirds that are back at iona for their yearly visit and while i get shots every year, it's still fun, (but i only dedicate one session to them per year nowadays).
I saw a couple of males, but no females yet that i could see.

Ran across a couple of photogs dressed in camo who looked to be setting up for the blackbirds as well, i felt a little inapropriately dressed, wearing my flannel plaid work shirt (which i wear for the hummingbirds, the red plaid bits have attacted more than one curious hummer in close and personal ).

They seemed to have picked the best corner as i saw a bird land in close a couple of times and i saw flash going off but the corner i was in was low yield.
Thought about packing it in but noticed a bird coming in about halfway between me and the other photogs, i moved over a bit (not wanting to get too close to them) and suddenly had the perfect look in front of me

Friday Morning Birds

Left the house at around 6:30am and decided to check out Camosun bog in Point Grey first as i'm always looking for Hutton's Vireo and Townsend's Warbler but as has been the story the last 3 or 4 times i've visited, i've left without a shot, maybe i'm in the wrong area, i don't know, sure is a nice spot though..

Next, i was off to Iona to waste some time before Nikon opened and i could retrieve my "evil" flash unit that was repaired and ready to go.

Walking in the inner ponds i decided to wait out some Blue-winged teal, laying down on some kinda-yucky ground wasn't fun, but at least it was soft
eventually got lucky aned a few started to drift my way, super skitish bird, i know if i was standing up there was no way they would come close like they did.







among the small group of teal was a curious fella, who my suspicions tell me might be a Blue-winged teal X Northern Shoveler mix, it was in with the teal acting just like them while another group of shoveler swam in the distance, all by themselves.
Looking through my guide-book i notice that early fall shoveler males have a similar cresent mark on their cheek but seeing one this early? does that make sense?
i don't know, interesting bird though.







later on i came across some birds on a wire, Purple martins to be exact.



and even a White-crowned sparrow taking a break, hey, even birds need to chill sometimes.

Sooty Grouse & Others

Well, i'm pretty much over feeling sorry for myself and my financial situation, it's all of my doing anyways so i only have myself to blame..building up a decent but modest inventory of camera equipment over the years hasn't come cheap either i suppose

Here are some of the shots i've been able to get the last month or so, i've been working it pretty hard on the weekends (mostly in my neck of the woods) but a lot of times have left empty-handed, dem's the breaks but there have been some keepers too.


another Rufous from Maplewood, again, kind of high up..


Anna's Hummingbird from Iona


Tree Swallow from Iona

My flash unit (SB900) went kaaput about a month ago and i took it back to Nikon for a bulb replacement ($150) last week, cheaper than a new unit and finally i can say something nice about Nikon Richmond, it only took a week to repair, good work guys.
Because of this i've been shooting sans flash the last while (all these shots are natural light), i don't mind it, the D300 quality is pretty good at ISO 800 in darker situations and Noise Ninja does a pretty good job of lessening grain.

When i go back to Thailand in July it will be rainy season and i will probably be shooting without flash the bulk of the time anyways, besides, over there most of the bird photogs avoid flash usage, it's almost a matter of pride (and skill) for them to get the excellent shots they do in jungle situations without resorting to artificial light.
When in Rome... er Bangkok.


Bushtit - Grouse powerline

i half-joke that this spot is my little secret but i know it's well-known by birders, and dog-walkers, hikers, bikers etc. It's my reliable location for MacGillivray's warbler (there, secret out, enjoy ) along with other species in season.





They are still not easy to see by any means and you kind of have to know which areas they hang out in but others i have mentioned this spot to have had success.


OC warbler is very reliable at Grouse.

Speaking of grouse, a fellow photogs excellent shots of the Sooty Grouse at Burnaby Mountain recently inspired me to head out early Friday morning to see if i could find it myself.
Sun was just up at 6am and i had the whole place to myself, am always looking to better my shots of Townsend's warbler (as i know others are as well) but the area was relatively warbler-free alas. Walking around i finally heard the hooting and eventually spotted the grouse, surprisingly close in a tree.
Eventually it made it's way to the ground briefly and pecked at something, seeds perhaps on the ground. It didn't think much of my big lens though and soon flew back higher up in surrounding trees.

Tree Swallow

Decided to hit up a few spots this morning but didn't find much shooting action at either Queen Elizabeth Park or Richmond Nature Park, so off to Iona it was.
I was hoping to work some of the tree swallows, hopefully on an actual tree branch.
In the end i settled for a man-made perch in the barbed wire (honestly though, i've always liked the look of a bird on barbed wire anyways) i would get points deducted for that on a critique forum but ya gotta be able to live with what is given sometimes

Ruby crown Indeed

I don't know what this fella's problem was , i wasn't even aware of it at first as i was busy scanning the reeds for more warbler action, the flash of red was hard to miss in the end and turned out to be the only worthy shots from an otherwise uneventful stroll through Maplewood.
very close.
I can only guess that the red on some of the birding patches on my old hoodie (hooded sweater) may have set it off?

Maplewood Reed Warblers

no twitchers, i'm not talking about old world reed-warblers, rather the striking Yellow-rumped warblers that come through Maplewood each spring.
If you are lucky and time it right, watching the "show" (as i call it) at the pond can be pretty amazing.
From the viewing platform you are above the marshy reeds and can get decent shots of the warblers as they hawk insects and whatnot in front of you.
If you shoot from beside the platform along the pathway eye level shots are possible and desired, wood warblers are often viewed high up in the trees so whenever you can get them at eye level, ya gotta spend some time working it













Two days in a row shooting these guys, yesterday i parked my car inside the gate and had to leave early before the automatic gate closed, just as the "show" was getting good, today, i decided to go back (parking outside this time) in the afternoon, after the rain and it was pretty awesome.
All Audubon's variety at the moment, which i needed better shots of anyways. check!

Lonsdale Guillemots

Had a busy easter weekend but did manage to hit a couple of spots on the shore when i could.

I got some shots of these guys last year at Lonsdale Quay and was recently reminded of them by another photog who lives in the hood and mentioned they were quite active at the moment.
After a quick look during the week (with no birds in sight) i discovered on friday that the morning was the optimum time and i spent some time on the small dock shooting away, until a boat cruised up and actually wanted to use the dock for it's purpose and i wrapped things up.











i wasn't set up for flight shots but nailed a couple of semi-decent looks anyways with the 500mm + 1.4x tele on



nothing too special here and i wasn't able to get anywhere near close enough to the flicker due to terrain but it is a nest hole, and one i will be checking up on later - at maplewood flats

First warbler of the year for me





yellow-rumped (audubon's) warbler - maplewood flats