Little Blue Heron...

Photo by Dario Sanches/Wikipedia

Little Blue Heron

(Egretta caerulea)

Here's a bird I've only ever seen once, that I can remember.   I saw it in November of 1992 on a trip to Florida.   It is easily found along the Caribbean coast and in the south-east United States, where I've been many times, but only saw a 'Little Blue' the one time.   It is one of my 'lifers' nevertheless.

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BarrytheBirder       

 

Dave Kemp's good day at Comox on Vancouver Island...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Bonaparte's Gull

An attractive bird entering its first winter

Common Loon

Juvenile Red-necked Grebe

Long-billed Murrelet

Juvenile Rhinoceros Auklet

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BarrytheBirder

On Snively Pond in Oak Ridges...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

 Male MALLARD (in fall eclipse)

At first, I thought this male Mallard duck had an odd shade of green (like pale pond scum) on the top of its head, but then decided that in fact, it was a male, in its late-summer/early-fall  eclipse with its iridescent green head fading away and making it resemble a female.

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BarrytheBirder   

Photos from B.C.'s Comox Valley...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinus

Pictured above is a Pomarine Jaeger off the eastern shores off Vancouver Island, in the Comox Valley area, about 50 kilometres north of Nanaimo.  The Pomarine Jaeger is the largest of the Jaeger species in this part of the world and is known to roam as far as Australia and New Zealand.  Photographer/naturalist Dave Kemp also took the Hump-backed Whale photos (below) in the same area.

  

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BarrytheBirder

Goldfinch's fall plumage change...

Adult 

Male

breeding

(Mar. - Oct.)

The male Goldfinch (at left)

is at the end of its summer plumage.   It is about begin

its winter plumage.   While many small birds change their plumage once a year, the Goldfinch does it twice a year: in the fall and in the spring.

 Adult 

 Male

non-breeding

(Oct. - Mar.)

The male Goldfinch (at left)

is seen in its winter plumage.

By March it will start to take on its

brilliant yellow spring/summer plumage, which will last until October, when it will once again opt for it duller fall/winter plumage

to take it through to the spring of the next year. 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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Barry Wallace

 

Backyard visitor...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

COOPER'S HAWK

Accipter cooperii

Here's a regular at our our backyard bird feeders who generously posed for this full frontal portrait before heading off to a neighbouring backyard to try its luck.   My guess is that this raptor is successful on the every one or 

two times if swoops down on the Mourning Doves or the smaller birds. 

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BarrytheBirder

Photos from Vancouver Island...

Photos by Dave Kemp

Sandhill Cranes heading south in B.C.

These flocks of southward migrating Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) were photographed by my west coast friend and naturalist Dave Kemp, on Vancouver Island.   There were almost 70 birds in total in these photos.   They will have come from as far north as the Aleutian Islands and arctic Canada after summering on grasslands.   Now they are headed south to marshes and agricultural fields in southern Canada, the mid-west United States, and as far south as the Caribbean north shore.

Photo at left courtesy 

of the Reifel Sanctuary 

in Ladner, B.C.

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if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Dufferin Marsh ~ Schomberg

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Another visit to the Richmond Hill Mill Pond...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Phalacrocorax auritus

Double-crested Cormorant

The Richmond Hill Mill Pond is not a large pond, but it is very pretty and popular with the local citizenry.   It has also been a regular spot all summer for three Double-crested Cormorants.  I presume there is enough fish in the pond to keep them fed sufficiently.   They are also popular with passersby and local photographers.   The time and effort they spend on drying and preening their feathers also attracts attention.

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comment

if you

wish.

Barry

the 

Birder

Hwy. 9 - just west of Jane Street

Photos by BarrytheBirder

This Highway 9 farm, between Jane Street and the 400 always has more than its share of gulls at its pond.   There's always a few Canada Geese also.   The photo at bottom shows one of the new young horses on the farm who has a problem with its forelock and mane, and burrs! 

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BarrytheBirder

Richmond Hill Millpond

Photos by Barry Wallace

 

Mute Swan exercising its wings

Double-crested Cormorant

Preening

Drying its wings

When I arrived at the south end of the Millpond today, I momentarily thought I saw a second Mute Swan at the far north end of the pond, but when I reached the north end I realized that what I had seen was a seagull: a big Herring Gull.   Herring Gulls have wingspans up to 5 feet.

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BarrytheBirder

B.C. Merlin photographed by Dave Kemp...

 

Photos by Dave Kemp

My birding friend Dave Kemp has sent me these Merlin photos which he recently took on Vancouver Island.  Merlins of the Pacific Northwest have plumage that is very dark.   They are very fast powerful fliers and catch other birds in flight by a sudden burst of speed rather than in a dive.

 

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BarrytheBirder

More 'Holland Marsh' herons...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

Big birds in the Holland Marsh...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Photos by BarrytheBirder

(Above - Red-tailed Hawk)

(Below - Turkey Vulture)

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BarrytheBirder