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.

...a few random photos? why, yes.

A view from Crecent Beach's "Blackie Spit".

Ever wonder what they do with old rails?
...that's what.


Various shorbirds occupy the random poles, and the frame makes it cute.



This is one of the hoops at our nearby Langley Meadows Elementary. Straight ghetto
cause that's how we like it.

What bush this is from I do not know, but they exist pretty much everywhere I go.

Little red leaves.

I'm not really sure what species this tree is, but it makes for great colour contrast!

Some more pitures from Cypress Creek

After tweaking the hue and contrast this image has taken on a new life.

Dead, but hanging on...

This parasitic vine in our backyard grew up the tree using the neighbor's grapevine, and even in death it holds its grip firm and locked.

Budding botany around the house.

...moments before celestial abduction:

(Yale, BC)

a lucid place and a fern...

Things in the woods.

At Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve with my Father...

This is one of the wetland streams. I shot this with a warm filter and the light setting at -3 yet I still needed to tweak the contrast and saturation to bring out the colours a little better.

I first thought shooting against the sun would make for a poor picture of this trail, yet I prefer it to the bland shots I have from the other direction. It wasn't an eary day, but I feel like the way the sun's shinning through the trees causes an uneasy vibe.

Though nature's colours were fairly dull today, I enjoy being able to bring out the colour through tweaking the contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue in a way that I feel complements the image as well as nature's beauty. Be sure to click the picture to see more detail, I have yet to figure out how to upload a smaller size so you currently get to see an extremely blown up version of the image. It's worth the click.

This looked like a good "sittin log" right by the river.

These two ducks obviously didn't want their picture taken, but as I ducked under some brush I got them on take off.

Here too, they try and escape the wrath of the Nikon D40.

This little guy's just given'r.

...a very neat and tidy farm I'd say.

And here are some of the trees in which the Blue Herons nest.

With a little zoom after the fact, this is as close as I could get to the most populated nesting trees. I've never before seen that many nests in one tree, these birds must have a definate sense of community. If you click the image you'll notice many of the nests are inhabited since this is that time of the year again.

If you click this this pic you'll notice the two bald eagles just off-centre to the right and slightly down a little. They too have begun their nesting season.

This is a shot is from inside bird blind (viewing shelter), it faces west so the sun didn't allow for any great shots...

But I stopped at the Sumas Exit off the #1 on the way home and snapped a bunch of sunset photos.

This one's my favorite simply because I don't normally accociate a thorny blackberry vine with a soft sunset. Such is life.

...And that was the end of my photographic journey to see the nesting Blue Herons with my Dad... it was relaxing, enjoyable and bonding, kinda like dirt-biking,

but in a different way.