Posts

The smoke is finally gone - what a great view.

Image
The view from Dilworth Mountain Park in Kelowna on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. My last few trips to Dilworth Mountain Park have been nothing exceptional, as the smoke-filled skies have rendered an otherwise awesome view mundane.  Yesterday, however, the clear skies yielded the views that I have come to expect, with the added bonus of half a dozen pygmy nuthatches flitting about in the pine trees.  I didn't have my wildlife camera with me, so you can see a photo I took earlier of a pygmy nuthatch below. Pygmy nuthatch I photographed two years ago. The rain has been welcome on so many fronts.  Aside from the air being cleansed of so many suspended solids, the fires in the Okanagan have been contained, lake levels are on the rise, and the drought conditions have eased.  I turned off my garden sprinkler systems as there is plenty of moisture in the ground at the moment. As I look up this morning, I see blue skies and the coming of warm weather, but not too warm.  It's ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Seven-spotted Ladybugs are here to stay.

Image
Larva, pupa, and adult forms of 7- spotted ladybird beetle. The scene is a familiar one that we have either seen in movies or read about in books as children.  The Tyrannosaur, a large, predatory dinosaur wading through a herd of gentle hadrosaurs, picking them off at will.  The carnage and chaos are unprecedented.    Now, take that scene and shrink it in size about a million times, and you have a ladybug meandering through a colony of aphids.  The predator may seem like a villain, dismembering the helpless herbivores, but really it is a benevolent carnivore, removing harmful insects before they can cause too much damage to the plants they have invaded. The seven-spotted ladybird beetle is now a common find in much of North America, although 28 years ago its presence was unknown on this continent.  It was first seen in New Jersey in 1973; since then it has spread far and wide.   They are considered invasive, meaning harmful to native populations....
Post a Comment
Read more

Jen Myhre and her work - A character shot on Canada Day.

Image
Jen Myhre posing with one of her amazing works of art.  Kelowna, Canada Day. While exploring the waterfront of Kelowna during the Canada Day celebration, we came across some of the work done by a local artist.  My wife and I were struck by the quality and veracity of what we saw.  Beautiful.  Stunning.  Even those words do not do justice to what our eyes were drinking in.   Jen is a self-taught artist who produces "hyper-realistic" art.  Hyperrealism is defined as " paintings or sculptures that match or beat the detail of a high-resolution photograph. Artists use this style to show tiny elements like skin pores, water drops, or individual hair strands." ( Wikipedia).  The term perfectly matches her work - intense detail on a scale no photographer could capture. Jen's career came about through hard work and determination.  Her story is worth a read; I hope that you will be as impressed as I was.  Forged through fire as though shaped ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Polyphemus moth egg - and a story.

Image
Left:  A single egg laid by a female Polyphemus moth.  Right:  Female Polyphemus moth. Insects represent about 75% of all known creatures of the Kingdom Animalia.  They have incredibly diverse life histories, and all of them lay eggs.  The number, manner of laying, and size of those eggs vary as much as the species do.  Whenever I come across insect eggs, I am always in awe of this. I found a single egg this spring while camping in Clearwater, BC.  While some insects lay their eggs in groups, this one was clearly laid by itself.  It was also quite large, easily seen by the eye, and not terribly well hidden.  It was glued to a leaf that would be the food for the hatched larva. It was, I think, the egg of a large silkworm moth, likely Polyphemus.  The females emerge from their cocoons gravid, ready to mate.  She will mate as soon as possible, male moths detecting her pheromones and flying to her.  After mating, she will live only...
Post a Comment
Read more

A bird's eye view.

Image
A male hooded merganser at rest but aware of my presence. Our brains are wired to look at eyes.  We tend to look at mouths when someone is speaking, but our first glance at someone always goes to the eyes.  That is not accidental.  If a dog doesn't know you, looking into its eyes may make it feel threatened.  Eyes give away intent.  They say, "If you are looking at me, I might be in danger." In photography, the eyes help define a person's face, show emotion and intent, and help to center our gaze.  In the above photo, it's the eye that you first notice, even though there are bold white lines present to direct your vision elsewhere.  Below, I have other similar images I have taken, each using the eye of a bird to draw your attention. Wood duck, Eclectus parrot, Blue-and-gold macaw I am always paying attention to eyes when shooting.  I often place them in a thirds position, use them to gauge if my presence is disturbing my subjects, and often taking...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do herons and egrets belong in the same or different groups?

Image
Top:  White-faced heron, Little blue heron, Green heron Bottom:  Reddish egret, Black-crowned night heron, Yellow-crowned night heron, Great blue heron The three species of heron I have seen in Canada are the green heron, black-crowned night heron, and great blue heron.  The white-faced heron I photographed in New Zealand, and the other three were taken in southern Texas near the Gulf of (Ahem) Mexico.  And, if you didn't notice, there is an egret in the group. The body shape of herons and egrets appears to be the same, which isn't a coincidence.  Egrets are really just a type of heron.  They both belong to the Ardeidea.  The term egret typically applies to white heron-like birds or heron-like birds with a glossy coat.  Below are photos of some egrets. Snowy egret, Great egret, Cattle egret The only North-American member of the Ardeidea that I haven't seen or photographed is the tri-coloured heron.  Cattle egrets are an old-world species foun...
Post a Comment
Read more

Black-crowned night herons breed in Alberta

Image
Black-crowned night herons at the Leduc Reservoir.  Inset:  BCNH photographed in Hawaii. I have seen black-crowned night herons in Alberta at least two times that I can remember, and once in British Columbia.  The last time I saw any was while visiting Leduc this summer, where my son lives.  I saw a breeding pair there on June 19 at the Leduc Reservoir.  I did manage to get a few shots off before they moved on.  You can see a group of images below. Black-crowned night heron launching from a branch at the Leduc Reservoir. If you want to see crowned night herons, go to Hawaii.  They can be found just about anywhere there is water, fresh, salt, or brackish.  Although I have photographed them a few times in Alberta, the best photos have been obtained when visiting Hawaii.  See two more images below.  The left image was photographed in Edmonton in 2016 and the right image in Hawaii in 2024. Black-crowned night heron adult (left) and juvenile ...
Post a Comment
Read more