All My Blogs

One of a dozen wood duck chicks I saw at Munson Pond yesterday in Kelowna. Now that the deciduous trees have finally come into their leaves, I can say that spring is officially here.  That fact was brought home yesterday while visiting Munson Pond.  A small clearing between reeds allowed me to see the procession of a wood duck family; a line of chicks followed by mom and then dad. I arrived early in the morning. I suspect that the chicks had just left the roost. The order of the birds was unusual in that the chicks were in the lead.  I usually see one or both parents at the head with a dutiful line of progeny following.  The fact that the chicks were leading suggested that they were familiar with the routine. They couldn't have been more than one or two weeks old. Wood duck chicks are born in a cavity, either a hole in a tree or a wooden nest box with a sizable hole.  They are helpless when born, but are able to leave the nest within three days.  They fall ...

Male ring-necked duck (left and top right) and female (bottom right). I have seen a lot of ring-necked ducks in western BC, especially on the Island, but have seen very few of them in the Kelowna area.  I was pleased to see a pair today as I was visiting Munson Pond for the 2nd time this month. Ring-necked ducks are diving ducks (as opposed to dabbling ducks).  They dive beneath the surface of the water completely to forage for the vegetable and plant matter they eat.  During breeding season, the ducks eat more invertebrates than plant matter.  These include snails, clams, crayfish, leeches, and all manner of aquatic insects.  Clams are ingested whole and are crushed by the strong gizzard.  Vegetation becomes more important after breeding has ended. They can be found throughout most of southern BC during breeding season and may be permanent residents where open water exists.   I have mistaken scaups (see my blog on scaups here ) for ring-necked du...

I have enjoyed paddling sports for over 30 years.  I started out with a 12' canoe that was really only good for one person.  Although it wasn't much, it gave me some idea of what was needed to take the next step.  We bought a 17' canoe when the kids were young and fit the whole family inside, everyone with a paddle.  When they were older, we switched to kayaks because they wanted control over their own boats, not under the control of mom and dad.   Our first kayaks were made by Necky.  They were rotomolded plastic units, about 10' long, and very stable.  We had two of them, and we bought a used tandem made by Current Designs.  The Neckys were great for the kids (top left image) or my wife (bottom right image), or both of us (middle left).  The tandem allowed for longer trips and hauling supplies.  Plus, if someone came with us that could not paddle, they could ride "shotgun."  These boats were great for small trips but were not...

Leanne visited us over Easter.  We rode part of the Okanagan Rail Trail in Kelowna. Kelowna has a lot to offer.  Besides Okanagan Lake itself, there is the Okanagan Rail Trail, a host of walking and hiking trails, and the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, only a few kilometers away.  If that's not enough for you, then there is Lake Country to the north and Penticton to the south.   Kathryn and I got our e-bikes last year.  We've got less than 200 km on them so far; we are hoping to triple that distance this year.  The ORT is a ten minute drive from where we live.  It connects many parts of the city and you can ride all the way out to Vernon on it. Kathryn and I on the Okanagan Rail Trail today.  The arrow on the map shows our location. It is evening now and we have been back from our bike trip for a few hours.  The above photo was taken along the trail a few kilometers from the end near Okanagan Lake.  After out ride we had lunch at Creeksi...

An idea I once had for a series of t-shirts involving spider facts. My wife tends to have a much more balanced view of life and the realities of how things work.  She has also borne witness to the fact that I am always coming up with new ideas on how to do things, ranging from unconventional to downright odd.  And we have discovered that half of my ideas have merit and the other half are out-to-lunch.   One of my ideas involved making a t-shirt line with spider facts.  I would take the photos (the above one is mine), use the "Spider Fan" logo (obviously an adaptation of a certain Marvel character), and provide an interesting fact on the species.  While I was excited about the idea, the simple fact is that it would probably never work out.  The cost to make the shirts, having enough variation, finding people or companies that may be interested in the idea, and not ticking off the big-wigs at Marvel, as I have encroached upon their bread and butter, were...

Three of the dogs Dave has owned since I have known him. I am 18 in dog ears.  Notice the lack of the letter "y".  I have had 9 of the beasts, starting at two years of age, all the way up to right now.  All of them were an important part of my life, a part of my family's lives.  If you haven't made the connection yet, 2x9 = 18:  Nine dogs means 18 ears. I have had the privilege of knowing my friend, Dave, for 6 of his dog ears.  Zeek (bottom), Zoey (top), and Charlie (right) have all been important animals in the Schmidtke household.  Of course, there have been cats too, but we don't measure in cat years because the number easily gets into the thousands (nine lives x #ofcats = huge numbers).   Silliness aside, it is important to me to mention my great love for my friend, Dave.  Right now, at this moment in time, as I am typing, he is lying in a hospital bed, having just had open heart surgery, recovering from that and issues with his lun...

American wigeon, Barrow's goldeneye, Redhead, American coot Red-winged blackbird, Song sparrow, Hooded merganser, Mallard duck Buffelhead, Western pond turtle (not a bird), California quail, Red-tailed hawk One of these things is not like the others ....  Yes, it's true, there is a turtle in there; I had 11 birds and wanted a 12th, so the turtle channelled its inner bird for one photo.   I have been wanting to visit Carney Pond for some time.  It turns out you can't get there by driving directly to it.  Instead, you have to park near an access point to the Okanagan Rail Trail and walk or ride a bike the rest of the way.  See the map below for access. Access to Carney Pond I will be returning shortly.  I hope they keep the area free of construction - the land adjacent the pond could easily be converted into housing or become part of UBCO.   Thanks for reading. Eric Svendsen      www.ericpix.com

Mining bees are important pollinators for spring flowers like the arrowleaf balsamroot plant. I have written blogs on mining bees recently (click here to see), so I won't be going into their life history, but rather on their importance to flowering plants, especially ones that bloom early in the spring.  Here in the Okanagan, the plants of economic importance are the fruit trees. Mining bees are considered "sloppy" pollinators.  While honey bees are better at collecting pollen (using pollen baskets on their legs), mining bees are better at moving pollen around between flowers.  This has the advantage of increasing the likelihood that a visit results in pollination.  Carpenter bees and mason bees are even better from what I have read, and these native bee groups have a significant impact on fruit success. Honey bees have the advantage of sheer numbers; a large hive may have 50,000 workers, which means that the insects can travel a large area and have numerous visits p...

American wigeon ducks (center and top).  Green-winged teal for comparison (bottom). There are birds that I can identify immediately (I nail robins every time), there are birds I don't know at all, and then there are birds I may be able to name if I have enough time (a year is usually enough).  And then there are birds that I mix up.  For me, I used to mix up American wigeons and green-winged teals. Although they look quite different, the reason was due to the green teardrop shape that starts at the eye and runs backward, curved to a point.  There are a hundred other differences, but that was the one that I seemed to focus on.  And therein lies the problem.  It's the similarities that allow you to group birds by type and the differences that allow you to tell them apart.  I had become accustomed to using a narrow band of criteria to aid in identification. This is where two things come into play.  Experience and knowledge.  Experience can only ...

Western pond turtle sunning itself on a log at the Mission Creek Park Ponds in Kelowna It was estimated that, at one point, 40% of all the birds across North America were passenger pigeons.  There were upwards of five billion of them.  That is five thousand-million birds.  When they migrated, a cloud of them could darken the sky for several days.  Then, in the mid 1800's, they were hunted, by the millions.  They became extinct in 1914.  It took only 60 years to do.  You can read about their decline here . Why bring up a story about passenger pigeons when I am writing about turtles?  Because in the early 1800's, no one would have thought that passenger pigeons would be gone in just over 100 years.  Yet, here we are, with so many other species, doing the exact same thing.  Removing habitat.  Building roads.  Pollution.  Allowing invasive species to compete.  And doing it all with money or popularity in mind.  And t...

I photographed both species of mining bee on the same plant at the same time of day. Spring is my favourite time of year.  Not only because of the returning birds and the start of the nesting season, but also because it is a great time to find insects.  Winters in Canada are generally devoid of insect life, and the warmer temperatures and blooming flowers bring with them a great increase in arthropod activity. As we were exploring the upper section of Mission Creek Park in Kelowna, I found a sunny spot with a current bush loaded with a variety of insects.  Most of them were either the black one (left) or the tawny one (right), both members of the genus Andrena .  I wrote a blog recently on the tawny mining bee, which you can see here .  The fact that there were so many and that they were active mid-April is not surprising given their nature. I photographed both with my D500 Nikon camera and 500 mm PF telephoto lens.  I also used a 1.4x teleconverter, t...

Predatory stink bug (left) vs herbivorous stink bug (right) "Ewww!  It's a stink bug." You may have heard that, or even uttered it.  But not all stink bugs are bad.  Besides omitting a foul odour, they have a reputation for being pests.  This is especially true for the brown marmorated stink bug (see my blog on it here ), an invasive species that can lay waste to vegetation.  Some, like the rough stink bug shown above on the left, are predators of other insects, usually the harmful ones. Another thing you can do to verify your suspicions is to examine the beak of the stink bug and compare it to its antennae.  Now, I wouldn't blame you if such a task gives you the willies and was to be avoided at all costs, but someone with a keen sense of adventure or the ability to hold a bug could do it.  The beak of an herbivorous stink bug is as narrow or narrower than its antennae, while predatory stink bugs have a beak at least twice as thick as their antennae....

I photographed this Milbert's tortiseshell near the H2O center in Kelowna. At first, I thought it was a painted lady.  However, the colouring was not right, although similar.  This is the first Milbert's tortiseshell butterfly I have seen.  I did not get a very good photo of it;  It landed only for a moment and was gone again before I could get into a better position.  If you look closely, you can see that the image has been doctored.  I have the original image below; I erased the right wing and replaced it with a copy of the left one. You can see how my original image was edited to create the top image. The host plant for the caterpillars is stinging nettles.  I have always been impressed by the pain that one of these plants can impose on one who passes by a little too closely.  The pain is caused by formic acid, the same nasty chemical found in some stinging/biting ants.  The milbert's tortiseshell larvae have several defences against the t...

The yellow arrowleaf balsamroot flowers will peak next week.  Now is the time to see them. I have written on the arrowleaf balsamroot plant before ( click here ).  Also known as Okanagan sunflowers, these plants have just started to bloom.  One of the best views of them that I have found so far is from atop Dilworth Mountain at the park just above the local golf course.  They dot the plateau but are especially picturesque at the far end, away from the parking lot. I am going back again next week.  The bulk of them should be on full display.  I shot the pictures with my Z7ii Nikon camera, but I will bring a tripod with me.  I used hyperfocal focusing to get everything in focus, which worked most of the time.  Some of my images are a little soft for near-distance objects though, so I will also have to use manual focusing. The neat thing about manual focusing with a mirrorless camera is that you get a blue shimmering halo around everything that is in...

Road construction by Munson Pond.  Some of the birds I photographed there yesterday. They said they were going to build a road along the right-of-way last year and, sure enough, they were hard at it yesterday when I visited Munson Pond.  The good news is that they are over 100 feet away from the pond's edge - not a tremendous distance, but certainly not adjacent.  And, from what I could see, the wildlife continues to exist and thrive regardless of the presence of the machines. I suppose part of the reason for that is the fact that the whole area is surrounded by urbanization.  Vehicles in the surrounding area are nothing new.  Then there is the fact that they are a modest distance away.  I noticed that a black fabric barricade was put up (you can see it in front of the machines) along the whole distance.  That serves the purpose of preventing runoff and debris from heading towards the pond and prevents ground-dwelling organisms from straying too far in...

Black oil blister beetle eating spring whitlow grass.  Kelowna, early April. Our daughter was visiting us, and it seemed like a good idea to walk along the trails in the upper section of Mission Creek Park in Kelowna.  It was a banner day, both for enjoying the outdoors and finding insects that emerge early in the spring.  I photographed a half dozen of these 6-legged invertebrates, and the oddest of the bunch was the black oil blister beetle. It was hard to miss; the beetle's enormous abdomen was comical in proportion to the rest of its body.  Our youngest thought it must be a gravid queen ant.  I thought about picking it up, but there was a good chance it may have contained  Cantharidin, that nasty chemical that blister beetles possess.  I have caught a good many beetles in my time, and my beetle senses (similar to spider senses, but less fun) proved me right.  It was, in fact, a blister beetle. Part of the reason for my daughter's pronouncement...

I photographed this irridescent butterfly yesterday in Kelowna near Mission Creek Park. Elfin butterflies include a number of species; the brown elfin is common throughout most of North America, found in coniferous forests.  The adults are active in the spring and lay eggs individually in undeveloped flower buds of heath, salal, blueberry and huckleberry.  The egg hatches and the young caterpillar immediately begins feeding on the host plant, consuming bud, flower, and fruit.   In the fall, the caterpillar falls from the plant, undergoes metamorphosis, and forms a chrysalis.  It overwinters as such and emerges from its winter chamber in the spring to repeat the life cycle. This is the first elfin butterfly I have ever photographed.  I was enthralled by the iridescent colour play of the wings.  I had to follow a number of individuals until one landed long enough to be photographed.  I managed to get a few good shots off of this one; it posed perfec...

Red tailed hawk, Kelowna At first, I thought it might be a Cooper's hawk.  The reddish-brown chest and light ventral tail feathers were misleading at distance without magnification, but when I brought my camera to bear, the identification became clear.  What impressed me, once again, was the variation in feathering of these magnificent birds. Below is a comparison of different red tailed hawks I have photographed; three photos from the past compared to the one I photographed yesterday.  Of the three, the above photo most closely corresponds to the medium phase, although I think its head is more like the dark variation. Three different phase variations of red tailed hawks that I have photographed. The one on the left is often called Krider's red tailed hawk, it is more common on the plains, although I photographed this one in Kelowna a few years ago.  Notice that all the hawks have one feature in common - the belly band - which is a distinguishing attribute for the sp...

Photographed April 4 at Carney Pond in Kelowna.  First time I have seen this species. One of the nice things about using bird field guides is that you get to peruse all kinds of birds, not just the one species you are interested in.  This has the advantage of allowing yourself to become familiar with a variety of species, not just one in particular.  Although I have never seen a cinnamon teal before, I knew immediately that it was one because I have seen many images of it when scouring through my bird identification guides. The male duck's colour is somewhat unique in that the shade of brown it sports is almost orange.  Calling it an orange duck wouldn't really work, though, because there is a particular dinner dish with that name (although it is worded in French).  And the name "brown duck" does it such a disservice, although the female could be equipped with that moniker.  I have a photo of the pair below. Male and female cinnamon teal ducks Cinnamon teal...

One of many hundreds of mining bees exploring the paths at the park.  They rarely landed. It was a sunny, bright spring day in Kelowna.  My daughter was visiting and walking the dog sounded like a fine idea.  We quite like the park on Dilworth Mountain.  It provides some excellent views of the city an Okanagan Lake.  While we were following the paths, one couldn't help notice the hurried buzzing of insects mere millimetres above the gravelled walkways.  Hundreds of them.  Flying pell-mell in every direction, and always atop the sunlit grains. The only reason I could photograph them was because I had my birding equipment.  My 500 mm lens's minimum focus distance isn't meant for insects, but it does in a pinch.  It also allows me to photograph from a distance; my macro equipment would be better, but I would never get close enough. The mining bees, so called because the females dig burrows up to a foot deep, like to nest in bare or patchy soil....

Up to 40,000 western thatching ants make up a single colony, and they build quite the ant hill. Formica obscuripes, the western thatching ant, has a red head and black thorax and body.  While a red and black ant is nothing new, the fact that this species' head is the only red part makes it somewhat unique, certainly in this part of the world anyway.  If that wasn't enough, you can always look for what it calls home, a large, dome-shaped mound made of organic material.  I usually see them made of coniferous needles.  If you want to see a good example of one, click here .  Mounds may be up to a meter high, although the ones I have witnessed have been under a foot high. Ants, like most of their species, are foragers, heading out of their nests to collect food or building material.  The building material depends largely upon what is available in the area.  Soil, from the burrows, and plant debris are placed around the colony entrance.  A secondary nes...

My Sekonic flash meter - A strong ally with the Force. I learned about photography back in the late 70s and early 80s.  My first flash was a Metz 402 - powered by a lead-acid shoulder-carried battery pack that had enough power to light up the other end of a hockey rink.  After that came a Vivitar and then a host of Nikon flashes.  Then I got into strobes - big ones, complete with soft boxes and barn doors. I quickly learned that using flash didn't always result in a proper exposure.  As camera sensors began to tie into flash TTL technology, the process became easier, but it wasn't consistent.  Did the flash have enough power to do the job?  You could play with flash output through flash exposure compensation, if your camera and/or flash had the feature.  That always took playing around, and you didn't always know if the exposure was quite right until you got it back to look at the results.   The problem increased significantly when not using ...