Tag Archives: nature

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Hawk Visits

Not only are the eagles back from their salmon feast at the mouths of various rivers… but we have also seen a few hawks, who are visiting our neck of the woods.

Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile

About a week ago, I saw this young hawk, hanging on to the perch tree out front, on a very windy day. I think it’s a juvenile red-tailed hawk (buteo jamaicensis). But I could be wrong.

Red-tailed hawk November 2014

Then, two days ago, we noticed an adult, perched in the big fir on the bluff, over the water, checking out the snack possibilities.

Maybe they are related…

Red-tailed hawks are often perched on the light standards of Pat Bay Highway, between Sidney and Victoria. On one particular trip, I counted seven along the highway. I wasn’t driving, that day (smile).

Blog, Inspiration, Wanderings

Black & White

Taking an ordinary photo and turning it into a black and white version is a great way to start looking at how you compose a shot with value in mind. Value and contrast become the main actors.

So here is a water view of the Unique Brilliance, a cargo ship anchored on Plumper Sound, between Saturna and Pender Islands, for several weeks this summer.

Unique Brilliance Cargo-BW

Seen from the water level, a cargo ship is a veritable wall of rusty steel. In the late afternoon, I like the contrast of the anchor chain, and even rows of rivets show up.

I liked this exercise of translating my pics to black and white – to check out whether they remain “interesting” minus the colour – so much that I worked on a few pictures last weekend, and created a new Black and White photo gallery with the ones that “passed the B&W test”. Have a look!

Blog, Just Because

Recon Deer

Reconnoiter (Merriam Webster definition):  to go to (a place or area) in order to find out information about a military enemy : to do a reconnaissance of (a place)…

Well, here is Mr. Junior Black Tail Deer (Odocoilus hemionus Rafinesque… if you want to get formal), doing a recon of my garden fence, at about 50 feet.

Fence Sitter WL

I took this picture of him from my kitchen window. Sure, he looks very relaxed and innocent. Don’t let that fool you. This wily black tail boy is just pretending to enjoy the afternoon sunshine, maybe waiting for the girls to go by.

But all along, he is checking out my fence, to see if he can jump over it, barge through it, or sneak under the gate.

We have an uneasy truce. He recons, and I surveil…

Blog, Just Because, Wanderings

Eyes to the ground: payoff!

November is a windy and grey month on the Gulf Islands of BC. The wind topples trees and causes power outages. This is sort of expected, and means that we rely on generators and fireplaces or wood stoves to stay warm, keep the fridge going, and have a light or two to read. And a purring cat never hurts.

All that rain produces all sorts of blossomings in the mosses on the forest floor.

The moss, which had gone “brittle” over the dry summer months, has now regained its emerald green lush and springy thickness.  And some version of it are blooming.
Blooming Mosses, November

Then, mushrooms are also making an appearance. On my morning walk, a couple of days ago, here is what I found next to the path…

November Mushroom

I have to admit that I don’t know the name of the cup-shape mushroom (although it could possibly be the brown-clustered ear cup…), nor of the little one that is poking up in the mosses, in the lower left corner of this photo. Obviously, I will have to start carrying the mushroom identification book, and highlight the ones I recognize.

Blog, Inspiration, Photo Wednesday, Wanderings

Autumn Beach Composition – Photo Wednesday

Textile artist Pat Pauly visited Saturna during the Thanksgiving long weekend. We wandered all over the island, and I rediscovered one of my favourite “beaches”, with plenty of pebbles and logs that escaped the log rafts pulled by the tug boats around these islands. Floating forests… but that will be the subject of another post.

Pebbles
These pebbles were arranged by the waves, pushing and rolling them into a crevice in the rock. Neat, isn’t it?

And then, there were the abstract lines left by beetles , in this log.

Beetle Lines

While the tree was alive, the beetles bored these lines under the bark… discreetly. Now that the bark has been stripped, we get to see their graffiti. With a pebble on top.