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[DragonSpeed]

Yesterday was a spectacular day around Vancouver.  I took the day off to walk around our wetlands and see what I could find.  It was a bonanza of small birds!

1) Tons of Marsh Wrens... building and singing!

Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) by DragonSpeed, on Flickr


Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

2. The tree swallows were busy nesting and trying to protect their nests from the European sparrows

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) by DragonSpeed, on Flickr


Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

3. Finally caught a hummingbird at a flower (Anna's?)

Female Hummingbird feeding by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

4. Short billed Dowitchers

Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

5. Always cute - goslings

It's HARD staying awake for more than 15 minutes! by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

6. Last - and most bizarre - Some strange sort of mating ritual of wood ducks....

Strange Wood Duck mating rituals by DragonSpeed, on Flickr

The whole set from the day - there were sooo many lovely birds - can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonspeed/sets/72157644067721768

Welcome spring!!!

[Hohummm]

Hard to compete with DragonSpeed, but we don't usually get this close to the pelicans so thought we would share a few shots. Taken at Green Lake near 70 Mile House.

[DragonSpeed]

Sweet shot.  I don't think that white pelicans are common there, are they?

[Hohummm]

I wouldn't say they are "common", because there aren't alot of them but they certainly are regular visitors to the lake.

[DragonSpeed]

I wouldn't say they are "common", because there aren't alot of them but they certainly are regular visitors to the lake.

Oh! I didn't know.  Cool.

[tburns]

Very cool photo of the mating ritual of the ducks dragonspeed!  your photos are amazing

[Hohummm]

Sandhill crane at Reifel bird sanctuary.

[DragonSpeed]

Sandhill crane at Reifel bird sanctuary.

Won't be long before the egg(s) hatch for these guys!

[leadbelly]

That wood duck shot is top notch, wow.
Went to Reifel months ago but only got a few shots


Northern Saw-whet Owl

[DragonSpeed]

I didn't manage to see even ONE Saw-whet this year

[Ian Forbes]

These shots were also taken hand held at about 80 meters. I was just on a motorbike ride with my camera.

This Drake and hen merganser seemed to be telling a story..

"Oh, you shouldn't have!"



'Well, if you are going to be that way about it!"



"Then I'm not even going to talk to you!"

[DragonSpeed]

Lovely Ian, and a good story with it!  The male and female look so strikingly different.  When I first saw the species I thought they were actually two DIFFERENT species.

[Ian Forbes]

What camera and lens are you using for most of your bird pictures, Dragonspeed? I have a couple of digital SLR Nikons, (D200 & D7000) but it was going to cost over $600 for a good long lens, and for less than that I was able to purchase a Canon SX50 HS with a variable zoom up to 1200 mm. I know the quality is not up to the better SLR standards, but I have no intention of selling my photos. It's just an over saturated market. I am quite happy with the quality of pictures I get providing I have enough lighting and time to use my tripod. The added feature of excellent video that I can shoot like a Go-Pro camera is very handy for my interests. I found the video mode in the SLRs is too finicky and takes too long to set up. I get a lot of good, but out of focus video and it's frustrating.

[VAGAbond]

Here is a Virginia Rail taken at Terra Nova.  These guys don't often come out of the swamp so I was quite pleased to get this photo.



Canon SX50 HS

[VAGAbond]

Savannah Sparrow in the lupines at Garry Point: