Quiet July and August

Jul 7 Queen Elizabeth Park

Merlin

the two first-year birds hung around their nest the first few weeks after they fledged. They chased each other and a crow for some times before they rested in some shades at noon. The adults were still around, but not watching them anymore.

Merlins

Jul 29-31 Osoyoos

I spent three nights in a ski lodge on Mt. Apex and for the first time in many years was I able to see the night sky in little light pollution. The Milky Way galaxy was clearly visible from the door of the lodge.

We visisted Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory or DRAO for short during one of the afternoons. This observatory captures some waves outside of our visible spectrum and process them into informations scientists can study. They chose the valley around White Lake in mid 1900s because there is relatively little precipitation and ground interferance, yet it is not in the middle of nowhere. The mountains nearby isolate the site from waves from the cities, but the families of the people who work there can move to towns within an hour of drive. They are continuing to build new radio telescopes in this valley.

At the entrance, there are severas signs, with drawings of cell phones, that instructs visitors to ''turn off'' their electronics. So I turned off my cellphone and never got any photos of the antennae. I did, however, bring my 400 along and did not regret it.

A few hundred meters down the road, there are signs that indicate the area is an IBA, Importan Bird Area, that means there are birds around.

 Eastern Kingbird

probably saw a hundred of them in Osoyoos during the three days.

Eastern Kingbird

 Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe

 Osprey

Ospreys

Aug 11 North Vancouver
I almost always bring my camera with me when I leave the door, even if it's just a walk in the neighborhood. Sometimes the insects on other people's front lawns are just more cooperative.
Guessing this is an European Skipper.

 Bee

Aug 14 Iona
Lots of shorebirds are arriving, but I only got decent photos of a few species

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

 Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs

The Solitary Sandpiper, a lifer for me, flew into my view finder when I was photo graphing the Lesser Yellowlegs.

Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs

 Garter Snakes are common at Iona too.

Garter Snakes

Aug 22 Maplewood
It had been a few months since I went out looking for non-birds or humans, and I was a bit rusty at handling the flashes and micro lens, but the photos turned out alright.

Pacific Tree Frog

Pacific Tree Frog

 jumping spiders 

are called ''flytiger蠅虎'' in Chinese and it is not difficult to agree with the name. These spiders look for their preys with their keen eyes and jump on to them. Few spider genera have very developed eyes; most of them just weave a web and wait.

 This other spider has much smaller eyes even though it is about 3 times as big as the jumping spider.

Aug 24 Iona

Wandering Tattler

the only other time that I have seen tattlers was last year on St. Paul island, so I was excited to see the two tattlers today.

Wandering Tattler

Wandering Tattler

River Otter

other animals also use the man-made jetties.

Salmon Arm 2016

Jun 26-28, 2016

Every year, more than hundreds of pairs of Western Grebes gather in Shuswap Lake in Salmon Arm, BC. Many people stop by the town for a meal or a night as they travel across British Columbia through Highway 1.

Despite the traffic, the lake shore is generally quiet and comfortable other than when you are in the sun at noon. The grebes usually do not mind anyone that walk on the boating pier, so getting good looks is not difficult. But getting close to them when they are feeding the chicks is another story. I shot from the pier most of the time, as the grebes with chicks seem to mind my presence at their level. Here are the shots I managed to get at higher angle.

Western Grebe

 At the beginning of each breeding season, they molt their primary feathers and cannot fly until the feathers grow back. In late June, the wing molt is almost complete.

Western Grebe

 Some grebes still do the dance this late in the season, but it is probably too late for a nest.

Western Grebe

Western Grebe

 The single birds do not care if people look at them as much as the parents. This guy popped up in front of me when the grebe families were wary of me looking at them.

Western Grebe

 There was also a Pied-billed Grebe Family by the pier.

Pied-billed Grebe

 The Ospreys are busy catching fish and watching their nests as the did the first time I was here in 2014. Ospreys point the head of fish the direction they fly to waste as little energy carrying them as possible, taking advantage of fish's stream line body.

Osprey

Osprey

 Sometime in addition to sitting in the nest, it is also necessary to chase unwelcome visitors in this case a young Bald Eagle.

Osprey and Bald Eagle

All Red-eyed Vireos I heard on this trip were not easy to find, and I was quite happy to see this one.

Red-eyed Vireo

 Blue-winged Teal

male

Blue-winged Teal

 female

Blue-winged Teal

 When the grebes are too far to photograph, there usually are other things to see.
some sort of fish.

I'm gonna call this Yellow-bellied Marmot, not that I've seen any that does not have a yellow belly.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

 Dragon Boat ''Dragonize''

Second quarter of the year 2016

Apr 8
On some moonless nights, I would bring my 800mm lens to a park near my place to see what 800mm with 1.4 teleconvertor can do. The first try yielded some surprising images. Jupiter with its 4 moons were visible in the view finder. Normally I only think of Jupiter as a dot, not a dot with lines and 4 smaller dots!

Jupiter

Apr 10

Merlin

The pair of Merlins at Queen Elizabeth park is definitely establishing their territory, occasionally chasing and being chased by crows. I'm not sure how many song birds are in their favorite trees in other years, but this year there are not many if any.

One bird appear to be almost black, which seems to be the male, the other a bit more brownish.

The darker bird.

Merlin

The lighter bird received a prey from its mate.

Merlin

looks like a Chipping Sparrow which I have never seen in the park.

Merlin

Jun 4

Picture of Saturn didn't turn out as well, but this is my first time seeing Saturn so its the best view I've had so far.

Saturn

Jun 5

QE park

The heat on the June days is a bit discouraging, but this provided an opportunity to see a napping merlin. 

Merlin

Merlin

Jun 12

The weather pattern turned cold and wet again in the middle of June. The good part is that all of the birds sing right after the rain stops, and make finding Swainson's Thrush in Lynn Canyon much easier than looking for silent birds.

Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush

Spring Break in Taiwan, additional photos

Besides birds, I also had some opportunities to see many plants and some insects. This post will have few descriptions with my best efforts identifying them.

Most names were found on the Plants of TAIWAN website

Viola nagasawai sp.

Sanicula lamelligera Hance

Paris polyphylla

Drosera spathulata
this carnivorous plant is only about one centimeter wide, but still deadly for some small insects

there are some digested food on the leaves.

Not sure which species of leech this is. Found it in Fuyang eco park in Taipei city.

Variegated Flutterer

Rhyothemis Variegata

Formosan Macaque
the only primate other than humans
seen on the Dasyueshan IBA trip