A Windy Day/Change of Seasons

Mar 17 2014 Ladner Harbour Park/Brunswick Point Sunny

Monday was just one of those days. For most of the day the wind was so strong that our avian friends were nowhere to be seen.

The only way around the dilemma was to head for an area protected from the gusts of wind coming off the ocean. So it was off to Harbour Park in Ladner. Twelve months ago I photographed a White-throated Sparrow at the car park but today it was eerily quiet.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Ladner Harbour Park 

 Sure enough my hunch was correct, the first bird to show was an Anna's Hummingbird. Then a few Chickadees and Bushtits flitted around but not much else.

A quick look around the parking lot turned up a pair of Brown Creepers, one of which kept still just long enough for a few frames.

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
Ladner Harbour Park

A flock of Dunlin paint the sky at Boundary Bay. As many as 50,000 spent the winter here.

The migration across Canada has begun. Many birds in British Columbia are already on the move. The return of the Rufous Hummingbird, Tree and Violet-Green Swallows and others signal the change of seasons. Soon the warblers will be here on masse, the Long-eared Owls long gone. The cycle of Nature continues.

Short-eared Owl (asio flammeus)
Brunswick Point

Assignment:
I have been trying to compose pictures showing more of a bird's surroundings. I haven't been too successful so far. In this picture I have tried to create a composition with the owl acting as a visual cue (diagonal line) leading to the bottom right of the frame and back again to the owl.

Good Birding

John Gordon