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#89965
I love Kevin's Video Challenge ... and look forward to contributing. Here's this year's Photo Challenge -- I'm setting a lofty goal this year ... 290! Let's see where we can go. Look forward to all the wonderful photos ... First bird of the year for me was a Mallard. haha. But here's Pygmy Nuthatch to kick it all off!

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#89967
Well 2021 is starting out quite well for me. As promised, because it wasn't raining, I headed to Elgin Park to see if the Yellow-billed Loon would make an appearance and he did! He was much further out on the river and it was overcast so the picture is not that good, but it still counts!
Then to my surprise there was a report of a White-throated Sparrow in the same park. I had to wait for about 20 minutes for him to show up but he eventually flitted in and then out again. Not one but two rare birds on the same day! I got a bunch of other birds too - common ones - but I'm going to hold off posting them because I'm sure either myself or someone else can get much nicer pictures of them on a sunny day.

ImageYellow-billed Loon (Juvenile) by Jewill on Flickr

ImageWhite-throated Sparrow by Jewill on Flickr

Happy Birding to all !
#89970
jewill wrote: Jan 01 2:03 pm Well 2021 is starting out quite well for me. As promised, because it wasn't raining, I headed to Elgin Park to see if the Yellow-billed Loon would make an appearance and he did! He was much further out on the river and it was overcast so the picture is not that good, but it still counts!
Then to my surprise there was a report of a White-throated Sparrow in the same park. I had to wait for about 20 minutes for him to show up but he eventually flitted in and then out again. Not one but two rare birds on the same day! I got a bunch of other birds too - common ones - but I'm going to hold off posting them because I'm sure either myself or someone else can get much nicer pictures of them on a sunny day.

Happy Birding to all !
Way to go, Judy! Great start ... thanks for posting!
#89972
Nice start James and Judy!

The weather has been pretty bad here lately, but I was out a couple times on the weekend.

When the wind is howling, that is actually your best chance at finding a rare gull hunkering down in a field, like this Western Gull in Ladner:

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And since we've been discussing the difficulty of photographing Black Scoters, see if you can find any in this pic at the U.S. border (Tsawwassen):

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Maybe cropping a little bit helps:

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:mrgreen:
#89977
My first post to this forum (and this site in general) will be my first effort and a half-decent photo. Thanks for having me!

Found this handsome fellow hanging out at Colony Farm. I am a sucker for Hooded Mergansers!

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#89978
Welcome to the forum Pkorner and I couldn't agree with you more - the Hooded Merganser is my favourite duck too and you got a really nice shot of a very good looking male.

At last, it wasn't raining and in fact the sun was peeking in and out so I headed off to the pier at White Rock. There were lots of birds at high tide so I was really pleased with the outing (it's supposed to be nice tomorrow too).

ImageEared Grebe by Jewill on Flickr

ImageBufflehead (Male & Female) by Jewill on Flickr
Yes, it's still my "thing" to get the male and female in the same shot.

ImageWhite-winged & Surf Scoter (Male) by Jewill on Flickr

ImageLong-tailed Duck (Male - Juvenile) by Jewill on Flickr
This is not a very good shot so if someone gets a better one by all means please post it.

Meanwhile, back at home...
ImagePileated Woodpecker (Male) by Jewill on Flickr

ImageDark-eyed Junco (Slate-coloured - Male) by Jewill on Flickr
#89985
stumblingpiper wrote: Jan 06 10:35 pm Wow! Beautiful photos, Kevin.
Thanks James,
I have begun to use my camera a bit more while out in the field and have been working on taking better shots. Hope to contribute more decent photos to the bird photo challenge this year.
#89988
I'm glad, Kevin -- because we can use all the help we can get to reach 290! :mrgreen:
I was working on it today while at Silverstar Resort near Vernon ... these Ravens were hanging around the parking lot.
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#89992
Nice Eurasian Wigeons Kevin. And if anyone is having trouble finding Rock Pigeons I think I can probably locate one :lol:. I'll wait to see if someone else manages to get a pic.

Woo Hoo! 2 days in a row without rain and even some sunshine so I had to take advantage of it. I went to Elgin Heritage Park and from there Blackie Spit. I found some interesting birds at both places.

ImageSpotted Towhee (Male - partially leucistic) by Jewill on Flickr

ImageRing-billed Gull by Jewill on Flickr

ImageSnow Bunting by Jewill on Flickr

ImageDunlin by Jewill on Flickr

I want to be completely honest about the following picture which may be a bit of a cheat. I volunteer and work at OWL (Orphaned Wildlife) and this bird was brought in by a member of the public after being hit by a car. He has been in rehab for a couple of months. We were unable to contact the rescuer of the bird (we always try to involve the finder in the release) so, since it was very close to where I live, it was decided to release him in the green space out back. The bird was wild when he was brought in and he is now back out in the wild (where he belongs) however it was an easy picture for me to get. James, if you don't want to include it in the count that's perfectly alright with me.

ImageBarred Owl (Release 1/2) by Jewill on Flickr
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