Ardea Herodias

Squawking because Sparrow is on the beach...

     I took the dogs to Jericho Beach today. It's Monday so I knew it wouldn't be crowded. We walked down to the beach so I could throw sticks for Sparrow, who was already in the water - Hawksley beside me near my ankle.

He lands and watches a few tosses of chase the stick.

     We climbed over the last grassy bank to get onto the sand. I heard this guy before I saw him. A Great Blue Heron! My dad asked me if I have a picture of one in flight, so I keep trying. Today I got pretty lucky. As I said I heard him before I saw him, so I got my camera ready. He SQUAWKED a number of times, really loudly complaining that we were disturbing him. We were at least a hundred yards away - and only two other people on the entire beach! He probably thought my dogs would chase him, but they know better - besides this park is chalk full of coyotes, so if someone's dog did chase, I feel like the dog's just keeping whatever it's chasing on whatever it's chasing's toes. Most dogs are just into chasing, not catching. There's a German short haired Pointer and he just stands there, leg up like a statue- for twenty minutes at a time. It's so awesome, the first time you see it it looks a little alarming, the dog is so intently concentrating on the bunny- but then nothing happens and the bunny is just sitting there five feet from the dog, eating a discarded carrot. The Pointer- pointing.
     So I stayed there on the beach right where we were so he could either fish or fly and he chose to fly to the east of us, complaining the whole way! I thought about running a moment or two of video to share the funny sound this big guy made, but I really wanted to get the photos of the Great Blue Heron in flight, like my dad requested. Here's a good one:

Complaining loudly, he flies a few hundred yards east.

     You should be able to click on the photo to make it bigger- for a closer look. There are usually two or three of them here but it was getting warm already at 9:30AM. I noticed tracks all over the beach from dozens of different birds. They must have fished early. It rained pretty hard yesterday but the sunset sky ended with pink, so sailor's delight.
     This is the place to come if you really need to see a Great Blue Heron that day. It's a guarantee practically. I look for their feathers in a few spots and almost always find at least one. They groom in the trees above the duck pond. They fish in the pond all the time too.
     I wondered if they would eat a baby duckling and watched one fishing for frogs. I decided it probably would, and decided to stop wondering before I actually saw it happen. The Herons you see here now are the adults and offspring of the colony that roosts in Stanley Park across the inlet. If you read my previous posting, I Did Not Know That, I won't have to repeat myself here and describe the huge colony...
     We usually leave the beach area and walk towards the Blackberry brambles where the bunnies are. The berries are ripe and cover the vines. Sparrow eats them right off the vine, carefully avoiding the prickles. The pug waits for us to feed him his share. Both dogs love the berries. So do we! There are tons of birds and bunnies that fill this little area. a few weeks ago Eliza and I watched hummingbird fledglings getting flying lessons. Talk about adorable. I was unable to get any footage because it was the one and only day I didn't bring my camera on our walk.

     Lately we have been going to this awesome dog beach. It isn't over used or over run, with about a hundred and fifty yards of shallow water that even Hawksley can play in. Check out this adorable video of him looking for his ball after it sank. He was able to find it again by using his feet, he communicated to me that he had it between his back feet by looking up at me and not moving them and then slowly looking back and into the water - then slowly back up to me. I felt between his back feet and there it was! Smartie! Cutie!

     I have accumulated a number of Great Blue Heron pictures and here are a few. I hope you enjoy them. I don't mind if anyone* (*except for a company or corporation, or for profit or mass reproduction) uses my photos. (So if you are going to profit off of it or publish it please ask me first.) I don't watermark them. I would like the credit for taking them, and would love to hear how and why you used them if you do! I take pictures because I enjoy seeing these sights, and want to share the nature as far and wide as I can in the hopes that people who aren't aware of how important it is will become aware. We need to protect it and support it.
     BIG GREEDY OIL are currently doing something really bad in Alberta for profit. It's called the TAR SANDS. Basically it's a really messy and dirty way of getting oil out of the ground. It uses millions of gallons of  fresh water and created huge environmental catastrophes.
     This is happening and we need to stop it. There is a huge protest going on in Washington DC about stopping a pipeline from going all the way from Alberta Tar Sands to Texas refineries. This will be a major environmental disaster in more ways than one. This isn't just a treehugger (which I am, proudly) sounding off, this is the opinion of brilliant scientists and educated environmentalists alike.
     If you enjoyed my blog, and the photos, please take a moment to look into this threat and spread the word that it is not the direction we all need to be taking. BP's oil spill has destroyed the Shrimp, Pelicans are STARVING to death. The Tar Sands project has had safety issues, and pipeline breaks or oil spills all the time. Thanks for reading. Enjoy the pictures.
     When you are done, please take a moment to click on (if you haven't already) any and all of the coloured links above to better understand the importance of this information...

Fishing off Granville Island

His long head feather is so cool!

Eagle Vs. Poodle

If you live in BC and ever bother to look up, or if you're like me and spend most of your time staring at the sky, chances are you will see a Bald Eagle. I have often seen them circle overhead, traveling or hunting. Going from Burnaby Mountain to Deep Cove without ever flapping a wing, just riding the wind current across the water, or across the city.

That in itself is a wonderful thing, considering that this bird was once on the endangered species list. For now, here in Vancouver we still have quite a few large trees to deal with this kind of traffic, but with urban infringement we lose more and more habitat for not only an eagle's nest, but for all the birds and animals that live in that habitat.

In the Port of North Vancouver, there was a big old place that TV shows and feature films used to film in because it was abandoned, so you could work into the wee hours without disturbing residentials. It was called Versatile Shipyards. It's all expensive condos now, but just a few years ago it was these huge abandoned shipyards, covered with tons of corrugated aluminum, and built out of old growth douglas fir. Beams two and a half feet wide and forty feet long... hundreds of them. This place stood on some glorious old wilderness that once made ideal breeding grounds for these Eagles.

One morning at 5 AM, while working on a Disney movie at the time, I had reason to find myself down at these really old shipyards, and standing out on the end of a sixty foot pier. I had been standing there for about fifteen minutes, watching the sun come up to my left, and listening to the water lap against the struts. I happened to look to my right, I guess for the first time, because standing beside me about six feet away, was the biggest prehistoric creature I had ever seen. It came up to just under my shoulder in height and it's body was twice the size of my dog's. It looked at me with his giant yellow eye and slowly opened his wings, which hung off of huge muscular shoulders. I realized it was a Bald Eagle - about the size of a seven year old child. He held his arms out for a second, standing still looking at me, like, 'watch this'. Then at the same time he slowly looked away, he just tipped forward and dropped off the end of the pier.

His body arced back and his wings reached out sharp on either side of his huge brown body, his huge feet stretched tight against his powerful white tail.

The drop was about ten feet to the water, in that short distance he caught enough air to glide across and then up, higher and higher. He flapped his wings only a few times to gain more lift, and was within moments high above me, and halfway across the inlet. I was awestruck. Looking up in the sky you think they look big, but there's no real scale to judge. Seeing an giant old one standing just a few feet away was just something profound. I realized that he was there the whole time, and was just so big, he didn't register in my head, so I didn't even see him-

I have always meant to go to Brackendale, near Squamish, BC in the early spring. They do a Bald Eagle count there every year because it's the place where the salmon spawn and Eagles nest and breed. Next year for sure.

The other day we went to Deep Cove. we saw a Bald Eagle flying overhead with something white & rather large. We hoped it was just a Seagull, and not a cat or dog. There were crows chasing it relentlessly, but the Eagle just flew, low above the trees and disappeared from our view. When we got to the beach, we saw 3 more Eagles hunting. I took some video of the ruckus the crows can cause when one of the Eagles decides to land on a familiar roost. See video, below...

We keep our pug on a leash whenever there is an Eagle sighting. They have been known to grab small dogs right out from under their unsuspecting owner's nose. We had always hoped this was just an urban myth, but time and time again we hear first hand accounts. No one ever blames the Eagles, they are just hunting. Loss of food and habitat makes wild animals look elsewhere for survival. Lots of birds and animals adapt to our sloppy ways only as a last resort, they don't want to be domestic - they have no other choice. Apparently this year there are practically no salmon. None for the fishermen, none for the Eagles. And now, with dear Japan's compromised reactors relentlessly weeping nuclear devastation into the Pacific Rim, we have no idea what next year, or century for that matter- will hold.

There are several Bald Eagle Cams you can watch online. They are smart enough to NOT publish the actual physical location of these nests, so that thousands of folks don't show up to see it, but there are hundreds of Eagle nests all over the lower mainland and on the islands. If you have the dream to see a nest with your own eyes, it's possible with out even leaving the city. They are profoundly huge. Like the size of a VW beetle, suspended ninety feet above in the top of a giant fir, usually.

Important Northern Flicker Discovery!

Okay, things are back to normal on BLOGGER, and so I will attempt to share with you the most spectacular footage! The Northern Flicker doing something never before recorded, or seen - well, actually we saw this same family do this last year and no one believed us when we asked around about it. This year we got pictures AND video to back up our claims.

Without further ado, the official FIRST TIME EVER REPORT:

FLICKER MOVES THEIR EGGS!

Filmed by Jenny Macintosh & witnessed by Jenny Macintosh & Eliza Hargreaves for 2 years running:

It happened the same way last year. We watched the return of the Flickers, then the loud and colourful mating displays for weeks - followed by a quiet pause. Then one day we saw Mrs. Flicker leave the nest with an egg in her beak, HER OWN EGG! She returned mere moments later and got the next, and the next five times that we saw.

This year we watched the mating dance and then the quiet time followed. I kept my camera at the ready and we watched the nest from our side window. Not all the time around the clock, but pretty regularly. One morning over breakfast Eliza saw the first egg being moved and exclaimed! I tossed down my plate and grabbed my camera. I knew i had to be discreet because I didn't want to risk startling them or interrupting this delicate process. I crouched behind a parked car and took a still shot first to make sure I got at least SOME proof. Mr. Flicker returned and I took 2 videos of the move. It was spectacular! So lucky that we caught it happening again!

Apparently this sort of behavior for cavity nesting creatures is really unprecedented. I am trying to get this information to a cavity nesting expert at UBC, but she hasn't called me back yet.

A visit to Reifle Bird Sanctuary

Located near the precious Burns Bog in Delta BC is a very special place for birds of all species. In the heart of the Fraser River Estuary, The Reifle Bird Sanctuary provides shelter for some of the most spectacular birds our planet has to offer. Jill and I went on the spur of the moment back in December. About a 20 minute drive straight up Oak street and out of the city to Delta, and we were there. We walked around through the ponds with our cameras and a dollar bag of duck food. The mallards greeted us immediately begging for a taste. They glowed in the sunshine.

This first day we went there were some rare Night Herons roosting on a tree in the sun. Three of them the colour of Kingfishers and the size of the mallards, really small when I am used to seeing the Great Grey Heron or the Blue. We wound around the estuaries and were awed by the beautiful natural flow of the place. There is water on both sides of the path and no matter where you look, some bird is busy doing something.
We came around one corner and saw something that looked prehistoric - Sandhill Cranes - 3 of them! They stood about 5 feet tall. They were a little intimidating and wanted the corn we had left. The male was a little threatening but I wasn't thinking he was going to attack us or anything - Jill was totally terrified that he would. He would sort of block us from passing until we dumped a pile of food for his wife and daughter. A bit of a challenge for the food, it was only fare - it's their turf and we wanted to take pictures...

There are a few families of these cranes the further we walked. Each time the male would demand some food so we could pass. They were by no means tame - but seemed to know that we would have something for them.

On the very west side of the sanctuary, we could hear a really loud disturbance in the distance. Snow Cranes, thousands of them, preparing to roost for the night. They were spread across the horizon like a lace table cloth blowing on a clothesline, swaying back and forth together honking and flapping. The ruckus was so fantastic that the male Sandhill Crane standing beside me, stood there watching with worried fascination the whole time - totally as amazed at this as I was, like he'd never seen it before either. I wished I was closer than the 2 kms away that I was. It looked spectacular even from that distance.

I mentioned earlier that we decided to go to this sanctuary on the spur of the moment, and also say for the record that I am an amateur photographer... so it is here, just after the Snow Goose display on the west side of the bird sanctuary, at the peak of golden hour, that I run out of battery life for my camera.
The next time we went, was also last minute, but I had a charged battery. The song birds were just returning to nest. Tree swallows and Jenny Wrens sang and darted over the water. The Sandhill cranes are now sitting on eggs in the midst of the water far from the coyotes and the humans. Bald Eagles circled constantly overhead. And tons of different ducks waddled everywhere, bobbing heads and courting their ladies.
The first time I went to Mr. Spark's cottage in Fenelon Falls I saw his father in-law's decoy collection. They asked me my impression. I thought it was oddly interesting. I didn't really approve of them, so you lure ducks to land with these and then shoot the ones that are alive? Gross. I hated hunting. Most of the decoys were plain and brown I guess the idea being that a female would attract more males... so then they show me one from the top shelf. It's all crazy painted, like a clown. Tons of colour and stripes and spots. Was that one my favorite one they asked? I thought it looked a little too over done, I remember saying and the room filled with laughter. I had no idea until years later that it was a male Wood Duck. When I discovered that that was a REAL duck, I knew I just had to see one in real life. Thirty-five years later at this Reifle Bird Sanctuary, I saw my first one!

After taking these pictures, I did a little research. I love how everything in nature has it's own little bit of detail that distinguishes it from all others. This unique looking duck has claws so it can nest in the cavities of trees!

This wonderful place is somewhere I will return to often. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys nature...

Redwinged Blackbird, You were always waiting for your moment...

This will be short and sweet because of a few glitches happening on BLOGGER. My Crow post from yesterday disappeared and I am not sure if this one holds a similar fate so, that said - the wonderful topic of the Red Winged Blackbird & all it's delights will be revisited.

Here are a few pictures of these delightful and wonderful songbirds. I have always heard their delightful calls, and never really thought to see who was singing it. I have always loved birds, but never thought to learn any more about them than they presented to me as I walked under them, watching them fly, or roost in branches. It always surprises me to discover that there are a lot of birds that actually nest on the ground, and not just birds protected by water. Birds like certain owls, and vultures nest in burrows on the ground!

The Red Winged Blackbird nests in the rushes in ponds and bogs. That makes for some really beautiful photography for us. The males with their black feathers against the dried reeds with he flash of scarlet is stunning to watch.

Northern Flicker Study

One of the best things about springtime, besides the warmer weather, the beautiful flowers and fresh buds, is the return of the migratory birds. This year Eliza and I were excited to see if our Northern Flickers would return to nest in the nest they carved into the dead limb of the otherwise healthy birch tree across the street.

2 females and 1 male rest between dances.

They had been coming to the nest for two years now, and we hoped they would return. We have never seen fledglings, but have seen their spectacular mating rituals, and last year we saw the oddest thing. They relocated their eggs to a hydro pole about a block away and we were lucky enough to see them do this.
Finally the showed up! This time two females and one male would do the courtship dance across the street. In the early mornings they would fly up to the railing of our friend's penthouse and hammer on their metal railing, then caw repeatedly with a devilish laugh.
I took pictures everyday and we watched them flash and jump around the birch, until exhausted they would all perch together until they started up again. Both the male and the females would take turns spending hours in the nest, feeding on the suet paddle I hung on my back porch and eating worms in the lawns down the street.

Mrs. Flicker landing on nest 1.

Now, you'd think after witnessing this kind of activity that I would describe a country setting as my place of residence, but I do not. I live in a very busy area of Vancouver, BC! Shoppers, delivery trucks, pedestrians, dogs, and lack of wilderness has not seemed to deter the Northern Flicker from finding solid digs.
For four weeks now, Eliza and I - and many observant passers by, have been seeing this noisy, brilliant orange ritual unfold. Three days ago, while enjoying our morning coffee, Eliza caught a glimpse of what we were hoping to see - they were relocating their eggs again!! I grabbed my camera and ran outside and crouched behind a parked car so I wouldn't interrupt this serious endeavour.
I took a still shot first! Got him leaving with the third egg, he flew west to the hydro pole behind our favorite restaurant, gleaming white egg pinched in his powerful beak. I refocused on the cavity in the birch and got him returning for the next one. He lands on the tree and caws loudly the same laugh he does after pecking the railing up at the penthouse, then quickly goes in the hole. Within moments his head emerges with another egg, and away he flies to the secondary nest.

The females dance!

We have researched this behavior for two years now, since we first noticed it. No information exists to suggest that this is commonplace. We took the video to Wild Birds Unlimited, and they were very excited to say the least!
We continue to watch the Flickers, and they continue to mate, and occupy the nest across the street in the birch tree, and seem to continually tend to the nest down the street where they moved the eggs to. They have blessed me with beautiful photographs, video and sounds. It is so exciting to me that these spectacular birds can be in our midst, and most people don't even notice them. It makes me wonder how much we miss when we don't take the time to be distracted by nature.