More on Sunday's visit to Stanley Park

During Sunday's visit to Stanley Park in Vancouver I saw a number of interesting birds aside from the Mute Swans and American Coots. The duck in the photo above is called a Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, with a length of 18.5 inches, a wingspan of 30 inches and a weight of 1.3 pounds (600 g). This is a male duck seen near the shoreline in Lost Lagoon. A pair of these birds has been seen on one previous visit to the lagoon.

After the visit to the lagoon I spent some time at the stone bridge located between the lagoon and two smaller ponds. There was all kinds of activity in the brush located near the one end of the bridge. I spotted several Pacific Northwest Spotted Towhees (Pipilo maculatus). There are also two other Spotted Towhees, the Southwest Spotted Towhee and the Plains Spotted Towhee. Also seen were several Song Sparrows, the Oregon Dark-eyed Junco and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee. In Surrey where I live I see many Black-capped Chickadees that everyone is familiar with. A little red squirrel was also seen. It came within an inch of my feet and would have eaten out of hand if I had something with me like peanuts or sunflower seeds. Then at the water's edge below a family was feeding the many mallard ducks and swans that had congregated there. There is always something to see in the park if you pay close attention.

Before leaving the park, here is another photo of the heron nests near the tennis courts. The fence for the courts can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of the image.

After I left the park, I saw a father playing the fiddle and his twelve year old son playing the bagpipes, and rather good I might add. This was just off the road near the main beach on English Bay. A small crowd of people had congregated around the boy to listen to him play the pipes. So, you never know what might be seen around the corner or over the hill when visiting the area. If you live in the area, think about visiting the park on one of those rainless days. The sun is an added bonus!

The American Coot - what an odd-looking bird

Aside from the swans mentioned in the last post, there are a number of other waterfowl that frequent the lagoon at Stanley Park. One of them is the American Coot, Fulica americana, with a length of 15.5 inches, a wingspan of 24 inches and a weight of 1.4 pounds (650 g). It's an odd-looking bird to say the least. It looks like a beginner's trial at creating a waterbird: well, let's take a round body, add a short neck, a small head with an odd beak and attach some strange feet and see what it will do! Here you have the result. Click on the images and take a closer look.

Ever wondered what birds are thinking when they gaze into the water? Think about that for a moment! Here are a few more photos of the coot taken on past visits.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos of the American Coot. Look for more interesting posts in the future.

Swans: Preening, preening and more preening.......

Mute Swans, Cygnus olor, are big birds and there are a number of adult pairs in Vancouver's Stanley Park plus a number of juvenile swans from last year. I haven't taken the time to count them but perhaps on one of my visits I should do just that. According to the National Audubon Society's, The Sibley Guide to Birds, this bird's length is 60 inches, the wingspan is 75 inches and it weighs on average 22 pounds (10 kg). That's one good-sized bird. There is a female mallard duck, Anas platyrhynchos, in the upper left-hand corner of the top photo. This bird by comparison is 23 inches in length, has a wingspan of 35 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds (1,100 g). This gives you some idea of the size difference. So naturally, there is a lot of preening to be done to keep the feathers clean and in order. Here is a series of photos taken at the Lost Lagoon on Sunday afternoon, an overcast but rainless day. I sat on a park bench for a long while watching this one adult swan start preening in the water and then continue on shore.

This is a graceful bird in the water but movement on land looks very laboured. On one of my visits I even noticed a swan that was "pigeon-toed." Click on the photos to get a closer look.

Ever wondered where the idea for goose-necked or swan-necked lamps came from? Well, nature would be an obvious source of inspiration. Here you see the swan stretching way to the wingtips and the tail.

I think we're done now. That's a beautiful bird and I spend a fair amount of time just watching them plus the other waterfowl. I hope you have enjoyed this view of part of the swan's life.

Spring is in the air!!!

As you can see, the trees at the corner of Denman and Davie Streets in Vancouver are in full bloom. I believe this one is a cherry tree but I'm not certain. There are trees all over the place showing off their pink blossoms.

Above is a photo of a rhododendron shrub near the tennis courts in Stanley Park. The blossoms looked fresher a few weeks ago but they're still nice to see.

Here is a smaller rhododendron shrub nearby. It's smaller but the flowers are in better condition. What do you think?

And here is a close-up shot of some of the lovely pink blossoms. For those still in the deep throws of winter you have something to look forward to. And for those locally or in warmer climates, you have even more to experience. Have a great spring when it arrives!

The Great Blue Herons are back courting and making their nests. There are several trees near the tennis courts that are filled with nests. The ones pictured are just some of them. Sunday was warm, overcast but not raining. These photos would look much brighter with sun and blue skies but this is a start.

There is another post on the waterfowl at Lost Lagoon planned. They, along with all the other birds, have been very active too. I hope to have that ready later Monday evening. Meantime, enjoy these photos!

Hawthorne Park - Surrey - March 2007

view of a planting in Hawthorne Park

some spring heather (Erica) in bloom throught the gardens

some spring heather

summer heather (Calluna vulgaris) with some orange foliage

another view

No rain Monday and a chance to get outside to take advantage of the sunshine.

Scenes of Jasper/Alberta - October 2005 - Part 2

On my second full day at Jasper Park Lodge I decided to go on a six hour hike to Maligne Canyon and back (three hours each way). The above photo was taken along the south bank of the Athabasca River near Jasper, Alberta. The river is flowing towards the camera from the mountains in the background. They are part of the Rocky Mountains. Just before I got to this spot I had seen a cayote just a hundred or so feet off the road up on a hill. No bears were seen and I was told by staff at the lodge that they were up in the mountains eating berries (like Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, an evergreen trailing ericaceous shrub). I saw no bears that day nor throughout the entire stay there.



The above photo shows a typical forest trail in the area. By that point I was about half-way to the canyon.

This is the view of the Maligne Canyon not far from the teahouse (it was self-serve and okay but I was expecting better).

Here's another view of the canyon further down the river. You can see in both images how the river has worn through the limestone.

Above is an image of a fan-shaped waterfall from a small stream flowing into the canyon. Again, I've left the photos in their original size so you can get the full benefit of seeing all the details clearly. As with the others, click on the image to enlarge it.

Here is another view of the canyon. This is further down the river. There are no railings on the trail from the fourth to the fifth bridge, so watch your step, especially if the ground is wet. The ground in this part is made up of clay which gets rather slippery when damp.

This image shows a few of the fifth bridge and the surrounding area. No rails here. We are looking down stream.

In the photo above the image was taken from the fifth bridge, a swing bridge, looking upstream. The bridge was swinging slightly to and fro as I took the photo. Straight ahead in the background is an islet in the Maligne River. One channel to the left of the islet is eroding the clay bank while the water in the other channel has plenty of rocks and is much slower moving. Although this is October, the water in the river is cold at any time of the year.

This final photo was taken on the Thursday morning before I left the lodge to continue my rail trip to Vancouver. The above scene was so unique that I had to take a few photos. This was one of three taken. Off in the distance there is fog bank hanging over the Athabasca River with the mountains behind on the north side of the river. There are several layers of cloud. That and the colours caught my eye. The photo was taken from within the Jasper Park Lodge complex. The complex is made up of a main lodge with reception, a restaurant, rooms, etc plus outlying lodges. The restaurant has a large fireplace and a very large windows with a great view of Lac Beauvert and the mountains. The day I was leaving I had lunch at the restaurant. A fire was crackling in the fireplace and the view was worth it. The salmon fillet with a salad was washed down with a local beer. It was worth the experience.

Scenes of Jasper/Alberta - October 2005

In order to take us away from the depressing news of rain (it's still raining here in the lower mainland) here are a few photos taken during my trip across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver in October 2005. I arrived in Jasper, Alberta on October 11th (our Thanksgiving Day) after two days on the train (Via One) from Toronto, Ontario. The following day I made two hikes around Lac Beauvert (meaning: "lake beautiful green"). The weather was absolutely perfect for a walk. These are some of the images that resulted. The top image looks across Lac Beauvert to the golf green across the lake and off to the mountains in the east (part of the Rocky Mountains). It was impressive to see the still water and how clear it was.



The next image above looks at a typical scene in the area. Here is a stream flowing out of Lac Beauvert and on into another small lake to the east. Lac Beauvert is just one of a series of lakes on the south side of the Athabasca River on the opposite side of the town of Jasper. Here we are in the Jasper National Park where the Jasper Park Lodge is also located. I was staying at the lodge which was expensive but worth the experience!

The view above looks west across Lac Beauvert to the mountains in British Columbia in the distance. This photo was taken in the afternoon.

This next photo (above) looks across Lac Beauvert near its eastern end to the Jasper Park Lodge. Again there are mountains in the distance, part of the Rocky Mountain chain.

Here is another lovely view looking from the southern shore of the lake towards the north.

A bull elk was seen on the golf green on the hike around the lake in the afternoon. A femaie elk and her calf were seen later on the other side of the Lac Beauvert. I will post some photos taken during a long hike from the lodge to Maligne Canyon to the east. It was a three hour hike through the forest to the canyon and then another three hour walk back. I will tell you more about that hike when I post those additional photos. I hope you have enjoyed these! Feel free to comment. If you have questions, I will certainly do my best to answer them.