Tuesday 28 June 2016

The Swallow Eggs Have Hatched!

Introducing . . . Tiny, Tadpole and Merlin. And possibly Peregrine, (I just can't see him or her). Stay tuned for more swallow updates soon to come! Or to meet the proud parents, see my blog post, Swallows, Swallows, Swallows ...
http://birdymcbirdface.blogspot.ca/2016/05/swallows-swallows-swallows-oh-and-some.html

Tiny, Tadpole, Merlin . . . and possibly Peregrine (underneath!)
Such a soft warm nest

Snowy Plover!

Lately I have had bad luck with finding rare birds. We didn't see the code 5 White Cheeked Starling or the code 4 Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Chesterman's Beach. After a very disappointing mission to look for a White Winged dove in Ucluelet, we got a call from Adrian Dorst stating that there was a Snowy plover at Florencia Bay. So we set out again, readying ourselves for another defeat. Following the instructions, we walked to Lost Shoe creek, then headed southwest after about 20 paces. We set up the scope and this is what we saw. A Snowy Plover, very rare here and we were the second ones to see it!


Snowy Plover in breeding plumage

Wednesday 22 June 2016

Thank You Pentax

Thank you to Sun Camera Service, who repair all Pentax equipment. They fixed my broken monocular at a discounted price. I'm so happy to have my trusty companion back by my side!


Friday 10 June 2016

Neighbourhood Rescue!

Our neighbour Joey found a crow making off with a baby robin yesterday. She saved the robin from the crow. It dropped the robin, but we had to prevent the crow from returning. All the robins in the forest were very angry at this one crow. Joey's daughter Aqua and I took care of the baby robin and every once in a while it would open its mouth wide and gaping – and squeak! We fed it salmonberries. We put it out of reach of cats, in a box, near its parents. When we came back later to check on it, we found it had made its getaway into the trees. The evidence is here:
Before

After


Saturday 4 June 2016

The story of a small duck called a... SMEW!

This is a bird only rarely spotted in Canada on the Aleutian islands 
but found commonly in Europe and Asia. I love this bird (I have to confess mostly because of its unique name,) but also because of its perfect combination of adorable and elegant.
Even before my big year, my family I loved this bird and we have a standing joke about it.