Blog – Page 64 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

American White Pelican

A couple of weeks ago a small group of 11 American White Pelicans showed up at Brunswick Point. While I did manage to see them, they were just too far off for photos. A couple of days ago a larger group of 44 birds arrived and I managed to get out there this afternoon. While still quite some distance away,

… they were close enough for some photos today.

The American White Pelican is a rare visitor for coastal BC, but will summer in the interior of the province. And what would a coastal BC photo be without a shot of BC Ferries in the background ;-)

So I was a little happier today getting some usable photos and adding another species to my life photo list.

Owl & Swallows

A lovely summer afternoon and a moderate crowd at Reifel this afternoon when I showed up to help out on the trails. While fairly quiet on the birding front, there have been a couple of Mourning Doves and Eastern Kingbirds for a change of pace of late. The highlight for most though,

… was this Great Horned Owl along the east dyke trail. I spent a good part of the afternoon with the camera set up on it providing this view to visitors.

Meanwhile back at the Tree Swallow nest,

… I continue trying to get shots of the adults arriving with food for the chicks. I managed to see three juveniles in the nest at once today.

Tree Swallow Nest

During the quieter summer months one of my favourite things to do is trying to find a Tree Swallow nest. While we are all probably familiar with seeing them at the numerous nesting boxes, I prefer to find a more natural one, a cavity in a tree or old snag. There is one I have been watching since they were incubating eggs. For about two weeks now they have been actively feeding young, but the moment I wait for,

… is when the young Tree Swallows are large enough to be sticking their heads out of the nest and begging for food as the adults arrive. The rest in the series as the adult male arrived to feed the juvenile.

While this feeding consisted of a beak full of smaller insects,

… he did arrive with a larger dragon fly which was deposited inside the nest.