Wintry

Well, our snow is all gone this morning but winter's not relaxing its grip much. Here's a view from the West Bay Walkway looking towards Fisherman's Wharf and some of the resort hotels near Shoal Point.

Victoria Bug Zoo

Whether you live in Victoria or are just visiting, here's a place that is worth seeing, the Victoria Bug Zoo. This place is especially good for kids who are interested in creepy-crawlies. The bug zoo has got some of the biggest and creepiest 6 and 8 legged creatures you can imagine. And for the intrepid, you can actually handle some of these insects. Enthusiastic young docents happily tell you all about the bugs. It's well worth a visit.

Harlequin Duck

Here's a duck I've seen in many different locations but never close enough to make a good photo. This brightly colored and patterned beauty is the Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus). This particular bird was seen off Victoria's eastern shore at Cattle Point.

Enough Snow!

Victoria goes into its third day of snow-covered ground and sub-zero temperatures and I'm in total denial. No more pictures of snow - it just encourages it! I'm focused on Spring.... Rose growers have bred and hybridized thousands of different varieties of rose but my favorite is still the wild one such as pictured above.

Boats in the Snow

Yesterday's big snowfall (about 6 or 8 inches) transformed our landscape from early spring back to early winter. I walked down to Banfield Park in Victoria West, overlooking the Gorge. The photo above is of the Gorge looking downstream towards the Inner Harbour. That's the Selkirk Trestle (part of the Galloping Goose Regional Trail) in the distance.

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.