[revs]

Another Friday and another early morning to beat the rush hour traffic out of North Van to Boundary Bay.
I had half a heart to spend some time twitching the Sage Thrasher at 64th but first i would have to wait in my car for the morning to properly arrive as it was still pretty dark.
When i finally couldn't wait anymore i headed out, i decided to walk up to 72nd, i wasn't after snowy owls this time, but rather their short-eared cousins.
Like every bird photographer, i knew where the hot spots were and hoped to get some nice perched portrait shots if possible.

No sage thrasher's presented themselves but i had to smile when i saw this bird on that particular sign, still not quite light enough but i took the shot anyways.





wasn't long before i started seeing these guys off in the distance

I walked on and finally arrived at the spot i had had luck at before and sure enough, there was some action.



After a while i finally got my big break and had an owl land on a post right where i was standing, being the only one out there with it, i felt a sense of calm and took aim.



Super happy with that shot i soon felt the presence of others coming, the owl was still perched and one fella was able to walk by discreetly to view it as well, cool.
What wasn't cool was the other fella that followed, he saw me set up off to the side on the dike and he saw the owl and then he purposely (yes, i truly believe he did) walked in front of my lens and the bird, which then flushed and flew off.
Needless to say i was choked, it's happened to me before of course and it's usually a jogger or dog walker, i cut them some slack but when the guy has a little point and shoot camera and looks like he too has come for the owls i have to say something, "hey buddy, not cool walking in front of a photographer and bird, you walk behind them, geez"
to which he replied "hey guy, it's all digital now anyways, what does it matter?"
"well you flushed the bird for one thing you @#$%! "
The other guy there, perhaps sensing the situation escalating into something ugly soon stepped in and first told him that "he's right you know, you shouldn't have done that" and second came up to me and diffused my temper with a friendly chat, he worked at OWL and was just out for a walk, cheers bud!
When i walked away i took the idiot guys picture, i half thought of shaming him publicly but left it at that, i believe in bird karma and he surely won't be getting any good shots for ages, i hope

anyways - rant over - i headed over to Reifel to wrap up the morning, as always, i'm on the look out for common redpolls and thought it was worth a shot.

First off i spent some time with the night-herons, dear old friends.



Later i came across a small flock of evening grosbeaks by the tower, last time i came to Refiel i got Pine Grosbeak, this time it was the Evening variety (actually, this year i cleaned up as far as grosbeaks go, and all in BC as well - Black-headed, Rose-breasted, Pine and of course Evening).



Bonus bird for me was this Merlin



I often see shots of harriers in flight and i love them as much as anyone but i get a bigger rush when i get one perched, they always seem in flight



All in all a good morning

[jodelak]

Excellent set Paul, superb in every way

[merlinator]

Great shots, love the Shorties. Your Merlin is a Peregrine though.

[JamieDouglas]

Nice images Paul and shame about the %#$t walking in front of you.

BTW, do they have a sign for short eared owl code of conduct as well Sounds to me like they need to put up a people code of conduct sign.

[wbraun]

Wonderful set, Paul. Love the Peregrine especially. Hard to get in a nice pose.

wb

[Steely]

Super captures Paul!
I definitely feel for you with your experience dealing with the ignorant public.
I have to admit that I generally tend to avoid those areas that attract large numbers of visitors, understanding that it is sometimes unavoidable.
I think birding is like landscape photography where it's often enjoyed most when you are having a solitary experience, discovering natures wonders.
It's definitely more difficult in the Lower Mainland, especially the closer you get to town. You did manage a great set despite all!

[revs]

cheers all, yup, merlin is definitely a peregrine, now that i look closer.

re the guy - i'm over it, his attitude that because it's all digital somehow meant that retaking shots was no big deal is crazy, he forgot about the birds well being, i knew the bird would at one point fly off the perch (they eventually do) but i was dam sure it wasn't going to be because i got too close to it (500mm and 1.4x tele on assured that anyways), there was plenty of room on the dike behind me and then this yahoo crashes the party like it's no big deal, maybe you didn't know or just weren't thinking, fair enough, in that case an apology would have been appropriate and the matter would have been forgotten (as it should be now)

[Bluebird]

All great Paul.Ted

[featherweight]

All wonderful shots Paul, love the Snowy on the sign