The Belted Kingfisher ( Ceryle alcyon ) catches fish by plunge-diving headfirst. My experience with Belted Kingfishers is that they are loud, noisy and skitterish. I was fortunate to find this male Belted Kingfisher perched on a post. In the image, you can clearly see its shaggy crest.
The alarm clock rang at 4:30 a.m. and I was out the door a half hour later. My goal was to take images of the beautiful Fall colours we experience during the month of October. I like this photo because of the range of colours.
This is one of the last free standing diners left in British Columbia. It opened in 1956 and it reminds me of the quintessential 1950’s diner. I arrived here early in the morning and was excited to see there was no vehicles parked in front. As I was setting up my camera a vehicle pulled up and initially I was a bit disappointed. However, after seeing the image, I think the vehicle, and where it’s parked, actually contributes to the photo. I was fortunate to get this interesting moody sky in the background. This was my first attempt and I think I’ll return and try to capture an image with some falling snow. That would be cool.
This heron was sitting right at the top of a snag.
I thought this would be a good location to take a photo at sunset or during the blue hour. I love the light you get for a few minutes just after sunset. People who are home, after a long day at work, start turning their interior lights on. Some of these condominiums or apartments are very expensive, and as you can see, your view is of other buildings.
It was a cloudy, rainy and quiet Saturday morning in the lower mainland. It wasn’t a great day for photography, but I don’t consider it a waste of time to get up early to explore a location with my camera. It’s the experience of being in nature that I appreciate and I’m not disappointed if I return home without a great image. The photo below isn’t fantastic, but I do like the green and yellow colours of the sunflowers and how they naturally frame the squirrel. You often have to return to a location many times to get a great image. It takes patience.
This morning I spent some time photographing two beavers ( Castor canadensis ) in their pond. Fortunately, one of the beavers came out of the water to eat some grasses. The beaver soon realized I was no threat and instead of watching me, it could focus on more important matters, like eating and preening its fur coat. I really enjoyed taking images of this industrious and hard working creature.
My photographic eye is always drawn to bright colours, whether that be in nature or this Hallowe’en costume shop. As soon as I saw these brightly coloured wigs, I knew it would make a great photo. When I’m out in the city I try to bring along my camera because you never know when an interesting photographic subject will present itself.
Being outside in the rain taking images is an enjoyable experience if you have good rain gear. The light is soft, it’s quiet and there are very few people. I like this photo of a Pacific Great Blue Heron ( Ardea herodias fannini ) because of the dark water background and the way it was perched on the log.
I couldn’t believe when I saw not one, but three Great Horned Owls ( Bubo virginianus ) this morning. They had the most beautiful yellow eyes and I could see them staring at me through my telephoto lens. When the Great Horned Owls were around all the other birds became silent. If there was a little noise in the bushes or trees the Great Horned Owl in the photos below, immediately snapped its head around to take a closer look. Great Horned Owls will eat birds ranging in size from kinglets to Pacific Great Blue Herons and will even eat other owls. I never thought I would ever see a Great Horned Owl in the wild, but to get the opportunity to photograph one, that was truly special.
