Saturday, March 28, 2009

I found a new lake in Langley.

Nesting season has begun, so I knew there would be varying birds at "Brydon Park" (across 200th St from Nicomekl Elementary) however I didn't realize there was a small Lake just north of the path to 192nd St. It was a cool discovery since there were many birds in the area committing various spring rituals; unfortunately my young photography skills were stretched to the max and despite over 500 photos I am not satisfied with any... but here are my favorites:
The lighting was warm over the lake while this mallard performed some head-bobbing and wing flapping on this trail side rock.


I'm not sure what sex these American Coots are, but they showed each other a lot of affection while keeping each others' feathers clean.



Among the swimming birds was a white-winged, brown-headed, red-eyed loner whose species I'd never heard of...



Known as "the aristocrat of ducks", this Canvasback was a pleasure to watch as it interacted with the Mallards and Coots which surrounded it.

This is about as close a shot as I can get of a songbird high in the tree... if you click the image and look closely you'll notice the red spot of his wing which identifies him as a male Red-Winged Blackbird. His call is a common sound in the lower mainland, but only after some googling have I discovered it belongs to this crow-looking species.


I thought of Cam the the dangers of being a Powerline Technician when I saw this sign on a nearby box.


I think this is my favorite image of the day, and in spite of their ubiquity in Langley I don't actually know what type of bush it is, though if I had to guess I'd say Maple Vine.