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Spotted sandpiper surrounded by flying midges I saw a pair of spotted sandpipers this morning.  They seemed to be a bonded pair as I witnessed one of them bobbing and spreading its wings in what appeared to be a courtship dance.  I got some decent photos of one of them (above) and a set of images (below) of it finding, catching, and eating a relatively large insect. Spotted sandpiper finding, catching, and eating an aquatic insect. I mostly see spotted sandpipers by themselves, although I have seen them with a chick.  This is the first time I have seen them together as a pair.  It is interesting that the males tend the nest while the females are protectors of the territory.  The females may breed with more than one male.  The females are also the ones that engage in courtship behaviour, not the males.   Thanks for reading.      www.ericspix.com

The full moon gave an ethereal cast to the willow trees at Swan Lake near Vernon. It's early May and we are camping.  It was 27° yesterday; the evening managed to cool down to 11°, an improvement from the near-freezing temperatures we had last week.  The clear skies beckoned me to photograph some sunsets and, at 2:00 in the morning, the call to pick up my camera was too loud to ignore A full moon in a clear sky presents a great opportunity to play with long exposures.  I shot the above photo at f/5.6, ISO 100, for a full minute.  I turned the long-exposure noise reduction off, as the low ISO kept the electronic noise in check.  Besides, I hate waiting around for the camera to finish the NR Job.  There are good NR filters that can be applied in post as well. The scene looks entirely different in the day.  I photographed it earlier from a similar position.  It's amazing how the world looks at different times.   Swan Lake an hour before sun...

The problem with building roads near lakes with turtles in them. Imagine my horror when, after finding what I thought was a child's play toy turtle, I discovered it was a dead baby western painted turtle.  Ran over by a car.  It was maybe 1.5 inches long with a shell about an inch wide.  The little guy was probably only hours from being hatched when it got flattened.   The city of Kelowna is busy putting a road through Munson Pond Park.  In spite of the protests, media coverage, placard waving, and letter writing, the road project began.  While it is true that the road is quite a distance from the pond itself, western painted turtles are known to dig their nests significant distances from the water.  This ensures safety from flooding, for the embryos would die if covered with water.  It makes it harder for predators to find the nests because the potential area for their locations has grown significantly.  And it allows the turtles to fin...

Although they look like mosquitoes, chironomid flies are harmless; they have no functional mouthparts. In the mud, muck, and mire of a lake bottom, you may not expect to find anything living.  However, closer inspection may turn up red, maggoty-looking creatures.  Hundreds of them.  These are the larval forms of chironomid midges - a non-biting fly that lives only to breed and lay eggs in the water. The larvae are red because they are packed with hemoglobin.  The protein is used to extract every bit of oxygen from the oxygen-deprived environment where the midges live.  The feed on the decaying matter at the bottom of the water body, although some species may filter particles from the water, some are predators.  There are many species of chironomids in the Okanagan (this was photographed at Wood Lake, near Winfield).  I do not know this particular species. Many fish and invertebrates feed on the larvae, actively foraging for them.  After they have ...

Instead of using a timer or remote, I used rear-synch flash and just walked into the shot. I have written about rear-synch flash before (click here to see), but my desire to play with the feature came with a new goal - to photograph myself without using a self-timer or remote release.  It's easy enough on an iPhone - just switch cameras and you're in business.  But you would not be able to do this with an iPhone because of the anemic flash output and the distance I am away from the camera. Of course, another way to manage this is to have a helper push the button on the camera.  However, I was on my own playing with the evening and decided to try this.  Then again, there was the fact that it was a 15 second exposure.  I am not as fast as I used to be, but I could never manage the feat of jumping off the pier and running into the shot in a 60th of a second, not to mention having any kind of composure when the flash fired. I particularly liked the clouds with the f...

  Lori and Grant with their custom-made 6x6 LMTV camper. Now that's ambitious!  I met Lori and Grant here at Wood Lake RV while we were camping.  They had just come off a long stint from the Northwest Territories.  Their fully-equipped Stewart and Stevenson M1088 tactical vehicle was lovingly put together by Grant, a heavy-duty mechanic, now retired.  Their idea - drive the behemoth across Canada, bring it to Europe, and then travel a few more continents. They plan on taking three years.  Now, that's more than the 800 days alluded to in my title, but the idea is there.  Travel the world, see amazing things, spend time together, and do it while they are healthy. I applaud their gumption.  It is no small task, but I believe they are fully capable of it.  First of all, their camper of choice carries 600 gallons of fuel.  Then there is their obstacle-crushing ride with the ground clearance and tenacity of an elephant.  If that wasn't en...