- Feb 25 10:49 pm
#84781
By the sound of the subject, you might think I'm about to launch into another discourse on weather. Relax, not this time — except to say that while Spring is definitely on its way, the snow still lingers, providing some unusual, occasionally humorous photo opps:
Quail boss tests the ice:
"Hey, Boss! Be careful out there! You're not as light as you used to be!"
"Hey yourselves! Leaders lead! That's what we do!
And lay off the fat jokes! Go look in the mirror!"
I've been reading Guy's thread about common birds, and thought I'd add a few here, too, if that's okay. This Robin has been around for a couple of weeks patiently waiting for the temps to rise. He'd been feeding off the miniature pear trees that had somehow been spared—until the BOWAs finally came round and pretty much polished them off....
A common shot, but I like the way it turned out....
American Robin lamenting....
I've shown you lots of predators; now I'd like to share a few ducks.
In winter, in Kelowna, you see, the ducks stop here!
Buffleheads, in Thomson Marsh, are devilishly difficult to get close to. This shot is really as good as I could manage at this location.
There are better places where BUFFs are more accessible, but this is one taken close to home....
Bufflehead through a cattail keyhole....
This is a more likely image of BUFFs in the unfrozen sections of the marsh:
Buffleheads take off, eh!
We are, on the other hand, truly blessed with many ducks including Hooded Mergansers that we can get very close to, like this pair of males, one adult, one juvenile in Lower Mission Creek, which has been choked with a ice up to two and a half feet thick in many places this year. Last year, it never froze at all!
Hooded Merganser adult male
Hooded Merganser juvenile male
For a week or so, a Common Merganser female hung out with the Hoodies,
and on this day gave her best impression of an out-of-this-planet penguin:
Common Merganser female
Common Merganser female
Of course, she can look like a conventional, common merganser, too....
Common Merganser female swimming
From December through February, Lower Mission Creek is the wintering stage for a handsome raft of Common Goldeneyes.
The challenge is to wait until the light is just right, usually more towards the end of their stay:
COGO raft - or is it a COGO Pyramid Scheme?
Thanks to ebirdman (Paul) from Langley for this notion!!
COGOs can look very common or very distinguished, depending on their mood, my mood, the light, the water, you know....
Common Goldeneye - 3
Common Goldeneye - 4
And sometimes, they engage in underwater antics that lend themselves to abstract art....
Common Goldeneye art
Well, that's enough for this time. I'll have one more post before the end of the month to wrap up the winter of 2016-17. Hope you found something of interest in this post....
Cheers!
Quail boss tests the ice:
"Hey, Boss! Be careful out there! You're not as light as you used to be!"
"Hey yourselves! Leaders lead! That's what we do!
And lay off the fat jokes! Go look in the mirror!"
I've been reading Guy's thread about common birds, and thought I'd add a few here, too, if that's okay. This Robin has been around for a couple of weeks patiently waiting for the temps to rise. He'd been feeding off the miniature pear trees that had somehow been spared—until the BOWAs finally came round and pretty much polished them off....
A common shot, but I like the way it turned out....
American Robin lamenting....
I've shown you lots of predators; now I'd like to share a few ducks.
In winter, in Kelowna, you see, the ducks stop here!
Buffleheads, in Thomson Marsh, are devilishly difficult to get close to. This shot is really as good as I could manage at this location.
There are better places where BUFFs are more accessible, but this is one taken close to home....
Bufflehead through a cattail keyhole....
This is a more likely image of BUFFs in the unfrozen sections of the marsh:
Buffleheads take off, eh!
We are, on the other hand, truly blessed with many ducks including Hooded Mergansers that we can get very close to, like this pair of males, one adult, one juvenile in Lower Mission Creek, which has been choked with a ice up to two and a half feet thick in many places this year. Last year, it never froze at all!
Hooded Merganser adult male
Hooded Merganser juvenile male
For a week or so, a Common Merganser female hung out with the Hoodies,
and on this day gave her best impression of an out-of-this-planet penguin:
Common Merganser female
Common Merganser female
Of course, she can look like a conventional, common merganser, too....
Common Merganser female swimming
From December through February, Lower Mission Creek is the wintering stage for a handsome raft of Common Goldeneyes.
The challenge is to wait until the light is just right, usually more towards the end of their stay:
COGO raft - or is it a COGO Pyramid Scheme?
Thanks to ebirdman (Paul) from Langley for this notion!!
COGOs can look very common or very distinguished, depending on their mood, my mood, the light, the water, you know....
Common Goldeneye - 3
Common Goldeneye - 4
And sometimes, they engage in underwater antics that lend themselves to abstract art....
Common Goldeneye art
Well, that's enough for this time. I'll have one more post before the end of the month to wrap up the winter of 2016-17. Hope you found something of interest in this post....
Cheers!
Keith R.
Kelowna
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8666250@N02/
For those inclined, check out my new blog, mostly about birds, called https://birdsandmusings.wordpress.com
Kelowna
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8666250@N02/
For those inclined, check out my new blog, mostly about birds, called https://birdsandmusings.wordpress.com