July 28 - Point Roberts

Today was my daughter Sarah's 34th birthday. We'd celebrate that on Sunday the 29th. This morning was used for a visit to Point Roberts. Although it's generally quiet there in the summer, it is a time when some of the Alcids (small ocean going birds) are closer to shore than usual.

One of the most common of these is the Rhinoceros Auklet, named for the small horn that protrudes from its beak in breeding season. Here's one beside a Glaucous-winged Gull.


Rhinoceros Auklet - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

This cropped photo shows the horn a little bit better.

Rhinoceros Auklet - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

This is a cool group shot featuring Glaucous-winged Gulls and Pelagic Cormorants.

Glaucous-winged Gulls & Pelagic Cormorants - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Here's a close-up on the Cormorants, it looks like they could hook their necks together if they wanted to.

Glaucous-winged Gull & Pelagic Cormorants - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

This is yet a better close-up of the Rhinoceros Auklet:

Rhinoceros Auklet - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

I was trying to catch the Cormorants in flight with the new camera. It's tough to get the exposure right.

Pelagic Cormorants - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

And finally, a Steller Sea Lion put in a brief appearance.

Steller Sea Lion - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

That wrapped this visit and also the blog posts for July.

July 27 - Reifel Bird Sanctuary

This was my first outing with my new camera, a Canon EOS 80D that I bought for my birthday. I probably took 15 to 20 thousand photos with my Rebel T4i, so it was due for replacement. It will take me a while to master the new camera, especially the metering and focus.

I've been visiting Reifel a lot this year, it blends well with my trips to Point Roberts. It's quite easy to get to Reifel from Tsawwassen once you learn the back roads.

There weren't any rare birds on the list today, so I focused on some of the common ones seen here.

This photo of a House Sparrow is quite interesting, I'm not sure why it has the feather in its mouth.

House Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

This Towhee isn't as sharp as I hoped, it will take a while to adjust to the new camera.

Spotted Towhee- Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

I titled this photo "Mordor" in my photo captions.

 

The Purple Martin Boxes along the North Dyke are quite far out from the trail. You can see one bird (female?) in the lowest box.

Purple Martin - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

I don't normally photograph Pigeons but this one seemed to warrant attention. The colours and the strength of the legs were what attracted me.

Rock Pigeon - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

Also the flexibility:

Rock Pigeon - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

It wouldn't be a visit to Reifel without a couple of Crane photos:

Sandhill Crane - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

Sandhill Crane - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta BC - July 2019

This last photo was taken at home. I mentioned in an earlier post that we had to take down the hummingbird feeder because of wasps. This shot shows what the birds were facing. 

Fortunately, the embargo lasted about 7 - 10 days and then I put the feeder up again. The Wasps have dwindled and at least one male Anna's Hummingbird is using the feeder again.

July 2019 - Backyard Bird Photos

July and August are the slowest months of the year for bird activity. We did have birds in our backyard during July at the Hummingbird feeder, the seed feeder and at our water feature. The latter received an upgrade late in the month as part of my birthday present from Edith. It appears near the end of this post.

July 12 Finches

We've had American Goldfinches all summer, they found our hulled sunflower seeds and never left. They also like the the water we provide.

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

We've also had House Finches, this is a female.

House Finch - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

July 19 Finches

A couple of more shots of our finches:

American Goldfinch - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

And this time a male House Finch:

House Finch - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

As mentioned, my birthday was on July 25th. One of my presents from Edith was a drip for the water feature. This shot shows how it was set up initially. It changed a bit in August and will be in that blog.

The drip is supposed to attract birds as it puts the water in motion.

July 26 Hummingbirds

We've had Anna's hummingbirds since late spring. In August we had to take the feeder down for a couple of weeks because there were so many wasps around. 

This first shot is not very sharp, but I like the posture:

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

Same with this one:

Finally a clear shot:

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

The best part about all these shots is there's no feeder in sight. 

Anna's Hummingbird - Backyard, North Delta BC - July 2019

As mentioned, we took down the hummingbird feeder as we had a surge in the wasp population and the hummingbird was being prevented from feeding at the station. By mid-August I put it back up and the hummingbird(s) came back.