Backyard reliables...every winter day

 Photo by Barry Wallace

Late December Doves

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BarrytheBirder

Cold nectar for B.C. 'hummers'

Photo By Dave Kemp

Hummers thwarted by Vancouver Island snow

My west coast acquaintance and friend Dave Kemp sent along this photo of a hummingbird feeder that was recently smothered in snow.   No doubt, this sent many 'late-in-the-year' B.C. hummers further south.

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BarrytheBirder

 

 

No mistaking this hawk...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk

(Buteo jamaicensis)

Colloquially known as the "Chicken Hawk" along with three other types of the species, the Red-tailed Hawk rarely preys on full-size chickens, preferring to prey instead upon smaller, more catchable creatures, of which there is an ample supply  in most of its North American range.   In places close to large bodies of water, it will even partake of seafood.

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BarrytheBirder

Winter Warrior...

  

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Downy Woodpecker

It is said that Native Americans associate the woodpecker drumming in sync with nature's heartbeat.  It is believed that this bird is synonymous with the entire concept of life, and shares a profound bond with Mother Earth, whose incessant energy flows through every human.   In essence, the Natives correlate the woodpecker with Earth's pulses.

-- Katelyn Wilde

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BarrytheBirder

Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus)

Photo by Sergey Gorskov 

Making off with an egg on Wrangel Island, Russia

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BarrytheBirder

 

Vancouver Island waterfowl...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Pied-billed Grebe

Ring-neck Duck

Little River Pond

Comox Glacier

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BarrytheBirder

Snively- Parradelle Wetlands - north of Lake Wilcox

Photos by Barry Wallace

A pair of tagged Trumpeter Swans is still here just 9 days before Christmas.  Meanwhile, below, evidence of recent work by beavers is to be found in several spots at the Paradelle Pond.   Some of the partially felled trees have been wrapped in wire fencing in an attempt to save some of the un-chewed trunks.

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BarrytheBirder

No birds today...otter and fish on the menu

Photos by Dave Kemp

Vancouver Island naturalist Dave Kemp has passed on some otter shots today which are a diversion from the usual bird photos in this space.   Above and below, a flounder has become a meal for a hungry otter.

Off for a second helping?

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BarrytheBirder

Vancouver Island photos by Dave Kemp...

Photos by Dave Kemp

A place of big blue open waters

 

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BarrytheBirder

Critters co-mingling...

Photo by Dave Kemp

My friend Dave Kemp, from Vancouver Island, has been supplying me his photos from the eastern shores of Vancouver Island for quite some time.   I am delighted to share some of them in this space.   Today's offering is a Grebe and a Muskrat sharing and checking out each other on the same patch of B.C. shoreline.

Please comment if you wish. 

BarrytheBirder 

Turkey vultures in southern Ontario longer and longer...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The longer and longer seasons that Turkey Vultures spend in Ontario each year means more and more opportunities to photograph them.   Herewith a small collection...

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BarrytheBirder

Another Vancouver Island bird by Dave Kemp...

 

Photos by Dave Kemp

Golden-crowned Kinglet in early December

(Regulus satrapa)

One of the smallest and shortest passerines in North America.

Headed south from Ontario several weeks ago, but still to be found on Vancouver Island in lower British Columbia.

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BarrytheBirder

Striking photo from Vancouver Island...

 

Photo by Dave Kemp

Oystercatcher ~ Qualicum Bay

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Barrythebirder

Bald Eagle photos by B.C.'s Dave Kemp...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Taking flight on Vancouver Island

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BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swans at Marylake this past weekend...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Tagged female and large cygnet

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BarrytheBirder

Canada Geese at Marylake

Photo by BarrytheBarry

Geese beneath an apple tree

Canada 

Goose 

down

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comment 

if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Depending the view you have of a Red-tailed Hawk (such as in the photo above) it is very obvious by the colour of its tail feathers to name this raptor.

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BarrytheBirder

Windmill, pond and Canada Geese in Kettleby

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Serenity

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BarrytheBirder

Vancouver Island photos from Dave Kemp...

Photo by Dave Kemp

Bald Eagle

Oh to live in a place where one would see a Bald Eagle every day of the week.   The photo above was taken on the east side of Vancouver Island recently, by birding friend Dave Kemp.  Below are a couple more shots of that part of our world.

Black Turnstones

Goose Spit

...last of this year's wild apples.

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BarrytheBirder