All My Blogs

Phainopepla - Left (2016) and right (2008) - Photographed in Arizona  OK - not my best photos of birds - but I have only ever seen them once - for each the male and female.  The female photo was taken with my Nikon D7200 and 80-400 S zoom while the male's was shot with my Nikon D200 and my non "S" 80-400 zoom.  The two systems are worlds apart, but both allowed me to do what I love, which is to get outdoors, see wildlife, and photograph it. The species is fond of berries and often eats them from mistletoe, which is a plant parasite.  The downside to this is that the seeds are widely distributed from their droppings and offer new trees to parasitize.  They also eat the berries of a vast variety of plants and take insects, often on the wing, whenever they can.   The males both build and defend the nest.  Although these birds are rarely found on the ground, they will forage there for nesting materials.  Their defensive behaviours depend greatly ...

My family and I wearing hats - wHat it's all about. I just love to wear a hat. Big or little, thin or fat. Sitting high, or low and flat. I'll never have enough of that. What's a hat without a brim? It's like a tube, long and slim. Wearing one on just a whim, Hats are meant to have a rim. A hat can be very fun, Or keep you from too much sun. Dawning one when rain's begun, Hold onto it if you run. Toques or beanies when it's cold, Helmets for the very bold, Peaked caps for cops we're told, Berets are hats that you can fold. Bowler, floppy, and top hats, Cowboy, firemen's, screens for gnats, hiking, biking, or hunting rats, It's enough to drive one bats. Coloured hats, blue, green or red, Or maybe cool patterns instead, My favourite hat, from A to Zed, Is the one upon my head. Thanks for reading. Eric Svendsen      www.ericspix.com  

Male mallard duck photographed Knox Mountain in Kelowna, February 7, 2026. I had some fun putting this together.  I got quite a few good photos of the drake in spite of the low light.  However, the heavy cloud did make for even lighting with no visible shadows.  The image reminded me of someone speed skating, and I just took it from there.  The fact that the winter Olympics are currently in session also provided some impetus. I don't often photograph mallard ducks as they are very common and rarely inspire me.  They fall into the same category as robins and house sparrows.  My main purpose for this series of photos was to take some bird photos, and there were only two species available - mallards and goldeneyes.  I wrote a blog on the female goldeneye I took yesterday ( click here ).  I did a blog a few weeks ago on common goldeneye ducks as well, where I wrote up some information on them ( click here ). I have to admit to enjoying being silly on ...

Female goldeneye duck on Knox Mountain Pond in Kelowna - the ice is starting to melt. There is a pond about 2 km away from where I live.  It is on Knox Mountain; there is a modest gain in elevation when walking there.  It is usually frozen over at this time of year, but with the warm, snowless winter we have had, what little ice there is has begun to disappear. It hasn't been exactly warm.  It was 5° C in the afternoon today, on the 7th of February; it hasn't been below zero for a few weeks.  The odd thing is that it has been freezing back east - Lake Erie has almost completely frozen over.  Not that I am complaining.  It has been nice to go walking without studs attached to the bottom of my boots. Even though spring seems to be in the air, there is little evidence of it regarding migrating birds.  goldeneye ducks and mallards have been overwintering here by the bucketful.  They have been staying along the creeks and rivers here, but are starting ...

Different species of lichen growing on fence boards. One of the strangest relationships on the planet Earth exists between an alga and a fungus.  Together they exhibit obligate mutualism - a form of symbiosis where each partner of the relationship has to be together to survive. There are some 15,000 to 20,000 species of lichen across the planet.  The word species is a bit odd in this circumstance as there are actually 2 distinct species making up the single entity.  For the most part, the fungus is a unicellular variety belonging to the Ascomycetes, the same group that yeast belongs to.  The photosynthetic component of the equation often is a form of green algae, although it may also be a member of the cyanobacteria. Both forms benefit from the presence of the other.  The fungus receives sugars from photosynthesis done by the algal component.  The fungal component provides moisture, other nutrients, and protection for the algae.   Although lichens...

The night sky photographed near Sunshine Valley, BC.  17 min 4 sec exposure. Polaris, also known as the North Star, sits atop the imaginary axis around 450 light years away.  You can see Polaris from almost any place in the Northern Hemisphere at night (without cloud cover or bright city lighting).  I photographed the star field on June 15, which was less than a week away from the Earth's Summer solstice.  The angle of the star in the sky changes as the Earth revolves around the sun due to the tilt in the Earth's axis. Diagram explaining why Polaris is also called the North Star.   Anywhere you stand in the Northern Hemisphere, you can see the North Star.  Finding it, if you are unfamiliar with the trick, is to use the two end ladle stars of the bit dipper and follow them in a line until you come to it.  There is a great website here that shows you how to find Polaris and how the stars around it seem to rotate from one's perspective on the Earth. ...