Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

A few days ago I saw a Harlequin Duck very close to shore on my morning walk along the West Bay Walkway and cursed myself for not carrying my camera that day. Yesterday I took my camera with me in case he was still hanging around. No luck so I took some photos of what I thought was a Common Merganser swimming and diving some distance offshore. Once at home though and scrutinizing these photos carefully I realized that this bird was not a Common Merganser but something else. That white collar and rufous breast identify him as a male Red Breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator), a bird I've not identified (or seen) before. This serves as a good reminder to me that we often "see" what we expect to see, even when what we are looking at is something quite different.

The Red Breasted Merganser "...has been claimed to be the fastest bird in level flight, reaching speeds of 129 km/h (80 mph)..." according to Wikipedia. No wonder he's got that wind-blown hairstyle.

Young Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

I was lucky enough to see this young Cooper's Hawk out at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary last year and every time I look at the photos I managed to get I am struck by the ferocity and concentration that this bird displays. I posted another photo of this juvenile hawk HERE.

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This morning Victoria has several inches of fresh snow and the white stuff is still falling heavily. As soon as it gets a little lighter outside I plan to go out and make some pictures. Below is what it looks like through my front window right now (8:15am).

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.

Green-Winged Teal (Anas carolinensis)

Since I began to observe local birds and attempt to identify and photograph them I have been amazed to discover just how many different kinds there are, especially among the duck family. Here's one I've only seen once, the Green-Winged Teal (Anas carolinensis). This one and his mate were busily dabbling in some very mucky water at the head of Finlayson Arm in Goldstream Park. The photo above is practically the only time this drake had his head above water while I was there.

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

The first time I saw terns like these I had no telephoto lens with me but that didn't stop me from enjoying their hovering and missile-like diving. The photo above is the second time I saw them out at Esquimalt Lagoon but they were quite far away and mostly obscured by the many seagulls surrounding them. I am not 100% certain of my identification of these birds as Caspian Terns. They are the birds in this photo with the large red bills. The distinguishing feature that I think identifies them as Caspian Terns is the black feet and legs visible on the tern just coming in for a landing in this photo.

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)

While browsing through the archives lately I've come across a number of bird photos that I have not posted because, while they are good enough to enable identification of the bird, they may not be very appealing or competent as photographs. The Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) pictured above is one such and I have a few others that I am going to post over the next few days simply as part of the catalog of life in and around Victoria. I must confess to a slight sense of accomplishment when I manage to identify one of the many little brownish/grayish birds that flutter around on the edges of our urban consciousness. For those of my visitors who live here you will be happy to know that despite there being a number of species of chickadee, this is the only one that lives on Vancouver Island so, should you see something like this here you can be pretty sure it is a Chestnut-Backed Chickadee. Wikipedia says it is sometimes considered to be the "most handsome" of chickadees - another good reason to visit this area, especially if you live where there are a lot of ugly chickadees.

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

I appear to have caught some kind of infection so here is a photo from a few weeks ago of a male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) photographed at Esquimalt Lagoon.

Female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I've mentioned before that Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) are one of my favourite ducks and I've posted several photos of the male of the species because his dramatic coloration makes him easy to identify. The female of the species is not so strikingly attired and since these Hooded Mergansers are often in company with other ducks whose females are also camouflaged I am always a little reluctant to post photos of the females of the species for fear of wrong identification. In general I believe the drabber, browner based plumage of females makes them less visible when on the nest, providing a distinct adaptive benefit. Above is a female Hooded Merganser, the mate of the male Hooded Merganser to the left.

Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

The lovely little diving ducks are called Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola). They were swimming and diving quite energetically offshore of the West Bay Walkway when I noticed a large Harbour Seal (right below) approaching them.

The seal dived and a few moments later all the ducks were in flight. Seals are occasionally known to opportunistically attack sea birds and I suspect these little ducks must look as inviting from beneath the surface as they do above. The event was a little reminder that the animals we observe in these peaceful natural scenes probably see their environment quite differently from how we view it.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I was pleased to see some Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) yesterday when out on my walk. Above are a pair of males. These beautiful little diving ducks re-ignited my enthusiasm for bird-watching nearly two years ago when I first saw them in the midst of a long gray December. I think they must nest further north and fly south to winter around here since I generally see them during the winter months.

Seagull Portrait

Here's one of Victoria's most common birds whose querulous and mournful call often provides the ambient music to our days. As I have mentioned before, it is difficult to take a photo in Victoria without including a gull somewhere in the background. Here is one who posed prettily out at Esquimalt Lagoon. They are so ubiquitous here it is easy to forget what graceful and resourceful birds they are. Here is a little more information about gulls - no need to read further if you know what kleptoparasitism is....

Gulls—the larger species in particular—are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders. Certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull) have exhibited tool use behaviour, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish, for example. Many species of gull have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh. A seagull in Aberdeen has been seen repeatedly shoplifting bagged crisps from a shop, apparently displaying a preference for cheese flavour Doritos.

From Wikipedia

Thanks to commenter and fellow blogger Mike Laplante, here is a video of the infamous Dorito thief.

I have a soft spot for Doritos myself.

American Wigeon (Male)

Ten days ago I posted a photo of a female American Wigeon (Anas americana) taken at Cattle Point. Here is the male of the species, photographed at Esquimalt Lagoon last week.

Brewer's Blackbird (Male)

The day before yesterday I posted a photo of a female of this species, a rather demure lady with tasteful brownish gray plumage. Here is the male Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) with his dramatic yellow-eyed glare. From a human perspective this bird looks angry - always. I wonder if his enemies also interpret his intensely staring eye as ferocity and shy away from attacking him?

Brewer's Blackbird (Female)

Mixing sociably with the starlings pictured yesterday were a couple of kinds of blackbird, Red Winged and Brewer's. As is often the case, the males bear the most distinguishing marks of the species so I am not certain of my identification here. However, I think this is a female Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus). This species is named after the American Ornithologist, Thomas Mayo Brewer.

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

I mentioned the other day when I posted the photo of the Downy Woodpecker that I had been a stalking him for a long time. Here is another difficult-to-photograph bird that shares the same part of the West Bay Walkway, the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon). I see this bird almost every time I am down there but it is usually so busy fishing that I generally end up with a series of shots like this. He (or she, I'm not sure) takes off from his perch (left above), then hovers about 20 feet above the water for a few seconds, then dives (right below), usually emerging with a little fish wiggling in that powerful beak, and skims away just above the surface to another perch.

Cattle Point

I was going to post another sunrise photo today but I realized that they are a little like cupcakes - one is fine but a steady diet is a bit overwhelming. After I had glutted myself on sunrise yesterday at Willows Beach I went down to the end of the beach marked by Cattle Point. I was amazed by the variety and busy-ness of the wild life off that point. All these photos were taken within a few minutes.

Above is a female American Wigeon. There were lots of Mallards as well and a few other kinds of duck but the latter were so shy I was unable to get close enough to identify them. On the left, poking about among the rocks was a Black Oystercatcher. These birds always amuse me because they seem to be trying to be inconspicuous but those eyes and that beak are a dead giveaway. To the right, seemingly traveling in tandem, are one of our local seagulls and a Harbour Seal.

There seem to be more than the usual number of seals around lately. I see one or more pretty well every time I am down near the shoreline. Last night while on the West Bay Walkway I spent about a half an hour watching one dine off a dense school of thousands of small silvery fish that were swimming directly below the walkway.

Downy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos pubescens)

I apologize for the fuzzy photo of this Downy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos pubescens) but promise a better one some day. I am posting this one because after a year or so of intermittently chasing this small local woodpecker this is the best of several hundred photos I've attempted of the jittery little guy. He moves quickly and jerkily, mostly on the underside or backside of branches and seems quite shy. He's one of two kinds of woodpeckers I have seen locally. The other is quite large and equally difficult to photograph. Flickers are another relative that I am working on....

Ducklike Object Surprises Grumpy Blogger

I was grumping along today under these unremitting gray skies doing the "been there, done that" litany with occasional riffs of "same old, same old" and dropped down below the Westsong Walkway to see if could photograph some grass (I'm that desperate for green) and not the kind of grass you smoke but the kind you walk on. I was envisioning grass and rocks and ocean combined in a simple yet unique and profound shot that would somehow express the exact opposite of the boredom and mild despair creeping over me. The little plot of bright green I'd seen from a distance proved on closer examination to have recently been grazed by a flock of Canada Geese whose thickly scattered droppings caused a brief fit of cynical nodding and muttered curses. While scraping my shoes off with a handy bit of driftwood I heard a cascade of splashy plops along with some low grunting quack-like noises, and looked up to see a small flock of Hooded Mergansers dropping into the small bay just in front of me, looking as if they were just minted, fresh-made, so crisp and clean. I've never seen a Hooded Merganser before and I hope you enjoy the one above as much as I did.

Great Blue Heron

A nesting colony of Great Blue Herons is located in Beacon Hill Park, within a few minutes walk from downtown Victoria. The colony has been under attack lately from Bald Eagles who occasionally nest nearby, causing a small controversy amongst locals, some maintaining that the herons should be protected while others say that the eagles and herons are natural enemies and the attacks are simply nature taking its course. However, the herons are a small and at-risk population while the Bald Eagle is thriving - estimated population in BC is 20 to 30 thousand, about a third of the North American total. In any case, it seemed like a rare privilege for a city dweller like myself to be able to approach such a splendid creature so closely and I hope the eagles will find something else to eat.