With a week of monsoons followed by a blast of winter and my big camera lens in the repair shop, there hasn't been much photography happening. Not that I didn't try. I did over 1,000 km chasing the Brown Pelican in Comox, twice to Victoria, and once to Qualicum.
Nov. 17 - A Wild Pelican Chase A few rays of sun and scattered patches of blue sky beckoned from the direction of Fairwinds Golf Course, but visions of a Brown Pelican scooping fish from the waters of Comox Marina danced before my eyes. A late message the day before on the Island Yahoo bird site had planted the seeds of a twitch in my mind, and the course was set into the heavy, black clouds to the west. Just past Qualicum we were engulfed by the waterfall from the skies while the golden glow behind us slowly disappeared. As we passed a police car attending to a vehicle that had hydro-planed off the road, we had second thoughts but carried on. I thought the deluge would never end but lo and behold, just as we passed Buckley Bay, the sky seemed lighter or was it just wishful thinking? The rain slowed to a light sprinkle and as we nosed down to Courtenay, patches of blue could be seen towards Comox. It wasn't raining when we got to the marina, but within 5 minutes the clouds closed in and the wind picked up, and the pelican was nowhere to be seen. After 20 minutes of looking around,I was frozen to the bones. I hated to admit it, but it was another cold, miserable dip. Not the first and probably not the last. Not to be totally shut out, I decided to try for a Western Grebe photo. There were about 5 off the viewing wharf, but all too far away. Nov. 24 - After telling my wife I was done with chasing pelicans, one was reported at Goldstream Marina and another at Goldstream Park ... To make a long story short, Rick, Tim, and I found the Brown Pelican at Goldstream Marina. It was heart-breaking to see one of Nature's unique creatures in obvious despair. It expired within an hour after were saw it. There was no way to know if it was sick before it reached Vancouver Island or whether it was unable to cope out of its normal habitat. Before finding the pelican, I had a brief stop at the park and a visit with the American Dipper. Even on a cold, wet, blustery day the park was full of tourists and gulls enjoying the salmon spawn. The Dipper was very accommodating, but it was too dark for decent pictures. I was shooting at ISO 1600, but that was still too slow. Nov. 20 - A Rainy Day Surprise I was just getting out of my car at home when I heard a strange call from the top of a large fir. In no time I had the camera set up and got a record shot a a new bird, a Pine Grosbeak. An hour later I was outside and heard more Pine Grosbeaks. They landed on a tree top about 100 m away. They seemed to be interested in the fir buds and not the nearby arbutus berries. Nov. 30 - Snow Birds? - How about birds in the snow? After 4 days of snow, I was relegated to feeder watching out my window. Just as I expected, the Fox Sparrow showed up as it has every year. When it's snow time it's show time for Foxy. It took awhile to figure out the proper exposure for the snow. After a 100 pictures I'm still struggling with it. Good thing Foxy was cooperative, or was I that sneaky? I was waiting for Foxy to reappear when a Song Sparrow popped up. Well, I thought it was a Song Sparrow until I took a close look at the pictures. What a surprise to see a Lincoln's Sparrow. Reflecting on the its behavior, I think the Lincoln's is much perkier and more animated than the Song Sparrow. Yes, I'm talking about you, Mr. Lincoln's - or is it Mrs.? Dec. 6 - Qualicum Oriole Most Bullock's Orioles are enjoying the sun in Mexico right now, but somehow one got left behind in Qualicum. It's been visiting a suet feeder north of Qualicum. Pine Siskin in Nanoose. NANAIMO - BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE SAVE-ON FOODS (WOODGROVE) SAVE-ON FOODS (COUNTRY CLUB) CHAPTERS FALCONER BOOKS COLE'S PORT ALBERNI - CLOCKTOWER GALLERY COURTENAY - GRAHAM'S JEWELLERS SAVE-ON FOODS SIDNEY - VICTORIAN BIRD HOUSE TANNER'S BOOKSTORE COMOX - BLUE HERON BOOKS BOWSER - LIGHTHOUSE GIFTS DEEP BAY - Ship & SHORE SAANICH - WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED BUTCHART GARDENS VICTORIA - BOLEN BOOKS MUNRO'S CAMPBELL RIVER - CAMPBELL RIVER MUSEUM BOOK BONANZA SAVE-ON FOODS DUNCAN - VOLUME 1 BOOKSTORE CHEMAINUS - LITTLE SHOP OF NOVELS LADYSMITH - SALAMANDER BOOKS NANOOSE - SCHOONER COVE MARINA SOOKE - SOOKE HARBOUR HOUSE LAKE COWICHAN - GALLOPING MOON GALLERY TOFINO - BOTANICAL GARDENS UCLUELET - WORDS END BOOKSELLERS
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