title photo: Subalpine daisy at Paradise Meadows

A Stately Visitor

Twice in the past two weeks our yard has been graced with the presence of a stately Great Horned Owl. Both times it glided in on silent wings and landed on one of our perimeter Douglas-firs. This morning it perched on a tree about 25 meters directly in front of our kitchen window just as the sun was rising. Of course, it was in the shadows so I wasn't even tempted to take out the camera like I did on its previous visit. I was surprised that none of my local nuthatches, chickadees, or juncos sounded any alarm. That was certainly fine with the owl as it settled in for a morning snooze. I checked on it whenever I had a chance, but after about two hours it silently disappeared.

Two weeks ago when the owl paid its first visit it was early evening. I grabbed the camera and tripod and approached to about 20 meters. The owl was curious but seemed to be comfortable in the tree. As you can probably guess, the owl was in the shadows. I've only ever seen one in the sun once. I had to set the camera at 1250 ISO and f 6.3 just to be able to shoot at 1/60th of a second. Good thing the owl was cooperative and remained very still. I spent about 10 minutes trying different settings before the owl got bored and decided it was time for a change of scenery. I sure hope it finds a lot of voles before they get to my garden.

It has been about 8 years since I've seen a great Horned perched in my yard. I'm sure they are around more frequently, especially during the night.

The owl was more curious about the clicking of the camera than my presence.

I invited the owl to stay around as long as it liked. I told it about the invasion of the voles in my garden.

The owl was most attentive and interested to hear about the voles.

*********************************************************************************************

Three Quick Birds

It was just too difficult to resist the temptation of a little morning birding. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was already t-shirt warm by the time I had breakfast. I really didn't need an excuse. I had been working hard on my book and deserved at least a two hour break. My plan was to check French Creek and Kaye Road with no special targets in mind. Shorebirding was probably out because it was low tide, so it was all up to Lady Luck.

On my first pass at French Creek all I found were a few sleepy gulls across the creek and three killdeer by the creek, but just as I was leaving, a whitish bird flew down to the creek. Since it was dove-sized, it wasn't much of a mental strain to decide it was a Eurasian Collared- dove. I hadn't seen any since last year mainly because I hadn't been birding, but I was averaging at least two emails a week from Campbell River to Sooke about the sightings of Ring-necked Doves. I politely replied to each with a friendly wager of $10 that they were Eurasian Collared-doves, but I had no takers.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Eurasian invasion, fast-track back to the 1600's when they were abundant in India. By the end of the 19th century they were common in Turkey and eastern Europe; by 1945 they had conquered Germany; and by 1953 they had colonized Great Britain. I know some whacko introduced Starlings to N.A. because of Shakespeare, but I have no idea why someone introduced the collared-doves to the Bahamas in 1974. Anyway, it didn't take long for them to reach North America - Florida by '82 and Oregon by '99. I'm not sure when they hit V.I., but it was probably about 5 years ago.

In case you haven't figured out why the collared-doves have been so successful in their dispersal, they reproduce like rabbits - up to 5 or 6 clutches a year. As well, they seem to have found a niche where there is no competition. I think the they call it colonization by population. Anyway, they are now common on the island and as far north as Alaska. There were 7 of them at French Creek this morning.

I don't know what the King thinks about the Eurasian invasion, but he didn't seem too concerned. Two of his offspring had just vacated the creekside rocks when he arrived.

I haven't seen the King since last winter so I almost missed seeing his new offspring this year.

My last stop on the way home was Kaye Road. I thought I might score a late flycatcher or migrating raptor, but it was hot and quiet on the western front. In desperation I decided to try for some dragons or damsels at the settling ponds. While waiting for a dragon to land a shorebird dove quietly out of the air into the weeds at the fourth pond. I quietly snuck over and caught a glimpse of a chunky brown shorebird darting into a clump of grass. I waited about five minutes for it to emerge, but there was nary a movement. I decided to get a little closer, and look what I found crouching in a clump of swamp grass - a Wilson's Snipe. It was a first of the fall for me and a great way to end the day.

*********************************************************************************************

A Day in Paradise

Sept. 8/11 - With the great weather continuing and my book way ahead of schedule, I really deserved a full day off. As well, I never took a vacation this year, so I thought I would make it up with a few "staycations" on the Island. Paradise Meadows was my choice on this day because it's the best time of the year to be up there. After the late winter it would be just like spring up there and perfect for wildflowers, butterflies, and even a few birds.

A few patches of snow were still clinging to the hillsides, but the mountain was white for an everlasting reason - yes, everlasting was the dominant flower in bloom and the expected fireweed was pretty well extinguished.

Since this is supposed to be a bird site, I'll dispense with that topic first. No trip to Mt. Washington would be complete without a visit from the Gray Jays. Just break out the lunch bag and chances are they'll suddenly materialize. Besides the Gray Jays I saw one Steller's Jay, chickadees, juncos, and Yellow-rumps. Nuthatches and pacific Wrens were heard but not seen. Not a single woodpecker of any species was detected.

*********************************************************************************************

As I mentioned in the intro, the wildflowers were superb and well worth the price of admission even if it was free. After my all my wildflower exploits on Denman and Hornby you would think that I would be keen to identify all these flowers, but I'm not. Frankly, for now I'm just back to enjoying photographing them regardless of their emptymology - oops, that should be emtymology. I'll leave the i.d.'s up to Agnes or some other botany-type. I actually know most of them, but I won't post the names until I have all of the identifications. (Don't be shy in emailing me!) The only point I'm trying to make is that there are still lots of wildflowers in "them thar hills."

*********************************************************************************************

A Bounty of Butterflies

Butterlies are the most difficult subject to photograph. Finding one species a week might be considered very productive. Finding six in a day is close to miraculous especially on September 8 - almost fall. Not only did I see six species at Paradise Meadows, I managed to photograph five of them - that was also miraculous. The one I missed was a medium-large white butterfly with white, rounded wings some dark markings. I had a close look as it fluttered casually within a few meters of me. Unfortunately, it didn't stop anywhere in my view. According to Jeremy Tatum, it was probably a Parnassius species, perhaps a smintheus. By the way, thanks to Jeremy for confirming the Zephyr Anglewing, Mariposa Copper, and Western Meadow Fritillary for me.

The first butterfly was easy. Just as I parked near Raven Lodge, I spotted some activity on a nearby patch of everlasting. I grabbed my camera and went over to investigate. Among the bumblebees there were three Woodland Skippers. I've seen hundreds in the past month and was surprised to see them at this elevation. Now I see why they are the most abundant species in the province.

Along the boardwalk I spotted one Pine White nectaring on a bog orchid. They have been very common in Nanoose for the past month.

My favorite sighting was on a trail off the boardwalk. I was trying to photograph some fritillaries when a darker orange butterfly appeared. It was intent on basking on the path and stayed within 5 meters of me when I flushed it. Finally, it settled down to bask with it's wings closed. I put my finger by its head and it crawled up the back of my hand. I think it liked the warmth of my hand as it was quite content to sit there while I took a bunch of photos. I eventually encouraged it to roost on a branch but it decided to land on the path again.

Later, I had fun trying to decide if it was a Satyr or a Zephyr Anglewing, but after I picked Satyr (based on the photo) I read that it was the wrong habitat for the Satyr and the correct one for the Zephyr - a good lesson not to rely on the photo. By the way, for novices like myself, notice the white comma on the dorsal side of the wing.

The Western Meadow Fritillaries were the most frustrating butterlies. I saw scads of them, but they never seemed to be interested on settling down. Finally, after almost giving up, I found two nectaring on subalpine daisies right beside the path.

Another abundant butterfly was the Mariposa Copper. They were everywhere and stopped to nectar regularly. The only complaint was that they preferred to keep their wings closed. It's always great to get the dorsal and ventral view when you're trying to learn their field marks. However, I was delighted just to be able to photograph a new butterfly.

*********************************************************************************************

Garden tip

Four weeks ago powder blight started to attack my zucchini plants. I decided to clean up the mess with a novel solution. I wiped off the leaves with a mild solution of Mr. Clean. It worked! The plants are still producing.

*********************************************************************************************

Bird Poster

My poster is on display at: Victoria - Swan Lake Nature House

***************************************************************************************

PUBLICATIONS

VOLUME I & II BOOKS AVAILABLE AT

PARKSVILLE & QUALICUM - MULBERRYBUSH BOOKSTORES

NANAIMO - SAVE-ON FOODS (WOODGROVE),
SAVE-ON FOODS (COUNTRY CLUB), CHAPTERS, NANAIMO MAP & CHARTS

PORT ALBERNI - CLOCKTOWER GALLERY

COURTENAY - GRAHAM'S JEWELLERS

SIDNEY - VICTORIAN BIRD HOUSE, TANNER'S BOOKSTORE

COMOX - BLUE HERON BOOKS

BOWSER - LIGHTHOUSE GIFTS

DEEP BAY - SHIP & SHORE

SAANICH - WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED

VICTORIA - BOLEN BOOKS, MUNRO'S, CROWN PUBLICATIONS, IVY'S

CAMPBELL RIVER - SAVE-ON FOODS, COHO BOOKS, CAMPBELL RIVER MUSEUM

DUNCAN - VOLUME 1 BOOKSTORE

CHEMAINUS - WILLOW"S WILD BIRD STORE

LADYSMITH - SALAMANDER BOOKS

NANOOSE - SCHOONER COVE MARINA

LAKE COWICHAN - GALLOPING MOON GALLERY

TOFINO - BOTANICAL GARDENS

QUADRA ISLAND - EXPLORE & BOOK BONANZA

LANGFORD - WILD BIRD CENTER

SOOKE - READING ROOM BOOKSTORE

SOOKE - MUSEUM

Port Hardy - MUSEUM

[RETURN TO CONTENTS PAGE]

Comments, questions, or book orders?

[Contact Mike]