Saxe Point Park

Despite continuing cold temperatures (maybe it's just me still re-acclimatizing from my trip to India where the daily temp hovered around 30 degrees C.), spring is bursting out, though with some restraint. I went to Saxe Point Park for a walk yesterday to see if last year's eagle couple had re-occupied their nest and also to see what the state of the wildflowers was along the shoreline. There were a few Fawn Lilies and some Salmonberry blooms but most forest flowers are still awaiting the arrival of warmer weather. Nevertheless, just as I was leaving the park a shaft of sunlight drew my attention to this little flowering tree whose crisp white blossoms grace today's photo. Sorry, I haven't managed to identify this tree (yet). The eagle's nest is still atop a tall tree in the park but I didn't see any eagles.

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Here's a bird I have seen and photographed many times without much success. Hummingbirds are a challenge to every photographer because they are so small, so agile and fast, and so beautifully colored. They are very charming birds and some fantastic photos have been taken of them. This is a male Anna's Hummingbird, the only hummingbird that overwinters around here. One of the problems I have when photographing this bird is that its brilliantly magenta colored head is so bright that it always overexposes when it catches the light. Here the bird is at enough of an angle so that only a bit of that brilliance shows. I posted a photo of some hummingbird chicks last year that were likely the progeny of this bird since he was guarding a territory within a stone's throw of their nest in Saxe Point Park.

Telephoto Fun

Lately I've been enjoying my longest telephoto lens. It's a 500mm reflex lens and is most useful for birds. Yesterday's posted photo of the Hooded Mergansers was taken with this lens. These birds were so far out in the water that with the naked eye I could do little more than guess at their identity. Yet thanks to modern technology I was able to capture the relatively sharp image I posted. Today's photos were both taken with the same super telephoto lens and I selected them to show the kind of distortion that comes about with long lenses like this. In the photo above, of course, the sun is about 10 times bigger than it appears in reality. It's a great effect- it makes it look like a blistering hot morning in mid-summer instead of a cold autumn sunrise. The photo below is more of a curiosity for locals to consider. In the foreground is the shoreline from Saxe Point (on the left) to Macaulay Point (on the right) with Fleming Beach and Buxton Green closer to the middle on the right. Where it starts to get weird is what's further back - many of Victoria's trademark buildings in apparently odd locations and looking larger and closer than seems possible. If you look carefully you can see Craigdarroch Castle, the Rocklands water tower, Christchurch Cathedral, the Empress Hotel, the Legislative Assembly Buildings, the Sussex Building and others.

3 at Saxe Point

While out at Saxe Point Park recently I noticed these three people each enjoying the park in their own individual way. At the same time, there were three separate weddings taking place in the park. All these photos were taken within a few minutes.

Summer Day II

What better way to spend a summer day?