Posts

Up Periscope! Not being seen helps avoid predation.

Image
Canadian geese hiding in long grass help them protect their nest. In order to successfully raise offspring, they have to be protected during all stages of their development.  From egg to hatchling to fledgling to flying, they are at risk of predation.  There are other dangers too, but the largest comes from animals that would fill their stomachs with defenceless creatures under the care of doting adults. We walked through Vernon's downtown park along the improved pathway that allows pedestrians and cyclists to get from there to the Okanagan Rail Trail by Kalamalka Lake.  The town recently improved the meandering stream with rock, grass, and deadwood.  The gravel banks were a perfect place for killdeer to nest and raise their young.  I must have seen 12 or more breeding pairs, their nests cleverly hidden in the low berms.  It also happened to be a place the crows had discovered as they swarmed the killdeer in the attempt to drive them off their nests and to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Northern Harriers - sexual dimorphism in birds of prey

Image
Male (bottom) and female (inset) northern harriers photographed at Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Vernon. I was fortunate enough to photograph both sexes of northern harrier today.  Early in the morning, I walked the 1.8 km pathway in the sanctuary and later on, my wife and I kayaked beside it.  I photographed the male on my walk and the female while kayaking. Between the two of them, I took 48 photos.  They ranged over a wide area and the two photos above represent the best of the bunch.  I also got a photo of crows harassing the female, but they are too blurry to present here.  These two images are the best shots I have ever gotten of the northern harrier. Females are larger and dominant to the males, but males may breed with multiple females.  While the female tends the nest (which is on the ground), the male provides food.   Every time I see one, I have the sense that it may be an owl.  These birds have the most owl-like face of all the raptor...
Post a Comment
Read more

If you have an iPhone, do you need another camera?

Image
Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park - from the lower trail at the point.  Taken with my iPhone 15 Pro. It used to be that I would pack two cameras, one with a long lens meant for wildlife and the other with a mid-range zoom used for landscapes and portraits.  Now that I pack an iPhone with me, I rarely bring my second body and mid-range zoom.  It has become redundant.   The iPhone is capable of shooting 48 mp raw images, not unlike my mirrorless Z7ii camera.  It has a zoom range of around 16 mm to 300 mm or so and can take filters such as polarizers or magnifiers for macro.  It is much easier to carry, fits in a pocket, and has the additional functions of being a phone, source of money, and entertainer.  So, do I need my second body anymore?  In fact, can I get along with just the iPhone and lose my long-lens camera too? The answer highly depends on what it is you want to do.  While I am impressed with my iPhone's ability, it has serious limi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spotted sandpiper at Swan Lake, Kelowna

Image
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
Post a Comment
Read more

Swan Lake near Vernon at night

Image
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...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Toy turtle" not so amusing after all.

Image
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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chironomid fly - an important food for fish and birds

Image
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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more