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Yellow-headed blackbirds take the best nesting sites from red-winged blackbirds.

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Yellow-headed blackbirds are much larger then their red-winged counterparts. Every spring, I notice that it's the red-winged blackbirds that show up first to stake out a territory for breeding.  If they have chosen a nesting area that has some reeds and shallow water, it is unlikely that they will be evicted.  However, when the larger yellow-headed blackbirds show up, all bets are off if they have chosen a large reed bed in deep water (up to 3 or 4 feet). Red-winged blackbirds are not super choosy about where they nest, as long as there are some reeds and standing water present.  More successful males will want a better territory, one that one or more females will approve of.  And they will defend it, against other males of the same species. Yellow-headed blackbirds are more picky, insisting on large reed beds in deep water.  They also usually arrive later than the red-wings do, but that is not a problem for them.  That's because they are bigger, both in si...
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Kayaking the Harrison River with friends - it never gets old.

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Paul and Bert (inset) - Paul (left) - on our paddling adventure down the Harrison River today. I have never regretted buying canoes or kayaks, although kayaking is my preferred means of water transport these days.   I don't get out as often as I used to, but this year seems to have started out differently.  We have done some camping and gone kayaking four times now, and today finished a 17 km paddle after about 4 hours going down river.  An early start was warranted as the winds pick up in the late morning, and we experienced some modest winds with significant splashing by the time 11:00 rolled around. We will do more kayaking this summer near Merritt, Clearwater, Lake Wabamum, and Leduc.  I have already gotten some nice photos ( click here ) this year and am hoping to get a lot more.  The Harrison River is nice because of the surrounding mountains, but we did not see much in the way of wildlife.  Perhaps the next few places will offer more. I have gou...
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Satyr Angelwing (Comma) butterfly near Vernon, BC.

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Likely a satyr angelwing.  Probably not an Eastern angelwing given location (Vernon). I have never photographed this genus ( Polygonia ) before, although I think I saw one once while camping out near Nordegg, Alberta.  These brushfooted butterflies appear to have only four legs, as the front pair is highly reduced and vestigial.  Another clear indicator that this is a comma butterfly is the white "comma" shaped mark present on the lower section of the second wing - you can see it in the image above. I photographed this with my iPhone 15 Pro - it was there only a short while, and I did not have any other photographic equipment with me.  Even so, the iPhone's macro ability is fairly good as long as I don't need to blow the image up too much.  I got very close to the insect; it did not seem to mind my slow and cautious approach.   I never got a chance to photograph the upper sides of the Lepidopteran, as it rested in the typical butterfly way with its win...
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What's up? I am!

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Yellow-bellied marmot at Kamalaka Lake Provincial Park near Vernon, BC. Climbing to a better viewpoint is not uncommon in the animal kingdom, but it was funny to see a yellow-bellied marmot doing it.  It makes me think of meercats climbing on top of nearby people to get a better vantage point.  While meercats tend to live on savannahs where there are few elevation changes, even from rocky outcrops or the occasional tree, our local marmot populations have plenty of structures to climb.  The difference is that I have never seen one, even in photos, actually doing it. Imagine my surprise when I saw this fellow, about 200 feet away from me in a clearing, taking it upon himself to climb a bench.  As I researched the notion of marmots looking for higher "perches", I discovered that these rather large rodents do, on occasion, climb trees.   Oh, they like to sun themselves on rocks to be sure.  I have seen plenty of that, but the rocks are always barely taller...
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Why photograph the same bird species again and again?

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Savannah sparrow I photographed on May 7, 2026.  Inset - August 31, 2022. Why do I photograph the same species of bird over and over again?  Well, I do, and I don't.  Common birds such as crows, robins, and house sparrows rarely merit my interest.  Other birds that I see less commonly garner my interest, especially ones that I have never seen before.  But why photograph a bird I already have half a dozen images of?  What's the point? There are several reasons, the most alluring is that I may get a better image than I already have.  Examine the photos above; they were taken almost four years apart, one in Vernon and the other in Maple Ridge (inset).  The one I shot more recently is more complete as there are no foreground distractions.  Also, I used a teleconverter on the 500 mm lens, and so I had a bit more reach.  The newer one is just a better photo. Then there is equipment.  My much older photos were taken with what I was using a...
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Investing in outdoor recreation - It's a win-win-win situation.

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Kalamalka Lake along the Okanagan Rail Trail.  Taken with my iPhone 15. Almost 50 km of decommissioned train tracks were torn up and replaced with a gently graded multi-use path linking the towns of Kelowna and Coldstream.  Travelling beside or near three lakes, the rail trail is a perfect way to explore the majesty of the Okanagan.  The inviting scenes, fresh air, and close proximity to wildlife spur many to explore what wonders await them along the route.  And it cost less than $30 million. That may seem to be a lot of money, but the benefit to the community has been, and will continue to be, well worth the investment.  The trail opened officially in 2018, which doesn't seem all that long ago.  In its first full year of operation, the trail had almost 600,000 uses.  The benefit to the local economy over the last 8 years of operation has no doubt been greater than the original outlay of cash.  And it will continue to do so in the future as its po...
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3D image tracking - The camera and lens working together.

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Female northern harrier photographed using 3D image tracking and continuous focusing. A camera may have 3D image tracking, but that doesn't mean it can do a good job.  There are many aspects to tracking an image.  Here are some of the issues to consider: How fast is the subject moving?  Is the subject erratic in its movements?   You can often alter the refresh rate of your continuous focusing in menus, making it longer or shorter depending on various factors.  I keep mine as short as possible. Is there empty space before the subject?  How about behind? Many tracking functions have a problem with clutter, especially if the subject is partly concealed by it.   What model of camera do you have?  Newer/higher-end models will have faster processors and therefore can apply focusing algorithms that much faster than other cameras.   Although I have fairly good equipment, it is not the best, and I know many of my shots could be better i...
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