Four Days/One Blog

Jan 12-14 2014 

Day 1. 112th and  Hornby Drive Delta.  Foggy 6c.

It wasn't the best of weather but I had the next three days free. What's a person to do? Suddenly my bird brain hatched a cunning plan, why not go birding!
First stop was nearby 112th and Hornby Drive. I am not too sure what it is about this location but there always seems to be something interesting. Last year I photographed an escapee budgerigar flying with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. There is a very photogenic resident leucistic Eurasian Collared-Dove. It has been hanging around for months and much photographed. This is my second attempt to get a portrait, at least there is some contrast to play with this time, in my previous shot the bird was on a wire against a grey sky.

Leucistic Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Another reason to visit the farm at the corner of 112th was the report by Melissa and Liron (two of the best young birders this side of the Rockies) of a hybrid White and Golden-crowned Sparrow. A real oddity. Although I saw the bird briefly I was unable to snag a pic. Next time perhaps, I did however get to see the Rusty Blackbird for my 70th species of the year.

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)
Rusty Blackbird (centre) feeds amongst a mix of Brewer's, Red-winged Blackbirds and European House Sparrows

I spent the rest of the day photographing Yellow-rumped Warblers and a flock of six American Tree Sparrows.

Day 2 Alaksan and Reifel: Foggy, Overcast and Sunny Breaks

Another foggy day, it was grey and the light was flat. I hadn't walked very far when a small flock of sparrows flashed by. One of them was whiter than the rest and a dead give-away, it was the Harris's Sparrow, a bird that has attracted many photographers, myself included. I hadn't yet managed a shot of the bird on a branch, all my shots were of the bird feeding on the ground. This time I managed a different pose.

Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula)

Finally the sun came out so I made my way to nearby Alaksen National Wildlife Area

At the parking lot I heard a bird calling from the bushes, it turned out to be a Bewick's Wren.

Bewick's Wren (Thryomaners bewickii)

 The sun had begun to peek through the fog bathing the bird in afternoon sun. Finally it came out of the thickets to continue feeding before a passing car scared it away.

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
On the way out I photographed this Hermit Thrush from the car window.

I had two more species to add to my year list. The fog by this time had enveloped what little sun there had been. Time to head home.

Day 3 Jan 14 2015 Elk View Rd Chilliwack. Sunny 8c.

It was my second attempt to find the Northern Pygmy Owl but with the help of Mel, Peter and Floyd we were successful. Not only did we find the owl we found two. One male and one female. We weren't alone, there was a mini twitch going on as the news spread and the bird's location spread across the interweb. The birds for their part seemed completely unperturbed by the whole circus going on around them.

I composed this shot in the camera. With a little cropping I bisected the frames to aid the composition.
Careful consideration went into the background. Even with lots of forethought I still wasn't able to frame a shot with owls and forest that made any sense. Either the owl was way too small so I went for this composition as my favourite of this series.

This quick snap shot (1 of 3 frames) picture taken with a $300 Canon SX50HS.
All others taken with slightly more expensive Nikon 500mm F4!
The blown out details I think has a lot to do with the file processing.

Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnome)
The Pacific race of the Northern Pygmy Owl are more reddish than
their interior cousins. I used backlighting and exposed for the bird.

Disclaimer: All owl pictures taken from the road. No birds were pushed, coralled or harassed. While it might be important to get a good photo, please let these birds feed in peace. Trampling over their hunting territory not only disrupts their feeding regime but scares away prey. The owls rely on unsuspecting voles and other creatures so when a dozen or so photographers are clambering through brush up to their waists just get a little nearer it makes the owls life that much more difficult.

Remember it was a birder who first let us know about these beautiful birds, he was there this week and wishing he had kept the location secret. Most probably there are many other birds out there that the finder(s) won't want to share and for good reasons.

Day 4 Jan 16/14 Blackie Spit Sunny (it was forecast to rain ) and 12c

I hadn't meant to go birding today but I was conducting a one on one photography class at Blackie Spit. During the session this Ruby-crowned Kinglet popped into a tree beside me. It was hawking insects. I used my Tamron 150mm-600mm with the lightweight Nikon D7100.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

All the other pictures were taken with the Nikon 500mm F4 with the D7100 or D3s.

It was a full week and a welcome break from the hectic pace of the 'real world' I'm sure after a few days rest it will be time to head out again, until then..it's never too late to start birding!

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale

Monday Morning: Before the Deluge

Monday Dec 8th 2014 Blackie Spit Nature Park. 9c Overcast with sunny breaks.

The weather forecast predicted rain for the week, up to 30 cms, a month's worth in three days. However Monday morning was warm and a little sun did manage to peek through the looming storm clouds. It was perhaps the last opportunity to bird for the next few days.
The tides were high, in places flooding over the spit. Gone were the ever-present Common Loons and the Long-billed Curlew, only a few Green-winged Teal and Mallards were left to battle the waves.
Overhead six Bald Eagles sparred for partners, one with a large stick in its talons headed towards its nest. A Merlin flew past at speed. A Golden-crowned Kinglet flitted from branch to branch. A pair of crows drew my attention to a tree where in it a Sharp-shinned Hawk was eying its next meal.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipter striatus)
This bird was hunting songbirds near the pump house.

I have cropped this image to lose as many of the distracting elements as possible. I have the left hand side anchored by the tree while the branch exits the frame at the top right. The bird is placed in a frame within a frame. Just some of the thought processes us photographers try to apply to our work to make it more interesting to the viewer.

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

What drew me to this bird? The delicate way it posed on the bush. The catchlight of the sun in the eye, the Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca) on which it feeds tells a story. There was no need to zoom in and lose the context.

When I first got hooked on bird watching and bird photography I had seen House Finches but never a Purple Finch. I took as many bird walks as possible including one with expert birder Larry Cowan. During one such tour I saw my first Purple. I'll never forget what Larry said to our group.
The difference he said was the Purple Finch looks like it has been "dipped in strawberry jam"


A few metres along the trail a flock of the similar looking Purple Finch, four females and one male were also feeding on the crabapples.

Male Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

This male Purple Finch has an unusual colour to it. The yellowish hue comes from shooting through a tangle of branches with the aperture wide open. There were till a few yellowish leaves left on the branches. By shooting at the largest aperture i.e. F2.8 or F4, close-by obstacles like shrubbery can be softened and almost made to disappear.

I learnt this trick when I used to shoot baseball for the newspaper. I would stand behind the fence just looking over the shoulder of the catcher and batter and focussing on the pitcher. By shooting wide open the fence wouldn't show up and it looked like there was no obstacle in my way as the pitcher threw. I would catch the ball leaving the pitcher's hand. Try this at F8 and the fence would to show. The other upside is that a wide open aperture tends to give the photographer a higher shutter speed, perfect for bird photography.

As for the photograph above, the end result is an image that I might not have thought about attempting had I not used this technique elsewhere. 

The next shot the female was in the open.

Female Purple Finch

Soon after I returned home it began to rain and rain and rain!

It's never too late to start birding!

John Gordon

Langley/Cloverdale